More Incense Was Burned, And
The Ceremony Concluded, The Merchants Rising And Congratulating
Each Other.
Formerly, when our host was a more wealthy man than, in
consequence of sundry misfortunes, he is at present, he was in the
habit of disbursing Rs.
10,000 in gifts upon this day: everybody that
came to the house receiving something.
The custom of blessing the books, after the Hindu manner, will in all
probability shortly decline among the Parsees, the younger portion
being already of opinion that it is a vain and foolish ceremony,
borrowed from strangers; and, indeed, the elders of the party were
at some pains to convince me that they merely complied with it in
consequence of a stipulation entered into with the Hindus, when
they granted them an asylum, to observe certain forms and ceremonies
connected with their customs, assuring me that they did not place any
reliance upon the favour of the goddess, looking only for the blessing
of God to prosper their undertakings.
This declaration, however, was somewhat in contradiction to one
circumstance, which I omitted to mention, namely, that before the
assembled Parsees rose from the floor, they permitted the officiating
brahmins to mark their foreheads with the symbol of the goddess, thus
virtually admitting her supremacy. The lamps were then lighted, and
we were presented with the usual offering of bouquets of roses,
plentifully bedewed with goolabee panee, or the distilled tears of
the flower, to speak poetically; and having admired the children of
the family, who were brought out in their best dresses and jewels,
took our leave.
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