Indian Antiquary Vol 08

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 43

JANUARY, 1879.)
CORRESPONDENCE AND MISCELLANEA.
29
é armma, and grandson of Śr 1-Vishn - And by the adorable V yâsa, arranger of the sarmma, of the Kumakayana gotra, versed in Vedas, hath it been said : The earth has been the Rig and Yajur Vedas, together with enjoyed by Sagara and other kings; accordNeigiyûr and Nandi, the village named ing to their [gifts of] land, so was their reward. Sulliy û r, situated in the Pånungal dis- To make a gift oneself is easy ; to maintain trict, on the southern bank of the Aradore another's, that is the difficulty: but of making river, in the midst of the villages of Tâ ma- a gift or maintaining one, the maintaining & ramuge, Panungal, Kiruvalli, and gift is the best. Whoso resumes a gift made Bala vůru.
by himself or by another shall assuredly be This let future kings, whether of our own or born a worm in ordure for sixty thousand of any other race, reflecting that life and wealthyears. are fleeting, preserve as long as sun, moon, By the great minister for peace and war, earth, and ocean endure, as if a gift made by $rimad-Anivårita - Dhananjaya puthemselves, and thus perpetuate their glory. In ya-valla bha was this sásana written.
CORRESPONDENCE AND MISCELLANEA. PÅRST SAGRIS, NASASÅLÅRS, &c.1 oil lamp should pass into the inner part of the To the Editor of the "Indian Antiquary." tower, in the manner described. Attention is SIR, -With reference to the letters of Mr. paid by the officers in charge of the compounds Sorabji Kâvasji Khamb&t& and Professor Monier or enclosures of the Towers of Silence to cutting Williams which appeared in the Indian Antiquary, and pruning the shrubs and the leaves of trees ante, pp. 179 and 227, I beg to communicate to intercepting the passage of light from the Sagri you the result of my personal observation and to the tower. the information obtained from authentic sources. 2. Corpse bearers as a body are divided into
In Bombay, Strat, Naosâri, Puņa, and several two classes, namely, Nasasdldrs and Khandhide. other places inhabited by Parsis, Sagrts are indis- Nasasdldrs are those privileged persons who can pensable adjuncts to the Towers of Silence, and enter the Towers of Silence, but they are as much the objects for which they are constructed are as corpse-bearers as the Khåndhids are. In addition follows :-First, for keeping an oil lamp intended to to their duties as described by Mr. Khambata, they throw its light during the night-time into the inner
relieve the Khandhids at certain intervals on the part of the several Towers of Silence. The Sagris road, and carry the corpse themselves by turns. have holes or apertures so arranged that the light They also carry the dead bodies of infants, and of the lamp goes directly into the inner part of the
little children, independent of the Khåndhids. But tower through a large hole made in the wall of the the Nasasdldrs are better paid than the Khandhids, tower for this special purpose. All the towers,
on account of certain social disadvantages under without a single exception, are provided with such
which they labour. Those disadvantages are holes corresponding to the holes or apertures of
correctly described by the learned Professor in his the Sagris. Secondly, for keeping up the sacred
letter to the London Times. His remarks are fire, which is fed with sandalwood by a priest or a
evidently applicable to the Nasasaldrs, whom he layman, according as the circumstances of the rightly calls bearers, and who are the only different towers allow. In Bombay, for instance, privileged few who can go inside the Towers. where the Parsi inhabitants are comparatively
Notwithstanding the advanced views of some of richer than in the Mufassal, their funds permit them our young men, the Nasasdlárs generally are not to engage the services of a priest who officiates allowed to mix with the rest of the community in in the Sagri, and takes the necessary care of the social gatherings. At public and private dinner sacred fire. In this Sagri, which was constructed parties they are kept aside and served separately. some three or four years ago, the brass vessel In Sarat, Naosári, and other Mufassal towns they (afargán) containing the sacred fire is so ar- are strictly prohibited, according to the tenets of ranged that the light from it passes through the the Zoroastrian religion, from coming in contact apertures of the Sagrt into the inner part of with the rest of the community. the towers, which are provided with large holes, Why the dog is fed with bread is an open as I have stated above. It is not absolutely ne- question, and I am unable to give my opinion on cessary that the light from the fire should way or the other. So far as my information goes, fall on the dead body; but it is desirable, accord- it is a mere custom of long standing, and has ing to the oldest usage, that the light from the no religious significance. The dog is never fod