Much like Hinduism

THE origins of Zorastrianism, said to be the world's oldest revealed religion, are lost in antiquity. The teachings of Zarathushtra, or Zoroaster as the Greeks called him, were handed down orally over centuries before they were recorded in Pahlavi, the language of ancient Persia. Under the Achaemenid kings, they were adopted as the religion of the Persian State and grew into a substantial body of work, with books on medicine, religion and statecraft. Sadly, much of it was vandalised by Alexander's invading hordes, and what remained was virtually wiped out by the Arabs in the Seventh Century. Today, only one fifth of this invaluable corpus survives in fragmentary form.

The 17 hymns known as the Gathas are presented here in a new, highly scholarly translation by Piloo Nanavutty. An alumnus of Cambridge University and a distinguished academic, she brings to her task the rigorous discipline of her formal training and a lifelong commitment to the subject. Each hymn is separately annotated and prefaced by a commentary, and the whole is meticulously glossed and indexed. Evidently, she has laboured with love, and one can believe that it took her seven years to translate approximately 50 pages.

To leaven so much weightiness, colourful stories of Zarathushtra's life and miracles are retold in the introduction, and there are delightful line drawings such as the one of Armaity, symbol of loving devotion and piety. Like Mapin productions in general, this is a handsome book, impeccably edited.

Since the Gathas are devotional rather than expository, little can be deduced about Zorastrianism as a whole. Even within this limited scope, however, one notices certain special features. In an age when animal sacrifice was a mandatory religious practice it is forbidden here, perhaps because Zorastrianism evolved from peaceful agrarian communities in opposition to the polytheistic animism of their enemies, the marauding nomadic horsemen. So, one must cherish domestic animals and pray for the increase of the harvest. Further, one must be merciful and compassionate, and have "reverence and care for everything that lives" including water, to be kept clean and flowing, and plants, to be nurtured. These concerns anticipate both Christianity and the Environmentalism of today and Feminism too, since men and women are to be treated as equals.

The notes and Introduction, longer than the text itself, give a great deal of peripheral information. The frame of reference is extensive, bringing out parallels between Zorastrianism and other religions and philosophies. These include Buddhism and Christianity, but the emphasis is on Hinduism since both these Aryan faiths have common origin.

The similarities are immediately evident. In the Gathas and the Vedas, the Sun is worshipped not only as the primordial source of life but as spiritual light, standing for Wisdom, Order and Truth. Fire, its emblem, is sacred witness at ritual ceremonies. The Cow, too, is holy in both cultures, though it has a wider significance in Zorastrianism, representing cattle in general and all living, suffering things, the poor and the downtrodden, who Zarathushtra alone, according to the legend, can save. In one passage Creation itself is symbolised by "the joy-giving Cow."

The linguistic convergences between Pahlavi and Sanskrit are even more striking and could open up an entire field of collaborative research between Avestan and Vedic scholars. The cow was Gava, or Gaush in ancient Persia, Gau or Gai in modern India, and milk in Sanskrit is dughda derived from Zarathustra's mother, a milkmaid named Dughdova. The sacred word of power is manthra in one language, mantra in the other, and the prophet calls himself ereshi (Vedic rishi). Deva and Asura however represent an interesting reversal, for Daevas in the Avestha are false gods. In retaliation for this demonisation, Ahuras, the Persian gods of truth and justice, became Asuras, evil giants in post-Vedic literature.

There are doctrinal divergences as well, chiefly in the Zoroastrian emphasis on choice rather than karma as the mover of one's destiny. This engenders a robust individualism unique among world religions, for if we must all choose, "man by man, each one for his own self", we must of necessity think for ourselves and accept responsibility for what we do. This is a very modern idea and not a very comforting one as Erich Fromm pointed out in his path-breaking books on the fear of freedom and the need to escape from it. It was unknown in Europe until the Renaissance and found its chief expression in Victorian England and 20th Century America. It helps to remember that among the Zoroastrians, individualism is thousands of years old, and explain why the Parsees are among India's most independent-minded communities.

What finally impresses one is the purity of this ancient faith. Ritual is minimal and its precepts are simplicity itself, for it enjoins good words and good deeds, which flow from good thoughts or Good Mind. In its insistence on the last of these it is unique in the history of world religions as Dr. L. M. Singhvi points out. In his brief, elegantly written Foreword he pays a moving tribute to "the great Zoroastrian tradition which has made the Indian rainbow resplendent for more than a thousand years."

This resplendence has been generously rewarded. When the sword of Isalm swept across Persia, entire populations were decimated and thousands fled across the borders into neighbouring countries. Within a century even these thousands had virtually disappeared. Today tiny, disadvantaged communities of Zoroastrians subsist in Iran and southern Russia. Only in India have they prospered and multiplied, and been absorbed with honour into the mainstream.

ZERIN ANKLESARIA

The Gathas Of Zarathushtra, Translation and Commentary by Piloo Nanavutty, Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, Rs. 650.

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