Zoroastrianism

November 2011
 Zoroastrianism

 Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion which was once widespread

in what is now Iran, Pakistan, India, and the Middle East
 It was the state religion of the ancient Persian Empire, during
which time it was one of the most important religions of the
ancient world
 It has under 200,000 practitioners today, mostly in India, and
much of its scripture and history has been lost
 Zarathustra
 Zarathustra was an ancient prophet who may have lived in
Central Asia sometime between 1800 and 600 BCE
 In the fourth century BCE, Zoroastrian priests estimated the date of
Zarathustra’s lifetime to be around 600 BCE
 Recent scholars argue that Zarathustra lived much earlier, based on the
language in which the Gathas, texts attributed to Zarathustra, are
composed
 Scholars believe that Zarathustra lived in what is now eastern
Iran or Afghanistan
 Zarathustra was known to the ancient Greeks, who called him
Zoroaster
 Zarathustra belonged to a priestly family and was raised in the
ancient Indo-Iranian tradition, which was closely related to the
Vedic religion
 Zarathustra
 Little is known about the life of Zarathustra, but
the Gathas indicate that he had an experience of
Ahura Mazda, the benevolent creator god, and
founded a new, monotheistic religion
 Zarathustra apparently had difficulty winning
converts during his lifetime
 According to legend, Zarathustra was murdered
by his enemies while performing a religious
ceremony
 Sacred Texts
 Zarathustra is said to be the author of the Gathas, a
collection of sacred hymns dedicated to Ahura Mazda
 The Gathas are written in Avestan, an ancient Persian
language that is now extinct, and are extremely difficult
to translate
 They may be approximately as old as the Rig Veda
 In addition to the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, a
number of texts were composed in the 9th to 11th
centures CE which supplement the fragmentary
Avestan material; however, only the Avestan texts are
considered sacred
 History of Zoroastrianism
 By the 6th century BCE, the Achaemenid kings of the Persian
Empire made Zoroastrianism the religion of the land, and
compiled the Avesta canon
 The religion appears to have been administered by a priestly class
called the Magi
 The invasion of Alexander of Macedon (Alexander the Great) in
330 BCE brought an end to the Achaemenid Empire
 According to legend, Alexander destroyed a library containing
many Zoroastrian texts and killed many Zoroastrian priests when
he reached the capital city of Persepolis
 History of Zoroastrianism
 A smaller Persian Empire was established by the
Parthians following Alexander’s invasion
 The Parthians were succeeded by the Sassanid dynasty
in the 3rd century CE
 In the 7th century CE, the Zoroastrian Sassanids were
overthrown by Muslim Arab armies
 In the centuries that followed, most Persians became
Muslim
 Some Zoroastrians migrated to India
 Today, Mumbai is the global centre of Zoroastrianism
 Beliefs of Zoroastrianism
 According to Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is the one true god
 Ahura Mazda created the world and imbued it with asha (truth,
good, order)
 Ahura Mazda first created the Amesha Spentas (heavenly beings), then
the material world, then the first human and the first bull
 However, an evil spirit, Angra Mainyu (also known as Ahriman)
opposes Ahura Mazda, and brought druj (falsehood, evil,
disorder) to the world
 Angra Mainyu created various demons and also corrupted and destroyed
the first human and bull
 The world is characterized by a struggle between asha and druj
 All humans have free will and must choose asha over druj
 Supernatural Beings
 Zoroastrian mythology includes a complex hierarchy of
supernatural beings
 The highest of the heavenly beings are the six Amesha Spentas,
which are emanations or “divine sparks” of Ahura Mazda and
were responsible for the creation of the universe
 Mithra is a divine being who is associated with contracts, justice,
cattle, and the Sun, and is sometimes worshipped as a deity in his
own right
 Yazatas are divine beings which serve Ahura Mazda, and are
comparable to angels in the Abrahamic traditions
 Daevas
 Daevas are demonic beings
 In the Gathas, daevas are gods who are worshipped
by non-Zoroastrians and do not have the quality of
asha
 Later texts depict the daevas as evil beings who
follow Angra Mainyu
 Zoroastrian mythology lists six arch-daevas
which oppose the Amesha Spentas
 Two of these are Indar and Sarva
 The End Times
 Those who live according to asha will enter into
the Kingdom of Light
 A temporary hell exists for evildoers
 At the end of history, the Saoshyant (saviour)
will lead an army of yazatas against Angra
Mainyu’s daevas
 Good will triumph over evil and bring about the
“renovation” or “refreshment” of the world, in
which the dead will come back to life, and druj,
old age, and death will disappear
 Rituals
 Zoroastrians wrap a sacred cord, called a kusti, around
their midsections five times per day and recite prayers
to Ahura Mazda
 Water is used for purification
 Zoroastrian worship often takes place in a fire temple,
which houses a sacred flame and also has access to a
source of water
 When a Zoroastrian dies, his or her body is traditionally
taken to a Tower of Silence, where it is left in the open
to be devoured by vultures
 The only Tower of Silence that exists today is located in
Mumbai, India