by Jayaram V
Zoroastrian religion does not discriminate between men and women.
Leaving
aside the differences with regard to religious observances and
role responsibilities, both the sexes are treated equally in the
religious texts. Unlike in the Vedic religion there is no preferential
treatment for male children. There is no such argument that male
children are necessary for the deliverance of parents into the
ancestral world. The initiation ceremony, Naujot is performed for both
male and female children. Of the six Immortal Beings created by God, three are feminine
and three are masculine. According to the Bundhahisn, "the sky,
metal, wind, and fire are male, and are never otherwise; the water,
earth, plants, and fish are female, and are never otherwise; the
remaining creation consists of male and female." Both men and
women have equal importance in protecting the sanctity and divinity of
the world. Children are advised to honor both mother and father equally.
Creation of Man and Woman
According to the Zoroastrian theories of creation, both men and
women originated from the seed of Gayomard, the primeval man. When he
was attacked by the evil forces, before passing away, he gave forth
seed. The seed developed into Matro (Mashye) and Matroyao (Mashyane).
They grew up from the earth like a plant united below the waist,
whereby it was difficult to know who was male who was female. Ahura
Mazda separated them from each other and changed them from plant into
the shape of man. To them He said, "You are man, you are the
ancestry of the world, and you are created perfect in devotion by me;
perform devotedly the duty of the law, think good thoughts, speak good
words, do good deeds, and worship no demons!" After receiving
instructions from God they decided to follow His commandments. However
soon they were attacked by the evil forces and their minds were
corrupted. The Bundhahishn narrates the subsequent events in the
following manner.
17. Owing to the gracelessness which they
practiced, the demons became more oppressive, and they themselves
carried on unnatural malice between themselves; they advanced one
against the other, and smote and tore their hair and cheeks.
18. Then the demons shouted out of the darkness
thus: 'You are man; worship the demon! so that your demon of malice
may repose.'
19. Mashye went forth and milked a cow's milk, and
poured it out towards the northern quarter; through that the demons
became more powerful, and owing to them they both became so
dry-backed that in fifty winters they had no desire for intercourse,
and though they had had intercourse they would have had no
children.
20. And on the completion of fifty years the
source of desire arose, first in Mashye and then in Mashyane, for
Mashye said to Mashyane thus: 'When I see thy shame my desires
arise.' Then Mashyane spoke thus: 'Brother Mashye! when I see thy
great desire I am also agitated.'
21. Afterwards, it became their mutual wish that
the satisfaction of their desires should be accomplished, as they
reflected thus: 'Our duty even for those fifty years was this.'
22. From them was born in nine months a pair, male
and female; and owing to tenderness for offspring the mother
devoured one, and the father one. 23. And, afterwards, Ohrmazd took
tenderness for offspring away from them, so that one may nourish a
child, and the child may remain.
Code of conduct for women
Zoroastrian
scriptures suggest that women are prone to the temptations of evil and therefore should be kept under regular
watch. Women are expected to follow the example of Spenta Aramaiti and
cultivate the qualities of love, devotion, sincerity and perfection.
According to Arda Viraf, women who are desirous of going to heaven
should honor water, fire, earth, trees, cattle and sheep and all the
good creations of God. They should perform the religious ceremonies
sincerely and offer prayers and service to God and the spiritual
beings. They should show reverence and obedience to their husbands and
lords and should practice the faith of Mazdayasnians without doubt.
They should practice good thoughts, good words and good actions and
abstain from sin. Adultery and unnatural intercourse are regarded as
sins of heinous kind.
The Denkard classifies women on the basis of their conduct into
four classes: "good as well as bad; not bad, and good; not good,
and bad; and neither good nor bad. From among these any woman who is
not bad and is good should be selected to manage household affairs and
to give happiness and comfort to the master of the house. And to keep
oneself free from unhappiness she who is good and bad ought not to be
obtained; and (men) should positively keep aloof from choosing, from
among the two descriptions of women mentioned above, her who is not
good and is bad, over her who is neither good nor bad."
The Meno-i-Khard describes the best of women as "The woman who
is young, who is properly disposed, who is faithful, who is respected,
who is good-natured, who enlivens the house, whose modesty and awe are
virtuous, a friend of her own father and elders, husband and guardian,
handsome and replete with animation is chief over the women who are
her own associates."
On Treating One's Wife
In Book5, Chapter 18 of the same text, we come across the following
instruction on how to treat married women by their husbands.
- The wife of one's choice who is tied by a marriage ceremony
should always be treated with affection and without niggardliness.
- One should strive to increase progeny by going to her
- She should be made a sharer in the good gained from righteous
deeds.
- A maiden wife should be given good dowry. And a wife who was
previously widow should be given lesser dowry.
- One should maintain physical intimacy and have sexual
intercourse with her several times. No limit is prescribed, but
thrice a month is considered reasonable.
- As far as possible both men and women should avoid second
spouse. Such an act is not considered meritorius.
Advise during Menstruation
Menstruation and childbirth are viewed as a major sources of
pollution in Zoroasrianism. Women are advised to maintain seclusion and avoid
contact with everything. According to the Vendidad, Ahura Mazda himself
gave the following instruction to women as to the question of what they
should do at the time of menstruation. He answered that menstruating
women "shall clear the way of the
wood there, both plants and
trees; they shall strew dry dust on the ground; and they shall isolate
a half, or a third, or a fourth, or a fifth part of the house, lest
her look should fall upon the fire.'
As to the question of how much distance they should maintain with
things and people, he replied that they should stay "'Fifteen
paces from the fire, fifteen paces from the water, fifteen paces from
the consecrated bundles of Baresma and three paces from the faithful. The
women who bring food to such women should maintain a distance of three
paces. The food and drink should be brought to them in vessels of
brass or lead or any metal. If a child touches them during this
period, his body and hands should be washed.
He also prescribed in the
same text the number of day they should remain in seclusion depending
upon how long the condition prevailed. Severe penalties have been
prescribed in the text for men who touch women during this period.
Having intercourse with menstruating women used to attract severe
penalties in the ancient world. In the Arda Viraf there is a
description of a man suffering from an agonizing punishment in hell
for such a sin. The Vendidad ascribes the following instruction to Ahura Mazda Himself, "Whosoever
shall lie in sexual intercourse with a woman who has the whites or
sees blood does no better deed than as if he should burn the corpse of
his own son, born of his own body and dead of naeza, and drop its fat
into the fire."
Laws of Inheritance
The following laws of inheritance are mentioned in Dadestan-i Denig
(Ch.62).
1. As to the sixty-first question and reply, that which you ask is
thus: How stand the shares in the inheritance (mirato) of property
among those of the good religion, and how is it necessary for them to
stand therein?
2. The reply is this, that in the possession of wealth the wealth
reaches higher or lower, just like water when it goes in a stream on a
declivity, but when the passage shall be closed at the bottom it goes
back on the running water (puy-avo), and then it does not go to its
after-course.
3. When there is nothing otherwise in the will and private, property
goes to a wife or daughter who is privileged; if one gives her
anything by will then she does not obtain the share (dash) pertaining
to her.
4. Whenever a share for a son is not provided by it, every one has
so much and the wife who may be a privileged one has twice as much;
and the share of that one of the sons, or even the wife of a son, who
is blind in both eyes, or crippled in both feet, or maimed in both his
hands, is twice as much as that of one who is sound.
5. And it is needful that he who was in the father's guardianship
shall remain in guardianship, as when a father or mother is decrepit
and causing awe (chagarin), or of a nurture different from that of the
guardian -- or a child of his brother or sister, or a father, or one
without nurture apart from him, is without a guardian -- the ready
guardianship of a capable man, and the shelter and nourishment that
have become inadequate are as indispensably forthcoming from the
possessors of wealth, of those who have taken the property, as that
taking was indispensable.
6. If there be no son of that man, but there be a daughter or wife
of his, and if some of the affairs of the man are such as render a
woman not suitable for the guardianship, it is necessary to appoint a
family guardian; if there be, moreover, no wife or daughter of his it
is necessary to appoint an adopted son.
Marriages
Zoroastrian scriptures prohibit inter religious marriages (Denkard
Bk.3). Followers are urged to marry within the religion to ensure the
practice of righteousness without any complications. The texts suggest
to select women who are wise and modest and firmly anchored in the
religion. As for the son-in-laws they should be good natured, honest
and experienced, even though they may be poor (Counsels of Adarbad
Mahraspandan).
Suggested Further Reading
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