“The funeral ceremonies among the Parsees provide that, after the signs of death are manifest, the body be washed with warm water, and laid on a clean sheet; two persons hold the hands of the dead person, joining themselves by a paivand of tape. The priests recite certain prayers, after which the body is laid on ground set apart for the purpose in the house. Here it lies for several hours, during which time priests recite alternately certain prayers, while a fire is kept alive with fragrant combustibles near the body. The Nasasâlârs, or corpse-bearers, arrive at the appointed time, when the fire is taken away, and other manthrâ or prayers, which occupy an hour or so, are recited by two priests conjointly, gazing first on the iron bier, and then on the face of the body. A procession is then formed, and the body is carried by the Nasasâlârs only, the others walking in pairs, joining themselves by holding a handkerchief in their hands, several yards distant from the body. The Towers of Silence are removed from the habitations of mankind, sometimes, miles distant, where, after the arrival of the funeral procession, the last obeisance is performed, and the body is carried into the tower, which is called Dukhmâh, the mourners, except the Nasasâlârs, remaining outside. The procession returns after further prayers. The towers are entirely open from above to allow ample sunlight, and to allow the carrion-birds access to the dead.
“From the foregoing it would appear that, with regard to the disposal of the dead, the Parsee system offers advantages, in respect of the revival of the supposed dead persons, over the European system of burial. After real or supposed death, a fire is kept burning near the body, the heat of which would indirectly assist in resuscitating those in a state of suspended animation.
“If a man dies in the afternoon, his body is not carried to the towers till next day, and in that case the fire is kept alive the whole night near the body, two priests alternately reciting manthrâs. Some time is thus allowed to intervene between the supposed death and the disposal of the body in the Towers of Silence. There, too, the body is not laid without Zoroastrian ceremony. But in the system of disposal itself we see another protection, in that the carrion-birds do not touch the body unless they instinctively find evidence of putrefaction. It is a fact that in not a few cases persons have escaped from the dismal and terrible fate of being laid alive in the Towers of Silence. The system of disposal in the tower may appear to non-Zoroastrians repulsive; but neither the system of cremation nor burial will give us back those whom they have once devoured. That the Parsees do not allow those who have returned from the Towers of Silence to intermingle among them is another question. This too, however, has attracted the attention of this small community; and I hear that there is a standing order issued from the trustees of the Parsee Panchayet at Bombay to the Nasasâlârs (the corpse-bearers) to the effect that they would be rewarded if they would give information or bring back any body which had been revived after it had been carried to the Towers of Silence.”
The Parsee custom of using the dog is suggestive. There are numerous cases on record where a dog, following his master to the grave as one of the mourners, has refused to leave the grave; and these have been quoted as a proof of the undying love of the master’s canine friend. May it not be that dogs are gifted, as believed by the Parsees, with another sense denied to most men—the faculty of discerning between real and apparent death? A medical correspondent relates the following:—
“In Austria, in 1870, a man seemed to be dead, and was placed in a coffin. After the usual three days of watching over the supposed corpse, the funeral was commenced; and when the coffin was being carried out of the house, it was noticed that the dog which belonged to the supposed defunct became very cross, and manifested great eagerness toward the coffin, and could not be driven away. Finally, as the coffin was about to be placed in the hearse, the dog attacked the bearers so furiously that they dropped it on the ground; and in the shock the lid was broken off, and the man inside awoke from his lethargic condition, and soon recovered his full consciousness. He was alive and well at last news of him. Dogs might possibly be of use in deciding doubtful cases, where their master was concerned.”
Also the following:—
INTELLIGENCE OF DOGS.
“The postmaster of a village in Moravia ‘died’ in a fit of epilepsy, and was buried three days afterwards in due form. He had a little pet dog which showed great affection towards him, and after the burial the dog remained upon the man’s grave and howled dismally, and would not be driven away. Several times the dog was taken home forcibly, but whenever it could escape it immediately returned. This lasted for a week, and became the talk of the village. About a year afterwards that part of the grave-yard had to be removed owing to an enlargement in building the church, and consequently the grave of the postmaster was opened, and the body was found in such a state and position as to leave no doubt that he had been buried alive, had returned to consciousness, and had died in the grave. The physician who had signed the certificate of death went insane on that account, soon after the discovery was made.”—Premature Burial, p. 109, London ed.