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Vistaspa and the Life of Zarathustra
The reign of Vistaspa , towards the end of the Kyanian dynasty, can be regarded as one of the most important periods in Iranian history. Not because Vistaspa was a very great king but because a man appeared Iran at this time whose teachings were to change the character of the Iranian people.
The most lasting impression of Kayanian times that we get is that of a period of almost constant war. Wars were fought not only to gain lands but often for revenge, we saw lies being told all the time, fathers killing their sons etc. It must have been a terrible time. In the first Gatha it is said that the times were so bad that Mother Earth cried out to her Creator to save her from the destruction and suffering. The cry of Mother Earth was answered during the reign of Kai-Lohurasp. Childhood
Far away from the capital city of Balkh (in today’s Afghanistan) on the banks of a river called Daiti, in a little village a very exceptional child was born to Pourushaspa and Doghdova of the Spitama family. It is said that the child was born smiling instead of crying. He was named Zarathushtra (shining star).
Now at this time there was an evil priest Durasarun in the same village, he was also a magician and he learned that this exceptional child would destroy evil priests and magicians like him. He tried to kill the baby Zarathushtra. Once he threw Zarathushtra onto a fire but the fire turned to roses. At another time Zarathushtra was put in the path of stampeding cattle but a cow stood above him and protected the baby as the animals rushed by. A third time Durasarun threw the baby into a den of wolves from which he had removed and killed the cubs. The mother wolf who normally would have been in a mood to kill any one, treated Zarathushtra like one of her own cub until his parents found him. Durasarun then tried to kill Zarathushtra with a dagger but his hand withered and he was crippled for life.
Zarathushtra grew up in a strange world, superstition had displaced knowledge, people believed blindly in a multiple of gods which had to be placated in different ways, sometimes by horrible sacrifices. Zarathushtra was a very curious child he was always asking questions, he wanted to know why all these gods had to be constantly satisfied, he wanted to know who made the sun and the moon, where the stars came from, why a child should love his parents. He kept on asking questions because to him everything had to have reason. No one could answer his questions and as he grew older he became more and more dissatisfied with the society he lived in. Man’s behavior seemed to be meaningless to him. The Revelation
At the age of 15 he left his village and went into the mountains. There he spent many years trying to find the answers to his questions. Through deep meditation he came to the conclusion that the universe must operate on a great plan which had been laid out by one great God. This God he called Ahura Mazda, The All Wise Creator. Now, he devoted his thoughts to finding out about this All Wise Creator. After many years of meditation, one day he had a revelation. Vohu Mano the spirit of the Good Mind appeared to Zarathushtra in a vision as an angel and led Zarathushtra’s mind into the presence of Ahura Mazda. In this instant the mind of God touched the mind of Zarathushtra and Zarathushtra became fully aware of the nature of Ahura Mazda. This encounter is described in the Gathas.
After this revelation, Zarathushtra seems to have understood all that he wanted to know. He had knowledge of the great plan which he called the path of Asha. He asked Ahura Mazda for one gift, that of beautiful speech so that people would listen to him and learn from him.
At this time as Zarathushtra started on his mission, the Evil Spirit (Angre Mainyu) seeing in Zarathushtra a great fighter of evil, tempted Zarathushtra. In a vision he offered Zarathushtra great riches and the kingship of the world, if he would renounce what he had learned and not teach it to the people of the world. Zarathushtra simply answered back “Never, oh Evil Spirit will I renounce the good worship of Ahura Mazda even if you would separate my body and my soul.” The Mission
Zarathushtra went back to his village. His parents were overjoyed at seeing him after so many years. He began to talk to his family about the one and only great God, Ahura Mazda. To people who were used to special gods each for a special purpose, a single all powerful God was too much. They looked upon Zarathushtra as a man who had lost his mind. But Zarathushtra kept on preaching to whoever would listen. He talked about Ahura Mazda, the Path of Asha about Vohu Mano, the Good Mind, of Kshathra Vairya the infinite power of Ahura Mazda, of Armaiti, His infinite love of creation, and the two principles of Haurvatat and Ameretat (Perfection and Immortality) towards which all creation must move. For ten long years hardly anyone paid attention to him, a few friends and his family, were the only exceptions. The evil priests and the chiefs saw in him a man who would destroy the belief of people in their many gods and they missed no chance to treat Zarathushtra as a fool.
It was a terrible time for Zarathushtra. He describes his feelings of the time, in the second Gatha (Ushtavaiti). We all know the Kemna Mazda prayer which is the words of Zarathushtra asking for help from all the evil and evil doers who were against him. Part of the Kemna Mazda is from the second Gatha. The following passage is also from the second Gatha:
“To what land shall I turn, where shall I go,
Forsaken by kinsmen and nobles am I;
Neither do my people like me,
Nor do the wicked rulers of the land.
How then shall I please thee, Mazda Ahura?
This I know Mazda why I fail,
Few are my flocks, and few are my followers,
In grief I cry to Thee, Ahura
Help me like a friend to a friend,
Show me through righteousness the gift of the Good Mind."
Finally, Ahura Mazda instructed him to go to Balkh and convert Kai Vistaspa, because only if the king became his follower (a Zoroastrian) then his subjects would start listening to Zarathushtra and become Zoroastrians.
Zarathushtra and his cousin Maidhyoma (Zarathushtra’s first follower and his one true friend) started on their journey to Balkh, with a few friends. It was a long and dangerous journey. On their way whenever they stopped at a town or village, Zarathushtra would collect the people around him and start talking about Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas, about the constant fight between good and evil and man’s duty to fight against evil and work for the good. In those days listening to poets and story tellers was a favorite pass time of the people and since Zarathushtra was a poet the people willingly came to listen to him. While not many people believed in what he was preaching, a few did. Some of those who believed in his teachings followed him and traveled with him to Balkh. The conversion of Vishtaspa
The news of this band of Zoroastrian travelers coming to Balkh, reached Vistaspa. The king was curious to hear what this man had to say about this great new God, Ahura Mazda and invited him to his court. When Zarathushtra started to talk about this one all powerful God, Vistaspa and his nobles were confused. They were used to many gods so Vistaspa asked Zarathushtra to describe his God in greater detail. Then Zarathushtra explained that Ahura Mazda could best be comprehended by understanding His six great attributes which are known as Amesha Spentas or the Holy Immortal Attributes.
The first of these Holy Immortal Attributes is VOHU MANU the Benevolent Mind or the Good Mind. From VOHU MANU springs all that is good. VOHU MANU is the concept of the highest good, the highest purity and the highest love. It is infinite wisdom. A spark of VOHU MANU resides in man and to which man must pay attention. VOHU MANU separates the good thoughts from the bad thoughts in man. By paying attention to this man purifies his mind and learns to choose between good and evil.
The second of the Amesha Spentas is ASHA VAHISTA or The Highest Righteousness. Asha can be described as the Highest Truth, the Plan of God for the Universe. It is the total body of knowledge including all the laws of science, discovered and to be discovered. It is infinite knowledge. It is man’s duty to choose the path of ASHA and to work for and with the plan of Ahura Mazda. The opposite of ASHA is falsehood and deceit. Man’s duty is to be always truthful, to search for knowledge and to learn. For a Zoroastrian, the pursuit of knowledge is a moral imperative, as it is to be honest in thoughts, words and deeds. In addition, we must be honest to ourselves.
The third attribute is KSHATHRA VAIRYA. It is Infinite Power of Ahura Mazda, His Strength and Authority. A spark of KSHATHRA VAIRYA comes to the man who lives his life with wisdom and honesty. Good power is obtained by service. The Yatha Ahu Vairyo prayer teaches us that “Just as the Ruler is all powerful, so is the religious man who is guided by wisdom and knowledge and works for Ahura Mazda. The strength of Ahura Mazda - KSHATHRA VAIRYA - is granted to him who works for the poor, (the poor in wisdom, the poor in knowledge, the poor in bodily strength and those poor in material well being.)”
The fourth Amesha Spenta is ARAMAITI, it is holy devotion, or faith or trust. It is the attribute of Ahura Mazda which can best be described as an unquestioning trust and love for his creation. In a sense it is very similar to love of parents for their children. When a spark of ARMAITI resides in man, then he starts to trust and believe in Ahura Mazda. It is the same with the love and trust shown by a parent to the child and which is returned in love and trust from the child to the parent. Thus, when we doubt and question the existence of Ahura Mazda it is the spark of ARMAITI within us that leads us back to the belief in Ahura Mazda.
The last two attributes go together, they are HAURVATAT and AMERETAT, perfection and immortality. They simply mean that Ahura Mazda is perfect and immortal. Man must constantly try to be perfect so that his soul may have a chance to be immortal and happy.
Now when Zarathushtra explained to Vistaspa the nature of Ahura Mazda, the king started to believe in what he was teaching, but he was still puzzled. He then asked, “Zarathushtra, if Ahura Mazda is so good, so wise, and is himself infinite knowledge and power, then why is there evil on earth?” To this Zarathushtra replied, “When Ahura Mazda created the Universe, two spirits (forces) started to work at the same time, a good force (Spenta Mainyu) and an evil force (Angre Mainyu). One force could not exist without the other. Thus if there is to be a good force in creation there would also be an evil force. Thus creation could move towards goodness and happiness or it could move towards evil unhappiness and destruction, depending which of the two forces is successful. Ahura Mazda gave a free choice to man to choose between the two forces, either to work for the happiness and good of all creation, and move creation on the path of Asha or to work against the good and towards evil and unhappiness away from the path of Asha. Thus man alone, by his own choice, can move creation towards its final goal and triumph of good over evil. This, then is man’s duty, to make sure that it is Spenta Mainyu that wins, and Angre Mainyu is destroyed forever, for this is the great wish of Ahura Mazda for his creation. The reward for each man who fights his battle on the side of Spenta Mainyu is the happiness of his soul, which through this struggle gets purified.
Vistaspa now had no more questions for the time being. He wanted to think over all that Zarathushtra had said. The more he thought the more he understood and started to believe what Zarathushtra was teaching.
Some of the nobles and priests of the court started to see Zarathushtra’s influence on Vistaspa as a danger to their own influence on the king and decided to play a trick on Zarathushtra to make him look bad. One day they hid some hair, nails and a skull of a man under Zarathushtra’s bed and told the king that Zarathushtra was an evil magician. They asked the king to look under Zarathushtra’s bed. When Vistaspa found the hair, nails and a skull of a man, he was angry with Zarathushtra because he thought that Zarathushtra had fooled him and he had him put in a jail.
Then a miracle happened, Vistaspa’s favorite black horse became ill, his legs curled up under him and he could neither stand nor walk. Vistaspa was unhappy. He ordered the best doctors to cure his horse, but the animal only grew worse. Zarathushtra learnt about this and sent a message to Vistaspa from his jail that he could cure the horse. Vistaspa ordered Zarathushtra freed and had him brought in to see the horse. Zarathushtra looked at the horse and told Vistaspa that only he the king, could cure the horse. Vistaspa said, “I have done everything, I gave him the best of care, food and medicine, what else could I do?” Zarathushtra said, “There is a sickness in your heart which makes your horse ill, you have closed your heart to the voice of ARMAITI, you do not trust my teachings, you have no faith in Ahura Mazda. Accept in your heart that Ahura Mazda is the only true God and you must promise to follow my teachings because I am the prophet of Ahura Mazda, and your horse will be cured. Vistaspa then said, “I truly believe in Ahura Mazda.” Then, one of the legs of the horse straightened out. Then Zarathushtra turned to the queen and asked, “Do you believe and accept Ahura Mazda?” She replied, “Yes I have always done so since I first heard you.” It was then that the second leg of the horse straightened out. Zarathushtra then turned to prince Asfandyar, Vistaspa’s oldest son, “How about you?” The prince answered, “Yes, not only do I believe and accept but I will fight for the religion and help spread your teachings to the far corners of the world.” It was then that the third leg of the horse straightened out. Zarathushtra said to Vistaspa, “Now call the keeper of my room and ask him where the hair, nails and skull came from.” Vistaspa did so, and the frightened keeper told the truth about the evil nobles and priests. Vistaspa banished them from Iran. The horse now jumped to its four feet and there was joy and rejoicing at the court.
Zarathushtra now was an honored guest at the court and the religion of Ahura Mazda spread rapidly through Iran once the king had become a Zoroastrian. The people were united behind a good king, and were also united by a common religion that gave meaning to their lives. No longer were they afraid of everything in nature around them. They gave up their superstitions and the sacrifices of animals to the many gods. The priests started to teach what Zarathushtra taught and the people of Iran began to live in peace and prosperity. Zarathushtra's death
The Turanian king Arjasp saw this great change coming over Iran and became afraid and jealous. He gathered a great army and attacked Iran. A terrible battle was fought in which Arjasp was defeated and Asfandyar became a great hero. Arjasp fled into the mountains of Turan. After the war was over, Asfandyar helped spread the message of Zarathushtra to far off places. Jamaspa the chief minister of Vistaspa was also a great follower of Zarathushtra and played an important role in spreading Zoroastrianism.
The years passed by and Zarathushtra was now 70 years old. He lived in Balkh the capital of Vistaspa’s Iran. One day Asfandyar and Vistaspa were both away in Zabulistan and Arjasp saw his chance to attack Iran. His army entered Balk which was not well protected and they killed many Iranians. One of the soldiers entered the temple where Zarathushtra was praying and killed him. The news of Arjasp’s attack on Iran was carried to Zabulistan. Vistaspa and Asfandyar hurried back and drove the Turanians out of Iran, but the news of the death of Zarathushtra was a terrible blow to Iran. After Zarathushtra’s death, Jamaspa became the high priest of Zoroastrians.
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