Parsi Or Zoroastrian Religion - Revision history

Pdewan: /* Parsi Or Zoroastrian Religion */

2014-11-27T15:52:45Z

‎Parsi Or Zoroastrian Religion

Pdewan: /* Sakta, Shakta Sect */

2014-02-13T21:48:42Z

‎Sakta, Shakta Sect

Pdewan: /* Saiva, Shaiva, Sivite Sect */

2014-02-13T21:45:42Z

‎Saiva, Shaiva, Sivite Sect

182.69.14.96 at 10:20, 13 February 2014

2014-02-13T10:20:22Z

Pdewan: Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in
1916 its contents related only ..."

2014-02-12T20:10:00Z

Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%"> This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in<br/>1916 its contents related only ..."

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← Older revision		Revision as of 15:52, 27 November 2014
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	spirit is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would		spirit is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would
	be derogatory to the sacred element fire.		be derogatory to the sacred element fire.
		+
		+	='HC agrees a poor Parsi earns below Rs 90k a myth=
		+
		+	Rosy Sequeira[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com//Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=HC-agrees-a-poor-Parsi-earns-below-Rs-23102014015022 ''The Times of India''] Oct 23 2014
		+	Mumbai:
		+
		+	The Bombay high court has upheld Bombay Parsi Punchayat’s criteria to identify a “poor, needy and deserving Parsi” as one who does not earn more than Rs 90,000 a month or has assets not exceeding Rs 25 lakh. A person not meeting this criteria is not entitled to a flat meant to house the poor, the court said.
		+
		+	While India’s per capita income for 2013-14 was Rs 74,380, only those spending below Rs 816month in rural areas and Rs 1,000month in urban areas came below the poverty line.
		+
		+	The HC recently dismissed Dahanu resident Rohinton Taraporewala’s plea against the non-allotment of a flat in a community housing scheme at Panthaki Baug, Andheri. His petition said in Vangaon, where he resides, there are very basic hospital facilities.
		+
		+	Also, he said he preferred to be in Mumbai as he had high blood pressure, heart and prostate problems and diabetes while his wife suffered from depression and anxiety. The punchayat countered him, saying he was “adequately housed” in a twostorey, 2,000-square-foot bungalow, was not a resident of Mumbai and “on his own showing lived at Dahanu, close to the Gujarat border”.
		+
		+	Further, it pointed out that Taraporewala’s son and daughter were settled in the UK and the US with their families.
		+
		+	The trustees said they had adopted the criteria after the high court in October 2009 allowed them to sell flats in two buildings on an ownership basis. Also, that preference was to be given to those who wanted to settle down after marriage.
		+
		+	In their order, a division bench of Justices S J Vazifdar and Revati Mohiti Dere noted that Taraporewala had an income far in excess of Rs 90,000 as well as assets worth a lot more than Rs 25 lakh. They said his application form for allotment of a flat itself discloses that he owns 17 acres of land outside Mumbai, which he has valued at Rs 51 lakh. “It is, in fact, doubtful if the land is worth only Rs 51 lakh. The fact that it is ancestral land makes no difference. The petitioner admittedly owns the same,’’ the judges wrote.
		+
		+	They also noted that Taraporewala’s income-tax returns indicated a net income of over Rs 11 lakh for 2008-09.
		+
		+	“The petitioner is, therefore, neither poor nor needy nor deserving for the allotment of a flat. The petitioner, therefore, is not entitled to an allotment as per the criteria,” the court ruled.
		+
		+	The judges declined to hear Taraporewalla’s challenge to the trustees’ decision to reserve 26 flats as a transit accommodation for the poor, needy and deserving Parsis whose flats are undergoing repairs. “Even assuming that the same is contrary to an order of the division bench of this court, we are not inclined to exercise our writ jurisdiction at the instance of the petitioner, who admittedly does not fulfill the criteria of a poor, needy and deserving Parsi,’’ the judges concluded.

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:48, 13 February 2014
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	spirit is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would		spirit is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would
	be derogatory to the sacred element fire.		be derogatory to the sacred element fire.
−
−
−	~~==Sakta, Shakta Sect==~~
−	~~The name of a Hindu sect, whose members worship the female principle of energy, which is the counterpart of the god Siva. The metaphysical ideas of Saktism are thus described by Sir Edward Gait : '^~~
−
−
−	~~" Saktism is based on the worship of the active producing~~
−	~~principle, Prakriti, as manifested in one or other of the~~
−	~~goddess wives of Siva (Durga, Kali, Parvati) the female~~
−	~~energy or Sakti of the primordial male, Purusha or Siva.~~
−	~~In this cult the various forces of nature are deified under separate personalities, which are known as the divine mothers~~
−	^ Dr. Bhattacharya's Hindu Castes ^ Mr. Marten's C. P. Census Report, and Sects, p. 371. 191 1. ^ See articles Kunihar, Thug and Sakta sect. " India Census Report (1901), p. •* See art. Sakta Sect. 360.
−	~~/.V-;;.'^,..i^, CoUo., Derby.~~
−	~~[[File: parsi1.png\| \|frame\|500px]]~~
−
−
−
−	~~or Matrigan. The ritual to be observed, the sacrifices to be offered, and the mantras or magic texts to be uttered, in~~
−	order to secure the efficacy of the worship and to procure the fulfihnent of the worshipper's desire, are laid down in a series of religious writings known as Tantras. The cult is supposed to have originated in East Bengal or Assam
−	~~about the fifth century."~~
−	~~Dr. Bhattacharya states ' that the practical essence of~~
−	~~the Sakta cult is the worship of the female organ of genera- tion.~~
−
−	~~According to a text of the Tantras the best form of Sakti worship is to adore a naked woman, and it is said that some Tantrics actually perform their daily worship in~~
−	~~their private chapels by placing before them such a woman. A triangular plate of brass or copper may be taken as a substitute, and such plates are usually kept in the houses~~
−	~~of Tantric Brahmans. In the absence of a plate of the proper shape a triangle may be painted on a copper dish.~~
−	~~In public the veneration of the Saktas is paid to the goddess Kali. She is represented as a woman with four arms. In~~
−	~~one hand she has a weapon,~~
−
−	~~in a second the hand of the~~
−	~~giant she has slain, and with the two others she is en-~~
−	~~couraging her worshippers. For earrings she has two dead~~
−	~~bodies, she wears a necklace of skulls, and her only clothing is a garland made of men's skulls. In the Kalika Puran ' the immolation of human beings is recommended, and~~
−	numerous animals are catalogued as suitable for sacrifice. At the present time pigeons, goats, and more rarely buffaloes, are the usual victims at the shrine of the goddess. The ceremony commences with the adoration of the sacrificial axe ; various mantras are recited, and the animal is then decapitated at one stroke.
−
−	~~As soon as the head falls to the ground the votaries rush forward and smear their fore- heads with the blood of the victim. It is of the utmost importance that the ceremony should pass off without any~~
−	~~hitch or misadventure,^ and special services are held to supplicate the goddess to permit of this. If in spite of them the executioner fails to sever the head of the animal~~
−	~~^ Hindu Castes and Sects (Thacker, Report. Spink & Co., Calcutta), pp. 407-413. ^ Hindu Castes and Sects. ^ Sir E. Gait's note, India Census VOL. I X~~
−
−	~~at one stroke, it is thought that the goddess is angry and that some great calamity will befall the family in the next~~
−	~~year. If a death should occur within the period, they~~
−	~~attribute it to the miscarriage of the sacrifice, that is to the animal not having been killed with a single blow. If any such misfortune should happen.~~
−
−	~~Dr. Bhattacharya states, the~~
−	family generally determine never to offer animal sacrifices again ; and in this way the slaughter of animals, as part of the religious ceremony in private houses, is becoming more and more rare. If a goat is sacrificed, the head is placed before the goddess and the flesh cooked and served to the
−	~~invited guests ; but in the case of a buffalo, as respectable~~
−	~~Hindus do not eat the flesh of this animal, it is given to the low -caste musicians employed for the occasion. Wine is~~
−	~~also offered to the goddess, and after being consecrated is~~
−	~~sprinkled on every kind of uncooked food brought before~~
−	~~her. But the worshipper and his family often drink only a few drops. The Saktas are divided into the Dakshina- charis and Bamacharis, or followers of the right- and left- handed paths respectively.~~
−
−	~~The Dakshinacharis have largely abandoned animal sacrifices, and many of them substitute~~
−	red flowers or red sandalwood as offerings, to represent blood. An account of those Bamacharis who carry sexual practices to extreme lengths, has been given in the article on Vam-Margi. The sect -mark of the Saktas is three horizontal lines on the forehead made with a mixture of charcoal and butter. Some of them have a single vertical
−	line of charcoal or sandalwood. In the Central Provinces Sakta is a general term for a Hindu who eats meat, as opposed to the VaTshnavas and Kablrpanthis, who abjure it. The animals eaten are goats and chickens, and they are
−	~~usually sacrificed to the goddess Devi prior to being con- sumed by the worshippers.~~
−	^

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:45, 13 February 2014
Line 360:		Line 360:
	spirit is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would		spirit is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would
	be derogatory to the sacred element fire.		be derogatory to the sacred element fire.
−
−
−	~~==Saiva, Shaiva, Sivite Sect==~~
−	~~The name given to Hindus who venerate Siva as their special god. Siva, whose name signifies ' The Propitious,' is held to have succeeded to the~~
−	~~Vedic god Rudra, apparently a storm-god. Siva is a highly~~
−	~~composite deity, having the double attributes of destroyer and creator of new life. His heaven, Kailas, is in the Hima- layas according to popular belief. He carries the moon on~~
−	his forehead, and from the central one of his three eyes the lightning flashes forth. He has a necklace of skulls, and snakes are intertwined round his waist and arms. And he has long matted hair {j'ata), from which the Ganges flows.
−	~~It seems likely that the matted locks of the god represent the snow on the Himalayas, as the snow is in reality the source of the Ganges ; the snow falling through the air and~~
−	~~covering the peaks of the mountains might well suggest the~~
−	~~hair of a mountain-god ; and this interpretation seems to be~~
−	~~accepted in Mr. Bain's In the Great God's Hair. Siva has thus three components from which the idea of death might be derived :~~
−
−
−	~~First, his residence on the Himalaya mountains,~~
−	the barren, lifeless region of ice and snow, and the cause of death to many pilgrims and travellers who ventured into it. Secondly, he is the god of the moon, and hence of darkness and night, which are always associated with death. In this
−	light he might well be opposed to Vishnu, the god of the sun and day, and the source of growth and life ; their association as the two supreme deities representing the preservation and destruction of life, would thus, to some extent, correspond to the conflict of good and bad deities representing light and darkness among the Zoroastrians. Thirdly, Siva is a snake- god, and the sudden death dealt out by the poisonous snake has always excited the greatest awe among primitive people. The cobra is widely revered in India, and it is probably this snake which is associated with the god. In addition the
−	lightning, a swift, death-dealing power, is ascribed to Siva, and this may have been one of his earliest attributes, as it was probably associated with his Vedic prototype Rudra. Whether Siva obtained his character as a god of destruc-
−	~~' liombay Gazetteer, Parsis of Gujarat, pp. 205, 207, 219, 220.~~
−	~~Beinrose, Collo., Derby~~
−	~~[[File: parsi.png\| \|frame\|500px]]~~
−
−
−
−	~~tion from one only of the above associations, or from a combination of them, is probably not known. Two great~~
−	forces lend the deity his character of a god of reproduction, the bull and the phallic emblem. The bull tills the soil and renders it fertile and capable of bringing forth the crops which form the sustenance of mankind ; while the phallic emblem is worshipped as the instrument of generation. It
−	~~is believed that there is a natural tendency to associate these~~
−	~~two objects, and to ascribe to the bull the capacity of induc- ing human fertility as well as the increase of the earth.~~
−
−	It
−	~~is in these two attributes that Siva is worshipped in the rural tract ; he is represented by the emblem referred to standing~~
−	on a circular grooved stone, which is the yoni, and in front of him is a stone bull. And he is revered almost solely as a beneficent deity under the name of Mahadeo or the Great God. Thus his dual qualities of destruction and reproduction appear to be produced by the combination in him of different objects
−	~~of worship ; the Himalayas, the moon, the cobra and the lightning on the one hand, and the bull and the emblem of~~
−	~~regeneration on the other. Other interesting characteristics of Siva are that he is the first and greatest of ascetics and~~
−	~~that he is immoderately addicted to the intoxicating drugs gdnja and bhang, the preparations of Indian hemp.~~
−
−	It may be supposed that the god was given his character as an ascetic in order to extend divine sanction and example to the practice of asceticism when it came into favour. And the drugs,^ first revered themselves for their intoxicating properties, were after- wards perpetuated in a sacred character by being associated with the god. Siva's throat is blue, and it is sometimes said that this is on account of his immoderate consumption of bhang. The nilkanth or blue-jay, which was probably vene- rated for its striking plumage, and is considered to be a bird of very good omen, has become Siva's bird because its blue
−	throat resembles his. His principal sacred tree is the bel tree,"^ which has trifoliate leaves, and may have been held sacred on this account. The practice of Sati or the self- immolation of widows has also been given divine authority by the story that Sati was Siva's first wife, and that she committed suicide because she and her husband were not
−	~~1 See also article on Kalar. ^ Aegle marmelos.~~
−
−	~~invited to Daksha's sacrifice.^ Siva's famous consort is the multiform Devi, Kali or Parvati, of whom some notice is given elsewhere.^~~
−
−	~~The cult of Siva has produced the important Sakta sect, who, however, venerate more especially~~
−	~~the female principle of energy as exemplified in his consort.^~~
−	Another great sect of southern India, the Lingayats, worship him in the character of the lingavi or phallic emblem, and are noticeable as being a Sivite sect who have abolished caste. The Sivite orders of Gosains or Dasnamis and Jogis also constitute an important feature of Hinduism.
−
−	~~All these are separately described. Apart from them the Hindus who~~
−	~~call themselves Saivas because they principally venerate~~
−	~~Siva, do not appear to have any very special characteristics, nor to be markedly distinguished from the Vaishnavas. They~~
−	~~abstain from the consumption of flesh and liquor, and think~~
−	~~it objectionable to take life.~~
−
−	~~Their offerings to the god~~
−	~~consist of flowers, the leaves of the bel tree which is sacred~~
−	~~to him, and ripe ears of corn, these last being perhaps intended especially for the divine bull. The sect-mark of~~
−	~~the Saivas consists of three curved lines horizontally drawn~~
−	~~across the forehead, which are said to represent the tirsul or trident of the god. A half-moon may also be drawn. The mark is made with Ganges clay, sandalwood, or cowdung~~
−	~~cakes, these last being considered to represent the dis-~~
−	~~integrating force of the deity.''~~