The Life of Zarathustra Essay Sample
The mystery surrounding the time of Zarathustra’s birth holds in itself the mystery that has surrounded for centuries the date of the foundation of Zoroastrianism itself. By Pahlavi tradition, Zarathustra is said to be born “258 years before Alexander and therefore in 628B.C., as Alexander the Great conquered the Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenids, in 330B.C, ending the rule of the Achaemenid dynasty that had ruled since 559B.C. Most historians and theologians, however, disagree due to the argument that Zoroastrianism is thought to have been around for longer, partly due to its influence on religions founded earlier, such as Judaism, but mainly through a study of the ancient scriptures and the language used in these writings, written after the time of Zarathustra, which imply that Zoroastrianism was founded earlier, possibly as early as 1700 B.C. Zoroastrianism was almost certainly around in 800B.C., long before the Pahlavi date of 628B.C. This earlier theory would also make sense of the confusion that historians find themselves in when researching Zarathustra’s date of birth- it is much more likely to have been forgotten if Zarathustra was born in 1400 B.C. than if he was born later in 628B.C., when accurate archives were already functioning. Zoroastrianism certainly appears as a major force by 450B.C. It is thought to have been the Zoroastrian priest who promoted the Pahlavi myth to the prominence it had at the beginning of this millennium, due to their inability to trace their lineage to prominent Zoroastrians before the 7th century B.C. It was only in the 19th Century A.D. that reforms within the Zoroastrian clergy led to the abandonment of the Pahlavi theory. Nowadays, even Ilya Gershevitich, a well known Iranicist whose studies have led to many Zoroastrian reforms and who passionately supported the Pahlavi myth, does not base his work on it. Zarathustra himself, has been one of the most scrutinized theologians of Western religions, mainly due to the influence his teachings have had on other religions.
Zarathustra is known to have been born in what is now North Eastern Iran, of human parents, Pourushaspa, a famous cattle and horse breeder, and his wife Dughdova, traditionally notorious for enlightened thinking. His father was the oldest son of Haechadaspa, who was head of the Spitama family, (the White Ones), an important Iranian family. It should be stated that at no point was it suggested that Zarathustra was born a divine being, or even the offspring of his God Ahura Mazda. Zarathustra’s role in Zoroastrianism is much like that of Moses in Christianity- aiming to be a great law giver, he laid the guidelines for the Zoroastrian people to remain holy people until the advent of the great saviour, born of a virgin impregnated by Zarathustra’s spirit. As a child, Zarathustra was said to have been well educated and noticeably precocious, although natural inquisitiveness as a child has been an attribute awarded to all religious leaders by their followers, notably Christ, the Buddha, Mohammed and Moses. Obvious as it may seem that Zarathustra has been described as intellectually curious as Zoroastrian propaganda, it has been said in particular that Zarathustra was always interested in the Natural World as a child and spent much of his time out of doors, contemplating the link between the Natural World and our own psychological one, which may have shown the seeds of his own spiritual discussions of the Natural World. One of Zarathustra’s chief principals was that Earth, Water and fire have been created by God, Ahura Mazda, for the benefit of man and to enable Man to fight on Ahura Mazda’s side in the struggle against evil- therefore they are sacred and must not be polluted, physically or spiritually. As one can understand, Zarathustra is popular among ecologists.
It was at the age of 30, when Zarathustra , married with six children and, it is thought, a wealthy landowner, is said to have received a vision on a mountain from Ahura Mazda, telling him of the great fight against evil that God had prepared Man to assist in. Zarathustra had been gathering the core of his philosophy for some time and almost immediately began to preach. Rather than go out to preach to the world as a whole, Zarathustra began by gaining local support-his first convert was his cousin Maidhyoimaha, who became one of his most ardent disciples, followed by his wife, Hvovi, and his six children, Isat Vastar, Freni, Thriti, Urvatat-Nara, Hvare chithra and Pouruchista (By tradition most male children were given two first names while females were only given one.). Maidhyoimaha is said to have been the first to encourage Zarathustra to preach openly in the streets, causing the local priests to attempt to bribe Zarathustra and Maidhyoimaha into giving up their message. Zarathustra’s talks in public were visited by priests and local rulers who supported them, but both Zarathustra and the priests remained calm during the talks, Zarathustra failing to persuade the crowd and the priests failing to incite it. Zarathustra did not bother to attract the typical mobs and it was is own intellectual pride that stood in his way. He despised the local gods, but did not bother to denounce them, and it was later, when he visited the local ruler Kavi Vishtaspa that he announced that only the wise could understand him. By the next few years, Zarathustra had only converted 14 others to his way of life, due to his hardcore belief in the unity of the family and the necessity of marrying with in it, preserving amalgamated belief with in it. This was ideal in a state religion, for obvious reasons, but may have ensured that Zoroastrianism did not spread much outside the Aryan race- the rulers of the Iranian empire encouraged Zoroastrianism as a religion that placed importance on race and unity of ideas within one tribe, suppressing rebellious feelings and generally adding to the unity of the country. It was also, however, for this reason that the Zoroastrians concentrated on renewing faith within their own families than evangelising to other peoples.
It was at this point that Zarathustra composed the Gathas, seventeen hymns of praise of Ahura Mazda, asking for continued wisdom of guidance form Ahura Mazda, as well as an much renunciation of evil. The Gathas form much of the Avesta, the whole text of Zoroastrianism, which also includes Yasna, details of rites and ceremonies, said to have been imparted by visions of Ahura Mazda and his archangels, with extensions in Visperad, while the Khorada Avesta (Book of Common prayer) containing the Yashts (hymns to the sacred beings) Niyayeshes (litanies to the sun, Mithra, Water, Fire and the Moon) Gahs (prayers suitable for the five periods of the day) and the Afringans (ceremonies of blessing). The Gathas are noted for their constant references to the afterlife; Zoroastrianism being the first religion to worship one single God in the form of Goodness and Truth, it was also the first to describe an afterlife that was more substantial and fulfilling than earthly life itself. In the Gathas, which incidentally are probably not purely the work of Zarathustra but were certainly written during his life time, presumably by his disciples, no passage is written that does not contain reference to the afterlife- every act, speech and thought of a Zoroastrian is viewed as being connected to the eternal life. In a culture with a Christian heritage, this may not seem strange, yet at the time of Zarathustra all other religions, such as those of the Ancient Greeks and the Jews concentrated on fulfilling life in order to make the most of living, before sinking either to an unknown afterlife, oblivion or a gloomy underworld such as that of the Ancient Greeks. It was one of the strongest influences on Christianity of Zoroastrianism that an afterlife achieved by the holy in life could be more blissful than life itself, but what is more interesting is that Zoroastrianism was almost identical to the view of Early Christians and Roman Catholics, a view that is becoming more and more popular today, that after death the sinful may enter hell but shall be freed on the day of Judgement to be purified and made one with truth, personified in Ahura Mazda.
Over the next ten years, Zarathustra endured harassment and persecution, eventually leading him to appeal to the local ruler, Vishtaspa. At this time, Ancient Iran was ruled by ac council of kings ruling over their own large kingdoms. These kings, known khshathras or “habitation authorities’, where often , or men of learning themselves, as education was seen as the mark of noble birth. Kavi Vishtaspa filled his court with philosophers, among them Zarathustra’s enemies who warned Vishtaspa of Zarathustra’s advent. It was only after two years that Zarathustra managed to convert Vishtaspa and his court to his principle of Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, by which time Zarathustra was 42 years old. It should be noted that on his way to Vishtaspa, Zarathustra converted the Fraynas: Frashaostra and Jamaspa, powerful princes who supported him and to whose influence Vishtaspa may have eventually bowed. By tradition, the entire court embrace the new religion, one of the princes being named Spento-data after one of the Zoroastrian angels representing progressive law. Vishtaspa took his new religion to the council of kings, converting many of his friends, while his court became a training centre for missionaries. It was at this point that Zarathustra, watching his teaching spread, built the Nimruz (meridian) observatory on an island in the Hamun lake. This “House of Science, often mentioned in the Avesta, in liturgies and prayers added by Zarathustra’s disciples during this period, became the centre of the ancient Middle Easter world, at 61 degrees longitude and 31 degrees latitude. Zarathustra, satisfied that his “best wishes had come true, died at the age of 77 years.
There remains, however, still an argument as to whether Zarathustra was simply a philosopher, which lies at the heart of the continuous debate over whether Zoroastrianism is a religion or a philosophy of life. Zarathustra was a man who preached spiritual values but many Zoroastrian cults which formed during the years between 600 and 700 AD attempted to interpret Ahura Mazda and his archangels as philosophical concepts and many today believe that consciously or subconsciously this is what Zarathustra intended. Zoroastrians insist that Zarathustra received visions from God and that his entire religion rests on spirituality, but little is actually discussed in the whole writings of Zoroastrianism about whether or not this was the case. A philosopher is officially recognised as a rational being with a philosophy of life based on reason and generally on ethical values, resulting in preaching moderation and balance and preferring to eliminate extremes, while a prophet is universally considered to be possibly rational but mainly a spiritual leader, with a philosophy based on extremist qualities, such as Submission to the Will of God, in the case of Mohammed, Love in the case of Christ, or Law, in the case of Moses. Zarathustra, like most successful spiritual leaders, including Christ, inevitably based his philosophy on a mixture of reason, moderation and firm spiritual principals, but much of his teaching rests on the need to follow the path of Asha, or truth. His most famous prayer, the Ashem Vohu, is a statement of extremism in itself: Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and all else shall follow. Truth, however, is a highly debatable concept- Machiavelli despised it, its own validity is brought into question when to lie would cause great sorrow and distress and adherence to it causes much anxiety and embarrassment in some situations. Yet Zarathustra insisted on total adherence to the truth do to his spiritual sense, no matter what the situation, thus making him appear to be more of a prophet than a philosopher.
