DRUJIH-I-BUJI: SECLUSION OF MENSTRUOUS WOMEN
By Phiroze Masani (Z.A. & M)
(Dini Avaz Sept-Oct.2002)
The Drujih-i-Buji mentioned which in the Khordad Yasht results if proper precaution is not taken at the period of menstrual discharge of a woman. Hence all sins of sexual intercourse e.g. Jeh-marzih, or sin of adultery with a prostitute, Dashtan-mnarzih or sin of intercourse with a menstruous woman, Kun-marzih or sodomy, Avarun-marzashnih or improper sexual excesses, Shoithra-gunah or masturbation or onanism, Rospi and Ropsi-bargih or all kinds of illicit intercourse with other women, Guvah-paiti and Gavah-vanidi or all kinds of sodomy all these enumerated in the Pazend Patit or Expiatory prayer of Dasturan Dastur Adarbad Mahrespand fall under Drujih-i-Buji.
A right knowledge of Drujih-I-Buji and of the ill-effects therefore will save the boys of the age of puberty from the fangs of masturbation, will prevent the young ladies from impairing their private organs during the period of menses, and will stop infant mortality and miscarriage etc., by teaching restraint of sexual excesses to the married couple. Co-habiting after some time of the conception of a child is according to Vendidad XV-8 regarded as an act of Druj-I-Buji. Thus a genuine knowledge of all the rules of Ashoi taught in the Zoroastrian religion puts a stop to many social evils arising out of loose morality which can be controlled only by imparting original knowledge of Ashoi and Drujih.
The mandate for seclusion of mestruated women is based on the Zoroastrian precaution against Drujih-I-Buji. The word Dakhshtavaits in the Avesta literally means having some mark or indication, and hence the word came to mean menstruous. When a young girl comes to the age of puberty, this monthly discharge is natural as the seminal discharges in males. During this period the physical body of the woman has extraordinary sham heat, and the evil magnetism flowing from her at this time is sufficient to annul the power of magnetic aura of a pious man within a certain distance of her. The magnetic flow from a menstruous woman deadens the essential energy of seeds placed before her, and renders them sterile. This fact is expressly stated by Pliny thus, -
On the approach of a woman in this state of menstruation, seeds which are touched by her become sterile, grafts wither away, garden plants are withered up.
In the same way the germs spread in the surrounding atmosphere by the extraordinary evil magnetic condition of a menstruous woman s mind, by a dispersion of their thought-power, cause various diseases also. Such a woman cannot repeat the Avesta manthra and is not allowed even to hear anybody else reciting the manthra, for the magnetic current issuing from her body is sufficient to nullify the Staotic effect of Avesta vibrations.
She has to cleanse her hands and feet and face only with the bull s urine (Av. Gaomaeza), and during the period of menstruous seclusion she cannot touch water for external application. The magnetic current in the bull s urine is powerful in over-powering the microbes in the aura of a menstruous woman, and the Khshaeto-frado in the water multiplies these microbes if water is applied for wash to her physical body. She has to take her food in a lead or iron utensil, and all these simple rules are based on the subtle laws of magnetism.
The menstrual discharge is a necessary condition and is a natural one, for, the function of bearing children which the woman is entrusted with, necessitates this periodic flow. This is a spontaneous Asar-i-Tarikih arising naturally, as in the case of taking food and removing excreta from the body. But as Zoroastrians we have to transmute this Asar-i-Tarikih into Asar-i-Roshnih by observing certain rules of seclusion, prescribed in the Vendidad, of women in menses.
Ervad Marzban Hathiram comments on this practice to a foreign-based modern "moderate" Zoroastrian who attacked seclusion:
"Seclusion does not mean enslavement. Seclusion during menstruation is an essential Zoroastrian practice. If you feel it is way out or wacky you are entitled to that opinion but please remember that it is directly against scriptural evidence and the practice of thousands of years. While modern medicine has invented ways to get rid of the discomfort and physical ailments relating to menstruation, the Z religion and Khshnoom have always warned that it is the spiritual danger which may accrue to the woman, and due to her conducting condition, to others around her, that requires her to abstain from physical activities and spend the time in quiet and inward thinking seclusion. I wonder how that can be termed way out or wacky?"