[To those not very familiar with blogs, one word of advice. In blogs, the posts run in reverse order; chronologically, the current post is first, the first post is at the bottom, (see the Archives on the left). It is necessary to point this because, as far as this blog is concerned, the contents will be better understood by reading the 'end' post first (which is the first/earliest post!), then the next post above the post read; please read in 'reverse' order.]
From the previous verses, and now here, from the verses below, we get the impression that Zarathustra was aware of people who had drifted away from God, who, realizing they are in error, want to mend their ways. The Prophet is most concerned to bring around a change of heart. But he is also very forthright with those who cling to narrow religious perceptions and those who shamelessly espouse wrong and deceitful ways.
The Ahunavaity Gatha: Yasna 32, Verses 1 to 16
Unto Him doth pray those full of self knowledge,
unto Him pray the community and the fellowship,
even the Daevas* do so in the same spirit,
pray unto Ahura Mazda for supreme bliss;
but may we be Thy messengers,
to repel them that are Your lying foes!
*Daevas-beings who ally with the Iranian satan Anghra Mainyu, opposed to the Lord Wisdom-Ahura Mazda. (not to be confused with the Indian Devas-some scholars suggest that on account of a schism between the Iranians and Indians, both used these terms, Ahura (Asura, in India) and Devas with opposing meanings!)
Unto these Mazda Ahura,
infused with His Pure Mind,
through His Sovereign Power did reply,
"With resplendent Righteousness close to
Holy Devotion, we have chosen for you,
for your flourishing, may it all be yours!"
But O ye Daevas, evil ones,
ye are the off spring of falsity,
as also those who hold you in great reverence;
from Untruth and self arrogance
have sprung your cheating actions,
you are ill famed in all regions of the world!
Thus you have with your perversions confounded,
men who then do the worst,
these are beloved of Daevas;
they are far from Truth and Love,
far from the Wise Lord,
they have strayed from Righteousness.
Thus these liars do defraud man,
from Perfection and Immortality, (they are led far)
through false thoughts you,
O Daevas, ever the false spirit that leads astray,
with your words you deceive yourselves,
you have promised false victory to your lying followers!
These sinners hardened with false success,
these great offenders may receive fame,
but, O Ahura, that sees all,
is aware of their true worth through His Mind Supreme;
for truly, O Mazda, under Thy Rule,
surely Right shalt be honored when Thy Truth prevails!
Among these sinners,
they understand nothing about their end,
none know of the destruction of evil
by the flow of glowing metal*;
Thou, O Ahura, of such things,
Thou best knowest the final end, O Mazda!
*there is a fiery test of glowing metal, when poured over the righteous shall seem as
warm milk, but shall burn forever on the unrighteous person.
One such amongst sinners
was indeed Yima*, son of Vivanhant,
who in his desire to make mankind happy
gratified himself as a god falsely;
from all such may I be reckoned apart
at Thine Final Judgement, O Mazda!
(*Yima, an early king of the Iranians, was, at first a kind and just ruler. He built the enclosure for all creatures as per God's commandments, to withstand the great flood. Later, he got arrogant and believed himself immortal and fell from God's grace. Yima is the Indian Yama, god of death; but such parallels are many between the Indians and Iranians who once shared the Asian steppes and shared common tales.)
The False Teacher distorts the Scriptures false,
he indeed through his teaching distorts the plan of Life,
he removes from us the realization of Your Pure Self;
with these deeply felt feelings from my spirit,
O Mazda, I cry out to Thee,
and to the Spirit of Truth.
Such person assuredly destroys the Scriptures,
he condemns as an evil deed,
seeing this living creation with plain eyes;
he leads the good astray to untruth,
he thus poisons the spiritual world,
and hurls weapons towards the righteous.
These indeed corrupt the course of life,
they, with their false notions of grandeur,
regard the Corrupt
as great ladies and great lords;
they hinder the attainment of our goal,
O Mazda, they are unceasing in turning the mind. (of the righteous)
Through these false teachings,
they turn mortals away from doing good deeds,
for these Mazda has assured retribution;
they turn the good life by their deceitful speech,
placing wickedness above truth and right,
they are power hungry scramblers after the Lie!
What power these evil doers hope to win,
they dwell in the abode of the worst thoughts,
they wantonly destroy their own inner life;
straying away from the message of Thy Prophet,
they shall never see the vision of Truth!
To waylay him (the good folk) the evil doers,
and likewise the princes make great effort,
with their minds and energies since old;
they have approached the deceivers for help,
their intoxicating drinks waste their wisdom,
and desolate the living world.
These indeed are brought to naught,
these wicked karapans and kavis (priests and rulers)
no longer shall rule the righteous;
with Perfection and Immortality the righteous
will be carried over by these two,
into the realms of the Pure Mind!
The Best Abode is indeed the state of excellence,
it is the wise teaching for all to follow;
Thine power, O Mazda Ahura, shall restrain
those whose designs are menacing,
the followers of deceit shall be hindered
by my teachings to the devoted.
a popular stylised picture of the Prophet.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Zarathustra's message to humanity-5
[To those not very familiar with blogs, one word of advice. In blogs, the posts run in reverse order, the first post is actually placed at the bottom, (see the Archives on the left). It is necessary to point this because, as far as this blog is concerned, the contents will be better understood by reading the 'end' post first (which is the first/earliest post!), then the next post above the post read; please read in 'reverse' order.]
The Ahunavaity Gatha-Yasna 31: Verses 1 to 22
The preaching continues, with great emphasis on choice.
Taking heed of Thine two principles,
do we proclaim this message hitherto not revealed,
to those who are deluded by Evil,
who thereby corrupt the world of Truth;
doubtless, this is all best for those
who have offered up their hearts to Mazda!
Verily, it is not a clear choice,
the better path is not clear in sight,
thus I have come to you all,
as Teacher whom Ahura has chosen;
whom Mazda has sent to be amidst the two parties,(amidst the whole world)
so we may all live in accord with Righteousness.
(Zarathustra proclaims righteousness, and the right path, for all to follow, are goals not easy to visualize. Doubtless, good folk would follow right with all their hearts; but he is most concerned that those under delusion be also convinced to give up their ways, and all humanity live in accord with good.
In Zarathustra's message from Ahura Mazda, there is no bias towards the 'wicked,' as these surely can reject all that is bad and live harmoniously. He again declares he is the Teacher chosen by God to preach to all humanity.)
What Thou bestows through Thy Spirit and Fire,
the bliss through Righteous living promised to both parties;
and Thine Law is for the discerning wise,
O Mazda, declare this for our enlightenment,
from Thine own mouth, with words declare,
so that I will convert all the living!
If Righteousness is invoked,
together with Wisdom Lord of Lords,
together with Holy Devotion;
then through the Pure Mind shall I seek,
the Mighty Kingdom for ourselves,
through all these increases may we vanquish Untruth.
(above: look at his thoughts-vanquish untruth, not by 'destroying' these, but by increase in good thinking!)
That I may decide, reveal to me,
what through Righteousness thou hast ordained for me,
the better path for me to follow;
declare through Pure Mind that I may know,
and feel blessed for whatever good befalls me,
all these from Ahura Mazda, whether I receive (these) or not!
(To the reader who might be mystified by all the repeated stress on righteousness, wisdom, pure mind, the gap between the good and wicked folk, one must remember, where any repetition seems unnecessary , it's possible his listeners and disciples picked up everything Zarathustra said to various groups-thus some repetition.
But a closer look will show the subtle differences in his various verses. It might need to read verses more then once and then note the ever so subtle difference in what he is trying to convey.
It must also be remembered Zarathustra speaks from a time when writing for his people was not available, his utterances remained in dialect verbal form for several centuries before being committed to writing. Besides, he speaks to a world where, in all civilizations at that time, the upper class were deluded that, with their elaborate rituals and sacrifices, a heavenly afterlife was assured.
Against such heavy opposition, proclaiming a new unheard set of ideas, where righteousness, pure mentality and love, devotion and wisdom etc, are qualities that will enrich people, that total rejection of bad and evil is neccessary, you must imagine the great effort Zarathustra has to put in, to literary 'drill' these new ideas into people.
This is 1500 B.C. with people more concerned with finding pastures or new regions after a realisation this is a vast unexplored world, and fighting off invasions and local marauders. Not to count out false teachers and cheats bent on hoodwinking people with mindless rituals.
In this situation a prophet comes along, has to use very persuasive means (but fully non-violent) to tell people how to go about life the right way! Imagine, just the belief in One God, must have puzzled and confounded most people!)
[Readers are so conditioned to comprehending God as a shadow of our human attitudes-an angry and wrathful God, a God who wants to test you by asking for the impossible, like the Jewish Abraham asked to sacrifice his own son-that here, the Zoroastrian God, incapable of all these human frailties-He is simply Pure and totally devoid of any negative nature-will seem new to readers.]
Here is the same assurance from Zarathustra, with subtly different implication:
The best shall he, the wise person, gather,
who shall spread the Truth-
the Holy Word leads to Perfection
and to Immortality, the eternal good,
to the Kingdom of Mazda,
that through Love shalt increase in him!
Here again, in the verse below, Zarathustra stresses all this is new, for a mind that has remained 'stagnant' so far!:
Who through His Holy Word first proclaimed,
His Light shall reach through all heavenly lights,
He Himself is the Wise Creator of eternal law(!),
through which He upholds the pure minded;
that Light do Thou shine upon our spirit,
which, O Lord, has remained* the same this far.
*remained- meaning our spirit, ie our selves have not received such enlightenment before.
(from above string of thought continues below: 'since Thou wilt shine Your Light upon us,' then:)
Then I will comprehend Thee as the First
and ever, O Mazda, as the now forever* in my mind,
the Father of Love;
so that I might fully behold Thee in my eye,
as the true Creator of Righteousness,
the Judge Sovereign over the actions of all the living!
*now forever: the first, the present and future in all creation.
Thou art Holy Devotion,
Thine, too, is this creation of the living world,
through the wisdom of Thy Spirit, O Ahura Mazda;
for You have given the choice,
to seek the One who will shelter,
or, deluded, follow (the false protector)who offers none.
From these two, let one choose
for shelter, the good shepherd for oneself,
a Master who promotes Truth,
who promotes Good Will;
never, O Mazda, may the false deceiver
partake of the Holy Message, even though outwardly pious.
Since, O Mazda, Thou did create from the beginning,
Thou did create physical body and soul,
and power to think through Thine own Mind;
since Thou placed life in this encaged flesh,
You bestowed the power to decide and the words to use,
so make the choice through free will!
Thus, when each one lifts his voice,
whether one of false words or one of wise speech,
whether knowledgeable or ignorant,
with the heart or with the mind;
Holy Devotion stands with him
who asks with doubt of the two paths.
Now whether doubts are in the open,
or expressed secretly, O Mazda, Devotion (these)resolves;
or when for a petty misdeed
one is given the highest punishment,
all this discerning through Thy resplendent eye,
Thou never fail to observe with pure righteousness.
These do I ask of Thee, O Ahura,
how indeed has all this come to pass,
and how shall it be all in the future(?)
what silent yearnings are heard
in the Book of Life, of the righteous,
and what, O Mazda, how will the reckoning be made of the false ones?
I ask, O Mazda, what reckoning awaits him
who advances the power of the false ones,
of the evil doers, O Ahura?
who find no other goal in life,
but to separate the good Shepherd,
the loved ones, from others in the multitude.
This I ask, if any man indeed
of good judgement, yearns for Thy Kingdom
to dwell in the homes, the province, the nation,
who strives for the increase of Righteousness,
then, O Mazda Ahura, how wilt Thou receive him,
how does he deserve this, and through what deeds?
Which of the two paths the righteous ones
or the unrighteous chose as the better one?
let the enlightened reveal this to the wise (listener)
the ignorant will not lead us astray, never;
O Mazda Ahura, be Thou unto us,
one who leads us to realms of Pure Mind.
Let not anyone give to the False One,
to his words and to his teachings countenance,
because the homes and the towns,
the province and the country, does he hurl,
into torment and even into death;
so stand against these with your spiritual armour.
Who turns his ears to, and becomes righteous,
to his soul is revealed the knowledge of wisdom,
with his tongue, for all of the true doctrine,
does he reveal with eloquent words;
through Thy radiant Fire, O Mazda,
Thou wilt assign the destinies of the two sides.
Who follows the Righteous Teacher,
the Light shall be his abode evermore;
but long ages of darkness,
with dimmed light and words of woe,
the wicked shall indeed be lead to,
their own selves shall convey them there, through their own deeds!
For Zarathustra, the gift of heaven is not just a heavenly abode, but much more:
(Now) Mazda Ahura shall grant
Perfection and Immortality,
out of His abundance Righteousness also,
through His Self infuse Power of the Kingdom,
and Pure Mind through His desire to give (all this),
to one who is steadfast to Him in spirit and actions!
Clear are these teachings to those rich in wisdom,
and to him who realizes in his mind
such persons work with His Power,
and glorify Righteousness with word and deed,
such indeed, O Mazda Ahura, are on Thy side
the most potent helpers are these surely!
The Ahunavaity Gatha-Yasna 31: Verses 1 to 22
The preaching continues, with great emphasis on choice.
Taking heed of Thine two principles,
do we proclaim this message hitherto not revealed,
to those who are deluded by Evil,
who thereby corrupt the world of Truth;
doubtless, this is all best for those
who have offered up their hearts to Mazda!
Verily, it is not a clear choice,
the better path is not clear in sight,
thus I have come to you all,
as Teacher whom Ahura has chosen;
whom Mazda has sent to be amidst the two parties,(amidst the whole world)
so we may all live in accord with Righteousness.
(Zarathustra proclaims righteousness, and the right path, for all to follow, are goals not easy to visualize. Doubtless, good folk would follow right with all their hearts; but he is most concerned that those under delusion be also convinced to give up their ways, and all humanity live in accord with good.
In Zarathustra's message from Ahura Mazda, there is no bias towards the 'wicked,' as these surely can reject all that is bad and live harmoniously. He again declares he is the Teacher chosen by God to preach to all humanity.)
What Thou bestows through Thy Spirit and Fire,
the bliss through Righteous living promised to both parties;
and Thine Law is for the discerning wise,
O Mazda, declare this for our enlightenment,
from Thine own mouth, with words declare,
so that I will convert all the living!
If Righteousness is invoked,
together with Wisdom Lord of Lords,
together with Holy Devotion;
then through the Pure Mind shall I seek,
the Mighty Kingdom for ourselves,
through all these increases may we vanquish Untruth.
(above: look at his thoughts-vanquish untruth, not by 'destroying' these, but by increase in good thinking!)
That I may decide, reveal to me,
what through Righteousness thou hast ordained for me,
the better path for me to follow;
declare through Pure Mind that I may know,
and feel blessed for whatever good befalls me,
all these from Ahura Mazda, whether I receive (these) or not!
(To the reader who might be mystified by all the repeated stress on righteousness, wisdom, pure mind, the gap between the good and wicked folk, one must remember, where any repetition seems unnecessary , it's possible his listeners and disciples picked up everything Zarathustra said to various groups-thus some repetition.
But a closer look will show the subtle differences in his various verses. It might need to read verses more then once and then note the ever so subtle difference in what he is trying to convey.
It must also be remembered Zarathustra speaks from a time when writing for his people was not available, his utterances remained in dialect verbal form for several centuries before being committed to writing. Besides, he speaks to a world where, in all civilizations at that time, the upper class were deluded that, with their elaborate rituals and sacrifices, a heavenly afterlife was assured.
Against such heavy opposition, proclaiming a new unheard set of ideas, where righteousness, pure mentality and love, devotion and wisdom etc, are qualities that will enrich people, that total rejection of bad and evil is neccessary, you must imagine the great effort Zarathustra has to put in, to literary 'drill' these new ideas into people.
This is 1500 B.C. with people more concerned with finding pastures or new regions after a realisation this is a vast unexplored world, and fighting off invasions and local marauders. Not to count out false teachers and cheats bent on hoodwinking people with mindless rituals.
In this situation a prophet comes along, has to use very persuasive means (but fully non-violent) to tell people how to go about life the right way! Imagine, just the belief in One God, must have puzzled and confounded most people!)
[Readers are so conditioned to comprehending God as a shadow of our human attitudes-an angry and wrathful God, a God who wants to test you by asking for the impossible, like the Jewish Abraham asked to sacrifice his own son-that here, the Zoroastrian God, incapable of all these human frailties-He is simply Pure and totally devoid of any negative nature-will seem new to readers.]
Here is the same assurance from Zarathustra, with subtly different implication:
The best shall he, the wise person, gather,
who shall spread the Truth-
the Holy Word leads to Perfection
and to Immortality, the eternal good,
to the Kingdom of Mazda,
that through Love shalt increase in him!
Here again, in the verse below, Zarathustra stresses all this is new, for a mind that has remained 'stagnant' so far!:
Who through His Holy Word first proclaimed,
His Light shall reach through all heavenly lights,
He Himself is the Wise Creator of eternal law(!),
through which He upholds the pure minded;
that Light do Thou shine upon our spirit,
which, O Lord, has remained* the same this far.
*remained- meaning our spirit, ie our selves have not received such enlightenment before.
(from above string of thought continues below: 'since Thou wilt shine Your Light upon us,' then:)
Then I will comprehend Thee as the First
and ever, O Mazda, as the now forever* in my mind,
the Father of Love;
so that I might fully behold Thee in my eye,
as the true Creator of Righteousness,
the Judge Sovereign over the actions of all the living!
*now forever: the first, the present and future in all creation.
Thou art Holy Devotion,
Thine, too, is this creation of the living world,
through the wisdom of Thy Spirit, O Ahura Mazda;
for You have given the choice,
to seek the One who will shelter,
or, deluded, follow (the false protector)who offers none.
From these two, let one choose
for shelter, the good shepherd for oneself,
a Master who promotes Truth,
who promotes Good Will;
never, O Mazda, may the false deceiver
partake of the Holy Message, even though outwardly pious.
Since, O Mazda, Thou did create from the beginning,
Thou did create physical body and soul,
and power to think through Thine own Mind;
since Thou placed life in this encaged flesh,
You bestowed the power to decide and the words to use,
so make the choice through free will!
Thus, when each one lifts his voice,
whether one of false words or one of wise speech,
whether knowledgeable or ignorant,
with the heart or with the mind;
Holy Devotion stands with him
who asks with doubt of the two paths.
Now whether doubts are in the open,
or expressed secretly, O Mazda, Devotion (these)resolves;
or when for a petty misdeed
one is given the highest punishment,
all this discerning through Thy resplendent eye,
Thou never fail to observe with pure righteousness.
These do I ask of Thee, O Ahura,
how indeed has all this come to pass,
and how shall it be all in the future(?)
what silent yearnings are heard
in the Book of Life, of the righteous,
and what, O Mazda, how will the reckoning be made of the false ones?
I ask, O Mazda, what reckoning awaits him
who advances the power of the false ones,
of the evil doers, O Ahura?
who find no other goal in life,
but to separate the good Shepherd,
the loved ones, from others in the multitude.
This I ask, if any man indeed
of good judgement, yearns for Thy Kingdom
to dwell in the homes, the province, the nation,
who strives for the increase of Righteousness,
then, O Mazda Ahura, how wilt Thou receive him,
how does he deserve this, and through what deeds?
Which of the two paths the righteous ones
or the unrighteous chose as the better one?
let the enlightened reveal this to the wise (listener)
the ignorant will not lead us astray, never;
O Mazda Ahura, be Thou unto us,
one who leads us to realms of Pure Mind.
Let not anyone give to the False One,
to his words and to his teachings countenance,
because the homes and the towns,
the province and the country, does he hurl,
into torment and even into death;
so stand against these with your spiritual armour.
Who turns his ears to, and becomes righteous,
to his soul is revealed the knowledge of wisdom,
with his tongue, for all of the true doctrine,
does he reveal with eloquent words;
through Thy radiant Fire, O Mazda,
Thou wilt assign the destinies of the two sides.
Who follows the Righteous Teacher,
the Light shall be his abode evermore;
but long ages of darkness,
with dimmed light and words of woe,
the wicked shall indeed be lead to,
their own selves shall convey them there, through their own deeds!
For Zarathustra, the gift of heaven is not just a heavenly abode, but much more:
(Now) Mazda Ahura shall grant
Perfection and Immortality,
out of His abundance Righteousness also,
through His Self infuse Power of the Kingdom,
and Pure Mind through His desire to give (all this),
to one who is steadfast to Him in spirit and actions!
Clear are these teachings to those rich in wisdom,
and to him who realizes in his mind
such persons work with His Power,
and glorify Righteousness with word and deed,
such indeed, O Mazda Ahura, are on Thy side
the most potent helpers are these surely!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Zarathustra's message to humanity-4
[To those not very familiar with blogs, one word of advice. In blogs, the posts run in reverse order, the first post is actually placed at the bottom in the Archives. (see the Archives on the left). It is necessary to point this because, as far as this blog is concerned, the contents will be better understood by reading the 'end' post first (which is the first/earliest post!), then the next post above the post read; please read in 'reverse' order.]
The Ahunavaity Gatha- Yasna 30 verses 1 to 11
Zarathustra begins preaching.
Now, to those eager shall I speak of the two, (principles/beings/forces)
O Mazda, all these teachings are for the wise;
and I shall sing hymns to Ahura,
and praises for Pure Mind;
I shall reveal the sacred lore of Righteousness,
so that you all may attain perfection in the Realms of Light!
Now listen with your ears to the highest truths,
consider these with an illumined mind,
before deciding between the two choices,
each man for himself;
before this great call
awake ye each one and spread this word!
Now, in the beginning there were two Mainyus, (beings/mentalities/forces/principles)
who had revealed themselves as twins
and in their thoughts, and in their words
and also in their deeds, these two
show themselves Good and bad;
and of these two the wise chose right, not so the unwise!
Now, when these two Mainyus come together
they created first, before everything else,
the one (created)Life and the other Not-Life;
and thus shall be fulfilled Creation's plan-
the worst for the followers of untruth,
but for the truthful, the Best (Supreme) Mind!
Of these the twin Mainyus,
he, the false one, chose doing the worst actions,
but the Holiest Spirit embraced Truth;
whoso chooses to wear Imperishable Light,
and whoso would please Ahura,
through deeds of truth, let him make a path to Mazda!
Of the two, the Daevas (the wicked) chose falsity,
for near to them came the Being of delusion;
and they (all) chose the worst thinking,
and with evil they rushed around in wrath,
and thus they so afflicted our mortal lives.
But to the person who comes to (the) good Kingdom,
together with Love and Righteousness;
comes endurance of the physical (bodies),
all these shall belong to Thee,
because they have endured the fiery test.
(there is forgiveness for the wicked!):
But when upon the others the reckoning,
for their bad actions, descends,
then, O Mazda, upon them the Kingdom
shall be revealed by the Pure Mind;
unto them, O Ahura, the revelation come,
so they deliver the False One to Righteousness.
But may we be among those who are Thine,
who anew refresh this world,
O Lords of Creation and Life;
living, through Righteousness, as Thine companions,
thus we ever be single minded,
whenever reason is confronted with doubt.
For, when on the False One,
destruction of his false triumph is brought about,
then these shall hark back on their desires,
shall yearn to reach the heavenly abode
of Pure Mind, Mazda and Righteousness,
(repent) and strive to reach the good.
If ye all understand these Laws,
which Wisdom Mazda has ordained on mortals,
the laws of happiness and of pain,
an eternal suffering for the wrong-doers
and lasting good for the truthful,
then through these laws shall ye attain illumination!
(To the readers who might be mystified by all the repeated stress on righteousness, wisdom, pure mind, the gap between the good and wicked folk, one must remember, where any repetition seems unnecessary , it's possible his listeners and disciples picked up everything Zarathustra said to various groups-thus some repetition of .
But a closer look will show the subtle differences in the content in his various verses. It might need to read verses more then once and then note the ever so subtle difference in what he is trying to convey.
It must also be remembered Zarathustra speaks from a time when writing for his people was not available, his utterances remained in dialect verbal form for several centuries before committed to writing. Besides, he speaks to a world where in all civilizations at that time, the upper class, with their elaborate rituals, were assured of a heavenly afterlife.
Against such heavy opposition, proclaiming a new unheard set of ideas, where righteousness, pure mentality and love, devotion and wisdom etc, are qualities that will enrich people, that total rejection of bad and evil is neccessary, you must imagine the great effort Zarathustra has to put in, to literary 'drill' these new ideas into people.
This is 1500 B.C. with people more concerned with finding pastures or new regions after a realisation this is a vast unexplored world, and fighting off invasions and local marauders. Not to count out false teachers and cheats bent on hoodwinking people with beliefs in a huge group of gods and mindless rituals.)
In this situation a prophet comes along, has to use very persuasive means to tell them how to go about life the right way! Imagine, a belief in One God, when for thousands of years gods in various circumstances were worshiped, this new concept of One God might have puzzled and confounded most people.)
The Ahunavaity Gatha- Yasna 30 verses 1 to 11
Zarathustra begins preaching.
Now, to those eager shall I speak of the two, (principles/beings/forces)
O Mazda, all these teachings are for the wise;
and I shall sing hymns to Ahura,
and praises for Pure Mind;
I shall reveal the sacred lore of Righteousness,
so that you all may attain perfection in the Realms of Light!
Now listen with your ears to the highest truths,
consider these with an illumined mind,
before deciding between the two choices,
each man for himself;
before this great call
awake ye each one and spread this word!
Now, in the beginning there were two Mainyus, (beings/mentalities/forces/principles)
who had revealed themselves as twins
and in their thoughts, and in their words
and also in their deeds, these two
show themselves Good and bad;
and of these two the wise chose right, not so the unwise!
Now, when these two Mainyus come together
they created first, before everything else,
the one (created)Life and the other Not-Life;
and thus shall be fulfilled Creation's plan-
the worst for the followers of untruth,
but for the truthful, the Best (Supreme) Mind!
Of these the twin Mainyus,
he, the false one, chose doing the worst actions,
but the Holiest Spirit embraced Truth;
whoso chooses to wear Imperishable Light,
and whoso would please Ahura,
through deeds of truth, let him make a path to Mazda!
Of the two, the Daevas (the wicked) chose falsity,
for near to them came the Being of delusion;
and they (all) chose the worst thinking,
and with evil they rushed around in wrath,
and thus they so afflicted our mortal lives.
But to the person who comes to (the) good Kingdom,
together with Love and Righteousness;
comes endurance of the physical (bodies),
all these shall belong to Thee,
because they have endured the fiery test.
(there is forgiveness for the wicked!):
But when upon the others the reckoning,
for their bad actions, descends,
then, O Mazda, upon them the Kingdom
shall be revealed by the Pure Mind;
unto them, O Ahura, the revelation come,
so they deliver the False One to Righteousness.
But may we be among those who are Thine,
who anew refresh this world,
O Lords of Creation and Life;
living, through Righteousness, as Thine companions,
thus we ever be single minded,
whenever reason is confronted with doubt.
For, when on the False One,
destruction of his false triumph is brought about,
then these shall hark back on their desires,
shall yearn to reach the heavenly abode
of Pure Mind, Mazda and Righteousness,
(repent) and strive to reach the good.
If ye all understand these Laws,
which Wisdom Mazda has ordained on mortals,
the laws of happiness and of pain,
an eternal suffering for the wrong-doers
and lasting good for the truthful,
then through these laws shall ye attain illumination!
(To the readers who might be mystified by all the repeated stress on righteousness, wisdom, pure mind, the gap between the good and wicked folk, one must remember, where any repetition seems unnecessary , it's possible his listeners and disciples picked up everything Zarathustra said to various groups-thus some repetition of .
But a closer look will show the subtle differences in the content in his various verses. It might need to read verses more then once and then note the ever so subtle difference in what he is trying to convey.
It must also be remembered Zarathustra speaks from a time when writing for his people was not available, his utterances remained in dialect verbal form for several centuries before committed to writing. Besides, he speaks to a world where in all civilizations at that time, the upper class, with their elaborate rituals, were assured of a heavenly afterlife.
Against such heavy opposition, proclaiming a new unheard set of ideas, where righteousness, pure mentality and love, devotion and wisdom etc, are qualities that will enrich people, that total rejection of bad and evil is neccessary, you must imagine the great effort Zarathustra has to put in, to literary 'drill' these new ideas into people.
This is 1500 B.C. with people more concerned with finding pastures or new regions after a realisation this is a vast unexplored world, and fighting off invasions and local marauders. Not to count out false teachers and cheats bent on hoodwinking people with beliefs in a huge group of gods and mindless rituals.)
In this situation a prophet comes along, has to use very persuasive means to tell them how to go about life the right way! Imagine, a belief in One God, when for thousands of years gods in various circumstances were worshiped, this new concept of One God might have puzzled and confounded most people.)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Zarathustra's message to humanity-3
[To those not very familiar with blogs, one word of advice. The posts run in reverse order, the last post is actually the first. It's important to point this because, as far as this blog is concerned, the contents will be better understood by reading the last post first, then the next post, please read in 'reverse' order.]
The Gathas are metrical verses; scholars say their meter, the measure of rhyming, is similar to that of the verses of the Indian Rig Veda, the oldest literature of these people, cousins to the Iranians.
The first Gatha, the Ahunavaity Gatha, have verses, each of six lines, with either 7, 9 or 8 syllables/ sounds in each word, per line, totalling to 48 syllables per verse!
The second Gatha, the Ushtavaity Gatha, have verses, each of 5 lines, with 11 syllables per line,totalling to 55 syllables per verse!
The third Gatha, the Spentomenid Gatha, have verses, each of 4 lines, with again 11 syllables per line, thus totalling to 44 syllables per verse.
The fourth Gatha, the Vohu Xshathra Gatha, have verses of 6 lines, with 7 syllables per line, thus totalling to 42 syllables per verse.
the fifth Gatha, the Vahishta Isti Gatha, have verses of 6 lines, but this is the only section with free use of either 7, 9, 11 or 12 syllables per line, therefore no confirmity in the total syllables per verse.
These are some of the very oldest surviving poetry in the history of mankind.
The Ahunavaity Gatha-
Yasna 29 comprising of 11 verses.
A tragic drama unfolds, the earth is pained by the wicked:
Unto You cried out the Soul of the Earth,
wherefrom did you create me? who fashioned me?
fury and rapine hold sway and the arrogant use violence'
I am enmeshed in outrage and agggresion;
none other Protector I have but You,
reveal to me a true Saviour.
Thereupon the Creator enquired of Righteousness,
who should be Thy Saviour for this Earth,
so that ye may offer to her,
protection and cherished zeal?
Whom do you desire as her Lord,
who shall free her of distress from the hosts of Untruth?
Unto Him (to the Lord God), Righteousness, who disunites none,
and binds all Creation together, made reply;
of those on earth no one is known,
by whom the righteous may stand against the wicked;
of mortals he has to be the strongest
unto whose call we may respond in all haste.
Lord Wisdom best bears in mind all prayers and pleas,
which have been made to Him even in the distant past,
by mortals, and even by the devas (the wicked),
as also these that shall be made to him in the far future;
the Lord Ahura is the sole Judge,
so let that happen to us which He alone ordains.
Therefore, verily, with uplifted hearts,
and hands outstretched, for the grace of Ahura,
my soul and that of this laboured earth,
pleads Lord Wisdom to grant our wishes;
never shall harm come upon the righteous living,
nor to the Shepherd even though he dwells among the wicked.
Thereupon speaks Ahura Mazda,
who enriches life with His all pervading presence,
is there not even one master,
nor a saviour filled with righteousness!
For this indeed as Shepherd
and Protector has the Creator ordained thee! (Zarathustra)
The Holy Word, that is the Lord's sacrifice (from us),
one with the same accord with Righteousness, has uttered,
the rewards of Mother Earth are,
indeed to the Holy Ones who serve.
Who is Thine Saviour, O Pure Mind,
who shall bring succour to mortals?
There is only one here, knowest I,
the only one who hearkens to our commandments-
Zarathustra Spitaman;
about Wisdom and Righteousness he alone
is willing to proclaim, through songs of praise;
so grant him the sweetness of speech!
Thereupon the Soul of Mother Earth wailed,
must I accept such feeble succour?
from the words of a man without strength,
whilst indeed I desired a mighty leader;
when will such a man arise?
who shall bring me strong support!
(Then Mother Earth reconciled)
O Ahura, do Ye, unto these,
grant spiritual force, and O Righteousness, grant strength,
grant that, O Pure Mind, to him,
that he may lead us to peace and rectitude;
Him, O Mazda, we all
accept as Thy noblest creation!
When will Righteousness and Love
and the Kingdom hasten to me,
do Ye, O Mazda, grant this new teaching,
unto this glorious brotherhood grant your acceptance;
O Ahura, now that help has come to us,
we shall be ever there to serve You!
The Gathas are metrical verses; scholars say their meter, the measure of rhyming, is similar to that of the verses of the Indian Rig Veda, the oldest literature of these people, cousins to the Iranians.
The first Gatha, the Ahunavaity Gatha, have verses, each of six lines, with either 7, 9 or 8 syllables/ sounds in each word, per line, totalling to 48 syllables per verse!
The second Gatha, the Ushtavaity Gatha, have verses, each of 5 lines, with 11 syllables per line,totalling to 55 syllables per verse!
The third Gatha, the Spentomenid Gatha, have verses, each of 4 lines, with again 11 syllables per line, thus totalling to 44 syllables per verse.
The fourth Gatha, the Vohu Xshathra Gatha, have verses of 6 lines, with 7 syllables per line, thus totalling to 42 syllables per verse.
the fifth Gatha, the Vahishta Isti Gatha, have verses of 6 lines, but this is the only section with free use of either 7, 9, 11 or 12 syllables per line, therefore no confirmity in the total syllables per verse.
These are some of the very oldest surviving poetry in the history of mankind.
The Ahunavaity Gatha-
Yasna 29 comprising of 11 verses.
A tragic drama unfolds, the earth is pained by the wicked:
Unto You cried out the Soul of the Earth,
wherefrom did you create me? who fashioned me?
fury and rapine hold sway and the arrogant use violence'
I am enmeshed in outrage and agggresion;
none other Protector I have but You,
reveal to me a true Saviour.
Thereupon the Creator enquired of Righteousness,
who should be Thy Saviour for this Earth,
so that ye may offer to her,
protection and cherished zeal?
Whom do you desire as her Lord,
who shall free her of distress from the hosts of Untruth?
Unto Him (to the Lord God), Righteousness, who disunites none,
and binds all Creation together, made reply;
of those on earth no one is known,
by whom the righteous may stand against the wicked;
of mortals he has to be the strongest
unto whose call we may respond in all haste.
Lord Wisdom best bears in mind all prayers and pleas,
which have been made to Him even in the distant past,
by mortals, and even by the devas (the wicked),
as also these that shall be made to him in the far future;
the Lord Ahura is the sole Judge,
so let that happen to us which He alone ordains.
Therefore, verily, with uplifted hearts,
and hands outstretched, for the grace of Ahura,
my soul and that of this laboured earth,
pleads Lord Wisdom to grant our wishes;
never shall harm come upon the righteous living,
nor to the Shepherd even though he dwells among the wicked.
Thereupon speaks Ahura Mazda,
who enriches life with His all pervading presence,
is there not even one master,
nor a saviour filled with righteousness!
For this indeed as Shepherd
and Protector has the Creator ordained thee! (Zarathustra)
The Holy Word, that is the Lord's sacrifice (from us),
one with the same accord with Righteousness, has uttered,
the rewards of Mother Earth are,
indeed to the Holy Ones who serve.
Who is Thine Saviour, O Pure Mind,
who shall bring succour to mortals?
There is only one here, knowest I,
the only one who hearkens to our commandments-
Zarathustra Spitaman;
about Wisdom and Righteousness he alone
is willing to proclaim, through songs of praise;
so grant him the sweetness of speech!
Thereupon the Soul of Mother Earth wailed,
must I accept such feeble succour?
from the words of a man without strength,
whilst indeed I desired a mighty leader;
when will such a man arise?
who shall bring me strong support!
(Then Mother Earth reconciled)
O Ahura, do Ye, unto these,
grant spiritual force, and O Righteousness, grant strength,
grant that, O Pure Mind, to him,
that he may lead us to peace and rectitude;
Him, O Mazda, we all
accept as Thy noblest creation!
When will Righteousness and Love
and the Kingdom hasten to me,
do Ye, O Mazda, grant this new teaching,
unto this glorious brotherhood grant your acceptance;
O Ahura, now that help has come to us,
we shall be ever there to serve You!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Zarathustra's message to humanity-2
To those not very familiar with blogs, one word of advice. The posts run in reverse order, the last post is actually the first. It's important to point this because, as far as this blog is concerned, the contents will be better understood by reading the last post first, then the next post, please read in 'reverse' order.
This will take a small space here, but for the sake of continuity, repeating here, from the previous posting, the first three verses of the Gathas would make for good continuity.
The Ahunavaity Gatha:
Yasna 28 comprising of 11 verses.
From this very first Yasna-chapter/section, we begin to realize that Zarathustra's teachings emphasize that wisdom is gained from good deeds done with good intentions, with love and devotion. This leads him to pray for peace in this world.
God can only be realized through a pure mind. Righteousness is needed in both the physical and spiritual world to gain God's blessings to lead the faithful into God's heaven-the abode of light!
With hands outstretched in humble adoration,
to Him, for perfect bliss-
(I pray) to Thy Holy Spirit, Oh Mazda, first of all,
through deeds, inspired by Righteousness,
and for the wisdom gained from Pure Mind,
do I pray-to bring solace to the soul of the world!
I would reach unto You, Oh Ahura Mazda, through the Pure Mind,
that to me be granted, in both the worlds,
both this corporeal and spiritual world,
blessings through Righteousness,
whereby the faithful be led into the Abode of Light!
I shall verily unto Thee, Oh Righteousness, weave my hymns,
and to Pure Mind (also), as never before,
so that by the grace of Your Kingdom,
shall Devotion grow within us;
come Ye all and grant us perfect bliss!
These verses, and the ones that follow below, are Zarathustra's "opening statements." He makes his intent clear. He is clearly a Saviour; through perfect bliss, he wants to bring solace into this world and lead the faithful, through righteousness, into the Abode of Light!
Let the verses, his own words, speak for themselves:
Again, it is good deeds, done in the name of God, that lead the soul to its destined home:
Thus, upto it's exalted home the soul,
attuned to Pure Mind, shall I lead;
good deeds bring blessings
if done in the name of Mazda Ahura;
as long as I have will and the power to lead,
so long I will teach man to strive for Righteousness.
Zarathustra is keen to realize God, the Righteous, God, the Pure Being, through obedience. The Sacred Word of God is itself the excellent path that would also help in 'bringing back' those who have strayed- a return to the correct path:
Oh Righteousness, when shall I find Thee,
and acquire wisdom, to realize Pure Mind too?
and also seek the path to Almighty Ahura,
which is Obedience unto Mazda?
Through the Holy Word towards this excellent path,
shall we turn with our words the ignorant (who drift)astray.
The enmity of the wicked can be overcome by enriching our inner lives(!):
Come with Pure Mind,
grant us the long enduring gifts of Righteousness,
verily according to these sacred words, O Mazda,
grant Zarathustra the joy of inner life,
as also unto all of us, O Ahura,
that we overcome the hatred of the foe.
Zarathustra exhorts Righteous God to bless him with the rewards of a pure mind; he yearns that God, who is so devoted to His creation, grants the king, Vishtaspa and all the people, His Power, the state of being where more good work is devotedly done, fulfilling God's Divine plan:
Grant us, O Righteousness, that blessing,
the rewards of Pure Mind,
grant verily, O Devotion,
unto Vishtaspa* (the king) and also to my people,
and by Thy Power declare, indeed O Mazda,
that we, your devoted servants, should carry out Your Word!
*Vishtaspa, a king in the eastern part of ancient Iran, east of the Caspian sea, is the first monarch to accept Zarathustra's religion. Vishtaspa and his wife Hutoasa become ardent Zoroastrians after Zarathustra cures the king's favorite horse of it's ability to stand.
For the Best Abode from Thee, O Supreme (Lord),
from Thee, of one accord with Righteousness,
from the Lord do I beseech yearningly,
for the worthy Frashostra(a follower), as also for my people,
and even on those You choose to bestow,
the blessings of Love through all eternity!
We will never, O Ahura, take Thy blessings,
and provoke Thy wrath, nor (of) Righteousness,
nor (of) Pure Mind, who is the best,
we who strive eagerly to offer our songs of praise
unto Ye;
for Ye are the most worthy for invocation
in prayers, together with Ye, Supreme Dominion.
And if Thou knowest those, who on account of their righteousness
and because of their loving heart are wise,
and upright, O Mazda Ahura,
do fulfill their desires by granting attainment (of these);
for I assuredly know, Thou shalt not leave unanswered,
devout prayers for righteous ends!
So, through these prayers, I hold myself to Righteousness,
and to Pure Mind for evermore;
do Thou, O Ahura Mazda,
instruct me to proclaim,
through Thy Spirit and through Thine own lips,
whence this creation first came into being.
these 11 verses form Yasna 28 (see previous post for details of make up of Gathas.)
This will take a small space here, but for the sake of continuity, repeating here, from the previous posting, the first three verses of the Gathas would make for good continuity.
The Ahunavaity Gatha:
Yasna 28 comprising of 11 verses.
From this very first Yasna-chapter/section, we begin to realize that Zarathustra's teachings emphasize that wisdom is gained from good deeds done with good intentions, with love and devotion. This leads him to pray for peace in this world.
God can only be realized through a pure mind. Righteousness is needed in both the physical and spiritual world to gain God's blessings to lead the faithful into God's heaven-the abode of light!
With hands outstretched in humble adoration,
to Him, for perfect bliss-
(I pray) to Thy Holy Spirit, Oh Mazda, first of all,
through deeds, inspired by Righteousness,
and for the wisdom gained from Pure Mind,
do I pray-to bring solace to the soul of the world!
I would reach unto You, Oh Ahura Mazda, through the Pure Mind,
that to me be granted, in both the worlds,
both this corporeal and spiritual world,
blessings through Righteousness,
whereby the faithful be led into the Abode of Light!
I shall verily unto Thee, Oh Righteousness, weave my hymns,
and to Pure Mind (also), as never before,
so that by the grace of Your Kingdom,
shall Devotion grow within us;
come Ye all and grant us perfect bliss!
These verses, and the ones that follow below, are Zarathustra's "opening statements." He makes his intent clear. He is clearly a Saviour; through perfect bliss, he wants to bring solace into this world and lead the faithful, through righteousness, into the Abode of Light!
Let the verses, his own words, speak for themselves:
Again, it is good deeds, done in the name of God, that lead the soul to its destined home:
Thus, upto it's exalted home the soul,
attuned to Pure Mind, shall I lead;
good deeds bring blessings
if done in the name of Mazda Ahura;
as long as I have will and the power to lead,
so long I will teach man to strive for Righteousness.
Zarathustra is keen to realize God, the Righteous, God, the Pure Being, through obedience. The Sacred Word of God is itself the excellent path that would also help in 'bringing back' those who have strayed- a return to the correct path:
Oh Righteousness, when shall I find Thee,
and acquire wisdom, to realize Pure Mind too?
and also seek the path to Almighty Ahura,
which is Obedience unto Mazda?
Through the Holy Word towards this excellent path,
shall we turn with our words the ignorant (who drift)astray.
The enmity of the wicked can be overcome by enriching our inner lives(!):
Come with Pure Mind,
grant us the long enduring gifts of Righteousness,
verily according to these sacred words, O Mazda,
grant Zarathustra the joy of inner life,
as also unto all of us, O Ahura,
that we overcome the hatred of the foe.
Zarathustra exhorts Righteous God to bless him with the rewards of a pure mind; he yearns that God, who is so devoted to His creation, grants the king, Vishtaspa and all the people, His Power, the state of being where more good work is devotedly done, fulfilling God's Divine plan:
Grant us, O Righteousness, that blessing,
the rewards of Pure Mind,
grant verily, O Devotion,
unto Vishtaspa* (the king) and also to my people,
and by Thy Power declare, indeed O Mazda,
that we, your devoted servants, should carry out Your Word!
*Vishtaspa, a king in the eastern part of ancient Iran, east of the Caspian sea, is the first monarch to accept Zarathustra's religion. Vishtaspa and his wife Hutoasa become ardent Zoroastrians after Zarathustra cures the king's favorite horse of it's ability to stand.
For the Best Abode from Thee, O Supreme (Lord),
from Thee, of one accord with Righteousness,
from the Lord do I beseech yearningly,
for the worthy Frashostra(a follower), as also for my people,
and even on those You choose to bestow,
the blessings of Love through all eternity!
We will never, O Ahura, take Thy blessings,
and provoke Thy wrath, nor (of) Righteousness,
nor (of) Pure Mind, who is the best,
we who strive eagerly to offer our songs of praise
unto Ye;
for Ye are the most worthy for invocation
in prayers, together with Ye, Supreme Dominion.
And if Thou knowest those, who on account of their righteousness
and because of their loving heart are wise,
and upright, O Mazda Ahura,
do fulfill their desires by granting attainment (of these);
for I assuredly know, Thou shalt not leave unanswered,
devout prayers for righteous ends!
So, through these prayers, I hold myself to Righteousness,
and to Pure Mind for evermore;
do Thou, O Ahura Mazda,
instruct me to proclaim,
through Thy Spirit and through Thine own lips,
whence this creation first came into being.
these 11 verses form Yasna 28 (see previous post for details of make up of Gathas.)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Zarathustra's message to humanity-1
(This post, and further postings, will be better understood only after reading the three earlier posts "A Brief Introduction to Zoroastrianism and Zarathustra," Parts 1 to 3. These give the background required for a better understanding of this very ancient message and it's relevance in our modern age.)
Zoroastrianism and it's earlier set of beliefs rooted in the Indo-European past, very ancient indeed, one comes to understand that man is seen as a part of a whole cosmos, with a vibrant throbbing life and energy of it's own, and God is just not a Spirit, but His Spirit and energy is within everything.
Unlike the Aryan-Vedic- Hinduism, that also evolved from it's Indo European roots, where the Ultimate Reality is believed to be within everything, Zarathustra's God, Ahura Mazda, is an individual entity. But, unlike the Christian-Islamic concept that He stands fully apart from His Creation, here, Ahura Mazda, through all His Attributes-Bountiful Beings and the Angelic hierarchy, forms the spiritual content in all things.
Fire, for example, is an element, but it is venerated because it's very inner content is throbbing with a living spiritual vibrancy personified as the Angel Adar Yazad (Yazata-Divine Being.) Fire is thus seen as a spiritual Being, a part of the whole living cosmos, which include man, and all other creation.
Zoroastrian veneration for all things demands the elements be treated with care; hence, the Avesta enjoins, that water, for example, be drawn away from it's source before use, or, trees are worthy of veneration and cutting them down is a grievous sin, or, cut nails be buried, or, the head be well covered to prevent falling hair polluting things around.
Besides, the faithful are constantly made aware of all God's creation around them, with each day linked to God, with the first day of each of the twelve Zoroastrian calendar months dedicated to Ahura Mazda-Hormazd Himself, the next six days to His attributes, which with Ahura Mazda make up the great seven Amesha Spentas. Thus the second day is dedicated to Vohu Manah-Bahman-Pure (Loving) Mind, the third to Asha Vahista-Ardibehesht-Best Righteousness, the fourth to Xshathra-Vairya-Sheheravar-Spiritual Dominion and Strength, then the fifth to Spenta Armaity-Sheherevar Bountiful Devotion, the sixth to Haurvatat-Khordad-Wellbeing, the seventh day to Ameretat-Amardad-Eternity. The rest of the 23 days, of the month, are linked to each of 23 Angels in the Zoroastrian hierarchy. It reminds the faithful each day of the spiritual core in everything in the whole cosmos-so we have the awareness of a 'spiritual element' within the Sacred Fire-Atad Yazad (angel presiding over Fire, or in the Sun-Khurshed, Moon-Mah, and Holy Waters-Avan, this Earth-Geush, the sky-Asman, the Sirius star-Tir, or the 'spiritual element' within Victory (over Evil)-Bahram, in Obedience-Sarosh, in Justice-Rashna, even in the Holy Word-Mahrespand, and (the Universe's) Endless Light-Aneran, all these Yazatas-angels presiding over each of elements or functions of humans and angels, all these elements and actions are pulsating with Ahura Mazda's spiritual energies!
Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom, also recognized as Asa Vahishta- Righteousness, Vohu Manah-Pure Mind, Xshthra Vairya-Supreme Dominion/Omnipotent, Spenta Armaity-Bountiful Devotion, Haurvatat-Well Being and Amrtat-Eternity-seven names/appellations/attributes of the Zoroastrian God.
God in Zoroastrianism is not addressed as "God is Righteous" rather as "God is Righteousness."
This has awesome implications; Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom is Wisdom, Righteousness, Pure Mind, Supreme Dominion and Bountiful Devotion, Well Being and Eternity; the Supreme Power, a Bounteous Spirit (Spenta Mainyu), is Wisdom personified!
Through Zarathustra's own words, his Gathas (holy sacred words), the following principal beliefs have evolved:
The Zoroastrian credo is: Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds- Hu mata, Hu kata, Hu varashta!
The Zoroastrain is enjoined to practise Good thinking, Good speaking and Good action:
Manashni, Gavashni, Kunashni!
1.Zoroastrianism values knowledge, spiritual knowledge, that good deeds done for God (and, by conjecture, not for selfish motive) bring a pure mind within us, and God's kingdom is achieved only by uplifting the poor!
Thus the principal prayer states:
Just as the (Supreme) Lord is all powerful, so the Teacher, on account of his store of righteousness;
the gifts of a Pure Mind are received by good deeds done for the Lord;
the Kingdom of God is upon him who clothes the poor!
2.The other equally relevant verse, only righteousness leads to illumination, is:
Righteousness is good, best it is, it is the illumination,
illumination comes to him who is righteous for the sake of the best righteousness.
(by conjecture-be righteous, not for any reward, but for it's own sake!)
3.A Zoroastrian universality is subtly declared by the following:
Of those that are, of whom in every act of worship,
Ahura Mazda recognizes (them) of higher worth,
by reason of their righteousness,
likewise the women whom He so knoweth;
all such, both these men and women, do we revere!
4.The prophet hood of Zarathustra and the supremacy of the Gathas, his own compositions (the four prayers above are his authorship too), is announced thus:
Ideal is the thought, ideal the word, ideal the deed
of Holy Zarathustra.
May the Bountiful Immortals (the seven names of God) accept these Gathas,
Salutations unto Ye, O Holy Gathas!
Within the Zoroastrian scriptures, collectively called Avesta, the Repository of Knowledge, the Gathas are placed within a section of ritual called the Yasna. The latter contain texts which are invocations to all ancient Zoroastrian divinities derived from the more ancient Aryan Mazdayasni religion; but the Gatha verses clearly stand out, as some sample verses below show.
The Yasna comprise of 72 sections called Yasnas, and the Gathas within are the following:
The Ahunavaity Gatha: (The Sacred Word Gatha) from yasna 28 to yasna 34.
The Ustavaity Gatha: (the Illumination Gatha) from yasna 43 to yasna 46.
The Spentomenid Gatha: (the Bounteous Spirit Gatha) from yasna 47 to 50.
The Vohu Xshthra Gatha: (the Best Dominion Gatha) yasna 51.
The Vahishta Isti Gatha: (the Best Beloved Gatha) yasna 53
Most probably, Zarathustra 'composed' these Gathas in a heightened state of consciousness, attuned to the Divine. The gathic dialect is from an age when his people had no knowledge of writing, hence his followers, listening with rapt attention and awe, began to memorize these verses and thus, so memorized, the verses were passed on from father to son, untill in the 3rd century AD, a script was 'invented' for compiling the Avesta, the Gathas too were committed to writing.
The Ahunavaity Gatha:
In its opening verse Zarathustra prays, to Ahura Mazda, for perfect bliss, and earnestly desires he bring solace to the whole world, thus he declares:
With hands outstretched in humble adoration,
to Him, for perfect bliss-
(I pray) to Thy Holy Spirit, Oh Mazda, first of all,
through deeds, inspired by Righteousness,
and for the wisdom gained from Pure Mind,
do I pray-to bring solace to the soul of the world!
Heaven, in Zoroaster's view, the Abode of Light(!), has necessarily to be gained by:
I would reach unto You, Oh Ahura Mazda, through the Pure Mind,
that to me be granted, in both the worlds,
both this corporeal and spiritual world,
blessings through Righteousness,
whereby the faithful be led into the Abode of Light!
Zarathustra declares he will weave hymns thus:
I shall verily unto Thee, Oh Righteousness, weave my hymns,
and to Pure Mind (also), as never before,
so that by the grace of Your Kingdom,
shall Devotion grow within us;
come Ye all and grant us perfect bliss!
Zoroastrianism and it's earlier set of beliefs rooted in the Indo-European past, very ancient indeed, one comes to understand that man is seen as a part of a whole cosmos, with a vibrant throbbing life and energy of it's own, and God is just not a Spirit, but His Spirit and energy is within everything.
Unlike the Aryan-Vedic- Hinduism, that also evolved from it's Indo European roots, where the Ultimate Reality is believed to be within everything, Zarathustra's God, Ahura Mazda, is an individual entity. But, unlike the Christian-Islamic concept that He stands fully apart from His Creation, here, Ahura Mazda, through all His Attributes-Bountiful Beings and the Angelic hierarchy, forms the spiritual content in all things.
Fire, for example, is an element, but it is venerated because it's very inner content is throbbing with a living spiritual vibrancy personified as the Angel Adar Yazad (Yazata-Divine Being.) Fire is thus seen as a spiritual Being, a part of the whole living cosmos, which include man, and all other creation.
Zoroastrian veneration for all things demands the elements be treated with care; hence, the Avesta enjoins, that water, for example, be drawn away from it's source before use, or, trees are worthy of veneration and cutting them down is a grievous sin, or, cut nails be buried, or, the head be well covered to prevent falling hair polluting things around.
Besides, the faithful are constantly made aware of all God's creation around them, with each day linked to God, with the first day of each of the twelve Zoroastrian calendar months dedicated to Ahura Mazda-Hormazd Himself, the next six days to His attributes, which with Ahura Mazda make up the great seven Amesha Spentas. Thus the second day is dedicated to Vohu Manah-Bahman-Pure (Loving) Mind, the third to Asha Vahista-Ardibehesht-Best Righteousness, the fourth to Xshathra-Vairya-Sheheravar-Spiritual Dominion and Strength, then the fifth to Spenta Armaity-Sheherevar Bountiful Devotion, the sixth to Haurvatat-Khordad-Wellbeing, the seventh day to Ameretat-Amardad-Eternity. The rest of the 23 days, of the month, are linked to each of 23 Angels in the Zoroastrian hierarchy. It reminds the faithful each day of the spiritual core in everything in the whole cosmos-so we have the awareness of a 'spiritual element' within the Sacred Fire-Atad Yazad (angel presiding over Fire, or in the Sun-Khurshed, Moon-Mah, and Holy Waters-Avan, this Earth-Geush, the sky-Asman, the Sirius star-Tir, or the 'spiritual element' within Victory (over Evil)-Bahram, in Obedience-Sarosh, in Justice-Rashna, even in the Holy Word-Mahrespand, and (the Universe's) Endless Light-Aneran, all these Yazatas-angels presiding over each of elements or functions of humans and angels, all these elements and actions are pulsating with Ahura Mazda's spiritual energies!
Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom, also recognized as Asa Vahishta- Righteousness, Vohu Manah-Pure Mind, Xshthra Vairya-Supreme Dominion/Omnipotent, Spenta Armaity-Bountiful Devotion, Haurvatat-Well Being and Amrtat-Eternity-seven names/appellations/attributes of the Zoroastrian God.
God in Zoroastrianism is not addressed as "God is Righteous" rather as "God is Righteousness."
This has awesome implications; Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom is Wisdom, Righteousness, Pure Mind, Supreme Dominion and Bountiful Devotion, Well Being and Eternity; the Supreme Power, a Bounteous Spirit (Spenta Mainyu), is Wisdom personified!
Through Zarathustra's own words, his Gathas (holy sacred words), the following principal beliefs have evolved:
The Zoroastrian credo is: Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds- Hu mata, Hu kata, Hu varashta!
The Zoroastrain is enjoined to practise Good thinking, Good speaking and Good action:
Manashni, Gavashni, Kunashni!
1.Zoroastrianism values knowledge, spiritual knowledge, that good deeds done for God (and, by conjecture, not for selfish motive) bring a pure mind within us, and God's kingdom is achieved only by uplifting the poor!
Thus the principal prayer states:
Just as the (Supreme) Lord is all powerful, so the Teacher, on account of his store of righteousness;
the gifts of a Pure Mind are received by good deeds done for the Lord;
the Kingdom of God is upon him who clothes the poor!
2.The other equally relevant verse, only righteousness leads to illumination, is:
Righteousness is good, best it is, it is the illumination,
illumination comes to him who is righteous for the sake of the best righteousness.
(by conjecture-be righteous, not for any reward, but for it's own sake!)
3.A Zoroastrian universality is subtly declared by the following:
Of those that are, of whom in every act of worship,
Ahura Mazda recognizes (them) of higher worth,
by reason of their righteousness,
likewise the women whom He so knoweth;
all such, both these men and women, do we revere!
4.The prophet hood of Zarathustra and the supremacy of the Gathas, his own compositions (the four prayers above are his authorship too), is announced thus:
Ideal is the thought, ideal the word, ideal the deed
of Holy Zarathustra.
May the Bountiful Immortals (the seven names of God) accept these Gathas,
Salutations unto Ye, O Holy Gathas!
Within the Zoroastrian scriptures, collectively called Avesta, the Repository of Knowledge, the Gathas are placed within a section of ritual called the Yasna. The latter contain texts which are invocations to all ancient Zoroastrian divinities derived from the more ancient Aryan Mazdayasni religion; but the Gatha verses clearly stand out, as some sample verses below show.
The Yasna comprise of 72 sections called Yasnas, and the Gathas within are the following:
The Ahunavaity Gatha: (The Sacred Word Gatha) from yasna 28 to yasna 34.
The Ustavaity Gatha: (the Illumination Gatha) from yasna 43 to yasna 46.
The Spentomenid Gatha: (the Bounteous Spirit Gatha) from yasna 47 to 50.
The Vohu Xshthra Gatha: (the Best Dominion Gatha) yasna 51.
The Vahishta Isti Gatha: (the Best Beloved Gatha) yasna 53
Most probably, Zarathustra 'composed' these Gathas in a heightened state of consciousness, attuned to the Divine. The gathic dialect is from an age when his people had no knowledge of writing, hence his followers, listening with rapt attention and awe, began to memorize these verses and thus, so memorized, the verses were passed on from father to son, untill in the 3rd century AD, a script was 'invented' for compiling the Avesta, the Gathas too were committed to writing.
The Ahunavaity Gatha:
In its opening verse Zarathustra prays, to Ahura Mazda, for perfect bliss, and earnestly desires he bring solace to the whole world, thus he declares:
With hands outstretched in humble adoration,
to Him, for perfect bliss-
(I pray) to Thy Holy Spirit, Oh Mazda, first of all,
through deeds, inspired by Righteousness,
and for the wisdom gained from Pure Mind,
do I pray-to bring solace to the soul of the world!
Heaven, in Zoroaster's view, the Abode of Light(!), has necessarily to be gained by:
I would reach unto You, Oh Ahura Mazda, through the Pure Mind,
that to me be granted, in both the worlds,
both this corporeal and spiritual world,
blessings through Righteousness,
whereby the faithful be led into the Abode of Light!
Zarathustra declares he will weave hymns thus:
I shall verily unto Thee, Oh Righteousness, weave my hymns,
and to Pure Mind (also), as never before,
so that by the grace of Your Kingdom,
shall Devotion grow within us;
come Ye all and grant us perfect bliss!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
A brief Introduction to Zoroastrianism and Zarathustra/Zoroaster-Part 3..
The great Fire Temple at Udavada on the western coast of India, north of Mumbai, known as the Iranshah Atash Bahram, housing the oldest sacred fire consecreted in India. The "Alaat" sacred implements needed for consecretion were brought from Iran by the migrating Iranians, in the 10th century A.D. This sacred Fire burns continuously since then, never allowed to go out, symbol of God's Creation.
Ruins of an outdoor stepped fire alter in Tajikistan; the ancient Zoroastrians worshiped in the open.
Unlike the Eygptians and the Sumerians, who share a very old civilization that grew along those great rivers, the Nile and Euphrates, with centers of learning, and those huge structures, the pyramids and the ziggurats, that clearly speak of great wealth and an advanced knowledge of engineering and mathematics, the Indo-Europeans first, then the Indo-Iranians in the east, and the proto-European peoples in the west, were still searching for lands to settle, or more probably reluctant to give up their 'lust for wandering.'
The gods of these peoples, unlike the stylised animal motif gods of the Eygyptians and Sumerians (the latter less fearful of nature except for the flooding of their rivers), the gods of the wandering peoples of the Eurasian steppes were related to thunder and lightening, war and victory. We have Thor, god of thunder in the later Germanic peoples, we have the Greek Zeus, a father of gods, and Perkunas, again a god of war, amongst the Lithuanians; and Indra, god of war, in the east. (Again, refer to this LINK.)
Specifically, the Indo-Iranian gods, mainly related to natural forces were, for the obvious reasons, that gods fashioned man, also related with human attributes and relationship.
We have Mithra (Indian-Mitra) who is god that accompanies the sun across the sky, who has a thousand ears and eyes and watches over the deeds of men, but who is witness at all human contracts. When a man gives his word, Mithra is present and records the event.
Very early, the Indo-Iranian gods were thus seen to use intelligence and wisdom, as without these qualities it is not possible to judge human actions.
There is also the tendency to group the gods, collectively called Ahuras by the Iranians and Asuras by the Vedic Indians, this a reflection of the need to remain in strong groups on the vast plains and high mountains of the regions through which these peoples were migrating, eventually towards India and Iran-Afghanistan-Tajikistan-Uzbekistan.
Zarathustra was born in turbulent times, he was a Zoatar, a priest, whose vocation then included the memorized recitation of sacred hymns, and the performing of rituals that ensure, not just the appeasement of the gods, but which also replicate the myths of creation, played out in front of a group of worshipers.
One such grand ritual still practised today is called the Jashan, where the officiating priest, now represents/stands for Ahura Mazda, the Creator, and which in the pre-Zoroastrian eras represented Mazda, one of the gods, the main god of creation. The other priest/s who assist the officiating priest represent/stand for humanity.
So we have a ceremony where, the officiating priest as representative of the god of creation, lights the sacred fire, the first act of creation, then consecrates the other great creation elements represented by a stone pestle (the sky), fruits and milk (the vegetation and animal kingdom), water (water kingdom), and symbolically blesses these and hands some of these to the assisting priest, god entrusting his creation to man.
Perhaps, as Prof Mary Boyce postulates in her brilliant book , Zarathustra, whilst performing these rituals and pondering on it's meaning and symbolism, must have, through his keen intellect and as a high spiritual soul, come to the very new and startling conclusion that, with this richness of creation, there has to be one source at the very beginning of time, one Creator!
This far, no one had postulated a One God concept, an uncreated Creator. Zarathustra declares Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom, the very embodiment of wisdom, a Supreme Intellect, the source of all creation.
(Early Judaism, considered by most as the first monotheistic religion, it is suggested was, in it's early stage polytheistic/henotiestic-acknowledging one God with a rejection of false gods (that do exist!) SEE LINK , very interesting read.
Zarathustra then ponders, this Wise Lord has to have a Pure Mind (Vohu Manah) with the Best Righteousness (Vahista Asa), with Omnipotence-Victorious (Xshathra Vairya), and Immense /Bountiful-(Spenta) Devotion (Armaity.) to create and sustain His beautiful creation. And to do all this, the Wise Lord is the very embodiment of Well Being-Perfection (Haurvatat), and Eternal (Ameretat). Thus is born the Zoroastrian concept of a Supreme God, the Wise Lord with Six Great Attributes accompanying Supreme Wisdom, the Great Heptad.
At another level, it seems, Zarathustra is implying, man needs to be pure in mind and righteous, which will gain him strength and devotion in all things he does, leading to well being and fullness in life, qualities he will carry with him to eternal life!
But where does all the suffering, pain, decay and death arise? Zarathustra ponders on the full pure loving devoted nature of Ahura Mazda, and is convinced He, Ahura Mazda, cannot be the author of suffering, decay, pain and death. God cannot be revengeful and place His creation in a state contrary to His Wise and loving nature.
Zarathustra comprehends that a malevolent force, he calls Angra Mainyu (the Ignorant Mind) is the author in all and every circumstance, event, attribute, that negates God's good creation. The great prophet declares, Ahura Mazda "creates Life" and Angra Mainyu "creates Not-Life."
By it's very destructive nature, Angra Mainyu cannot be eternal, and at a point, in the distant future, this evil force will be utterly destroyed, all creation will be restored to it's pristine pure nature.
To fulfill His divine plan, Ahura Mazda manifests Himself as Spenta Mainyu (the Benevolent Bountiful Spirit) to continue His creation of everything good, and to oppose and eventually obliterate Angra Mainyu. Ahura Mazda creates the heavens and all the angels. Finally, He creates Man, who will play their role in a divine plan, for the total obliteration of Evil and the eternal perpetuation of Good.
Besides the six Amesha Spentas (Eternal Bountiful Spirits), (these are -Asa Vahista(Righteousness Best/Supreme), Vohu Manah (Pure Mind/Love), Xshathra Vairya (Omnipotent Victorious), Spenta Armaity (Bountiful Devotion), Haurvatat (Well Being) and Ameretat (Eternal),) Ahura Mazda creates Sarosh, Angel of Obedience, and who, in later religious development, watches over God's good creation through the night, when the forces of darkness and evil are most doing their mischief.
Zoroastrianism evolves as all religions do, so more angels are added to the hierarchy, as well as the calendar, and to preside over several of God's creation; and invoked in rituals- (Presumably, on the basis that the six Amesha Spentas and Sarosh, mentioned above, only figure in the Gathas, the other angels that begin to figure in the angelic world are later additions-but some postulate, the full group of angels are in fact the gods of earlier beliefs, 'converted' to angels, after Zoroaster's reform to monotheism.)
Angels are called Yazatas-Heavenly Beings (modern term-Yazads) in Zoroastrianism. Zarathustra is considered an Yazata, descended on earth to fulfill God's Will.
Yazatas are roughly in two groups, those that personify good human attributes, and those that are embodiments of some heavenly creation.
Thus, Yazatas include Verethrghna/Vahran, or later, Bahram, the Yazata of Victory; any human or divine victory over any wrong or evil is said to have been fulfilled with this angel's intervention or presence.
Mithra or Meher Yazata is the angel that accompanies the Sun's movement through the sky, thus witness to all the goings on, and ever watchful of evil doers!
The angel Rashnu embodies the spiritual office where all justice is meted out to ensure the good are rewarded; the angel Manthra Spenta is entrusted the task of guarding the Holy Word!
The angel Hvare Kshaeta-(Speeding Light) is the spiritual embodiment of the Sun; Mah Bokhtar represents the Moon, and Ava Ardivisura is the spiritual embodiment of all the good waters.
The great angel Atar (Fire) is most noteworthy, as the principal icon of worship is the sacred Fire, son of Ahura Mazda, His first creation; so Atar Yazata has a special place in all religious worship. No ritual takes place without the presence of the Sacred Fire.
Ahura Mazda and the 6 Archangels, the Heptad, and 27 angels comprise the Zoroastrian calendar, as names of each day in the Zoroastrian month. Hence, every day of each month, starting with the first day dedicated to Ahura Mazda Himself, is a reminder to worship Ahura Mazda, and then the heavenly archangels or angels to whom the day is dedicated.
Likewise,each of the 12 months of the year are dedicated in the same fashion, the 10th month to Ahura Mazda Himself, six months to six Archangels, and the remaining months to five angels. Where this dedication, of a day and month, coincides with the same Spiritual Being, the day is considered even more spiritually relevant. (For example, the second day of each month dedicated to Vohu Manah-Bahman, when coinciding with the 11th month to Vohu Manah, this day is considered very auspicious.)
For a full understanding of the Spiritual Heirachy see THIS LINK
Thus, to a pious and observant Zoroastrian, the whole of Ahura Mazda's creation has a very vibrant spiritual nature, with an angelic hierarchy that, on the face of things are seen to preside over each element or human attribute, but the real meaning of it being, each element of creation has an inner divine quality. Days of the religious calendar placing all this in an organised form, for veneration and worship, individually, or by rituals performed by the priests,or some by the laity.
Never far away from the natural elements, and dependent on pastures, and later, on agriculture, the beginning of each season is inaugurated by a great festival, called Gahambar, when people of all classes, from the king to commoner, sit together at a Jashan ceremony, and partake of a simple meal, now of rice and lentils, fruit and nuts. see LINK for more details. (Pictures are from Iranian Zoroastrian festivals, and one picture from a Parsi (Zoroastrians settled in India) festival-third picture from the bottom.)
Zoroastrians celebrate two New Year days. A "New Year," in line with the beginning of the Earth's journey around the Sun, is celebrated on the Spring Equinox, March 21st each year. This is an ancient event, called Jamshedi Navroze, after the ancient king of the Aryans, Kshaeta Yima (the Shining Yima-Jamshed in later times) who first laid down that his people celebrate events in tune with nature.
The second "New Year" - Now Ruz - is the first day of the Zoroastrian religious calendar. This calendar, comprising of 12 months of 30 days each , as explained a few paragraphs above, with five days added at the end, called the five Gatha days, to commemorate the Five Gathas, the five sections of Zarathustra's own compositions. Traditionally, the calendar, in Zoroastrian Iran, marked the beginning of each new reign, beginning with the new king's coronation. The present calendar marks the beginning of the reign of the last Zoroastrian monarch of Iran, Yezdegird the III.
The Zoroastrian calendar has no leap year, hence in ancient Sassanian times (Sassanian were the last Zoroastrian dynasty to rule Iran) a month was added every 120 years to 'update' the calendar. Calendar disputes arose when it was found the Zoroastrian in India had added a month to bring the calendar in line with missed leap years, this they did in 1125 or 1150 A.D. for full details see LINK
THERE IS SO MUCH MORE, ON ZOROASTRIAN TRADITIONS-SOME HAD NECESSARILY TO BE COVERED HERE, TO UNDERSTAND THE LINK BETWEEN THE ZOROASTRIAN VIEW OF ALL CREATION, AND HOW THIS HAS BEEN INTERWOVEN INTO THE ZOROASTRIAN'S DAILY LIFE, BY THE CALENDAR TRADITIONS DETAILED ABOVE.
OTHER PRACTICES AND TRADITIONS, INITIATION INTO THE RELIGION, MARRIAGE AND DEATH, WILL BE COVERED IN LATER POSTS.
WHAT DID ZARATHUSTRA DECLARE? WHAT, TO A PRACTISING ZOROASTRAIN, ARE THE CENTRAL BELIEFS TAUGHT BY THIS GREAT PROPHET........IN THE NEXT POST.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A brief Introduction to Zoroastrianism and Zarathustra/Zoroaster-part 2..
If Cyrus the Great, founder of the first Iranian empire (546 B.C.), the
Achaemenid Empire, is the first to 'enter' history, as begun to be recorded by Herodotus and other Greeks, recent archaeological digs, in the vast regions north and north east of present Iran, give ample evidence of large kingdoms, highly organised, and wealthy enough to build temples and other religious structures much before the Achaemenids.
(This LINK is very interesting, for the first time we have a given a panoramic view of the regions which flourished as Iranian/Zoroastrian cultures before the better known Median/Achaemenid periods-see Early Avestan Aryan nations.) http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd1sbe.htm
(Here, a closer sampling of Zoroastrian religion and culture LINK
gives ample evidence that Iranians, and Zoroastrianism, flourished well before the first world empire of the Achaemenids.)
In one of the sacred books of the Zoroastrian scriptures, the Vendidad (Vi-daevadat, meaning opposed to Devas-Devils) Ahura Mazda, the Lord Wisdom, God, created sixteen lands and gave each one of them an unique quality, then, the devil, Angra Mainyu (Ignorant Mind-the Zoroastrian satan) smote these good lands with some affliction, a clear vindication of the Zoroastrian principle of the fierce opposition by satan of all the good things created by God.
These sixteen lands enumerated in the Vendidad are clearly identifiable with regions north and north east of Iran, where ample archaeological evidences have been unearthed, clear evidence that the Zoroastrian scriptures can be corroborated by archaeology finds, and are not all legend and myth. The time frame of these sixteen lands, from the language used in the Vendidad, late Avestan, has been estimated as before 1000 B.C.
Very briefly, the Zoroastrian sacred books, the Avesta, are compilation/collection of several books, with the Gathic dialect used in the Gathas (Zoroaster's own words, still surviving) the oldest.The Yasnas, the second group, in Old Avestan, then the Yashts and Niyaesh sections, then the Vendidad, described above.....so we are moving back in time to at least 1500 B.C. when the Gathas, the oldest portion, in dialect form, being the compositions by Zoroaster himself.
Whilst the world of the Vendidad is a settled world of cities and forts dated to at least 1000 B.C., the world described in the Gathas, by Zarathustra, is far older, with simple folk, still in the process of settling down, and marauding tribes bent on robbing these good people of their cattle and few possessions, possibly dateable even earlier than 1500 B.C.
Zarathustra's family from the class of priests, were also, from several generations, connected with the breeding and use of horses. Names of his father, and older generations, carried the suffix asp, meaning 'of horse'- his father's name was Pourushasp (Upright Man of the horse), and other ancestors were Paitertasp, Urvadasp, Haichatasp, all names ending with asp. It is possible that the suffix 'asp' was indication of some form of status, association with the horse, already considered a noble animal amongst peoples of the steppes.
The name of one distant ancestor Spitaman, roughly meaning 'Fair Person/personage,' is chosen as the family name, thus the great prophet is addressed as Asho (the Holy) Zarathustra Spitaman.
During his time, and since the past, roughly, 1000 years before him, the proto-Iranians, considered themselves Mazdayasnis, worshipers of Mazda, the ancient god of wisdom (their counterparts the Indian Aryans worshiped Varuna, then Para-Brahma as the principal deity); but the very complex layers of religious beliefs include several other deities, mainly related to human relationships and traits, like Mithra, Iranian god that accompanies the sun, and is ever watchful of all human dealings. There is the god Atar, god of fire, a very sacred element for the Iranians, goddess of the waters is Haravaity, Mah is the moon god, Vayu, god of the winds. (All this had parallels in the Indian Aryans 'next door.')
Animal sacrifices and the drinking of Haoma (Soma to the Indian Aryans) was the basis of religious ritual; and one noteworthy trait, noticed later by Herodotus and others, was, these Aryans had no temples, they worshiped under the open skies, the curved skyline considered the 'stone body' of the gods. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/herodotus-persians.asp
Legend has it that Zarathustra laughed when his mother, Dughdova (Giver of Milk, meaning, a very generous soul) gave him birth, in very extraordinary circumstances- a strange divine light shone from her womb throughout the time she was pregnant. At the time of birth, this divine light shone through the whole village and the midwives were terrified thereby. All the good creation rejoiced, but the demons fled! As with other such great men of God, Zarathustra's life is embellished with such miracles. To the orthodox these are articles of faith and belief. Here is a very interesting LINK on his life story.
When a child, the evil men of the clan, recognizing the divine nature of Zarathustra, planned to kill him. But all attempts failed, miraculously, by divine intervention.
But Zarathustra was a very extraordinary person. Very early, he realized his people practiced rituals like blood sacrifice and riotous drinking of the plant freely found in the steppes, called haoma by them (and called Soma by the Indian Aryans.). In no uncertain terms, Zarathustra, abhorred these practices, and called for their ban, forming enemies in the priestly class.
He would wander from home, with no possessions, alone, and reflect upon the the sense of all things around him.
In one verse of the Gathas, his own compositions, he laments:
To what land shall I flee, whither shall I go,
they hold me (back) from the good people and friends,
there is no satisfaction for me from my people,
nor from the rulers of the land, they follow untruth,
how shall I satisfy Thee? O Ahura Mazda.
I know the reason, O Mazda, why I am helpless,
I have few possessions and a small following,
To Thee I appeal about this,
I am aspiring to bliss, like a beloved who seeks his love,
teach me through Righteousness the greatness of a Pure Mind.
In all these self search, introspection and hunger for the truth, and carefully observing the nature of all things, Zarathustra came to have a very extraordinary vision of One God, who he called Ahura Mazda, the Lord Wisdom; and seeing the wide opposing attitudes between good and evil, he came to realize that God is opposed by a malevolent evil Angra mainyu, the Ignorant Mind.
Again, as legend to some, but an article of faith to the faithful, the story goes, Zarathustra was wading through the waters of the holy river Daitya, where he got immersed up to the top of his head in water, baptized by this holy element, he came out of the water and was apprehended by a mighty Divine Being.
The light that shone from this Divine Being was so awesome and powerful, Zarathustra noted his shadow disappeared, and his face shone with a dazzling aura.
The Divine Being was Vohu Manah, Pure Mind, the great archangel Amesha Spenta (Divine Eternal Immortal-Amesha Spenta, one of the seven attributes of Ahura Mazda-Lord Wisdom,) who led Zarathustra into the presence of Ahura Mazda. Present with Ahura Mazda and Vohu Manah were the other five Divine Immortals, who together form a divine Heptad (God and His six Divine Beings)- Best Righteousness-Asa Vahista, Xshathra Vairya- Victorious Omnipotence, Spenta Armaity- Holy Devotion, Haurvatat-Divine Well being and Amretat-Divine- Eternal!
Thus began Zarathustra's enlightenment and the first message to humanity of One God and the prophecy that all evil will be eventually destroyed.
His own people were very hostile to Zarathustra's preachings, and he had to flee. Wandering the vast expanse of the then home of the Iranian peoples, he finally came to the eastern kingdom of Vishtaspa, where this king gave him a hearing.
The priests and courtiers at this good king's court were stunned and amazed at this new teaching of belief in One God, they felt this threatened their ancient beliefs. Zarathustra was framed, by their placing sorcerer's materials in his room, and the prophet was thrown in jail.
A little later, the king's favorite horse fell gravely ill and it's legs gave way and remained stiff under the horse's fallen body. None could cure the hapless animal. Zarathustra was finally summoned from jail, and he cured the horse, and got it standing upright to the utter amazement of all.
Vishtaspa and his wife Hutoasa become disciples, so does the court minister Jamasp.
Zarathustra preaches to both royals and the common folk, and his fame spreads far.
Zarathustra marries and has sons and daughters, all would become the new faith's missionaries!
Ancient enemies of these Aryans, the Turanians, hearing of this great enlightenment in their rival's kingdom, invade and lay seige to Vishtasp's capital of Balkh. After the city walls collapse the invaders enter the city's main temple and find Zarathustra there immersed in prayer.
A man aptly called Tur-baratur (the "Worst Turanian") slays the prophet, whose tongue does not cease to take God's name. The aged prophet, now 77, dies by the hands of this assassin, but before his last breath, he flings his prayer beads at Tur-baratur, who falls dead!
Thus, even in death the prophet fulfills his prophecy that evil always comes to the end it deserves, its utter destruction.
These stories, based on legends in some instances, some incidents zealously added by his followers, embellish the life of this great soul; but to the great fortune of all humanity, his very own words, his compositions, the Gathas, survive to this day.
His followers were quick to realize the timeless message in his words, and committed these to memory, father to son, for hundreds of generations, 'thought-provoking manthras '(messages), and these, the Gathas, form the core of Zoroastrian teachings.
When a script was invented and the Avesta committed to writing, in the 4th century A.D., the Gathas were placed within the Yasnas, the first book/portion of this Zoroastrian sacred literature -the other portions are Yashts-great hymns addressed to Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas (Benevolent holy Eternals) and angels- and the Niyashes-prayers to various divinities, and the Vendidad-a set of laws to govern society (but also used by the orthodox as a great ritual of prayer by priests.)
The Orthodox and faithful believe the entire Avesta was revealed to Zarathustra by Ahura Mazda. All portions of the Avesta are treated with the greatest reverence and various portions used for recitation during varied rituals and ceremonies.
This LINK gives details of various sources that attempt dating Zarathustra's era.
This LINK gives details of various sources that attempt to place Zarathustra in locations indicated in those many sources.
Achaemenid Empire, is the first to 'enter' history, as begun to be recorded by Herodotus and other Greeks, recent archaeological digs, in the vast regions north and north east of present Iran, give ample evidence of large kingdoms, highly organised, and wealthy enough to build temples and other religious structures much before the Achaemenids.
(This LINK is very interesting, for the first time we have a given a panoramic view of the regions which flourished as Iranian/Zoroastrian cultures before the better known Median/Achaemenid periods-see Early Avestan Aryan nations.) http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd1sbe.htm
(Here, a closer sampling of Zoroastrian religion and culture LINK
gives ample evidence that Iranians, and Zoroastrianism, flourished well before the first world empire of the Achaemenids.)
In one of the sacred books of the Zoroastrian scriptures, the Vendidad (Vi-daevadat, meaning opposed to Devas-Devils) Ahura Mazda, the Lord Wisdom, God, created sixteen lands and gave each one of them an unique quality, then, the devil, Angra Mainyu (Ignorant Mind-the Zoroastrian satan) smote these good lands with some affliction, a clear vindication of the Zoroastrian principle of the fierce opposition by satan of all the good things created by God.
These sixteen lands enumerated in the Vendidad are clearly identifiable with regions north and north east of Iran, where ample archaeological evidences have been unearthed, clear evidence that the Zoroastrian scriptures can be corroborated by archaeology finds, and are not all legend and myth. The time frame of these sixteen lands, from the language used in the Vendidad, late Avestan, has been estimated as before 1000 B.C.
Very briefly, the Zoroastrian sacred books, the Avesta, are compilation/collection of several books, with the Gathic dialect used in the Gathas (Zoroaster's own words, still surviving) the oldest.The Yasnas, the second group, in Old Avestan, then the Yashts and Niyaesh sections, then the Vendidad, described above.....so we are moving back in time to at least 1500 B.C. when the Gathas, the oldest portion, in dialect form, being the compositions by Zoroaster himself.
Whilst the world of the Vendidad is a settled world of cities and forts dated to at least 1000 B.C., the world described in the Gathas, by Zarathustra, is far older, with simple folk, still in the process of settling down, and marauding tribes bent on robbing these good people of their cattle and few possessions, possibly dateable even earlier than 1500 B.C.
Zarathustra's family from the class of priests, were also, from several generations, connected with the breeding and use of horses. Names of his father, and older generations, carried the suffix asp, meaning 'of horse'- his father's name was Pourushasp (Upright Man of the horse), and other ancestors were Paitertasp, Urvadasp, Haichatasp, all names ending with asp. It is possible that the suffix 'asp' was indication of some form of status, association with the horse, already considered a noble animal amongst peoples of the steppes.
The name of one distant ancestor Spitaman, roughly meaning 'Fair Person/personage,' is chosen as the family name, thus the great prophet is addressed as Asho (the Holy) Zarathustra Spitaman.
During his time, and since the past, roughly, 1000 years before him, the proto-Iranians, considered themselves Mazdayasnis, worshipers of Mazda, the ancient god of wisdom (their counterparts the Indian Aryans worshiped Varuna, then Para-Brahma as the principal deity); but the very complex layers of religious beliefs include several other deities, mainly related to human relationships and traits, like Mithra, Iranian god that accompanies the sun, and is ever watchful of all human dealings. There is the god Atar, god of fire, a very sacred element for the Iranians, goddess of the waters is Haravaity, Mah is the moon god, Vayu, god of the winds. (All this had parallels in the Indian Aryans 'next door.')
Animal sacrifices and the drinking of Haoma (Soma to the Indian Aryans) was the basis of religious ritual; and one noteworthy trait, noticed later by Herodotus and others, was, these Aryans had no temples, they worshiped under the open skies, the curved skyline considered the 'stone body' of the gods. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/herodotus-persians.asp
Legend has it that Zarathustra laughed when his mother, Dughdova (Giver of Milk, meaning, a very generous soul) gave him birth, in very extraordinary circumstances- a strange divine light shone from her womb throughout the time she was pregnant. At the time of birth, this divine light shone through the whole village and the midwives were terrified thereby. All the good creation rejoiced, but the demons fled! As with other such great men of God, Zarathustra's life is embellished with such miracles. To the orthodox these are articles of faith and belief. Here is a very interesting LINK on his life story.
When a child, the evil men of the clan, recognizing the divine nature of Zarathustra, planned to kill him. But all attempts failed, miraculously, by divine intervention.
But Zarathustra was a very extraordinary person. Very early, he realized his people practiced rituals like blood sacrifice and riotous drinking of the plant freely found in the steppes, called haoma by them (and called Soma by the Indian Aryans.). In no uncertain terms, Zarathustra, abhorred these practices, and called for their ban, forming enemies in the priestly class.
He would wander from home, with no possessions, alone, and reflect upon the the sense of all things around him.
In one verse of the Gathas, his own compositions, he laments:
To what land shall I flee, whither shall I go,
they hold me (back) from the good people and friends,
there is no satisfaction for me from my people,
nor from the rulers of the land, they follow untruth,
how shall I satisfy Thee? O Ahura Mazda.
I know the reason, O Mazda, why I am helpless,
I have few possessions and a small following,
To Thee I appeal about this,
I am aspiring to bliss, like a beloved who seeks his love,
teach me through Righteousness the greatness of a Pure Mind.
In all these self search, introspection and hunger for the truth, and carefully observing the nature of all things, Zarathustra came to have a very extraordinary vision of One God, who he called Ahura Mazda, the Lord Wisdom; and seeing the wide opposing attitudes between good and evil, he came to realize that God is opposed by a malevolent evil Angra mainyu, the Ignorant Mind.
Again, as legend to some, but an article of faith to the faithful, the story goes, Zarathustra was wading through the waters of the holy river Daitya, where he got immersed up to the top of his head in water, baptized by this holy element, he came out of the water and was apprehended by a mighty Divine Being.
The light that shone from this Divine Being was so awesome and powerful, Zarathustra noted his shadow disappeared, and his face shone with a dazzling aura.
The Divine Being was Vohu Manah, Pure Mind, the great archangel Amesha Spenta (Divine Eternal Immortal-Amesha Spenta, one of the seven attributes of Ahura Mazda-Lord Wisdom,) who led Zarathustra into the presence of Ahura Mazda. Present with Ahura Mazda and Vohu Manah were the other five Divine Immortals, who together form a divine Heptad (God and His six Divine Beings)- Best Righteousness-Asa Vahista, Xshathra Vairya- Victorious Omnipotence, Spenta Armaity- Holy Devotion, Haurvatat-Divine Well being and Amretat-Divine- Eternal!
Thus began Zarathustra's enlightenment and the first message to humanity of One God and the prophecy that all evil will be eventually destroyed.
His own people were very hostile to Zarathustra's preachings, and he had to flee. Wandering the vast expanse of the then home of the Iranian peoples, he finally came to the eastern kingdom of Vishtaspa, where this king gave him a hearing.
The priests and courtiers at this good king's court were stunned and amazed at this new teaching of belief in One God, they felt this threatened their ancient beliefs. Zarathustra was framed, by their placing sorcerer's materials in his room, and the prophet was thrown in jail.
A little later, the king's favorite horse fell gravely ill and it's legs gave way and remained stiff under the horse's fallen body. None could cure the hapless animal. Zarathustra was finally summoned from jail, and he cured the horse, and got it standing upright to the utter amazement of all.
Vishtaspa and his wife Hutoasa become disciples, so does the court minister Jamasp.
Zarathustra preaches to both royals and the common folk, and his fame spreads far.
Zarathustra marries and has sons and daughters, all would become the new faith's missionaries!
Ancient enemies of these Aryans, the Turanians, hearing of this great enlightenment in their rival's kingdom, invade and lay seige to Vishtasp's capital of Balkh. After the city walls collapse the invaders enter the city's main temple and find Zarathustra there immersed in prayer.
A man aptly called Tur-baratur (the "Worst Turanian") slays the prophet, whose tongue does not cease to take God's name. The aged prophet, now 77, dies by the hands of this assassin, but before his last breath, he flings his prayer beads at Tur-baratur, who falls dead!
Thus, even in death the prophet fulfills his prophecy that evil always comes to the end it deserves, its utter destruction.
These stories, based on legends in some instances, some incidents zealously added by his followers, embellish the life of this great soul; but to the great fortune of all humanity, his very own words, his compositions, the Gathas, survive to this day.
His followers were quick to realize the timeless message in his words, and committed these to memory, father to son, for hundreds of generations, 'thought-provoking manthras '(messages), and these, the Gathas, form the core of Zoroastrian teachings.
When a script was invented and the Avesta committed to writing, in the 4th century A.D., the Gathas were placed within the Yasnas, the first book/portion of this Zoroastrian sacred literature -the other portions are Yashts-great hymns addressed to Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas (Benevolent holy Eternals) and angels- and the Niyashes-prayers to various divinities, and the Vendidad-a set of laws to govern society (but also used by the orthodox as a great ritual of prayer by priests.)
The Orthodox and faithful believe the entire Avesta was revealed to Zarathustra by Ahura Mazda. All portions of the Avesta are treated with the greatest reverence and various portions used for recitation during varied rituals and ceremonies.
This LINK gives details of various sources that attempt dating Zarathustra's era.
This LINK gives details of various sources that attempt to place Zarathustra in locations indicated in those many sources.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A brief Introduction to Zoroastrianism and Zarathustra/Zoroaster-part 1.
A brief introduction to Zoroastrianism, and who Zarathustra is, necessarily requires we go back several thousand years, to possibly 4000 years from the present, to examine the religious, cultural and linguistic scenario from which this religion was to eventually emerge. Then, a vast disparate group of peoples, known as the Indo-European groups, who were sharing the developing Indo-European languages that were to spread across much of Europe and Asia, were the inhabitants of the Asian steppes and eastern Europe.
For a brief introduction to Indo-European language family tree see here
The above link tells us the Indo-European group of languages is basically divided into the Satem and Centum groups, the former spread across much of Asia and the latter over Europe, and are famously identified from the similarity of words and numbers-Satem and Centum both stand for the number 100. so, interestingly, are some of the earliest words formed by man to speak and communicate; Mother, for example, is variously, Maa, Mader, (Maa-in Sanskrit and Hindi and in most Indian languages, and in Old Persian-Mader); and Muter, Mama etc etc in German, Italian/Spanish. (Father-pader (OP) and pitar(Vedic) , pater, pedro, etc all phonetically similar; and the list of such early words is pretty large!( King is Kai in old Persian, sun, surya in the Vedic, etc. )
If people share the same language roots, by close proximity, in regions across the European and Asian steppes, the Caucasoid Mountains and East Europe, then it's possible they shared similar religious beliefs.
*Dyēus Ph2tēr (literally "sky father") is the god of the day-lit sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. The name survives in Greek Zeus with a vocative form Zeu pater; Latin Jūpiter (from the archaic Latin Iovis pater; Diēspiter), Sanskrit Dyáus Pitā, and Illyrian Dei-pátrous.
This Wiki link on proto-Indo European religious beliefs would be good for further reading.
In all Indo-European language speakers, there is a general belief in gods, a pantheon of gods, usually led by a principal god; Deus Pitar in Europe, the Deva concept in Asia-India.
I am reproducing here the summarized concluding para, in the above link, that explains the unique religious connections and similarities:
"The various Indo-European daughter-cultures continued elements of PIE religion, syncretizing it with innovations and foreign elements, notably Ancient Near Eastern and Dravidian elements, the reforms of Zoroaster and Buddha, and the spread of Christianity and Islam.
Anatolian: see Hittite mythology
Indo-Iranian:
Indo-Aryan: see Vedic religion and mythology, Indian religions (Hinduism and Hindu mythology, Buddhism and Buddhist mythology, Jainism, Sikhism)
Iranian: see Zoroastrianism, Persian mythology
Greek: see Greek polytheism and mythology, Hellenistic religion, Decline of Hellenistic polytheism, Greek Orthodox Church
Italic: see Roman polytheism and mythology, Roman Catholic Church
Celtic: see Celtic polytheism and mythology, Celtic Christianity
Germanic: see Germanic mythology (Continental, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian traditions), Germanic Christianity
Baltic: see Latvian mythology, Lithuanian mythology
Slavic: see Slavic mythology, Christianization of the Slavs
Tocharian: little evidence, see Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
Armenian: limited evidence, see Armenian mythology, Armenian Orthodox Church
Prehistoric Balkans: see Paleo-Balkanic mythology."
further links for more reading are available in the link above.
During the period 5000 B.C and 1000 B.C. these disparate groups forming the Indo-European peoples began moving further from one another as, supposedly, the needs for growing population and need of more grazing grounds for their livestock, and the urge to push and plunder their way into more places, sent them into different directions.
Here is a brilliant essay that summarizes the migrations of these peoples across Europe and Asia.
http://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art111e.pdf
and this equally brilliant essay:
http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf and this
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/AryanHome.pdf
(In the above link, the author very aptly traces the migration of the Indo-Iranians, with archaeology digs where the methods of burial correspond exactly with Rig Vedic texts, this in the Siberian regions east of the Ural mountains (a singular burial where a horse's head is positioned on the severed head of the skeleton, as exactly described in the Rig Vedic texts.). The author goes on to trace the home of the Aryans "Airyana Vaejha" in the central highlands of Afghanistan.........the whole essay is indeed a revealing document.)
Those groups that moved west were to become the ancestors of the present European peoples who speak Indo-European daughter languages, Norse, German, French, Spanish, Danish, Dutch,English, Belgic, Lithuanian, Russian etc. (as opposed to the speakers of the Finno-Ugraian groups like Finnish and Hungarian.) Early groups also arrived in present day Turkey-Syria, known as the Hittites who were rivals to the middle Egyptians, and the Mittani. The Hittites and the Mittani display names of gods still found today in the Hindu pantheon.
The group with which we are particularly concerned, the Indo-European Indo-Iranian group, ancestors of the Iranians and Indians, move south and south west to India and Iran.
But these ancestors of Iranians and Indians, were a sort of composite family group, living as neighbors, for a thousand years( 3500 B.C.-2500 B.C.)-in the present regions of north-west India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and further north-west, sharing a common heritage, identifying themselves as Aryans-the Upright Peoples.
Their religious beliefs and myths and legends ran parallel. The principal gods were Mitra-Indian and Mithra(Iranian), Lord of contracts and wide pastures, Indra-Vrittra (Indian) and Verethregna (Iranian,) Lord of war and victory, Varuna (Indian) and Apam-Napat (Iranian), Lord of the heavens; Vayu, Lord of winds, and so on. Both peoples collectively called this pantheon, the Asuras. When the Indian Aryans went their separate way they began calling their gods the Devas, the Iranians continued the term Asuras-Ahuras, whilst Devas become opposing forces in Iranian belief.
There are parallel legends and myths including Yama (Indian) and Yima (Iranian), the early kings, the slaying of a demonic serpent by the Iranian hero Kersaspa, in Indian lore known as Nairyosangha.
Of course, as with all other Indo-Europeans, rituals form the core of all religious and tribal activities of the Aryans, the veneration of fire and other elements of nature, especially water, and the cow is considered very sacred.
The best reading material on Zoroastrianism is available in the book by Prof Mary Boyce see link
In these still pre-historic times, somewhere in the regions north east of present day Iran, the family of Zarathustra lived as settled folk; these good settled folk are opposed by marauding tribes who loot their cattle and steal their few belongings; this forms the basis of the belief of a conflict between good and evil, which becomes one of the basic beliefs in Zoroastrianism.
For a brief introduction to Indo-European language family tree see here
The above link tells us the Indo-European group of languages is basically divided into the Satem and Centum groups, the former spread across much of Asia and the latter over Europe, and are famously identified from the similarity of words and numbers-Satem and Centum both stand for the number 100. so, interestingly, are some of the earliest words formed by man to speak and communicate; Mother, for example, is variously, Maa, Mader, (Maa-in Sanskrit and Hindi and in most Indian languages, and in Old Persian-Mader); and Muter, Mama etc etc in German, Italian/Spanish. (Father-pader (OP) and pitar(Vedic) , pater, pedro, etc all phonetically similar; and the list of such early words is pretty large!( King is Kai in old Persian, sun, surya in the Vedic, etc. )
If people share the same language roots, by close proximity, in regions across the European and Asian steppes, the Caucasoid Mountains and East Europe, then it's possible they shared similar religious beliefs.
*Dyēus Ph2tēr (literally "sky father") is the god of the day-lit sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. The name survives in Greek Zeus with a vocative form Zeu pater; Latin Jūpiter (from the archaic Latin Iovis pater; Diēspiter), Sanskrit Dyáus Pitā, and Illyrian Dei-pátrous.
This Wiki link on proto-Indo European religious beliefs would be good for further reading.
In all Indo-European language speakers, there is a general belief in gods, a pantheon of gods, usually led by a principal god; Deus Pitar in Europe, the Deva concept in Asia-India.
I am reproducing here the summarized concluding para, in the above link, that explains the unique religious connections and similarities:
"The various Indo-European daughter-cultures continued elements of PIE religion, syncretizing it with innovations and foreign elements, notably Ancient Near Eastern and Dravidian elements, the reforms of Zoroaster and Buddha, and the spread of Christianity and Islam.
Anatolian: see Hittite mythology
Indo-Iranian:
Indo-Aryan: see Vedic religion and mythology, Indian religions (Hinduism and Hindu mythology, Buddhism and Buddhist mythology, Jainism, Sikhism)
Iranian: see Zoroastrianism, Persian mythology
Greek: see Greek polytheism and mythology, Hellenistic religion, Decline of Hellenistic polytheism, Greek Orthodox Church
Italic: see Roman polytheism and mythology, Roman Catholic Church
Celtic: see Celtic polytheism and mythology, Celtic Christianity
Germanic: see Germanic mythology (Continental, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian traditions), Germanic Christianity
Baltic: see Latvian mythology, Lithuanian mythology
Slavic: see Slavic mythology, Christianization of the Slavs
Tocharian: little evidence, see Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
Armenian: limited evidence, see Armenian mythology, Armenian Orthodox Church
Prehistoric Balkans: see Paleo-Balkanic mythology."
further links for more reading are available in the link above.
During the period 5000 B.C and 1000 B.C. these disparate groups forming the Indo-European peoples began moving further from one another as, supposedly, the needs for growing population and need of more grazing grounds for their livestock, and the urge to push and plunder their way into more places, sent them into different directions.
Here is a brilliant essay that summarizes the migrations of these peoples across Europe and Asia.
http://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art111e.pdf
and this equally brilliant essay:
http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf and this
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/AryanHome.pdf
(In the above link, the author very aptly traces the migration of the Indo-Iranians, with archaeology digs where the methods of burial correspond exactly with Rig Vedic texts, this in the Siberian regions east of the Ural mountains (a singular burial where a horse's head is positioned on the severed head of the skeleton, as exactly described in the Rig Vedic texts.). The author goes on to trace the home of the Aryans "Airyana Vaejha" in the central highlands of Afghanistan.........the whole essay is indeed a revealing document.)
Those groups that moved west were to become the ancestors of the present European peoples who speak Indo-European daughter languages, Norse, German, French, Spanish, Danish, Dutch,English, Belgic, Lithuanian, Russian etc. (as opposed to the speakers of the Finno-Ugraian groups like Finnish and Hungarian.) Early groups also arrived in present day Turkey-Syria, known as the Hittites who were rivals to the middle Egyptians, and the Mittani. The Hittites and the Mittani display names of gods still found today in the Hindu pantheon.
The group with which we are particularly concerned, the Indo-European Indo-Iranian group, ancestors of the Iranians and Indians, move south and south west to India and Iran.
But these ancestors of Iranians and Indians, were a sort of composite family group, living as neighbors, for a thousand years( 3500 B.C.-2500 B.C.)-in the present regions of north-west India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and further north-west, sharing a common heritage, identifying themselves as Aryans-the Upright Peoples.
Their religious beliefs and myths and legends ran parallel. The principal gods were Mitra-Indian and Mithra(Iranian), Lord of contracts and wide pastures, Indra-Vrittra (Indian) and Verethregna (Iranian,) Lord of war and victory, Varuna (Indian) and Apam-Napat (Iranian), Lord of the heavens; Vayu, Lord of winds, and so on. Both peoples collectively called this pantheon, the Asuras. When the Indian Aryans went their separate way they began calling their gods the Devas, the Iranians continued the term Asuras-Ahuras, whilst Devas become opposing forces in Iranian belief.
There are parallel legends and myths including Yama (Indian) and Yima (Iranian), the early kings, the slaying of a demonic serpent by the Iranian hero Kersaspa, in Indian lore known as Nairyosangha.
Of course, as with all other Indo-Europeans, rituals form the core of all religious and tribal activities of the Aryans, the veneration of fire and other elements of nature, especially water, and the cow is considered very sacred.
The best reading material on Zoroastrianism is available in the book by Prof Mary Boyce see link
In these still pre-historic times, somewhere in the regions north east of present day Iran, the family of Zarathustra lived as settled folk; these good settled folk are opposed by marauding tribes who loot their cattle and steal their few belongings; this forms the basis of the belief of a conflict between good and evil, which becomes one of the basic beliefs in Zoroastrianism.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)