Zoroastrianism

(Mazdaism )
II. Persian Religion Before Zoroaster
A. Most of what we know is from the
hostile Gathas, hard-to-
interpret references in inscriptions of
Achaemenians kings and post- Gathic
Avestan texts
B. Popular religion was perhaps
similar to that as reflected in the Vedas
C. Common people worshipped
powers known as daevas
1. Usually identified with the
devas or “shining ones” in Rig
Veda
2. Associated with the powers of
nature
D. Priests also recognized the ahuras
(lords)
1. Considered to be the highest
among the gods
2. Located in the heavens and
concerned with cosmic order
3. Thus, a hierarchical order
among the gods
 E. Popular Gods
1. Indara or Intar (Vedic Indra)--
means he who struck down
Verethra, an obstruction that held
back the rain waters (Vedic Vritraa
2. Intar was overshadowed by Mithra (Vedic
Mitra)--a popular god who seems to have been
known by Aryans everywhere
a. In a Hittite document of 1400-1300
B.C.E. found in Asia Minor, Mithra is
mentioned under name of Midr
b. He was chief god of the Mitannia, an
Aryan group in northern Mesopotamia
c. Mithra was known as the god of light
d. In a later Avesta, he is portrayed as the
god to whom the princes pray when they
go forth to battle
e. Mithra could mean treaty or pact
3. A Hittite document refers to a god
called Uruwana (Greek Ouranos; Vedic
Varuna)
a. He is the god of the domed sky
b. He is the lord (ahura) of the
moral order with a high ethical
character
4. Vayu, the wind, a companion of Intar
a. Appears under the aspect of good
and bad winds
b. He blows from the beginning of
time
5. Yima (Vedic Yama), the ruler of the
dead, the first man to die
F. Underlying world order was a cosmic
principle called asha or arta
1. Attributes are truth, right, justice,
divine order
2. Similar to Vedic Rita
G. Fire Worship
1. The divine powers were
worshiped under the open sky, with
aid of priests, fire worship, and potion of
haoma (Vedic soma)
2. Fire ceremonies similar to Vedic
India
3. Atar was the god invoked and
worshipped during these rites
4. The ceremony
a. The sacrificial fire is lit and reverenced
b. The grass around the altar was
consecrated, sprinked with haoma- juice and would
be made the table upon which were laid
portions of the sacrifice
c. Sacrifice might be animal or cereal
d. In the case of an animal, the victim would be
touched the barsom, a bundle of boughs
worshipped as supernatural and held before the
face during the adoration of the sacred fire
The Prophet Zoroaster
A. His early life
1. Date and
birthplace highly
controversial
a. Many scholars
will place his birth
around 660 B.C.E.
b. Greek scholars
such as Aristotle
place him at
6000 B.C.E.
c. Believing that certain
features of Gathic
language are older than
Sanskrit and the Rig
Veda being written in
1800 B.C.E. cause
some to believe that he
lived prior to this time
 d. Birthplace
according to the
Avesta is on the
banks of the river
Vaejah
e. Some believe
that he was born in
the city of Ragha,
near modern
Tehran
2. Tradition has him
assuming the kusti or
sacred thread at the
age of 15
3. At 20 he left his
parents and wife to
wander and seek
truth
B. The Revelation
1. At the age of 30
he received his
revelation
 2. Legend has
magnified the
initial revelation
to a series of
miraculous
visions
a. First and most
dramatic vision
occurs on the
banks of the Daitya
River near his
home
b. A figure
“nine times
as large as
a man”
appeared
to him
c. The figure was the
archangel Vohu
Manah (Good
Thought) who
questioned Zoroaster
and commanded him
to lay aside the
vesture of his mortal
body and appear
before Ahura Mazda
(Wise Lord) as a
disembodied soul
d. Ahura Mazda
instructed him and
called him to
become a prophet
of the true religion
e. During the next 8
years he would
meet the six
principal archangels
and each meeting
would make the
revelation more
complete
3. In the Gathas, Zoroaster’s own words tell the
revelation:
As the holy one I recognzed thee, Mazda Ahura,
when Good Thought (Vohu Manah) came to me and
asked me “ Who art thou? to whom dost thou
belong? By what sign wilt thou appoint the days for
questioning about thy possessions and thyself?”
Then said I to him: “To the first (question),
Zarathustra am I, a true foe to the Liar, to the
utmost of my power, but a powerful support would I
be to the Righteous, that I may attain the future
things of the infinite Dominion, according as I praise
and sing thee, Mazda,”
4. After the
revelation he
began to preach
immediately, but
was not very
successful
a. Being
discouraged he was
tempted by the Evil
Spirit Angra Mainyu,
who encouraged
him to renounce the
worship of Mazda
b. Zoroaster refused him with the words,
No! I shall not renounce the good religion
of the worshipers of Mazda, not though
life, limb, and soul should part asunder
 5. After the revelation he began to preach
immediately, but was not very successful
a. Being discouraged he was
tempted by the Evil Spirit Angra Mainyu,
who encouraged him to renounce the
worship of Mazda
b. Zoroaster refused him with the
words, No! I shall not renounce the
good religion of the worshipers of
Mazda, not though life, limb, and
soul should part asunder
6. The next 20 years were spent in
propagating the faith
7. Two holy wars would be fought
defending the faith
a. The first would see the rise of
Isfender who would rout the invading
northern nomads
b. The second would led to the
prophet’s death at the age of 77
C. According to the Younger Avesta, two
persons served in semi-prophetic positions
before Zoroaster
1. Gaya Maretan--the primeval
man-- the first mortal who hears the
divine tenets
a. He is the first ruler of Iran
b. He is the prototype of
humanity
 2. Yimi (Vedic Yama)--also a king of Iran
and prototype of a good ruler
a. His reign was associated with
justice and peace
b. God warned him of three
consecutive cold winters that would
destroy all living things on earth
c. He constructed a cave into which
he took the seeds of various plants,
every kind of cattle, and the best of
human beings
d. He ascended to the spiritual
world and returned to earth
The Teachings
A. The religion was one of ethical
monotheism
1. The moral law required human
righteousness and proceeded from
the one good God, Ahura Mazda (Wise
Lord)
2. His clan seemed to have given
this god special devotion
3. Although no longer referred to as
Varuna, many scholars see Ahura
Mazda as taking Varauna’s place
B. Final Revlation of One Supreme Deity
1. The Gathas sets forth that he had been
called by Ahura Mazda himself and that the
religion revealed to him was the final and
true religion
a. Ahura stems from the root Ah,
meaning “to be, to exist”
b. Mazda stems from Mana, meaning
wisdom and intelligence
c. Thus, Ahura Mazda is the Essence of
Being and Wisdom
2. Unlike, later followers who would create
dualistic deities, his deity was the one supreme
ruler, creating both dark and light
3. The Gathas state:
Who is by generation the Father of Right (Asha)
at the first? Who determined the path of sun
and stars? Who is it by whom the moon waxes
and wanes again? . . . Who upheld the earth
beneath and the firmanent from falling? Who
made the water and the plants? Who yoked
swiftness to winds and clouds?. . . What artist
made light and darkness, sleep and waking?
Who made morning, noon, and night, that call
the understanding man to his duty? . . . I
strive to recognize by these things thee, O
Mazda, creator of all things through the holy
spirit
C. Spenta Mainyu--Good Actions
1. Ahura Mazda used a Holy Spirit (Spenta
Mainyu) and various modes of divine
actions called the “Immortal Holy Ones or
Amesha Spentas to accomplish his deeds
2. These modes of ethical activity bear
names such as:
a. Vohu Manah--Good Thought or
Sense
b. Asha--Right
c. Kshathra--Power or Dominion
d. Haurvatat--Prosperity
e. Armaiti--Piety
3. These modes appear to be abstract
qualities or states, but some scholars
believe he personified them
D. Angra Mainyu--Evil Actions
1. Ahura Mazda is supreme but not
unopposed
a. Against Asha (Right) is Druji
(The Lie)
b. Against Truth is Falsehood
c, Against Life is Death
2. Zaehner believes that the Gathas teach
that Ahura Mazda had twin “sons” and
gave them free choice
a. One became Spenta Mainyu--
Good or Holy Spirit
b. One became Angra Mainyu--Evil
Spirit
c. The Gathas read:
Now the two primal Spirits, who revealed
themselves in vision as Twins, are the Better
and the Bad in thought and word and action.
And between these two the wise once chose
aright, the foolish not so. And when these
twain Spirits came together in the beginning,
they established Life and Not-Life; and that at
the last the Worst Existence (Hell) shall be to
the followers of the Lie,but the Best Thought
(Paradise) to him that follows Right. Of these
twain Spirits he that followed the Lie chose
doing the worst things; the holiest Spirit chose
Right
E. The Struggle of the Soul
1. Each human soul is the seat of a
struggle between good and evil
2. Mazda gave each human freedom
to chooses between good and evil
3. It is necessary for each human to
decide between Mazda and Mainyu
F. Good and Evil
1. The Gathas, devotional hymns, do
not give a definitive definition of
good or evil
2. They do, however, give an
indication of the practical differences
3. The good are those who accept
the true religion
4. The evil are those who reject the
true religion, especially those who
practiced the “old religion”
5. The good are those who till the soil, raise
grain, grow fruits, root out weeds, reclaim
wasteland, irrigate the barren ground, and treat
animals kindly, especially cows
6. The evil have no agriculture
He that is no husbandman, O Mazda, however
eager he be, has no part in the good message
The Liar stays the supporters of Right from
prospering the cattle in district and province,
infamous that he is.
7. The meandering nomads represented evil at
its worst
G. Purification of ceremonies
1. The old Aryan ritual is purged of magic
and idolatry
2. Orgies attendant upon animal sacrifices
are eliminated
3. The ritual intoxication with Haoma-
juice is condemned
4. The drinking of the urine from haoma-
drinking priests was forbidden
5. The fire ritual was retained; fire was a
symbol of Mazda
H. Final Victory of Ahura Mazda
1. A general resurrection will take
place at the end of the present order
2. Good and evil persons will be
subjected to an ordeal of fire
and molten metal
3. Later teachings indicate that the
righteous will go through the fire with
no pain; the evil will suffer but will
exit the fire pure
J. Final Judgment of the Soul
1. Individual judgment follows shortly
after death and the state of the soul remains
until the general resurrection
2. Each soul must face judgment at the
Bridge of Separator (Chinvat) Bridge which
spans the abyss of hell and paradise
a. At the bridge the record of the
soul is read
b. A balance of merits and demerits
is cast
c. If good dominates over evil, the
“pointing of the hand” of Mazda will
be toward Paradise
d. If evil dominates over good, the hand
will point to the abyss below the bridge:
Their own Soul and their own self [ daena]
shall torment them when they come to the
Bridge of the Separator. To all time will
they be guests for the Houses of the Lie.
e. The daena refers to the moral center
of the personality
V. Development in the Later Avesta
A. Information between 300 B.C.E.
to 700 C.E. is scarce
1. It is not known whether
Zoroaster’s reform made its way
to the main Mesopotamian basin
or whether another parallel
reform took place
2. During the Achaemenid dynasty (559-
330 B.C.E.), under rulers such as Cyrus,
Darius I, and Xeres, priests (magi)
predominated
3. Mazda would be worshiped along with
other deities
4. The Arsacids, Parthians, ruled from 250
B.C.E. to 226 C.E.
B. The Sassanid Revival, 226-651 C.E.
1. Zoroaster’s name would come to
the forefront once again
2. The Avesta, later Zoroastrian
scriptures would be assembled
3. Zoroastrianism became the state
religion with great modifications
C. Zoroaster elevated through myth
1. A worshipful attitude came to be taken
toward Zoroaster
a. He became a godlike personage
whose existence was attended by
supernatural manifestations
b. His coming was known and
foretold three thousand years before by
the mythical primal bull and King Yima,
in the Golden Age warned the
demons of their coming demise
c. The “Glory” of Ahura Mazda united
itself with Zoroaster’s future mother at her
birth and rendered her fit to bear the
prophet
d. Concurrently, a divinely protected stem
of a haoma plant was infused with the
fravashi (genius or ideal self) of the
coming prophet
e. At the proper time, his parents drank
its juices mixed with a potent milk which
contained the material essence (body
protoplasm) of the child about to be
conceived
2. After his birth, all nature rejoiced and
demons and wizards surrounded him
a. The baby would almost be killed
in his cradle, burnt in a huge fire, and
trampled to death by a herd of cattle
b. He was placed in a cave with
wolves whose young had been killed--
they allowed a ewe to suckle him
4. Greeks and Romans would be
impressed by what they heard of him
5. Plato wanted to study Zoroastrianism
but was prevented with the outbreak of
the War of Sparta with Persia in 396
B.C.E.
D. The Sharing of Power with other
Divinities
1. Even though Mazda was still
considerred to be the supreme
deity, old Aryan nature-gods (whom
Zoroaster condemned) crept back into
the faith
2. The early Gathas did recognize
the existence of “Immortal Holy Ones”
but they were regarded as “modes of
divine action”
3. The later Avesta, depicts Yazatas (angels or
sub-deities), most of whom were Indo-Aryan in
character (about 40 are named)
a. Mithra--the greatest of them all
(1) His name would be repeated with Mazda
in many later inscriptions
(2) Although technically subordinate to
Mazda, he attained a supreme stature as the
god of light for the masses
(3) He was seen as the rewarder of those
who spoke truth
(4) He was relied to help in the journey after
death
b. Haoma--refined from earlier use, the
intoxicant became deified
(1) Animal sacrifices were made to
him
(2) He became again the “Averter of
Death”, as associated in the Rig Veda
with long life and immortality of the
soul
c. Verethragna (Vedic Indra)--the
strongest and most aggressive
d. Vayu (Vedic Vayu), a winged god who
had a double nature, a good and evil side
4. A group of beings called Fravashis
were also recognized
a. Originally they seemed to have
been ancestral spirits, guarding and
expecting worship from the living
b. Later, they would stand for “ideal
selves”, who were also guardian
genii-- both of gods and of humans
c. Each person was thought to have
a fravashis (eternal element)
E. The concept of evil would be
intensified
1. Concept of evil approached an
almost complete dualism
2. The spirits of evil would be more
sharply defined and individualized
3. In later Avesta, Angra Mainyu
shared in the creation
4. Mainyu created demons to help him
a. Aka Maah--Bad Thought
b. Andar (Vedic Indra)
c. Naohaithya (Vedic Nasatyas)--the
heavenly twins now reduced to one
being
d. Druj--the Lie, appearing in the
likeness of a female demon
e. There were also myriads of evil
spirits and daevas
F. The development of Zurvan (space-
time)
1. Another answer to the dualism
saw Mazda and Mainyu springing as twins
from a unitary world-principle called
Zurvan (boundless Time or Space)
2. Thus, God and devil would be co-
equal
3. But the ultimate victory of good
over evil was declared to be certain
G. Concepts of the Final Judgment grew
in detail
1. The future life was worked out in
graphic detail
2. At death, the soul remains for
four days on earth and mediates upon its
good and evil deeds
3. On the fourth day the soul comes
to the Chinvat Bridge to stand before
judges--Mithra, Sraosha, and Rashnu
4. In a Pahlevi text called the Bundahishn the
would walks on the bridge
. . . there is a sharp edge which stands like a
sword . . . and Hell is below the Bridge. Then
the soul is carried to where stands the sharp
edge. Then, if it be righteous, the sharp edge
presents its broad side. . . . If the soul be
wicked, that sharp end continues to stand
edgewise, and does not give a passage . . .
With three steps which it (the soul) takes
forward--which are the evil thoughts,evil words,
and evil deeds that it has performed--it is cut
down from the head of the Bridge, and falls
headlong to Hell
H. Final Rewards and Punishments
1. A concept of world-ages
developed, each age lasting three
thousand years
2. Zoroaster appeared at the
beginning of these ages
3. He would be succeeded by three
savior-beings, each appearing at an
interval of 1000 years
a. Aushetar--born a thousand years
after Zoroaster
b. Aushetarmah--born two thousand
years later
c. Soshyans (Saoshyant)--at the end
of the world
d. Zoroaster would be the father of each
(1) His seed was being miraculously
preserved in a lake in Persia
(2) At intervals of 1000 years, three
pure virgins would bathe there and
conceive the deliverers
e. With the appearance of Soshyans, the “final days”
will begin
(1) All the dead would be raised
(2) Heaven and Hell would be emptied
(3) Righteous and Wicked would be separated
(4) A flood of molten metal would pour out upon
the earth and hell, purifying each reunion
(5) All living souls would have to walk through the
flaming river; to the righteous it would appear to
be like warm milk, to the wicked it would bring
terrible agony as their sins are being purged
(6) The fate of Mainyu has several versions, but
somehow will be destroyed
(7) Adults would remain forever at the age of 40
and children at 15
I. The Holy Scriptures
1. The size of the original Avesta is
unknown
2. Two early Muslim scholars stated
that the whole Avesta was written on 12,000
cowhides; two copies were written
a. One copy was deposited in
Persepolis and burned during the
invasion of Alexander
b. The second copy would be taken
to Athens where it was translated into
Greek
3. This early Avesta consisted of 21
volumes (nasks); later reorganized into
three parts
a. Gassanik (Garthic or devotional
hymns)
b. Hadha Mansarik (combination of
spiritual and temporal teachings
c. Datik (law)
4. Contemporary Avesta is divided into
five parts
a. Yama (reverence)--72 chapters
(haiti)
(1) Contains the two Gathas
(2) Deals with the creator,
revelation, eternal law, freedom
of choice, purpose of life,
immortality of soul, law of
consequences, and renovation
of the world
b. Vispred (revered)--Composed in praise
of the Yazatas
c. Yasht (all festivals)--24 chapters--
relates to the six thanksgiving festivities--
the Gahanbars
d. Vendidad (law against demons and
false deities)--mainly rules of hygiene
e. Khordeh Avesta is bilingual and
contains the daily prayers, part of which
are in Persian--represent the Sassanian
and post-Sassanian prayers
5. The Zend Avesta is a translation of the
Avesta in Pahlavi with commentaries
during the Sassanians
6 . The Gathas are considered to be the
most sacred and authentic part of the
Avesta
VI. Modern Zoroastrianism
A. Effects of Muslim Conquest
1. Islamic armies conquered the
Sassanids in 651 (652)
2. For a century, the Arab conquerors
attempted no wholesale pressure for
conversion
3. However, within a hundred years a
great number of them left Persia
4. From the eighth century onwards there
was considerable migration to India
5. They would be called Parses in India
B. The Gabars
1. Zoroastrians in Persia would be
called Gabars (infidels) by the Muslims,
they called themselves Zardushitians or
Bahdinan (those of the good religion)
2. A series of persecution made
them secretive
3. They strive to maintain the old
sacred rituals and ceremonies
C. Fire Temples
1. Both in Persia and India the fire-
temples cannot be distinguished from
other buildings
2. But the sacred fire is kept inside
3. Various sacred fires have different
qualities of holiness
4. The more holy fire has to be
compounded of sixteen different fires, all
purified after a long and complicated ritual