One of the most solemn ceremonials enjoined by the religion promulgated by Zoroaster is the performance of certain religious ceremonies during the Muktad days. The Muktad days are otherwise known as Dosla or Farvardgan days. These Farvardgan days are days that are sacred to the Furohurs.
Before proceeding with the consideration of the ceremonies themselves, it is very necessary to have clear conception of what the Furohurs are, according to the Zoroastrian scriptures.
The Furohurs are constantly referred to in the Sacred Books of the Zoroastrians, and are the same as Fravashis. “Furohur” is the modern Persian name. Fravashi is the corresponding Avestaic name. In Limbuwalla’s case 11 B. 441, at page 446, Mr. Justice Jardine says:
According to Dr. Haug these Furohurs were originally the departed souls of ancestors, comparable to the pitras of the Brahmins and the manes of the Romans. Now they are regarded as Guardian Angels, each being of the good creation having one.
That this is an error is shown in the case both by the oral evidence of the witnesses examined before me as well as by copious quotations from the original scriptures. The same error that Dr. Haug commits is also committed by Professor Darmesteter, who in his Introduction to the Farvardin Yast, says: The Fravashi is the inner power of every being that maintains it and makes it grow and subsist. Originally the Fravashis wore the same as the Pitris of the Hindus or the Manes of the Latins, that is, to say, the everlasting and deified souls of the dead.
All the three witnesses in this case are profound scholars of the Zoroastrian scriptures, whose opinions are entitled to far greater weight, agree in saying that what is stated above by Professor Darmesteter and Dr. Haug is erroneous, and they have quoted passages from the original scriptures in support of their views.
Dastur Darab in his evidence says:
In his introduction to the Farvardin Yast, Professor Darmesteter says that the Fravashis were originally the same as the Pitris of the Hindoos or Manes of the Latins. This, according to my opinion, is incorrect; it is merely the conjecture of Professor Darmesteter. According to the Avesta the idea of Fravashis is that they are spiritual Existences which were brought into being by the Almighty before he created the Universe. They came into being before all material creation, every man born or unborn has a Fravashi of his own, according to the Avesta.
After the birth of the man or woman his or her Fravashi watches over his actions and guides him to the right path. The Fravashi protects him or her from all evil. After death the Fravashi goes to heaven, and the soul, according to his deeds, goes to heaven or hell as it deserves. According to Zoroastrianism the Fravashi is not responsible for the man’s good or bad actions. The soul is responsible for all acts committed in life. Inanimate objects have their Fravashis too. The Fravashi aids both animate and inanimate objects–animate objects in their moral and physical development, inanimate objects in their growth, and development.
Furohurs are not souls of dead. They are totally different Entities. Souls of the dead are known as Ravan. Ravan is the Persian word for the souls of the dead. The Avestaic word for the soul of the dead is Uravan.
Ervad Jivanji Mody confirms this. He says: The Fravashis are quite distinct from the souls of the dead or from the souls of the living. Fravashis and souls are not identical in any respect the souls and Furohur are two distinct Entities. That appears from various parts of the Zoroastrian scriptures.
He then points out several passages, which are put in and marked Exhibits Nos. 22, 23 and 24 in support of his statement, and then goes on to say:
There are similar passages in various religious books making similar distinctions between the soul (Ravan) and Furohur. A human being is said to possess both soul and Furohur. The function of the Furohur during a human being’s life is to guide the soul in paths of virtue. After a man’s death the soul meets with the consequences of its actions in the world. The Furohur mixes with the other Furohurs of the world or goes to its abode in Heaven
Ervad Sheriarji Bharucha, who followed Mr. Jivanji Mody, confirmed the views, that the view of the total distinction between the soul and the Fravashi of a human being is absolutely correct appears from the following original scriptural passages placed before the Court: And (having invoked them) hither, we worship the spirit and conscience, the intelligence and souls and Fravashi of those holy men and women who early heard the lore and Commands of God. (Yasna Ch. 26, para. 4, “Sacred Books of the East,” Vol. 31, page 278, Exhibit No. 18.)
We present hereby and we make known, as our offering to the bountiful Gathas which Rule (as the leading chants within the appointed times and seasons of the Ritual, all our landed riches, and our persons, together with our very bones and tissues, our form and forces, our consciousness, our Soul and Fravashis. (Yasna Ch. Iv, para. 1, “Sacred Books of the East,” Vol. 31, page 294, Exhibit No. 22.)
Yea, I desire to approach the Fravashis of the Saints with my praise, redoubted (as they are) and overwhelming, the Fravashis of those who held to the ancient lore, and Fravashis of the next-of-kin; and I desire to approach towards the Fravashi of mine own Soul in my worship with my praise.
(Yasna Ch. xxiii, para. 4, “Sacred Books of the East,” Vol. 31, page 273, Exhibit No. 23.)
All pure Heavenly Yazatas we praise–all earthly Yazatas we praise–we praise our own Souls–We praise our own Fravashi. Come hither to help me, O Mazda. The good, strong, holy Fravashis of the pure we praise.
(Khorsed Nyaz–Speigel’s “Avesta” volume iii, p. 7, Exhibit No. 24.)
These are not by any means the only or solitary passages in the holy writings showing that the soul is entirely different and distinct from the Furohur. Ahara Mazda Himself, the Creator of the Universe, has a Fravashi of his own.
In Chapter 26 of the Yasna, paragraph 2, we find this passage:
And of all these prior Fravashis, we worship here the Fravashi of Ahura Mazda, which is the greatest and the best, the most beautiful and the firmest, the most wise and the best in form, and the one that attains the most its ends because of Righteousness.” (“Sacred Books of the East,” Vol. 31, page 278.)
Paragraphs 85 and 86, Chapter 24 of the Farvardin Yast (Exhibit No. 2) (“Sacred Books of the East,” Vol. 23, page 200) shows that not only are there Fravashis of human beings, but there are Fravashis of the Holy Creation and of inanimate objects, such as fire, water, sky, plants, the earth, etc.
By far the best description of what is the true conception of the Zoroastrian religion regarding Furohurs that I have come across is contained in Naib Dastur Rustomji Peshotan Sanjana’s very learned book “Zarathustra and Zarathustrianism in the Avesta,” at page 242.
He says there: Before proceeding further it would be useful to Bay a few words about the signification of the term Fravashi that so often occurs in our sacred writings. The word is derived from Fra–forward, and varied, or vakhsh–to grow, to increase, to advance or to cause prosperity.
Fravashi is then, that animating power in a being which causes growth, increase, advancement or prosperity. The Avesta tells us that all beings including Ahura Mazda Himself, have got their own Fravashis. The earth, the fire, the sky, the water, the plant, the animal, the Blessed Shrosh, the truest Rashna, Mithra, Mathra-Sapenta, and all other things, either material or immaterial, have been endowed with that power which tends to preserve and promote their well-being.
Man also possesses it…. The Fravashis of living holy men are more powerful than those of the departed. From the former the world derives benefit directly, whereas from the latter only indirectly through their good example and influence…. It is through the Holy Fravasnis that the earth, the water, the plant, the animal, and all other things, both animate and inanimate, are preserved and promoted in this world.
Professor Darmesteter seems to suggest that the conception of Furohurs as given in the above passages is a conception of a later date, for in his introduction to the Farvardin Yast, after saying that the Furohurs are the same as the Pitris of the Hindus and Manes of the Latins, he goes on to say:
In course of time they found a wider domain and not only men but goods and even physical objects, like the sky and the earth etc., had each a Fravashi.
There is only one remark to be made in connection with the opinion of Professor Darmesteter about this conception of Fravashis having come into existence in later times and that is that it is entirely contradicted by the original scriptures from which I have quoted passages above. The witnesses in this case who aver emphatically that this opinion is erroneous and that the souls of the dead and the Furohurs are totally different and distinct and have nothing in common, are supported by original scriptural texts. Para, 76 of the Farvardin Yast (“Sacred Books of the East,” Vol. 23, p. 198) proves that the Fravashis were brought into being and were already in existence before the Almighty created this world. The para runs:
They are the most effective amongst the creatures of the two Spirits, they the good, strong, beneficent Fravashis of the faithful, who stood holding fast when the two Spirits created the world, the good Spirit and the evil one.