Pehlevi, Sanskrit, Guzerati, French, or German. Each Parsi has to pick
up his religion as best he may. Till lately, even the Catechism did
not form a necessary part of a child's religious education. Thus the
religious belief of the present Parsi communities is reduced to two or
three fundamental doctrines; and these, though professedly resting on
the teaching of Zoroaster, receive their real sanction from a much
higher authority. A Parsi believes in one God, to whom he addresses
his prayers. His morality is comprised in these words--pure thoughts,
pure words, pure deeds. Believing in the punishment of vice and the
reward of virtue, he trusts for pardon to the mercy of God. There is a
charm, no doubt, in so short a creed; and if the whole of Zoroaster's
teaching were confined to this, there would be some truth in what his
followers say of their religion--namely, that 'it is for all, and not
for any particular nation.'

If now we ask again, how it is that neither Christians, nor Hindus,
nor Mohammedans have had any considerable success in converting the
Parsis, and why even the more enlightened members of that small
community, though fully aware of the many weak points of their own
theology, and deeply impressed with the excellence of the Christian
religion, morals, and general civilisation, scorn the idea of ever
migrating from the sacred ruins of their ancient faith, we are able to
discover some reasons; though they are hardly sufficient to account
for so extraordinary a fact?

First, the very compactness of the modern Parsi creed accounts for the
tenacity with which the exiles of Western India cling to it. A Parsi
is not troubled with many theological problems or difficulties. Though
he professes a general belief in the sacred writings of Zoroaster, he
is not asked to profess any belief in the stories incidentally
mentioned in the Zend-Avesta. If it is said in the Yasna that
Zoroaster was once visited by Homa, who appeared before him in a
brilliant supernatural body, no doctrine is laid down as to the exact
nature of Homa. It is said that Homa was worshipped by certain ancient
sages, Viva_n_hvat, Athwya, and Thrita, and that, as a reward for
their worship, great heroes were born as their sons. The fourth who
worshipped Homa was Pourusha_s_pa, and he was rewarded by the birth of
his son Zoroaster. Now the truth is, that Homa is the same as the
Sanskrit Soma, well known from the Veda as an intoxicating beverage
used a