THIS IS PART 5 OF EXTRACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE BOMBAY PARSI PANCHAYAT BY SAPUR FAREDUN GIARA Pg 84-90
This chapter deals with the Baj Rojgar Trusts. The British Government had declared them as offending against the law of perpetuity and hence invalid. The trustees went to court. Justice Daver was the judge. He discussed at length the religious significance of the Baj Rojgar ceremonies and finally gave a verdict that they were religious ceremonies.
Ervad Jivanji J Modi, is quoted to have said “a Parsi prays for the community and for all peoples quite independently of their being Zoroastrians or otherwise. He is utterly unselfish when he approaches the Almighty and asks for His blessings. He asks them for all, he prays for universal joy, universal prosperity and for the well-being of all men of good life.”
SOME QUOTES FROM THE JUDGEMENT
- Zoroastrianism flourished in Persia with varying fortune till the persecution of Mahomedans drove the majority of those that professed that religion out of their ancient home. A body of Persians professing the Zoroastrian religion were compelled by reason of religious intolerance and persecution to leave Persia about 1200 years ago. They first took refuge in Kohistan, where they remained for about 100 years–they then went to the Isle of Ormuz, where they remained for about 19 years. They then came to Diu, near Kattyawar, and remained there for about 15 years. From Diu they came to Sanjan, and there they settled down for very nearly 700 years. From Sanjan they spread over various places in the Gujarat district and their principal headquarters now are Bombay, Naosari and Surat. A sprinking of Parsis are to be found in several villages in Gujarat. They derive their present name Parsi from Fars, in Persia, from which place they originally came to India.
According to the beliefs of the Zoroastrians founded upon their ancient scriptures, the soul of the dead remains in the place where death takes place for the first three days. On the dawn of the fourth day the soul ascends and reaches the Chinwad Bridge. There the Angels weigh its good deeds and its evil acts during its sojourn on earth, and if the good deeds outweigh the bad ones by certain Cetrs, the soul is allowed to cross the bridge and enter the abode of Heaven. If, however, its sins outweigh its good deeds by certain Cetrs it is thrown from the bridge into hell below. On the fourth day reward or punishment is meted out to the soul and the Judgment is irrevocable.
There is nothing in the scriptures for the redemption of the soul after the final judgment of the fourth day. How then can it be said that any ceremony or prayers performed or recited after the fourth day can tend towards or can be intended for the benefit of the soul? That the Muktads have no connection with the souls of the dead, is, I think, also clear from the fact that the time of their performance has no reference to the date of the death of individuals.
- If the belief exists in the minds of some that Muktads are intended for the benefit of the souls of the dead, it clearly is an erroneous belief for which there is no foundation whatever, and can only exist amongst the ignorant and the illiterate.
In the Zoroastrian religion no days during the year are as holy as the Farvardigan days and no ceremonies so sacred as the Muktad ceremonies. The observance of the Farvardigan days and the performance of the Muktad ceremonies is enjoined by the Zoroastrian scriptures. Paragraphs 49 to 52 of the Farvardin Yast show that the Zoroastrians are asked to perform certain ceremonies during the Farvardigan days.
if a Zoroastrian performs these ceremonies the Furohurs “will leave the house satisfied and carry back from here hymns and worship to the Maker Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas.”
- The usual ceremonies to be performed during the Farvardigan days are five in number; (1) The various kinds of Afringans with the Debache preceding them and the Afrins following them; (2) Baj; (3) Satoom; (4) Furrokshi; and (5) Yejushni. Of these, the Afringans, Baj and Satoom ceremonies are compulsory and must be performed.
Dastur Darab thinks the Furrokshi ceremony must also be performed, but Ervad Jivanji says it is performed by some and not by others. Yejusni is a very complicated, long and expensive ceremony, and only the well-to-do members of the community can afford to have them performed and it is optional with Zoroastrians to perform it or not.
The Debache of the Afringans precede all the Afringans. It is an invocation of all the Furohurs including those of the persons who are specially mentioned on the occasion. In the Debache, the priests mention the name of the town or city where the prayers are recited and they pray for plenty, joy, victory and happiness. The plenty, joy and happiness prayed for is for the inhabitants of the town or city, and the victory–prayed for is the victory of the Sovereign over all his enemies. Ervad Jivanji, in the course of his evidence has told the Court that the benefit or help that is asked of the Furohurs in the prayers offered during the Farvardigan days is asked not only for the individual who invokes such help and asks for such benefit, not only for the whole Zoroastrian community, but for all human beings. Here it may be mentioned that in all the prayers recited by a Zoroastrian he never prays for himself alone. He prays for the community and for all peoples quite independently of their being Zoroastrians or otherwise. He is utterly unselfish when he approaches the Almighty and asks for His blessings. He asks them for all, he prays for universal joy, universal prosperity and for the well-being of all men of good life.”
Extracts from Pg 84-90 from the book History of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat.
The Law of Perpetuity:
As we have observed earlier these are being observed for aeons of time, from time immemorial, but by some perverse action of some perverse Zoroastrians the trusts specially made for Baj Rojgar ceremonies by devout ancestors came in for a scandalous brush with the English law as applied to Parsis. In 1887 a case was decided by Mr. Justice Jardine in the Bombay High Court on the ground that the Trust for Baj Rojgars was a case offending against the law of perpetuity and as such invalid. Since then, a number of cases were brought before the Court and the Trusts were held invalid with the result that what was meant to be used for religious worship was divided as welcome spoils between contenders and other relatives. The last such case was decided in 1895.
Issues at Stake:
At this stage it would be better to understand what the issues at stake were. The Trusts were for Baj Rojgar, which may include all the ceremonies detailed earlier or may be only Afringan and Baj. As a Trust once made is a perpetual instrument it offended against certain English laws. In England a mass for the dead falls under ‘superstitious uses’ and is invalid, though it is not so in Ireland or at least it was not so at the time. The English judges thought these Baj Roj-gars formed ceremonies that were analogous to their masses and hence invalid. In 1896 the Trustees took their Solicitors’ opinion.
Prior to this about 8 cases had already been decided invalidating Baj Rojgar Trusts almost without any evidence by scholars and savants from the scriptures and other religious writings.
In 1907 another opportunity presented itself. One Mr. J. K. Tarachand, himself a member of the bar, filed a Suit to declare void a trust made by one of his ancestors Bai Dinbai widow, of Jehangir Cursetji Tarachand in 1871 for a sum of Rs. 15,000, interest whereof was to be used for the expenses of Muktad ceremonies.
The learned judge (Justice Daver) then discussed the law as it applied to charitable trusts and concluded the Baj Rojgar Trusts were charitable trusts. He said:
“Trusts and bequests of lands or money for the purpose of devoting the incomes thereof in perpetuity for the performance of Muktad, Baj, Yejushni and other like ceremonies, are valid ‘charitable’ bequests, and as such exempt from the application of the rule of law forbidding perpetuities.”
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1961036/
Jamshedji Cursetjee Tarachand vs Soonabai and Ors
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