Zarathushtra's life: the genealogy of western morality

Zarathushtra or Zoroaster was probably born in Bactria, near Lake Urmi in Iran, around 1400-1600 B.C. The original scriptures of Zoroastrianism were destroyed by the Arabs. The seventeen remaining Gathas form the core of the creed preached by Zarathushtra. There are several translations of the name 'Zarathushtra.' One translation from Wikipedia is "golden shining star.' The name derives possibly from 'zara'/'zarat' meaning gold and 'ustra' from 'ush' (shining) and 'str' (star), i.e. 'golden shining star.' Mary Boyce translates the name as ‘one who can manage camels: (‘ustra’=camel) and ‘zara’ means ‘to drag.’ Zarathushtra is ‘one who cherishes/nurtures camels.’[1] There are verses in the Zend Avesta which support this view:

‘This I ask thee, tell me truly Ahura – whether I shall indeed, O Right, earn the reward, even ten mares with a stallion and a camel which was promised me, O Mazda, as well as through these, the future gift of Welfare and Immortality.’[2]

Zarathushtra was a priest, prophet and lawgiver. The facts about his life are thin. There is a myth surrounding his birth. Legend has it that Zarathushtra laughed instead of crying when he was born. The baby was suffused with a divine aura. When hostile locals in the area heard of this unusual baby, they felt threatened. The baby was abducted and left out in a path frequented by wild animals. Miraculously, he was unharmed and the distraught parents were able to take him back home. At the age of twenty, Zarathushtra left his home and went to Aria. In the oral tradition, he left home when he was ten. This is consistent with the practice of sending future priests like Zarathushtra for study as early as age seven.


Zarathushtra refers to himself as the 'zaotar,' i.e. an invoker, a man dedicated to priesthood or 'vaedamna, ' (one who knows) in the Gathas[3]. One glorious day, the recluse Zarathushtra went to the Daiti River to fetch water for a hoama ceremony and was drenched in light: He had a vision of 'Vohu Mano,' (good mind/divine love). Vohu Mano took him to Ahura Mazda: The light (Ahura) of wisdom (Mazda). Zarathushtra describes Ahura Mazda:


“When I conceived of Thee, O Mazda, as the First and the Last, as the Most Adorable One,
As the Father of Good Thought, as the creator of Truth and Right,
As the Lord Judge of our 'actions in' life, then I made a place for thee in my very eyes."[4]


Zarathustra's vision of Ahura Mazda is the central fact of his life. When Zarathustra came down from the mountains after his vision, he faced a great deal of opposition from the priests and the aristocracy even in his mother's village. Zarathustra is forced to flee the country:


‘To what land shall I go to flee? From nobles and from my peers they sever me, nor are the people pleased with me...not the Liar rulers of the land.
I know wherefore O Mazda, I have been unable (to achieve) anything.
Only a few herds are mine (and thus it is so) and because I have got but a few people.
I cry unto Thee, see Thou to it, O Ahura, granting me support.’[5]


Zarathushtra's life changes when he meets King Vistaspa. Like all prophets, he is credited with supernatural powers and a cluster of myths have grown around him, though these are later additions. Zarathushtra specifically denied a belief in the supernatural. There is a fable that the king was terribly distressed because his favorite horse was critically ill and had actually drawn its legs under its belly. Zarathushtra freed the first leg and said to the king: "You must convert to Zoroastrianism." The king agreed. The second and third legs were freed when the queen and crown prince agreed to convert, the fourth when the king promised to protect Zarathushtra from persecution. King Vistaspa promised to propagate Zarathustra's religion if he married his daughter or in some accounts, the daughter of his vazir Frashoshtra. And so Zarathushtra was married. Of his children, at least two were daughters. In other accounts, Queen Hutaosa was the first to convert. Thereafter the king accepted Zarathushtra.


Mary Boyce tells an interesting story about Zarathustra's meeting with the king. According to the thirteenth century Persian poem,' Zaratust Name', King Vistaspa accepted Zoroastrianism but asked for four boons:


1. I will behold in spirit the place which I will occupy after my death.
2. My body shall be invulnerable.
3. I shall have clairvoyance, the wisdom to look into the future.
4. My soul will leave my body only on the Day of Judgment.


Zarathustra told the king that such great boons cannot be given to one person. He consecrated four things: wine, milk, incense and a pomegranate. He offered the wine to the king. As the king drank the wine, he had a vision of God. His soul was alight with the desire to worship God. The other boons were gifted to the king’s two sons and his minister.[6]
Zoroastrianism spread and became a major religion in Persia. Zarathustra had offered his life to Ahura Mazda during the early days of his ministry [7] At the age of seventy seven, Zarathushtra was murdered by the invading Turanian tribes while he was praying at the altar in the fire temple. He may have been hacked to death and burnt alive.

Pic: www.hinduwebsite.com

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[1] Boyce, Mary (1996),A History of Zoroastrianism, The Early Period, Volume II, (Hansdbuch der Orientalistk series, Leiden, Brill)p. 182

[2] Yasna:44.18, 51.14, Taraporevala,I.J.S.,(1951) The Divine Songs of Zarathushtra,  trans. Bortholomae,(Bombay : Taraporevala & Sons),www.avesta.org

[3] Yasna:33.5,6

[4] Tagore, Rabindra Nath, forward, D.J.Irani, The Divine Songs of Zarathushtra,(Kessinger), reprinted (Newton: Centre for Iranian Studies, 2004), Yasna:31.8

[5] Yasna:46.1,2

[6] Boyce, Mary (1984),”On the Antiquity of Zoroastrian Apocalyptic, ‘Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London:SOAS,p.60

[7] Yasna:33.7,14