|
by Jayaram V
Much of our knowledge of Zoroastrianism comes to us from literary sources,
few
inscriptions, and art and
architectural remains of the ancient Iran. The inscriptions
belong to the period of Achaemenid kings of 6th and 5th century BC,
namely Darius, Xerexes and Artaxerxes.
Zend Avesta
The principal Zoroastrian scripture is called the Avesta or
Zend-i-Avesta, meaning interpretation of Avesta. It is a heterogeneous
collection of texts composed at different periods by different authors
dealing with various aspects of religious worship, beliefs and
instructions. The texts were originally composed in the ancient
Avestan language, believed to be closely related to Sanskrit and part
of the Indo European group of languages. Among them the most ancient
texts are considered to be the five Gathas, containing 17 chapters,
said to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. Most of the
compositions of the Avesta seem to have lost or destroyed and the
remaining ones were probably redacted sometime during its long
history. What we have today are mainly those portions which deal with
sacrificial rituals and prayers. The Avesta is divided into the
following main divisions.
- The Yasna is the most important division of Avesa. It has
72 sections called Ha-iti or Ha, containing verses which are
recited during the performance of yasnas or sacrificial rituals.
The most important part of the Yasna are the Gathas, which consist
of 17 hymns, arranged in five groups. They are considered to be
the oldest portions of the Avesta, composed by Zoroaster himself in
old Avestan, a very obscure ancient dialect different from the
language used in the rest of the Avesta. The hymns are believed to
be shrouded in an ambiguous and mysterious symbolism and demands a
deeper understanding of the scripture in order to realize their
correct meaning and intent. They deal with the conversation
Zoroaster had with Ahura Mazda, the revelations he had received,
the tenets of the religion to be followed by the believers, the
various aspects of spiritual and material creation, and the
importance of making a choice between good and evil. The five
Gathas are: Ahunavaiti Gatha (Y28, Y29, Y30, Y31, Y32, Y33, Y34),
Ushtavaiti Gatha (Y43, Y44, Y45, Y46), Spentamainyush Gatha (Y47,
Y48, Y49, Y50), Vohukhshathra Gatha (Y51) and Vahishtoishti Gatha
(
- The Khorda Avesta is known as the book of common prayers.
As the name suggests it contains prayers for the use of lay
followers. It contains the five Gahs or prayers used daily for
each period of the day, nine Niyashis or litanies and 11
frequently used short prayers including the most sacred mantra,
Ahunwar, said to have been recited by Ahura Mazda Himself before
the beginning of creation.
- The Visperad is a supplementary collection of prayers,
divided into 23 or 24 chapters, forming part of the Yasna, recited
during a Visperad ceremony performed by the priests as a
part of or an extension of Yasna on the occasion of the six
Gahambar festivals. These festivals are celebrated during the six
seasons of a year, to honor Ahura Mazda in general and the six
Amesha Spentas in particular, as they represent the different
aspects of creation in the spiritual plane and different periods
of a year in finite time.
- The Vendidad is a book of laws
prescribing code of conduct for contracts and offenses, cleansing
of ritual objects, dealing with corpses, expiation of sins,
punishment for different sins, burning of dead matter, disposing
of hair and nails, laws regarding menstruation, killing of certain
animals, funerals, unlawful sex and so on.
- The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns of praise
and offered to Ahura Mazda, the seven archangels, the guardina
angels, the moon, the sun, the earth, the stars Sirius and the
Vega and the angels.
- The Sirozas meaning thirty days, contain dedications or
invocations for the 30 divinities each presiding over a particular
day of the month. Grouped into two chapters of 30 verses each, The
sirozas are never recited completely but only individually to a
particular divinity as a part of a religious ceremony depending
upon the day on which the ceremony is performed.
- The Niyeshas are
litenies addressed to various beings such as the sun, Mithra, the
moon, water, four directions and fire.
- The Fragments are the
incomplete texts that are not included in any of the major categories
of the Avesta. There are about 18 or 20 such fragments, some bearing
either no names or obscure names. They mostly deal with code of
conduct, religious worship and conversations between Zoroaster and
God and between Zoroaster and king Vishtaspa on various aspects of
the religious practice and creation.
The Pahlavi Texts
A great deal of Zoroastrian literature was preserved in a Persian
dialect called Pahlavai during the Arsacid and Sassanian periods.
These texts are collectively known as the Pahlavi texts. The contain
commentaries, translations and summaries and some rewritten portions
of many of lost texts. Although these texts are referred as secondary
texts, both from a historical and religious perspectives they carry a
great significance in our understanding the Zoroastrian religion and
the changes that came about in the practice of the religion. Following
are some of the important texts included in this category.
- The Denkard is a ninth century encyclopedic composition
Zoroastrian religion, containing large portions of ancient and
lost Avestan wisdom. It is regarded as the single most important
Zoroastrian text besides the Avesta. It is divided into 9 books of
which three are presently not available. The text contains
information and clarifications on religious instructions, conduct
and beliefs, wisdom of the Zoroastrian sages, contents of Nasks and
Gathic from the ancient canon and information on the life of
Zarathushtra.
- The Bundahishn, meaning "Primal Creation",
contains information about Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology. It
was probably derived from the earliest texts such as Zand and the
Vendidad. It contains 34 chapters which deal with the various
aspects of creation, religious calendar, the evil doing of Ahirman
and the evil spirits, the nature of earthly creatures, liquids,
elements, procreation, Goshorun the primal Ox, the planets and the
constellations, the formation of luminaries, the battle between
God and evil at various levels of creation and on resurrection and
life after death.
- The Arda Viraf contains the narrative account of a vision
of heaven and hell seen by Viraf in a dream state. The book
containing 101 chapters divided into five parts provides details
of both and heaven. The first part is introductory providing
historical details of the progression of the faith and how Viraf
prepared himself for the journey to the spiritual realm. The
second part describes how he actually traveled to the spiritual
world, the near death experience, what happened at the Chinawad or
Chinavat bridge and what he saw after he crossed the bridge. The third part
provides a detailed description of heaven, God, the angels,
spiritual leaders and other blessed souls. The fourth part
describes the purgatory in grotesque details, the conditions
prevailing there and the unbearable suffering of the souls cast
into it.
- Dadestan-i Denig is a book of religious decisions
containing 94 chapters dealing with various aspects of religious
practice and code of conduct. It extols the virtues of a righteous
man, how he is created, how he should act, whether good works
eradicate sin, what happens to departed souls, how the corpse and
bones should be disposed of, how life departs from the body, the
nature of heaven and heavenly pleasures, the nature of hell and
punishments, how the wicked suffer there, why should one wear the
sacred thread kusti and the white shirt sudre, who is a better
priest, whether business can be conducted with people practising a
different religion and so on.
- The other important Pahlavi Texts are:
- Chidag Andarz i Poryotkeshan: (Catechism)
- Counsels of Adarbad Mahraspandan: Advice on living a good
life
- Epistles of Manushchihr (A.D. 881)
- Menog-i Khrad ("The Spirit of Wisdom")...
- Pazand Texts...
- Rivayat of Adur-Farnbag
- Rivayat of Farnbag-Srosh
- Sayings of Adarbad Mahraspandan: More advice on living a
good life
- Selections of Zadspram, a summary of Zoroastrian legend and
beliefs...
- Shayest Ne-Shayest ("Proper and Improper")...
- Shkand-gumanig Vizar ("Doubt-dispelling
Exposition"), a Zoroastrian apologetic...
- Zand-i Vohuman Yasht,
Suggested Further Reading
|
