214
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JULY 5, 1872.
tial building was erected by the liberality of Dādabhāi Pestanji Wādia of Bombay. Such is the story as told by the old Dastur or
words, though they conform to one another in their general scope.”
Chief Priest of Udwada, a lineal descendant, as he
and recite, nor is there a single Mobed in all the place who knows anything more. As is well known,
1. They who thrice a day worship the sun, the elemental five—fire, wind, earth, aether, water, the three worlds, through the Naish Mantras, and the divine Hormazd the chief of the Suras (or angels), the highly endowed, the exalted, the merciful one, —are we—the fair, the bold, the valiant, the athle tic, the Parsis.; 2. We observe silence, according to our religious precepts, in these seven situations—in making the fire oblation, Š bathing, contemplating the divinity, reading the sacred books, eating, and performing the functions of nature. The best among us always give liberally in alms, and adore the splendid fire with various scented woods, sweet flowers, and the best fruits : Such are we—the fair, the courageous the brave, the strong, the Parsis. 3. They who wear the shirt (sadra), and who have round their loins, of good woollen thread, the
with comparatively few exceptions, the Parsis
crown of the head with a cap of two folds, are we
avers, of the priest who revived the sacred flame in the kingdom of Sanján. Udwada has a consi derable population of this priestly caste, but not all of them actually hold any sacerdotal office. The priests are divided into nine Bhāgs or families, who serve the fire by turns for a month at a time,
the members of the bhág specially sanctified to the office taking their turns to feed the flames, which burn in a large brazen pot, with sandal and bābul wood, their only fare. Udwada has its Parsi school which is well at tended, and where among other things the Zend
Avesta is taught : but neither teacher nor scho lars know aught of the meaning of what they read
Translation of the Sanján Slokas.
sacred kusti with equal ends, and who cover the
know nothing of the meaning of the prayers they recite, or of the quotations they make from their sacred books. The original Zend, I am told,
and not any translation into Pahlvi, is in use at Udwādā. THE SANJAN S'LC KAS.
(From ‘Notes of a Visit to Gujarat, by the
the fair, the fearless, the valiant, and athletic Parsis.
4. On marriage and other festal days, and on usual holidays, we rejoice with song and the sound of instruments. Our maids, at such times, perfume their persons with 8'rikhanda Sandal and sweet scents ; we are firm in our pure religion, which abounds in good and perfect precepts, and is of advantage in all its observances: such are we—the fair, &c., the Parsis.
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Editor.)
IN connexion with the landing of the Parsis at Sanjān, in the early part of the 8th century, there still exist copies of the fifteen Sanskrit Sºlokas, in which their Mobeds explained their religion
to Jádé Ráná," the Rája of the place, and the reply he gave them. These Slokas form the
oldest document relating to the Parsis
in India,t and the following version of them may interest some readers; it is compiled principally from a translation prepared by Dastur Hosang Jamasp, the learned High Priest at Puna, and has been compared with an old version in the possession of Dr. Wilson. The last two distichs have been taken from the latter version—the
Dastur’s MSS. being unintelligible. I am in formed by Dr. Wilson that he has not found “any two independent copies, either in Sanskrit or in the Gujarati translations, that agree in
- He is called Jádé Ráná by the Parsis, and Dr. J.
Wilson suggests he may have been Jayadeva or Vana Rāja of Anahillawada Pattan, who ruled in Gujarat A. D. 745–806. •–ED.
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5. We keep our houses clean, with plenty of food, and what is pleasing to the taste ; and water
from tanks or wells we always offer in charity with clothes and money to deserving mendicants. Such are we, &c.| 6. As pleasure and pain, ease and trouble, know ledge and ignorance, virtue and vice, uprightness and business, health and sickness, light and dark ness, existence and destruction, are double and opposite in the system of the world, so we have opposites in our belief. Such are we, &c. 7. Drinking thrice of gaumutra, consecrated with
mantras and carefully preserved, we purify our insides ; and thus, after outward and inward purifi cation, we replace the kusti on our waists ; and without this girdle we may not engage in silent meditation, in offerings, or other good acts : Such is our custom which is ever pleasing ; and such are we, &c.
8." Intercourse with women of ill-fame is for bidden. Our parents and ancestors we honour and § This fire-oblation is called bog or the performance of Atash Nydesh, in which the Parsis feed the sacred fire with sandal wood, &c., five times a day. | Therecopies are considerable differences among different in the 5th and 6th Slokas. g the readings of
t As Dr. J. Wilson suggests, these slokas were perhaps composed ex post facto.
I Wilson, Parsi Religion, p. 210.
- The 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 13th in this version, are the
10th, 11th, 8th, 13th, and 9th respectively of the older version.
