Indians and Iranians shared a common religious past, which led historians to sometimes even term the common ancestral religion as Proto-Indo-Iranian religion. Have we ever understood the implications of this common religious past on the historical studies of the two regions? It is probable that the two communities were in war with each other for hundreds or even thousands of years? Let us dig a little into the religious legends of these regions and see what they have to offer.
Zoroastrianism was the most prominent religion of Iran. What are their beliefs? Firstly, that their God is Ahur Mazda. Secondly, they believe in a certain powerful Satanic spirit called Ahriman. And their scriptures talk about two types of people—Yazats and Devas. Devas are symbolic of the evil spirit, an embodiment of all that should not be. Even now, when people of the Iranian region talk about Devas, they talk about them with disgust—that is the kind of hatred that the Devas have generated. And most importantly, they are led by the demonic evil spirit called Ahriman. On the other hand, Yazats are the followers of the Supreme God Ahur Mazda. They are the righteous people, an embodiment of everything that should be correct.
Now let us come to the subject of Rig Veda, and the scriptures of Hindus in general, of India. There are two types of people—Devas and Asurs. Devas are the righteous people; they are an embodiment of all that should be right; they rule the heaven and earth and maintain peace and righteousness all over. Their God is Brahman, the Supreme Being, who has created everything in the universe. And there are the Asurs, who are evil beings. These Asurs are an embodiment of all that is wrong, an embodiment of all that should not be. They are led by their evil guru/teacher Shukra.
Do you see anything that relates the two beliefs? In today’s geographical terms, these are two communities of people who lived on either side of the current day Afghanistan. We have the community on the west side of Afghanistan call the evil spirit as Ahriman, and we have the community on the east side of Afghanistan call their God as Brahman. Do you get a feeling, or sense something fishy here? Yes, both are the same: Ahriman is the same as the Brahman. The god of the Vedic people is the evil spirit of the Zoroastrians! The name of Brahman got morphed slightly after it traveled over to the Iranian region, and it became Ahriman.
The evil spirits feared by the community on the west side of Afghanistan are Devas. And the good-natured gods of the Vedas on the east side of Afghanistan are also Devas. Both are the same. Zoroastrians hated the Devas of the Vedic people!
The god of the people on the left side of Afghanistan is Ahur Mazda. And the good people who follow Ahur Mazda are called Yazats. The evil spirits feared by the Vedic community on the east side of Afghanistan are called Asurs. We can easily see that the name of Asur has been given to the followers of Ahur Mazda. In the later literature, these are called Rakshas—a phonetic similarity with Yazats can be noticed. Zoroaster is the Persian name for the prophet. The Greek name for him is Zarathushtra. Phonetically, this ties in with the name associated by the Vedic people to the guru (teacher) of the Asurs—Shukra! - The evil Asur Guru, derided even today in a large body of religious legends all over India. And the usage of these terminologies survives to the current day, even after eons, across the scores of languages of India. Killing a demon or evil person is called Asur Vadha in Indian languages; and an extremely evil deed is even today called Rakshasic.
What we clearly see here is the presence of the two communities on either side of the present day Afghanistan, separated by a few hundred miles. They were battling each other for a long time; the exact duration of their fights cannot be definitely attested to. But the kind of feelings that they generated against each other certainly points to the possibility that they were each other’s antagonists for hundreds of years or probably even thousands of years, on a sporadic basis, as attested by the huge amount of literature dedicated to the battles between the communities in their respective scriptures. They were battling each other for survival, each fearing that a loss would decimate their culture and everything else with it.
What is the source of hatred for each other? Why did they fight each other so much? When did the wars take place? How long did the wars last? How did the wars finally end?
The first of these wars is often termed in Indian scriptures as the “Devasur Sangram,” a bloody prehistoric and gigantic war that had a huge impact on the cultures of the two regions. This overlooked war is a huge missing chunk from world historical studies. And the answers to these questions can have a significant impact on world’s historical timeline, completely changing the way we look at the world history forever.
Back to Hinduism History Home Page
Zoroastrianism was the most prominent religion of Iran. What are their beliefs? Firstly, that their God is Ahur Mazda. Secondly, they believe in a certain powerful Satanic spirit called Ahriman. And their scriptures talk about two types of people—Yazats and Devas. Devas are symbolic of the evil spirit, an embodiment of all that should not be. Even now, when people of the Iranian region talk about Devas, they talk about them with disgust—that is the kind of hatred that the Devas have generated. And most importantly, they are led by the demonic evil spirit called Ahriman. On the other hand, Yazats are the followers of the Supreme God Ahur Mazda. They are the righteous people, an embodiment of everything that should be correct.
Now let us come to the subject of Rig Veda, and the scriptures of Hindus in general, of India. There are two types of people—Devas and Asurs. Devas are the righteous people; they are an embodiment of all that should be right; they rule the heaven and earth and maintain peace and righteousness all over. Their God is Brahman, the Supreme Being, who has created everything in the universe. And there are the Asurs, who are evil beings. These Asurs are an embodiment of all that is wrong, an embodiment of all that should not be. They are led by their evil guru/teacher Shukra.
Do you see anything that relates the two beliefs? In today’s geographical terms, these are two communities of people who lived on either side of the current day Afghanistan. We have the community on the west side of Afghanistan call the evil spirit as Ahriman, and we have the community on the east side of Afghanistan call their God as Brahman. Do you get a feeling, or sense something fishy here? Yes, both are the same: Ahriman is the same as the Brahman. The god of the Vedic people is the evil spirit of the Zoroastrians! The name of Brahman got morphed slightly after it traveled over to the Iranian region, and it became Ahriman.
The evil spirits feared by the community on the west side of Afghanistan are Devas. And the good-natured gods of the Vedas on the east side of Afghanistan are also Devas. Both are the same. Zoroastrians hated the Devas of the Vedic people!
The god of the people on the left side of Afghanistan is Ahur Mazda. And the good people who follow Ahur Mazda are called Yazats. The evil spirits feared by the Vedic community on the east side of Afghanistan are called Asurs. We can easily see that the name of Asur has been given to the followers of Ahur Mazda. In the later literature, these are called Rakshas—a phonetic similarity with Yazats can be noticed. Zoroaster is the Persian name for the prophet. The Greek name for him is Zarathushtra. Phonetically, this ties in with the name associated by the Vedic people to the guru (teacher) of the Asurs—Shukra! - The evil Asur Guru, derided even today in a large body of religious legends all over India. And the usage of these terminologies survives to the current day, even after eons, across the scores of languages of India. Killing a demon or evil person is called Asur Vadha in Indian languages; and an extremely evil deed is even today called Rakshasic.
What we clearly see here is the presence of the two communities on either side of the present day Afghanistan, separated by a few hundred miles. They were battling each other for a long time; the exact duration of their fights cannot be definitely attested to. But the kind of feelings that they generated against each other certainly points to the possibility that they were each other’s antagonists for hundreds of years or probably even thousands of years, on a sporadic basis, as attested by the huge amount of literature dedicated to the battles between the communities in their respective scriptures. They were battling each other for survival, each fearing that a loss would decimate their culture and everything else with it.
What is the source of hatred for each other? Why did they fight each other so much? When did the wars take place? How long did the wars last? How did the wars finally end?
The first of these wars is often termed in Indian scriptures as the “Devasur Sangram,” a bloody prehistoric and gigantic war that had a huge impact on the cultures of the two regions. This overlooked war is a huge missing chunk from world historical studies. And the answers to these questions can have a significant impact on world’s historical timeline, completely changing the way we look at the world history forever.
Back to Hinduism History Home Page
I read your book! Your research level is awesome to say the least!!
ReplyDeleteHowever, There is one aspect in your book I cannot connect with.
You said that Zoroaster lived during Satya Yuga. But historically he was supposed to be a contemporary of the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great in 500 BC.
There is a disconnect here! I will be grateful for some clarification.
Cyrus the great being a contemporary of Zoroaster is not a widely accepted idea. Nowadays, mainstream opinion places him to 1000 BC, which tells us that Cyrus being a contemporary of Zoroaster is not being accepted as a constraint for fixing the date of Zoroaster. Gene Ralph, in his "The Persians," writes as follows:
ReplyDelete"Recent scholarship has established that Cyrus the Great and Zoroaster were not contemporaries. Furthermore, no evidence indicates that Cyrus was a zoroastrian, thugh Darius and subsequent rulers most likely were."
The date of Zoroaster is highly controversial. Several classical sources give his date as 6000 BC. Even dates like 8000 BC are also being propounded.
In arriving at these dates, scholars have largely ignored the comparative religious analysis, which is what I have covered in the book. When we compare Zoroastrian and Hindu scriptures, we can come to an understanding that Zoroaster existed at a time when India only had the worship of Brahman - Vaishnavism and Saivism as we see today in India were not present. So Zoroaster has to be necessarily before the advent of these religions in India.
Mahabharat war in India is claimed to have occured around 5000 BC. I have shown in the book that there is a lot of validity in the Indian claims. Keeping aside the Indian claims, let us take the mainstream opinion of 1000 BC for the epic and the war. Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu in the war, is considered as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. Before him, there were already seven incarnations - Krishna was almost one of the last incarnations of Vishnu. This means that the war came about in the matured stage of Vaishnavism in India. This means that Vaishnavism must have started in India atleast several centuries before the Mahabharat date of 1000 BC. If Zoroaster lived at a time when Vaishnavism was not even present in India, Zoroaster must have lived atleast a millennium before Mahabharat war date of 1000 BC, i.e 2000 BC. Given this analysis, How anyone can date Zoroaster to 500 BC or 1000 BC is something that scholars need to explain.
More than Cyrus the Great, The constraint on Zoroaster's date needs to the Mahabharat date and the date of Vaishnavism in India.
thanks alot for your post,
ReplyDeletewell, the date for lord krishna is around 3310 b.c.
zoraster may give sound of "jaratkaru" - a sage lived during the mahabharat war.
and in avesta thier is a strange thing , spoken by zoraster himself and about him --- in ha-12 ( chapter 12 )
that " na-asmi- devo- asti..........." which means no more i remains the deva ....,