TheParseeVoice Fwd: Report on Adi Doctor's 1st Death anniversary function

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Parsee Voice
Date: Sun, Oct 4, 2015 at 10:24 AM
Subject: TheParseeVoice Fwd: Report on Adi Doctor's 1st Death anniversary function
To: the-parsee-voice@googlegroups.com

​Dear Readers,​

I forward herewith the report on the proceedings of the function held on 26th September 2015 to pay tribute to

​ our editor,

 late Adi Doctor on his first death anniversary

​.​

​The same has also been published in today's Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly.

-- 

Regards

H. M. Mistry

--
-- 

1st death anniversary function of Adi F. Doctor  - 

Report by Hanoz M. Mistry

On 27th September 2014, Adi Furrokh Doctor, a strong proponent of the divine 

religious science of Ilm-e-Khshnoom, passed away. The void left by his departure 

can never be filled in the hearts of those who considered him their 'Ustad' (guru). His 

life, which was dedicated to championing the spread of religious knowledge and to 

safeguarding Zoroastrian religious tenets and its divine institutions, stands out as a 

shining example of how a Parsee can balance the material with the spiritual aspects 

of life and come out a winner. He always advocated the practice of religion (Tarikats) 

in daily life as best possible and was not just content to preach the same. As all great 

men, he has left his footprints on the sands of time for those who believed in him to 

As is customary, to honour the memory of this stalwart, the Ilm-e-Khshnoom 

Anjuman held a Jashan at Cama Baug Agiary on Saturday, 26th September 2015 

from 5 p.m. onwards. The Jashan ceremony was performed with great fervour by 

Ervad Keki Ravji and his son and was attended in large numbers. This was followed 

by a talk on the small otla by Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram on "Will the new prayer hall 

at Wori prove beneficial to Zoroastrian Ruvans?" which was attended by over 100 

community members. 

Mr. Aspi Tavadia informed those present that late Adi had penned a column in the 

magazine 'Dini Avaz', wherein he fielded with sagacity and humour various religious 

queries and doubts of community members. This went on for 25 years. A collection 

of all those Q&As had been compiled in book form and was now being released in 

A lovely poem in memory of late Adi, penned by Jimmy Tavadia, was recited by 

Paying tribute to late Adi, Ervad Hathiram mentioned that time waited for no one and 

people came and went but there were some people who left a lasting impression and 

who were etched in people's memories for times to come. Adi was one such person. 

Though simple in appearance, he was always truthful and fearless, with no hidden 

agendas, no material gains for himself. His main aim in life was preservation of the 

Zoroastrian religion and he would go to great lengths to achieve this objective. His 

frequently lamented was that while people were eager for religious knowledge, few 

were enthusiastic about practicing the prescribed tenets in their daily life. Ervad 

Hathiram exhorted those present that if they really wished to pay tribute to Adi, they 

should take a private vow to practice atleast some of the Tarikats in their daily lives.

Prayer Hall facility at Worli

One issue really close to Adi's heart was the practice of Dokhmenashini and 

preservation of Doongerwadi. Er. Hathiram informed that Doongerwadi now had a 

'competitor' in the form of Vaikunth Dham, a funerary facility at Worli for those who 

opted to use alternate modes of disposal of the dead. While some had expressed 

relief that the crematorium brigade would now lay off Doongerwadi premises and 

also, the load on Doongerwadi would be reduced, Er. Hathiram castigated such 

thinking as completely selfish. He strongly pitched for the fact that the soul of each 

Zarthoshti brethren was important and had to be taken care of. It should be our 

mission to ensure that not a single Zarthoshti Ruvan suffered by using that so-called 

facility, he said. He was confident that if correct information was put before the 

community members, no one would dream of using alternate means. The need was 

to stop the spread of misinformation and wrong propaganda. He lamented the fact 

that no High Priest or BPP trustee or Panthaki of any Agiary or religious scholars and 

other community seniors had spoken out against this so-called facility. His target was 

that portion of the community which was sitting on the fence; being influenced by 

falsehoods spread in the name of progress and religion. The purpose of his talk was 

only to spread correct information and not to hurt anyone's sentiments.

Modus operandi at prayer hall

He gave details of the plot at Worli and the supposed facilities being offered there to 

take care of a Zoroastrian corpse. It was a cosmopolitan facility, open to all 

communities, with preference at certain times during the day to Parsees. Based on 

information obtained from a priest officiating there, it was known that the Sachkar of 

the deceased had to be done by family members and the Geh Sarna would be done 

by certain priests. There was no Sagdid and no Taro application on the body. All 

activities normally performed by the Nasessalars at Doongerwadi, would have to be 

done, if at all done, by the family members, presumably under the guidance of the 

officiating priests. The body would then have to be placed by the family members on 

a stone slab, whereafter the Geh Sarna would be performed by the priests. After 

that, the body had to be lifted by the family members and placed on a bamboo bier 

(a modern substitute for the iron Gehaan), which would then be placed on a roller for 

onward delivery into the electric furnace. There was no scope for placing the karasyo 

and fuliu with flowers near the head of the corpse, which would house the astral 

body (Kehrp) and soul (Ruvan) till Chaharum. 

Ervad Hathiram regretted that while the newspaper advertisements tomtomed this 

supposed alternate facility, they were conspicuously silent on the woeful lack of 

required facilities thereat as compared to Doongerwadi; facilities which were 

absolutely essential while dealing with a Zarthoshti corpse.

Explanation on human composition-

He explained to the audience that while the human body had nine parts, some were 

obsessed only with the three physical parts viz. Azda, Gaetha and Tanu, with 

absolutely no thought on how to deal with and settle the remaining six parts. 

Dokhmenashini was the only method which effectively dealt with all the nine parts 

and assisted a Zarthoshti soul in its onward progress in the spiritual world. 

Dokhmenashini had two agents viz. the parallel rays of the Sun (Khurshed 

Nagireshni) and the vultures. The vultures were secondary. Dokhmenashini was 

possible even without a single vulture. The main problem was overcrowding of 

certain Dakhmas. The need of the hour was to use all available pavis and Dakhmas. 

He regretted that though late Adi has made numerous requests to the BPP trustees 

in this regard, the same had gone unheeded.

Ervad Hathiram explained at length the whole gamut of funerary rituals and their 

effects, which comprised the four essential pillars of Sachkar and Sagdid, Geh 

Sarna, Dokhmenashini and Sraosh ni kriyas, without which no Zarthoshti Ruvan 

could reach the threshold of Chinvat. He gave a detailed explanation of the role 

played by various agencies in Nature like Daham Yazad, the Dakhmas themselves, 

the various energies within the human body etc. in controlling the Druj-e-Nasu 

emanating from a corpse. He read out a para from the book on 'Geh Sarna' by Dr. 

Framroze Chiniwalla, which dwelt on the passage of time taken by a Zarthoshti 

Ruvaan to reach Chinvat in the absence of any of the above four pillars comprising 

He cautioned that it was the family's responsibility towards the departed to ensure 

that each of these pillars was taken care of. It was a big sin to mislead somebody in 

this regard by false propaganda and also a big virtue to correctly guide someone 

who had gone astray, which was the raison d'etre behind this talk.

In conclusion, he mentioned that since Adi had always stressed on spiritual practices 

all his life, in his death, Nature had rewarded him in the form of a wealth of prayers 

conducted for him by his well-wishers during the year in various Atash Behrams and 

Agiaries. The meeting concluded with Jashan Chasni and a prayer for the onward 

progress of Adi Doctor's Ruvan.