Frashogard

Roj Dae-pa-Din Mah Bahman, 1379Yz.

Today, July 7, 2010 marks the 83rd death anniversary of our beloved Master, Ustad Saheb Behramshah Nowroji Shroff. Ceremonies to mark this occasion are taking place not only in the Ustad Saheb Behramshah Nowroji Shroff Daremeher at Jogeshwari, but also in various Agiaries and Atash Behrams throughout India. That a person is remembered so many years after his death with such reverence and awe is in itself a miracle. We have seen glimpses of his rich and chequered life in our series through the last year. I intend to bring out this series on his life in a book form so that more of our community may know the real facts behind this most amazing person.

Several Parsis, especially those who claim to be “well read, modern, independent thinkers” become very uncomfortable whenever the name of Ustad Saheb is taken. Even if an explanation for a difficult point in the religion is given to them, the fact that the source of this explanation comes from the revelations of Ustad Saheb makes them immediately reject the same, without applying their famous “rational mind” to the explanation. They also seem somewhat amused by the facts of the life of Ustad Saheb and the manner in which he was blessed to visit the Abed Sahebs of Demavand. One such “rational man”, writing in the Parsiana magazine some time ago made a vigorous demand that we should rise above such “troglodyte residents”. (Troglodyte means people who live in caves.) He felt very ashamed to even accept that the Zoroastrian religion could be preserved by some “primitive cave dwellers” speaking in a fancy language.

Yet the same rational Parsis have no compunction in bowing their heads before various god men of dubious repute of other religions, who indulge in hocus-pocus and glib talking, and who invariably get caught in immorality or financial capers later on. Rational Parsis flock to the shrines of some important holy men of India, yet refuse to believe that one of their own could have been fortunate to have received the blessings and teachings of our own hidden sages! I have met Parsi men and women who are at the very top of their respective vocations – top shot lawyers, doctors, scientists, judges, artists and many more who adore and worship some or other non-Parsi god man or are deep into the Rosicrucian Order, Freemasonry or Yoga. When they hear the details about the life and miracles of Ustad Saheb they exclaim: “aapra maa bhi evu kai hoy?” Some have changed their entire life after hearing about Ustad Saheb and after exploring his teachings with an open mind. Others would love to change, but are caught in a social trap of their own making – “loko su kehse?”, whereas others become very enthusiastic in the beginning but when the chapter on Tarikats and truth is explained, miraculously become most un-energetic! “Arre baap re, aay badhu kon paaley ne muke!”

Some time ago, a vicious campaign was started on one of the Parsi Zoroastrian mailing lists on the internet by an American Parsi. He claimed that all those who believed in Ustad Saheb were traitors and deviants, since (in his words) “they gave more importance to Ustad Saheb than to Prophet Zarathushtra!” He even went to the extent of counting how many times I had mentioned the words “Ustad Saheb” in my writings compared to how many times I had written “Prophet Zarathushtra!” Based on this very methodological and original research, he came to the conclusion that I (and others who write about Ustad Saheb ) loved Ustad Saheb more than our Prophet.

I had only one reply to this scholar. Ustad Saheb was the first person to reveal the Yazatic status of Prophet Zarathushtra. Ustad Saheb revealed that Zarathushtra was not some mortal poet, roaming from country to country till he finally managed to convince King Vistaspa and established the religion after doing some hocus-pocus and curing the King’s favourite horse! For the first time ever, Ustad Saheb explained each and every miracle listed in the Dinkard and other Avesta scriptures and gave a rational, fascinating and most satisfying explanation for all these incidents. And what have our scholars done? They are not even able to agree as to whether Zarathushtra existed! (Yes, that is right. Some scholars claim that he was a “mythical figure”, who never actually existed!) They are not able to agree on a date or even the century in which he was born, the place where he was born, and substantial details of his life and miracles and claim that throughout his life of 77 years, Zarathushtra merely composed 17 chapters of poetry (the Gathas), which by the way, they are unable to translate with any reasonable certainty! While one scholar translated a particular Avesta word in the Gathas as meaning ’salvation’, another translates the same word as ‘homosexuality’! What great research! What great uplifting and devotional fervour! God save us from these scholars! So who loves Zarathushtra more, those who talk about Ustad Saheb or these modern day scholars, for whom religion and controversy is their bread and butter!

In every religion and in every mystic tradition, the Guru or Ustad or Master is always immortalised. Are the followers of Ramakrishna less devoted to Lord Rama? Do the worshippers of Khwaja Chisti hold him more important than Allah? Do the lovers of Mother Teresa or Saint Xavier disregard Lord Christ? Are the followers of Kabir more loyal to him or to their respective gods? There is a beautiful couplet of Saint Kabir, where he explains the “problem” of “choosing” between Guru and God. Saint Kabir writes:

Guru, Govind dono khade
kaake laagoon Paaye?
balihari Guru aapne
Govind diyo bataaye

When both Guru and the Lord Govind stand before me
Whose feet should I fall at?
Of course I choose the Guru – through whose mercy and intercession
I realised and had the Darshan of Lord Govind!

Dear readers! This is the beauty of mysticism! There is no choosing or who is higher or lower! Without the revelations of our beloved Ustad Saheb, how could we have realized the brilliance and majesty of our religion and its most holy Prophet of Prophets! If we do love and take the name of our Ustad Saheb it is because he has truly revealed what or Zoroastrian religion really means, and has turned around my own life, and the lives of many other like me who were disillusioned and demoralized by the bumbling ‘research’ of our scholars and so called community leaders.

On this 83rd death anniversary of Ustad Saheb, we renew our pledge to him and our Prophet Zarathushtra. We revitalize ourselves to write more and more about him and to demonstrate and show to our community in these troubled times, that truly our religion is mazishtahecha, vahishtahecha, sraeshtahecha – the most majestic, the best and the most beautiful!

Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram

Roj Hormuz Mah Meher, 1379 Yz.

As can be expected from our community press, none of the newspapers carried any news about the passing of the Master. Mr. Jehangir Vimadalal, a leading advocate and great believer of Ustad Saheb made inquiries and found out that although an obituary had been written and sent to the Jame Jamshed for publication, the same was not carried since it contained the names of the Masani brothers and Jame Jamshed did not print anything with their name! Finally, Mr. Vimadalal himself penned an article on the life of the Master and it appeared in Jame three weeks after his passing away. The Theosophical magazine ‘Cherag’ carried an obituary on Ustad Saheb written by Mr. Ardeshir Billimoria, an admirer of the Master. Later on a small note on Ustad Saheb was printed in the Parsi Prakash magazine.

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Roj Asman Mah Sherevar, 1379 Yz.

With the growing power of his amal and the blessings of Ustad Saheb, Dr. Framroze began his life mission – the writing of authoritative volumes on Khshnoom. An ardent fan of Persian poetry and a great researcher in Iranian and world history, Dr. Framroze first concentrated on setting right the wrongs perpetrated by biased Greek historians, who wrote about the Persian empire with great jealousy and hatred. These Greek sources formed the bedrock of modern historical studies at that time and resulted in the Persians being depicted in almost barbaric fashion, whereas the truth was far removed from these fallacies.

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Roj Ashtad Mah Sherevar, 1379 Yz.

That very evening there was a stormy meeting between Ustad Saheb and his close disciples, wherein the Master publicly scolded those who had failed him so miserably. Instead of accepting their errors and seeking forgiveness, a leading student fought back and insulted the Master using very crude language. Heartbroken, the Master decided to return to Surat and for a full year did not come to Bombay. When he finally came back in March 1924 to attend the Fasli Muktad, the same students who had let him down publicly announced their repentance and drafted an apology letter. However, the damage had been done and Ustad Saheb retired to Surat to spend the remaining part of his life, never to return again to Bombay.

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Roj Din Mah Sherevar, 1379 Yz.

When it became public knowledge that Ustad Saheb had chosen 1st April 1923 as the day for breaking the ground for the new Fasli Dadgah at Behram Baug, there was some consternation amongst his followers. An old friend of Ustad Saheb and an accomplished astrologer, Dr. Kavasji Golwalla pointed out to some friends that this was a strange choice since it happened to be an Amaas (no moon) night. But Behramshah insisted that from a religious angle it was an opportune day and hence the negative influence of the no moon night would be insignificant. Many days before the event, Ustad Saheb had selected two of his close students – Mr. Tehmurasp Davar and Mr. Dinshaw Masani, to undergo a series of prayer recitals which would cause certain changes within their bodies and make them eligible to help Ustad Saheb in his onerous task. After some delay, even these preparations were completed. A few days before the date, Ustad Saheb himself arrived at Andheri and began his own personal preparations to undertake his mission.

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Roj Gosh Mah Amardad, 1379 Yz.

In order to properly understand the events which took place on 1st April, 1923, it is necessary to explain the motivation behind the gigantic task undertaken by Ustad Saheb. We have seen how the original Fasal Pav Mahel was established in India by Dasturan Dastur Nairyosangh Dhaval at the time of the consecration of Pak Iranshah Atash Behram. For a period of nearly three hundred years, capable priests were available who could undertake the very difficult spiritual job of adding one day every four years to the Zoroastrian calendar. But as the effect of time and the land of India began to exert more influence, the capability of the coming generations of priests to undertake this complex task became more and more restricted.

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Roj Hormazd Mah Amardad, 1379 Yz.

Despite the severe setback of the loss of young Ervad Sorab Panthaki, the work of the Society progressed. In 1918, the Fasli Takchian ceremony was once again conducted under the supervision of Ustad Saheb at the bungalow of Mr. Captain. There were a larger number of persons who submitted the names of their deceased for the 18 day prayers and more priests were requisitioned for the same. Not satisfied at this progress, the members of the Society begun to think on a larger scale. The teachings of the Zoroastrian religion as explained and revealed by the Master had made a lasting and very deep impression in the minds of many members and had caused them to completely change their lifestyle to live a truer Zoroastrian life. The increasing urbanization of Mumbai meant that slowly but surely, it was becoming difficult to practice the principles of purity as expounded in the religion and which form the bedrock of any practice of Tarikats.

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Roj Marespand Mah Tir, 1379 Yz.

Ustad Saheb explained that in the absence of the Fasli calendar and the Fasli Alat, it was not correct or even possible to do the complete Fasli Muktad. He also cautioned that the act of inviting the Ashaunam Fravashinam along with the Ruvan of our deceased relatives was no easy matter and should not be taken lightly at all. These spiritually advanced entities do not and cannot come down in an area where strict rules of purity and piety are not maintained. Hence Ustad Saheb insisted that the first grade Fasli Muktad ceremonies could only be done in places where the Fasli Alat was still intact – i.e. in the secluded areas of Demavand and other such Zoroastrian sanctuaries, where the pollution of the modern world could not reach.

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Roj Ashishvangh Mah Tir, 1379 Yz.

The beginning of the observance of the Fasli Hingams by the Societies brought out one important question: what about the Muktad? Many queries regarding the Muktad and its observance were put to Ustad Saheb. Ustad Saheb revealed in quite some detail the way in which these observances were practiced both in ancient Iran as well as in Demavand.

In the times of the monarchy, Ustad Saheb explained, the entire functioning of the priestly order was entirely supervised by the King. The priests of those times were not attached to any Agiary or Daremeher but were in fact employees of the Zoroastrian monarchy which ruled Iran.

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Roj Khorshed Mah Tir, 1379 Yz.

At the beginning of the 20th century, under the influence of the western studies of our religion and the so-called advances of science and technology, some Parsi reformers advocated that the community should give up the Shahenshahi calendar and instead adopt the Fasli calendar – that based on the seasons, wherein the New Year fell on 21st March (popularly called Jamshedi Navroze) and the other months fell correctly as per the seasons. This was a very controversial move and aroused great debate.

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