Funmunch Home


 
 
A major personality in the history of the religions of the world, Zoroaster has been the object of much attention for two reasons. On the one hand, he became a legendary figure believed to be connected with occult knowledge and magical practices in the Near Eastern and Mediterranean world in the Hellenistic Age (c. 300 BC-c. AD 300). On the other hand, his monotheistic concept of God has attracted the attention of modern historians of religion, who have speculated on the connections between his teaching and Judaism and Christianity. Though extreme claims of pan-Iranianism (i.e., that Zoroastrian or Iranian ideas influenced Greek, Roman, and Jewish thought) may be disregarded, the pervasive influence of Zoroaster's religious thought must nevertheless be recognized.

The student of Zoroastrianism is confronted by several problems concerning the religion's founder. One question is what part of Zoroastrianism derives from Zoroaster's tribal religion and what part was new as a result of his visions and creative religious genius. Another question is the extent to which the later Zoroastrian religion (Mazdaism) of the Sasanian period (AD 224-651) genuinely reflected the teachings of Zoroaster. A third question is the extent to which the sources--the Avesta (the Zoroastrian scriptures) with the Gathas (older hymns), the Middle Persian Pahlavi Books, and reports of various Greek authors--offer an authentic guide to Zoroaster's ideas.

A biographical account of Zoroaster is tenuous at best or speculative at the other extreme. The date of Zoroaster's life cannot be ascertained with any degree of certainty. According to Zoroastrian tradition, he flourished "258 years before Alexander." Alexander the Great conquered Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenids, a dynasty that ruled Persia from 559 to 330 BC, in 330 BC. Following this dating, Zoroaster converted Vishtaspa, most likely a king of Chorasmia (an area south of the Aral Sea in Central Asia), in 588 BC. According to tradition, he was 40 years old when this event occurred, thus indicating that his birthdate was 628 BC. Zoroaster was born into a modestly situated family of knights, the Spitama, probably at Rhages (now Rayy, a suburb of Tehran), a town in Media. The area in which he lived was not yet urban, its economy being based on animal husbandry and pastoral occupations. Nomads, who frequently raided those engaged in such occupations, were viewed by Zoroaster as aggressive violators of order, and he called them followers of the Lie.

Zoroaster's teachings.

According to the sources, Zoroaster probably was a priest. Having received a vision from Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, who appointed him to preach the truth, Zoroaster apparently was opposed in his teachings by the civil and religious authorities in the area in which he preached. It is not clear whether these authorities were from his native region or from Chorasmia prior to the conversion of Vishtaspa. Confident in the truth revealed to him by Ahura Mazda, Zoroaster apparently did not try to overthrow belief in the older Iranian religion, which was polytheistic; he did, however, place Ahura Mazda at the centre of a kingdom of justice that promised immortality and bliss. Though he attempted to reform ancient Iranian religion on the basis of the existing social and economic values, Zoroaster's teachings at first aroused opposition from those whom he called the followers of the Lie (dregvant).

Ahura Mazda and the Beneficent Immortals.

Zoroaster's teachings, as noted above, centred on Ahura Mazda, who is the highest god and alone is worthy of worship. He is, according to the Gathas, the creator of heaven and earth; i.e., of the material and the spiritual world. He is the source of the alternation of light and darkness, the sovereign lawgiver, and the very centre of nature, as well as the originator of the moral order and judge of the entire world. The kind of polytheism found in the Indian Vedas (Hindu scriptures having the same religious background as the Gathas) is totally absent; the Gathas, for example, mention no female deity sharing Ahura Mazda's rule. He is surrounded by six or seven beings, or entities, which the later Avesta calls amesha spentas, "beneficent immortals." The names of the amesha spentas frequently recur throughout the Gathas and may be said to characterize Zoroaster's thought and his concept of god. In the words of the Gathas, Ahura Mazda is the father of Spenta Mainyu (Holy Spirit), of Asha Vahishta (Justice, Truth), of Vohu Manah (Righteous Thinking), and of Armaiti (Spenta Armaiti, Devotion). The other three beings (entities) of this group are said to personify qualities attributed to Ahura Mazda: they are Khshathra Vairya (Desirable Dominion), Haurvatat (Wholeness), and Ameretat (Immortality). This does not exclude the possibility that they, too, are creatures of Ahura Mazda. The good qualities represented by these beings are also to be earned and possessed by Ahura Mazda's followers. This means that the gods and mankind are both bound to observe the same ethical principles. If the amesha spentas show the working of the deity, while at the same time constituting the order binding the adherents of the Wise Lord, then the world of Ahura Mazda and the world of his followers (the ashavan) come close to each other. The very significant eschatological aspect of Zoroastrianism is well demonstrated by the concept of Khshathra (Dominion), which is repeatedly accompanied by the adjective Desirable; it is a kingdom yet to come.

Monotheism and dualism.

The conspicuous monotheism of Zoroaster's teaching is apparently disturbed by a pronounced dualism: the Wise Lord has an opponent, Ahriman, who embodies the principle of evil, and whose followers, having freely chosen him, also are evil. This ethical dualism is rooted in the Zoroastrian cosmology. He taught that in the beginning there was a meeting of the two spirits, who were free to choose--in the words of the Gathas--"life or not life." This original choice gave birth to a good and an evil principle. Corresponding to the former is a Kingdom of Justice and Truth; to the latter, the Kingdom of the Lie (Druj), populated by the daevas, the evil spirits (originally prominent old Indo-Iranian gods). Monotheism, however, prevails over the cosmogonic and ethical dualism because Ahura Mazda is father of both spirits, who were divided into the two opposed principles only through their choice and decision.

The Wise Lord, together with the amesha spentas, will at last vanquish the spirit of evil: this message, implying the end of the cosmic and ethical dualism, seems to constitute Zoroaster's main religious reform. His monotheistic solution resolves the old strict dualism. The dualist principle, however, reappears in an acute form in a later period, after Zoroaster. It is achieved only at the expense of Ahura Mazda, by then called Ohrmazd, who is brought down to the level of his opponent, Ahriman. At the beginning of time, the world was divided into the dominion of the good and of the evil. Between these, each man is bound to decide. He is free and must choose either the Wise Lord and his rule or Ahriman, the Lie. The same is true of the spiritual beings, who are good or bad according to their choices. From man's freedom of decision it follows that he is finally responsible for his fate. Through his good deeds, the righteous person (ashavan) earns an everlasting reward, namely integrity and immortality. He who opts for the lie is condemned by his own conscience as well as by the judgment of the Wise Lord and must expect to continue in the most miserable form of existence, one more or less corresponding to the Christian concept of hell. According to Avestan belief, there is no reversal and no deviation possible once a man has made his decision. Thus, the world is divided into two hostile blocks, whose members represent two warring dominions. On the side of the Wise Lord are the settled herdsmen or farmers, caring for their cattle and living in a definite social order. The follower of the Lie (Druj) is a thieving nomad, an enemy of orderly agriculture and animal husbandry.

Eschatological teachings.

The Gathas, the early hymns, many of which may have been written by Zoroaster, are permeated by eschatological thinking. Almost every passage contains some reference to the fate awaiting men in the afterlife. Each act, speech, and thought is viewed as being related to an existence after death. The earthly state is connected with a state beyond, in which the Wise Lord will reward the good act, speech, and thought and punish the bad. This motive for doing good seems to be the strongest available to Zoroaster in his message. After death, the soul of man must pass over the Bridge of the Requiter (Cinvat), which everyone looks upon with fear and anxiety. After judgment is passed by Ahura Mazda, the good enter the kingdom of everlasting joy and light, and the bad are consigned to the regions of horror and darkness. Zoroaster, however, goes beyond this, announcing an end phase for the visible world, "the last turn of creation." In this last phase, Ahriman will be destroyed, and the world will be wonderfully renewed and be inhabited by the good, who will live in paradisiacal joy. Later forms of Zoroastrianism teach a resurrection of the dead, a teaching for which some basis may be found in the Gathas. Through the resurrection of the dead, the renewal of the world bestows a last fulfillment on the followers of the Wise Lord.

Cultic reforms.

Zoroaster forbade all sacrifices in honour of Ahriman or of his adherents, the daevas, who from pre-Zoroastrian times had degenerated into hostile deities. In the prevailing religious tradition, Zoroaster probably found that the practice of sacrificing cattle, combined with the consumption of intoxicating drinks (haoma), led to orgiastic excess. In his reform, Zoroaster did not, as some scholars would have it, abolish all animal sacrifice but simply the orgiastic and intoxicating rites that accompanied it. The haoma sacrifice, too, was to be thought of as a symbolic offering; it may have consisted of unfermented drink or an intoxicating beverage or plant. Zoroaster retained the ancient cult of fire. This cult and its various rites were later extended and given a definite order by the priestly class of the Magi. Its centre, the eternal flame in the Temple of Fire, was constantly linked with the priestly service and with the haoma sacrifice.

Influence and assessments.

After the conversion of Vishtaspa to such teachings, Zoroaster remained at the court of the king. Other officials were converted, and a daughter of Zoroaster apparently married Jamasp, a minister of the king. According to tradition, Zoroaster lived for 77 years, thus indicating that he died about 551 BC. After his death, many legends arose about him. According to these legends, nature rejoiced at his birth, and he preached to many nations, founded sacred fires, and fought in a sacred war. He was viewed as a model for priests, warriors, and agriculturalists, as well as a skilled craftsman and healer. The Greeks regarded him as a philosopher, mathematician, astrologer, or magician. Jews and Christians regarded him as an astrologer, magician, prophet, or arch heretic. Not until the 18th century did a more scholarly assessment of Zoroaster's career and influence emerge. (F.K.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

J. Duchesne-Guillemin, "L'Iran antique et Zoroastre," in Histoire des religions 1, vol. 29 of Encyclopédie de la Pléiade, pp. 625-695 (1970), and La Religion de l'Iran ancien (1962), two works by a leading Iranist scholar--the first volume includes a selected bibliography, the second volume presents a very large bibliography and an excellent history of studies of Zoroastrianism; G. Dumézil, L'Idéologie tripartie des Indo-Européens (1958), the work of a French scholar of comparative mythology concerning Indo-European culture; R.N. Frye, The Heritage of Persia (1963), concentrates on Zoroaster and the respective religious sources, based on the findings of archaeological and epigraphic investigations; J. Gershevitsch, "Zoroaster's Own Contribution," Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 23:12-38 (1964); E. Herzfeld, Zoroaster and His World (1947, reprinted 1974); M. Molé, Culte, mythe et cosmologie dans l'Iran ancien (1963), upholds certain connections between ritual texts and individual and cosmological eschatology; G. Widengren, Die Religionen Irans (1965), by a leading Iranist and Semitist; R.C. Zaehner, Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism (1961), describes the later evolution of Zurvanism and deals with a later stage in the Zoroastrian religion that became the official religion of the Sasanian period.


Zoroastrianism,

The ancient pre-Islamic religion of Iran that survives there in isolated areas and more prosperously in India, where the descendents of Zoroastrian Iranian (Persian) immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees. Founded by the Iranian prophet and reformer Zoroaster in the 6th century BC, this religion, containing both monotheistic and dualistic features, influenced the other major Western religions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

A brief treatment of Zoroastrianism follows. For full treatment, see Zoroastrianism and Parsiism.

Zoroaster's reforms cannot be appreciated without knowledge of the tradition into which he was born and educated. Society tended to be divided into three classes: chiefs and priests, warriors, and husbandmen and cattle breeders. This class structure is reflected in the religion, with particular gods or daivas ("heavenly ones") associated with each of the three classes. The ahuras ("lords"), for example, which included Mitra and Varuna, seem to have been connected only with the first class.

Zoroaster rejected the cults of all the gods except one ahura, Ahura Mazda, the "Wise Lord." It is not certain that Zoroaster was the first to proclaim Ahura Mazda. This deity appears as the great god of Darius 1 (522-486 BC), and it is not known whether Darius heard of him through Zoroaster's disciples or independently.

The origin of evil is traced in Zoroaster's system to an exercise of free will at the beginning of creation, when the twin sons of Ahura Mazda entered into an eternal rivalry. One, Spenta Mainyu (Bounteous Spirit), chose good, thus acquiring the attributes of truth, justice, and life. The other, Angra Mainyu (Destructive Spirit), chose evil and its attendant forces of destruction, injustice, and death.

According to Zoroaster the world was soon to be consumed in a mighty conflagration from which only the followers of the good would rise to share in a new creation. Until this came to pass, the souls of those who died would cross the Bridge of the Requiter from whence the good would be led to wait in heaven, the wicked in hell.

Later Zoroastrian cosmology conceives the history of the world as a vast drama divided into four periods of 3,000 years each. In Infinite Time there existed Ormazd, who dwelt in the light, and Ahriman, who dwelt below him in the darkness. At the end of the first 3,000 years Ahriman crossed the Void that separated them and attacked Ormazd, who, perceiving that their struggle would last forever unless realized in finite terms, made a pact with Ahriman limiting the duration of their struggle. Ormazd then recited the Ahuna Vairya, the most sacred prayer of the Zoroastrians, which is believed to contain the germ of their whole religion. Ahriman, aghast, fell back into the abyss where he lay for another 3,000 years. During this time Ormazd called creation into being, first the spiritual creation including the Beneficent Immortals, then a corresponding material creation--sky, water, earth, plants, the Primeval Ox, and Primeval Man (Gayomart). Next, to the fravashis (preexistent souls) of men Ormazd offered a choice between staying forever in their embryonic state and becoming incarnate in the physical world in order to secure his triumph over Ahriman; they chose birth and combat. Meanwhile Ahriman generated six demons and an opposing material creation.

At the end of the second period of 3,000 years Ahriman, instigated by Primeval Woman, the Whore, burst through the sky and corrupted the creation of Ormazd. He killed Gayomart, from whose body mankind and the metals were generated, and the Ox, from which arose animals and plants. In the third period Ahriman triumphed in the material world but was unable to escape from it; trapped by Ormazd, he was doomed to generate his own destruction. The beginning of the last period witnesses the coming of religion on earth, namely the birth of Zoroaster. The end of each of its millennia is to be marked by the coming of a new saviour, successor and posthumous son of Zoroaster. The third and last saviour, Saoshyans, will bring about the final judgment, dispense the drink of immortality, and usher in the new world. Thus, Finite Time, which had come forth from Infinite Time, merges with it again after the interval of 12,000 years.

The literature of Zoroastrianism falls into two distinct parts: the Avesta, the original scriptural work, composed in a form of the ancient Iranian language called Avestan; and the much later texts written in Pahlavi, a dialect of Middle Persian, or in Persian.

After Zoroaster's death his religion slowly spread southward, through what is now Afghanistan, and westward into the territory of the Medes and Persians. As it did so, it did not remain immune from contamination with the ancient religion, whose gods and goddesses were again worshiped. This development, which seems to have taken place in Achaemenid times (559-330 BC), is reflected in the later part of the Avesta. For about four centuries after Alexander's conquest (330 BC), it seems, Iran was more or less hellenized and the indigenous religion neglected; a revival did not come about until toward the end of the Arsacid, or Parthian, Empire (247 BC-AD 224).

With the advent of a new and decidedly national Persian dynasty, the Sasanian, in AD 224, Zoroastrianism became the official religion. Its hierarchy possessed considerable political power, and other religions (Christianity, Manichaeism, and Buddhism) were persecuted. The Avesta was compiled, edited, and provided with a translation and commentary in the vernacular, Pahlavi. The dualistic, or Mazdean, doctrine, which had gradually replaced the monotheistic system of the Gathas during the Achaemenid period, became finally accepted as orthodox.

Under Muslim rule the bulk of the population was persuaded or forced to embrace Islam, but Zoroastrianism was tolerated to a certain extent and succeeded in holding its own fairly well for about three centuries. Between the 8th and 10th centuries religious persecution and forced conversion to Islam led some of the remaining Zoroastrians to leave Iran and settle in India, most of them eventually in the region of Bombay. By the 19th century these Zoroastrians, called Parsees, were distinguished for their wealth, education, and beneficence. In the 19th century the Parsees renewed contact with the only remaining Zoroastrians in Iran, the Gabars. These two groups and their emigrants to other countries are today the only surviving practitioners of the religion of Zoroaster. Zoroastrian worship is most distinctively characterized by tendance of the temple fire.