Distortion of Our Sacred FarvardinYasht and Jafarey's Response
Distortion of Our Sacred
FarvardinYasht
Ervad Jal Birdy
Friends:
If
you have been following the postings on this alias recently, you will be
familiar with the gross injustice and insults that have been hurled in my
direction and how no one, including the administrators, have voiced the
slightest dissent. I have never said or done anything except what I believe to
be the truth. The following article, which is mainly addressed to the Parsi
community, will bring home to the silent majority on this alias the deception
that is being practised in the name of our religion by persons who are assumed
to be scholars and religious leaders.
On
March 28, 2000, while reporting on the proceedings of the 10th anniversary
celebrations of his Assembly, Mr. Ali Akbar Jafarey, the leader of the
Zarathushtrian Assembly, under its banner, posted the following mail on the
Internet. In this posting he has deliberately distorted our sacred Fravardin
Yasht, which is prayed during the performance of the Farokhshi ritual for the
benefit of our dear departed souls, and which has also been prayed by thousands
of devout Parsis for millennia. The glaring distortions, which are an insult to
our faith and beliefs, are highlighted in capital letters and are meant mainly
for those Parsis who may be wondering why we should not have Mr. Jafarey
preaching at our community gatherings.
The
opening passage is taken from Fravardin Yasht, Karda 24.
Notice how in the fifth line from the end, Mr. Jafarey has cunningly
changed the Avesta word 'ATHRAVA' (meaning an Athravan or Priest of the Hightest
Order) to 'MANTHRANO', which he translates as a thought-provoker.
Please also note that the next line, which associates Zarathushtra with
the Yazashne ceremony, performed by our priests in Agiaries and Atash Behrams,
has been deliberately omitted.
The
surprising element in this deception is that only last year Mr. Jafarey had
published the same passage on the cover of his Spenta Magazine celebrating the
birthday of Asho Zarathushtra, only at that time he had substituted the word
"YO RATUSH" for the same Avesta word "ATHRAVA". Again, the
succeeding two lines were deliberately omitted. Should we wait another few years
to find out what word Mr. Jafarey would find most suitable for distorting our
scriptures?
All
this is because, having generally ridiculed and denigrated our priesthood, he
does not want his cult members and others to see Asho Zarathushtra being
associated with priests in the scriptures. So he changes and cuts out the
relevant sections with impunity. Simple - who is ever going to find out? Or so
he thinks!!!
This
is just one more example of how our scriptures are slowly being distorted by his
new cult. One more reason for being very wary of what you hear from Mr. Jafarey
and his Assembly. We just happened to stumble upon this distortion in passing;
who knows how much more we would find if we were to really delve deep into Mr.
Jafarey’s much self-heralded writings!
The
offending posting follows:
From:
ZAssembly@aol.com <ZAssembly@aol.com>
To: zoroastrians <zoroastrians@listbot.com>
Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 10:28 PM
Subject:
CELEBRATING ZARATHUSHTRA'S BIRTHDAY
>zoroastrians
>CELEBRATING
ZARATHUSHTRA'S BIRTHDAY>
>zarathushtrahe
spitâmahe idha ashaonô
>ashîmca
fravashîmca ýazamaide.
>paoiryâi vohu mamnânâi
>paoiryâi vohu vaokushe
>paoiryâi vohu vâverezushe
>paoiryâi fravaędhâi
>paoiryâi fravaędhayamnâi
>paoiryâi hanghananâi
>paoiryâi hanghanushe
>gămca ashemca
>uxdhemca uxdhah'yâca
>sraoshem xshathremca
>vîspaca vohu mazdadhâta ashacithra.
>ýehe zăthaęca vaxshaęca
>urvâsen âpô urvarĺsca
>ýehe zăthaęca vaxshaęca
>uxshin âpô urvarĺsca,
>ýehe zăthaęca vaxshaęca
>ushtatâtem nimravańta
>vîspĺ speńtô-dâtĺ dâmăn,
>ushta-nô zâtô mâńthranô
[THE WORD ‘MANTHRANO’, TRANSLATED BY MR. JAFAREY AS ‘THOUGHT-PROVOKER’, IS ACTUALLY ‘ATHRAVA’ IN THE AVESTA, MEANING AN ATHRAVAN-PRIEST OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. HAVING DENIGRATED OUR PRIESTHOOD THOROUGHLY, MR. JAFAREY DOES NOT WANT HIS CULT MEMBERS TO ASSOCIATE ASHO ZARATHUSHTRA WITH THE PRIESTHOOD; SO HE CHANGES OUR SCRIPTURES WITH IMPUNITY, THINKING NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW THE DIFFERENCE – OR SO HE THINKS!!!]
>ýô
spitâmô zarathushtrô.
[NOTE
ALSO : THE NEXT LINE - FRA NO YAZAITAY ZAOTHRABIYO STERETO BERESMA ZARATHUSHTRO
- HAS BEEN DELIBERATELY OMITTED, BECAUSE IT ASSOCIATES ASHO ZARATHUSHTRA WITH
THE BARSAM USED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEZASHNE CEREMONY. MR. JAFAREY CUTS IT
OUT WITH IMPUNITY, THINKING NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. OR SO HE
THINKS!!!]
>idha
apăm vîjasâiti
>vanguhi daęna mâzdayasnish
>vîspâish avi karshvăn ýâish hapta.
>We
venerate the Reward and the Religious Choice of
>the Righteous Zarathushtra Spitama,
>who is the foremost
>to think, speak and do good;
>who is the foremost
>to learn for himself and teach others,
>who is the foremost
>to understand for himself and for others,
>[the following facts] --
>the living world, the Universal Law of Asha,
>the Divine Message and the need to listen to it,
>the Divine Dominion, and all the good things
>created by the Wise One as of Righteousness.
>In whose birth and growth
>the waters and plants flourished,
>in whose birth and growth
>the waters and the plants increased,
>and in whose birth and growth
>the entire progressing creation shouted:
>Hail to us, for a thought-provoker [WRONG!! - A PRIEST OF
HIGHEST CALIBER, PLEASE] >is born - Zarathushtra Spitama!
[NOTE:
THE NEXT LINE WHICH MEANS - BY THE POWER OF THE BARSAM OR YAZASHNE CEREMONY, HE
WILL LIBERATE US - HAS BEEN DELIBERATELY OMITTED for the reasons given above.]
>Henceforth
the Good Religion
>of Mazda-worship will spread
>all over the seven climes of the earth.
The
remainder of the posting gives an account of the 10th Anniversary celebrations
of Mr. Jafarey’s cult, The Zarathushtrian Assembly. It is not included here
because it is of little relevance to this article.
Mr.
Jafarey would have his followers believe that he is the Saoshyant predicted to
restore the Zarathushti religion to its pristine purity, but little do they
realize that he is doing it by deception and distortion of our sacred scriptures
and by duping his followers. This is just one more reason why we do not want
anything to do with Mr. Jafarey or have him anywhere near our community
gatherings. WZC2000 Co-Chairs,
Board Members and administrators may wish to make a note of this posting.
With
kind regards,
Ervad
Jal N. Birdy.
* * * * *
Jafarey's
Response
Dear
companions-on-ZList:
Ushta!
I
am thankful to Dr. Mehran Sepehri for forwarding a May 16 posting by Ervad Jal
Birdy, a strong comment on my posting of 28 March regarding a quotation from the
Farvardin Yasht -- made after an incubation of 39 days. This makes one of his
lame excuses less.
I
am also thankful to Mr. Maneck Daroowalla for pointing out that the
objectionable matter was brought up by the Ervad Saheb and Dr. Pallan R.
Ichaporia at the Calgary Seminar during 24-26 September 1999 -- more than seven
months ago, well beyond any incubation, and that too about a subject published
in May 1999.
Mr.
Daroowalla has let the cat out. Dr. Ichaporia is the person who
"stumbled" upon the difference. Otherwise an Ervad-by-Rote
could not do it. Dr. Ichaporia is the person who has been, since his turn about
to repent and join the Traditionalists, feeding the Traditionalists -- priests
and uproar-mongers -- with mock material to attack me. He has been clever enough
to remain well behind the scene. Conscious about the legal notices he has been
sending to his criticizers, his silent diplomacy could save him a legal notice.
He, however, has not been in control himself only when he has thought that he
could deliver the master stroke to fell me flat. His master strokes have landed
at his own feet.
It
appears that he has finally given up because the uproars do not roll me out.
They strengthen my position. Currently, he is reported to be working to have a
truce between him on the one side and Prof. Yezdi Rustomji, Dr. Sepehri and me
on the other side. At the same time, he is telling his friends that since he has
been barred from the Alias, he is obliged to circulate the "news"
among a group of chosen persons about the Jafarey-Rustomji gang out to harm his
scholarly reputation. That is his new strategy. Let us wish him success in his
reported wishes.
The
point given by Dr. Ichaporia has encouraged Ervad Birdy to launch the recent
attacks in three reported postings that have not appeared on the ZList. Thanks
to Dr, Sepehri, we now have one. I am awaiting the other two. He shall have my
reply within a day or two after the other two appear on the List.
Ali
A. Jafarey
22 May 2000
We have a plain priest who
happens to be simultaneously the President of the North American Council of
Mobeds and the Vice-President of the Traditional Mazdayasni Zoroastrian Anjuman
-- Ervad Jal Birdy.
Unlike
the three previous tactics of "cut from one place and paste it well outside
the context in another to give a distorted figure for the outcry" (Temple
prostitution, Haoma, and the Hormazd Yasht), this time the Ervad has given my
posting in its entirety. There the distorted and misplaced portions served the
purpose. Here the full context has to be shown. In either case, the sole aim is
the disturbing outcry and not a helping correction.
You
might have read my reply to the allegation that he calls <<Asho
Zarathushtra "not an Athravan," "not a Prophet" and
"anti-priest.">> It said: "It is Asho Zarathushtra who does
not call himself an Âthravan in the Gathas, his only words treasured for
humanity. He gives his full name. He mentions himself as Ratu, Manthran, and
Saoshyant but never an Âthravan. The
composers of the post-Gathic "Later Avesta" are the persons who have
called him "Âthravan." Click
for my researched reasons in "The Zoroastrian Priest in the Avesta."
Now
here he comes with his 1000-word outcry. He cries: << In this posting he
has deliberately distorted our sacred Fravardin Yasht, which is prayed during
the performance of the Farokhshi ritual for the benefit of our dear departed
souls, and which has also been prayed by thousands of devout Parsis for
millennia. The glaring distortions, which are an insult to our faith and
beliefs, are highlighted in capital letters and are meant mainly for those
Parsis who may be wondering why we should not have Mr. Jafarey preaching at our
community gatherings. ….>>
The
outcry shows as if I have made a hundred distortions. When we read his posting.
It is all over ONE word -- I have replaced the world "Âthravan" with
"Mâńthran" in the one of the two eulogies in honor of Asho
Zarathushtra in the Farvardin Yasht!
Let
us take the Farvardin Yasht. It speaks of "Fravashi," a word NOT USED
in the Gathas. Yes, the much-spoken concept of the so-translated "Guardian
Spirit" is absent in the Gathas! But this is yet another subject that would
make the shouters shout much louder. The Farvardin Yasht is the longest Yasht in
the extant Avesta. It has 158 stanzas. It has three parts. The first is in
praise of the feats the Fravashis (Guardian Spirits/ancestral souls) accomplish.
They play a prominent part in maintaining the universe. The second part
is the memorial in honor of over 300 men and women -- the Paoiro-tkaesha
and the Nabânazdishta, the pioneering converts to the Good Religion and
their children, who served to spread the Good Religion during its Gathic era.
The third part is the memorial in honor of the pre-Zarathushtrian kings and
heroes of Iran, a later addition. The different styles show that it has been
composed by several persons of different times.
The
Yasht has its religious and historical values. We learn how the
pre-Zarathushtrians believed that their ancestral souls were very active in
helping god to maintain his universe. We know the names of the
pre-Zarathushtrian kings and heroes. It helps in better constructing the Ancient
Iranian History. And above all, we know the names of the male and female
disciples Zarathushtra. We learn to commemorate those who served the Good
Religion in its initial stages -- the Gathic period. Their names stand
treasured.
For
us Fundamentalists, the Farvardin Yasht is of great value in fully understanding
what it tells and teaches. For the Traditionalists, it <<is prayed during
the performance of the Farokhshi ritual for the benefit of our dear departed
souls, and which has also been prayed by thousands of devout Parsis for
millennia.>> Their priests recite it generally without understanding it.
Ours is conviction, a state of firm belief after being convinced through reason.
Theirs is a blind faith without any doubting question. Whatever the case, the
Farvardin Yasht, or any part of the Avesta, is as much our religious and
cultural heritage as it could be of anyone else. It is certainly no one's
monopoly. It is no one's property. It belongs to all those who value it.
And
now the WORD that made him shout very loud. The eulogy shows that this
part of the Farvardin Yasht was composed by an Âthravan, more dedicated
to his profession than any other. He is THE person who calls Zarathushtra
an Âthravan. Zarathushtra, I repeat, does not. There is a second eulogy
in the Farvardin Yasht. It was most probably composed by another person,
evidently not an Âthravan, because it is full of his praises in
superlative adjectives, and yet it does not call him by this name. Âthravan
is used for three times in the Farvardin Yasht of 158 stanzas and over 300
names. It is used twice for Zarathushtra in the same eulogy and therefore by the
same person, and only once in almost the end of the Yasht -- stanza 147. It
reads: "Here the Âthravans of the countries, thinking of good
righteousness, are holding their hands high and asking you, the brave beneficent
Fravashis, with veneration, to help us." That is all. No other Âthravans
remembered by name. They do NOT form a part of the Paoiro-tkaesha and
the Nabânazdishta, the Pioneers of the Good Religion who are remembered
and honored in the Yasht. It shows that Âthravans play no part in the
original part of the Yasht, the honoring of the Pioneers.
Had
the eulogy been composed by a Rathaeshtar (warrior) or Vâstrya-fshuyant
(prosperous and producing settler), Zarathushtra would have been hailed as:
"Hail to us for a Warrior/Settler is born -- Zarathushtra Spitama."
I
cannot call Asho Zarathushtra a priest, Âthravan, because I consider it far far
below his Divine Status to be called a <<Priest of the Highest [or
any]
Order.>>
Zarathushtra
calls himself "Mâńthran" a word that occurs only in the Gathic text.
It has never been used by the Âthravan composers of the Later Avesta.
Zarathushtra is the "foremost Ratu." And that is what I humbly call
him. That is the reason why I took the liberty and substituted the "Âthravan"
by "Mâńthran" and earlier by "Ratu." The eulogy in the
Zarathushtra's honor is a subtle piece of poetry. With the only discrepancy
replaced by the right title, it is inspiring.
I
have taken two more liberties:
(a)
I have deled the word "puthra" (son) in the selected piece from the Âtash
Niyâyesh because Fire belongs to Mazda but it is not the divine "son"
in the Gathas and also because it spoils the meters of the that poetic piece.
For me it reads: "Dâyâo mę âtarsh Ahurahę Mazdâo -- Grant me O Fire
of Ahura Mazda."
(b)
It is the Benediction: "Ahmâi
raes-cha khvarenas-cha. Ahmâi tanvo drvatâtem. Ahmâi tanvo verethrem. Ahmâi
îshtîm pourush-khvâthrem. Ahmâi asnâm-chît frazantîm. Ahmâi dareghâm
daregho-jîtîm. Ahmâi vahishtem ahűm ashaonâm raochańhem vîspo-khvâthrem.
It means: "May he have glory and
splendor. May he have bodily health. May he have bodily strength. May he have
bodily soundness. May he have wishes with full contentment. May he have children
with innate wisdom. May he have a long life. May he have the best life of
righteous people, splendid and fully content."
All
officiating priests recite it while giving their blessing to a boy or girl
Initiate, bride, bridegroom or reciting it on any other occasion, follow the
rote. For them it is a stereotyped formula. Even those who know the Avestan
language, never care about the pronoun "Ahmâi." It is Dative, third
person singular, masculine gender. Here, when faced with one or more male or
female persons, I substitute it with "aęibyô" (masculine, plural),
"ainghâi" (faminine, singular), âbyô (feminine, plural) te (you
singular), "yuvaibya"
(you, dual), "khshmaibya" (you plural), and "ahmaibyâ" (we)
as the case warrants. Then the Benediction makes the proper sense.
These
three instances are the only liberties I have taken. I see no need for any other
change in the entire extant Avesta. Whenever if I have found a discrepancy, an
explanatory addition or adulteration added later, I have pointed it out in my
research essays. They are all in black and white. I consider my "YASNA
HAPTAHÂTI, an attempt at restoration of meter and translation of re-versified
text" (The Ancient Iranian Cultural Society, Tehran, Iran, 1975) a
masterpiece of my research. Only the searchers for outcries have not stumbled
upon them.
And
now Ervad Birdy's cheap concluding shot out of the context of his own comment:
<<Mr. Jafarey would have his followers believe that he is the Saoshyant
predicted to restore the Zarathushti religion to its pristine purity>>! We
do not believe in prediction, prophecy, fortune-telling, and astronomy. We are
not awaiting any miraculous Savior. Zarathushtra is our Lord, Leader, Guide and
Benefactor (Saoshyant). We learn, practice, teach and preach his Divine Message
as given in the Gathas. We are earnestly following his pristine, pure,
ever-fresh, ever-renovating, and ever-inspiring Message of the Good Life in this
life and beyond.
My
conclusion includes one QUESTION I have asked on several occasions and have
heard others pose them. I split it into four sub-questions:
(a)
Why the Traditionalists -- plain priests, scholar priests, "scholars,"
and their mouthpiece uproar-mongers -- have no other task to accomplish except
cry loud against what they call a misrepresentation of what they hold holy?
(b)
Why, for the last five years, they have not come with their Message -- the
Message which would clearly define their version of Zoroastrianism?
(c)
Is their Message what the Traditional Mazdayasni Homepage http://www.zoroastrianism.com
presents in its hundred plus pages, and what esoteric "Mazdayasni
Connection" of Los Angeles prints and published, therefore there is no need
to feed the subscribers of the popular Zoroastrian Alias?
(d)
Are repeated outcries the only Message they have to deliver to the reader?
I
have been posting the Message of Zarathushtra (in 12 parts) and one stanza of
the Gathas on daily basis, and discuss relevant subjects for the last several
years on the Internet. I have my publications in English and Persian that make a
score of books and booklets. The Assembly has its Homepage in two languages --
English and Persian.
Why
not come out with your presentation of Traditional Zoroastrianism. The readers
are mature enough to decide for themselves. It will save the Traditionalists the
hoarsening, deafening outcries. And remember: Crying and shouting for help is
only done by the WEAK who lack self-confidence!
Ali A.
Jafarey
24 May 2000
* * * * * *
LINKS:
TABLE OF CONTENTS and Their Links
Introduction & the Gist of "The Plain Reality Behind The Intricate Falsity"