The Inner Fire: Faith, Choice, and Modern-day Living in Zoroastrianism by Rohinton F. Nariman. Published in 2016 by Hay House Publishers (India) Private Limited, Muskaan Complex, Plot No. 3, B-2 Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070. Pp: 239. Price: 399.
It cannot be repeated often enough that the Gathas are an ethically structured code for moral right-living whose accent is always on the good Life.
Justice Rohinton Nariman’s (pictured) brave effort at interpreting all five Gathas falls between translation and paraphrase; it is no less valuable for all that. His occasionally arbitrary definitions take one aback — they are formulated around certain preconceptions which obstruct the Sage’s carefully constructed argumentation. Sraosha / Sarosh, "hearkening” (from root sru-) is wrongly construed as "conscience” — a role properly attributed to daena as "inner (spiritual) vision” (from root di-, "to see”) from which depend din, hudin and weh-din / beh-din.
Nariman presents a good case for Ahura Mazda who, like all His Gathic supranatural powers, is in the abstract. When, however, the Sage felt it necessary to make Mazda accessible for his audiences, it was through human figurations. Thus, the Supreme Deity has eyes, tongue, mouth, and hands. In the abstract He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent over which He is "mightiest.” He "rules at will,” is All-Good, and Creator of everything. Nariman provides Gathic verses to illustrate Mazda’s qualities; it may be recalled that almost all verses laud Ahura Mazda for His solicitude for mankind and its treatment of the animal wealth created for its benefit.
Zarathushtra lived and taught amidst clans of pastoralists and agriculturists — hard-working, peaceable folk who perforce took up arms against marauding nomads. The animals in the care of settled folk: cattle large and small, horses and camels were hauled away with violence, cruelty, bloodshed and rapine.
The soul of the Kine (= all domesticated animals) laments to Ahura Mazda; in her pitiable state. She reproaches the Creator for her condition and demands to know who could protect and alleviate her suffering. Zarathushtra is nominated, only to be met with scorn, misgiving and despair. After much persuasion she reluctantly accepts Him as her savior. Unlike religious systems whose adherents are required to tokenly suffer the fate of their founders, Zoroastrianism recommends its devotees to lift away suffering wherever it is to be found. The Mazdayasnian Sage refers to himself as ahum.bish, "healer of Life:” all earthly life.
Nowhere in Ys.29 ("The Kine-Soul’s lament”) is there mention of Mother Earth, Soul of Creation, and the like. The fancy of most interpreters tends towards this mystico-mythical entity, but the down-to-earth shepherds and tillers of the soil would have scarcely understood this abstruse idiom. These idioms also arose among the Greek preSocratic philosophers, passed on in Plato’s Dialogues to be finally inherited centuries later by neoPlatonists. Zarathushtra would be quite flummoxed!
Nariman somehow manages to convince his readers that maga constitutes a Brotherhood. For some it travelled westwards into the hidden recesses of Mount Damavand, ever ready to venture forth to save the world — where was the Brotherhood in the 20th century when several unprincipled Parsis turned against Zoroastrian teachings to embrace the ruinous allurements of Indian theosophies?
Nariman nevertheless maintains an impressively steadfast course through the very many complexities of the Gathas; much of the time he has their right measure. When delineating the unmatched qualities of Ahura Mazda, he misses informing readers that there are three categories of Ahuras: Ahura the supreme Mazda; ahuraonho mazdaoscha to describe the abstract powers integral to His personality (Yss.30.9; 31.4, "the other Lords”); lastly, the right-living pastoralist (Ys.31.10) who is a powerful, living metaphor.
The first line of the Yatha Ahu Vairyo prayer (Ys.27.13) makes it understood thus: "Just as an ahu (Mazda as spiritual guide), so too should a ratu (earthly guide: Zarathushtra and his adherents) attached to Truth be chosen....” Asha and Vohu Mana appear with great frequency in the Gathas proper, and in the Yatha — for Zarathushtra they specifically figure as vahishta, "Best Ones” (Ys.33.7). Asha, however, has subsidiary meanings besides truth: order (microcosmic, at human level); rightness (sharply distinguished from wrong-headedness in thought, word, and deed); and justice. Regarding justice, it is this aspect for which Gaush Urva (Ys.29) craves: it should have indicated its rightness to Nariman.
The interaction of Vohu Mana and the Sage who was inspired by it (esp. Ys.43) merits deep study. Unafraid by this supranatural encounter, Zarathushtra forthright responds to the divine questions "Who are you? To whom do you belong?” putting in mind similar challenges from the Mahabharata. His clear answers establish his unassailable credentials as Ahura Mazda’s spokesman.
Among the inherent Mazdaic qualities Zarathushtra has selected, all but two bear Sanskrit equivalents. Asha and rta; khshathra and kshatra; armaiti and aramati; haurvatat and sarvatat; amaratat and amrta. Zarathushtra’s uniquely particular innovations are vohu mana, spanta mainyu, and Ahura Mazda. For whatever reason Nariman has elected for Hu urva tat and Amere tat thereby creating unrealized problems: The Inner Fire has occasionally allowed false word division and etymologies into an otherwise coherent, balanced Gathic study.
The Sage boldly excoriates the Kavis (corrupt rulers) and Karapans (false priests) for having disrupted the lives and labours of the pastoralists and agriculturists. The fate that awaits those tyrannical leaders (and their womenfolk!) is displayed in Yss.32, 44.19,20 and 46.11. The Sage’s first patron, Vishtaspa, was a Kavi — the last of the Kavyan line until his conversion to the Mazdaic faith.
Centuries later the Hormazd i khoday Pazand passage was inserted in our kusti prayers. It referred, among other miscreants to "jaduan, darvandan, kikan, karpan, sastaran, gunakaran, ashamaoghan” — "tricksters, demon-worshippers, kiks and karaps, sorcerers, sinners (and) heretics.” There is really no call for ki kaan and kare fan to account for the figuratively deaf and blind!
It is enough to know that the Sage’s treatment of the Chinvat Bridge scenario departs from the generally nurtured later developments where the meaningful has become the picturesque. As for heaven and hell, they are earthly states of mind. Centuries later John Milton, Paradise Lost (I.254/5) declared: "The mind is its own place and in itself / can make Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” As for resurrection and reincarnation, they are best forgotten in favor of a fulfilling Mazdaic life. The teachings on the "Foremost Existence” more than suffice.
As Mazda’s gifts to mankind, Haurvatat and Amaratat are paired in the Gathas. They represent "Integrity, Wholeness” and "Immortality, Undyingness,” and are seen against their earthly conferments of tevishi and utayuiti, "abiding, enduring moral power.” The latter have their Sanskrit cognates of tavisi and itauti.
It is saddening to read Ys.43.1 rendered by Nariman as "Happiness to him who gives happiness to whomsoever else.” It has been explained time and again that ushta holds a far deeper significance than mere happiness — it is a boon which Ahura Mazda confers as utayuiti tevishi, "enduring moral power,” upon desirous, deserving devotees.
Further, the one who has achieved the union of body and mind, and teaches along the Mazda-dwelling straight paths becomes a savior. Through the examination of Zarathushtra by Vohu Mana, he is in every wise a savior par excellence. Ys. 48.11 and 12 specify who can be qualified as savior: it is any upright human imbued with Asha and Vohu Mana (Yss.34.13; 48.11,12).
Among the shortest words in the hymns are im and nu, respectively "this; here” and "now,” obtaining the sense that Zarathushtra was a Sage in a hurry to see Ahura Mazda’s vision for this world — cleansed of evil — achieved nuchit, "rightaway” (esp. Ys.51.1).
Zarathushtra employs mainyu(s) to denote mental forces, and as thoughts-in-action are better seen as Primal Principles that shape human mentality. Spanta, then, is Bountiful / Beneficent / Progressive / Virtuous; Spanishta is its superlative form used with mainyu to describe Mazda Himself: spanishta mainyu mazda (Ys.33.12, etc.). Ahura Mazda stands above and beyond the conflict of the Bountiful and the Evil mainyus. Dualism stops here.
The kusti prayer commences with two separate Gathic verses: Kamna mazda (Ys.46.7) and Ka varathram.ja (Ys.44.16). The former refers to Fire and Mind — here Nariman’s The Inner Fire is particularly apt; the latter has ahum.bish, and, significantly, Sraosha in close relation with Vohu Mana. Whoever selected these two verses (in Sasanian times?) could not have provided better introductories.
Key words scrape by in this review without benefit of diacritics. Irrelevant as these may seem, they are crucial for Gathic Avestan. Think, for instance, of the term Khshathra; it is met with as Ksatra — neither Vedic, nor properly Avestic. One makes do also with Ustavaiti, Kshatrem and Vahista Isti among several others. In fact sh is uncomfortably shown as sibilant s.
Of the six color illustrations in The Inner Fire, the third — the Shahnamah cover is printed upside down. The irrelevance of the 600 BCE Avestic Gathas to this New Persian 11th century CE masterpiece should be noted: the nationalist Firdausi, a pious Shi’a Muslim, was occupied with the largely legendary history of pre-Islamic Iran whose religion has a minor role; Zarathushtra concerned himself with the spiritual well-being of all mankind, inspired by the manthras vouchsafed him by Ahura Mazda.
The roles of fire in the Gathas are various: in connexion with Asha it is strengthened by truth, etc; it ensures appropriate requitals for saint and sinner alike; it is of help to the Mazda adherent, but of visible harm to His opponent; reverence to fire is reverence of truth; Mazda’s justice is dispensed to both opposed factions through the truth-strengthend fire which blazes forth as justice.
This review closes on that judiciary note. The Inner Fire does overall justice to Nariman. His Gathic labours provide a new outlet for fresh investigations into the inspired manthras of Zarathushtra, that genius of a sixth century BCE Sage. It engagingly poses several questions and challenges.
As Karl Popper [1902-1994] noted: "True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge but the refusal to acquire it.” In his prelaunch interview with Parsiana, Nariman rightly averred "Lack of information and knowledge leads to a lot of problems.” They do! FARROKH VAJIFDAR