What is Zoroastrianism?
Zoroastrianism is the religion that originated in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran) around the 6th century BCE.
Its followers are known as Zoroastrians, after the religion's founder, Zarathustra (also known as Zoroaster). Today, they are called as Parsis which means people from Persia and are a minority living in India.
Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion, which means it worships one God, known as Ahura Mazda (Sankritized: Maha Asura).
It teaches that there is a constant struggle between good and evil in the world, and that individuals have the power to choose which side they align themselves with.
The Avesta is the Holy Text of the Zoroastrians.
It is interesting to note that modern Hindus worship the Devas as Gods and the Asuras as Demons, whereas this dichotomy is reversed in Zoroastrianism.
Zoroaster in Gathas (Sanskritized: Gita) suggests they are real divine spirits. The earliest sacred scriptures of both religions include comparable wording, language, and stylistic elements.
Who is Zarathustra?
Zarathustra (also known as Zoroaster) is the founder and prophet of the religion of Zoroastrianism.
He is believed to have lived in the region that is now Iran sometime between the 18th and 6th centuries BCE, although the exact dates of his life are uncertain.
Zarathustra is known for receiving a series of revelations from the God, Ahura Mazda which he then taught to his followers.
These teachings form the basis of Zoroastrianism, which became one of the world's oldest and most influential monotheistic religions.
The Sister Religion of Hinduism
Let us look at how Zoroastrianism is the sister religion of Hinduism.
The Coming of the Aryans
The Avesta, The holy text of the Zoroastrians mentions the people as Aryans who migrated to Central Asia from the North(modern Russia).
It speaks of how the Aryans migrated to Central Asia to escape the increase in cold in their old home.
This new land was called Airyana Vaeja (Sanskritized : Arya Varta), Land of the Aryans.
This vast domain stretched from India to Central Asia, all the way to the borders of modern-day Russia.
The Zoroastrian legends talks about two kinds of people in Airyana Vaeja, The ones who worshiped one god (Ahura Mazda) and the ones who worshiped many gods (Proto-Rig Vedic Pantheon). This difference in opinion would divide the Aryan population.
Eventually the Aryan land would be split in two at the river Sindhu.
The ones living west of Sindhu became the Persians and the ones living east of Sindhu became Hindu, which is simply the Persian name for Sindhu as the Persians pronounce their "Sa" as "Ha".
The Persians followed Proto- Zoroastrianism and the Hindus worshiped the Proto-Vedic Pantheon at that time.
The Asura clan and The Deva Clan
According to ancient Persian legends recorded in Shahnama, the history of ancient Persia begins with conflict of two groups of people, The Ahuras (Asuras, worshipers of single god) and The Daevas (Devas, worshipers of many gods).
The Daevas was led by Indra, King of the Gods and is believed to be the enemy of the Ahuras and the one who challenges the authority of Ahura Mazda, The Maha Asura. Thus, Indra was seen by the Zoroastrians as a force that led people astray from the truth.
If we are to now look to the other side of the Sindhu, the opposite is the case. The Ahuras (Asuras) are seen as the ones who were led astray in ignorance and are in perpetual conflict with Indra, trying to usurp his throne in Heaven.
Thus, one can come to the conclusion that Asuras and Devas in the Rig Veda and The Avesta were most likely the representation of the ideological conflict between two groups of the Aryans.
This conflict would remain in the minds of the people and become entrenched in their ancient texts as the eternal conflict between the Asuras and the Devas.
Hereon, for simplicity's purpose, we will refer to the two groups of Aryans as The Asura people and The Deva people.
The Compilation of The Rig Veda and The Avesta
The Deva people would eventually compile the four Vedas, which would become the cornerstone of the later Hinduism.
These sacred texts were primarily created as a guide to performing the Yajna (Fire Sacrifices) and as a praise to Indra and his Gods, who were the patron deities of the Deva people.
Interestingly, The Asura people compiled their own Veda for performing Yajna. This was known to the Deva people as The Asuraveda, The Shānkhāyana Shrauta Sutra mentions about Asuravidya or Asuraveda. The same Asuraveda would later come to be known as Avesta.
The Avesta makes reference to Yama, Indra, Varuna, and Mithra. Along with Angra Mainyu, Rudra is mentioned in the Avestan Gathas (Gita).
There is evidence from both pre-Vedic and post-Vedic texts that the Asura people participated in Yajnas.
Gopatha Brahmana makes reference to Asita Dhanvani, an Asura Rishi, and Asuraveda of the Pratichyas (People of the West).
In the Avesta, Asita is also mentioned.
Unfortunately, a major portion of Avesta text is now lost.
Many Vedic Rishis taught Vedic sciences to the Asura people. The Asuras would accept the Yuga System and many other sciences from the Devas.
The difference in ideology did not deter the transfer of knowledge between the two peoples.
As time passed, the Devas would eventually be called Hindu and the Asuras would come to be knowns as Zoroastrians or Parsis.
Proto-Sanskrit and Proto-Iranian Language
The Asuras developed Proto-Iranian language and The Devas developed the Proto-Sanskrit based on their own grammar from the Proto-Aryan language. Which is proven by their similarity in words and grammer.
Proto-Iranian, a language that naturally developed from Proto-Aryan language, was the language used by the majority of the Asura community.
While Proto-Sanskrit was used by the Devas which would eventually evolve into Vedic Sanskrit. Proto-Iranian would later become the Avestan Language of Pahlavi.
Most of the old Zoroastrian texts were written in the Pahlavi language, which is now lost.
However, because of the almost mirror like similarity of Sanskrit and Pahlavi, it became possible to remake the Avestan language with help of Sanskrit grammer.
They are not Demon Worshippers!
Despite the contrary claims of the Zoroastrians, they are not demon worshippers.
The philosophy of the Zoroastrians is very similar in many ways to their Hindu counterparts, Both perform Homa, Both believe in a singular supreme self as God.
Both are against Hedonism and Materialism, accept meditation and self realization and shun evil of all kinds.
The exchange of place between the Devas and the Asuras are merely a metaphor for the ideological conflict that happened eons ago among the Aryans.
Comments