‘Atharvan Zarathustra: the foremost prophet’ brings
out the parallels between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism and tries to establish
that the basic ideas of Sufism are rooted in Zoroastrianism and the teachings
of Prophet Zarathustra. The author has put forth some shocking revelations
and his arguments, based on different perspectives of history
and interpretations of ancient texts seem truly convincing.
- The Aryan Clan of Pamir plateau bifurcated as Hindus and Zaruthustrians when there was a clash in ideology concerning monotheism/polytheism and idolatry. Initial portions of the Rig Veda seem to be composed at a time when this divide between the two faiths was still not prominent as it refers Varuna as an Asura. The terminology of Asura and Deva at an early stage simply referred to two different classes with equal status. Because Zoroastrians choose the term Ahura (slight distortion of Asura) and Asura Varuna as their only God, a devilish feeling was then associated with the term asura in Hindu Mythology. This is evident from the later verses of the Rig Veda. The author very logically explains the change of name (of Varuna to Vedhas/Mazda) as an attempt of Zoroastrians to reduce competition from already flourished Hinduism.
In order to
provide an idea of the author’s reasoning, I will explain few of his many
claims and the way he supports them. This will give a clear idea of his style:-
1.1. Zend Avesta is nothing but Bhargava Veda
(doctrines of Bhrigu)
The author claims
Atharva Veda to be composed of two samhitas-Bhargava and Angirasa. The Bhargava
Samhita are doctrines of sage Brighu and his son Sukra who were preceptors of
the Asura cult. The author satisfactorily supports his arguments with a sloka from
Mahabharata which states the number of Vedas to be five
(Rig+Sam+Yajur+Bhargava+Angirasa) and talks of Panini devising a separate
grammar sutra for the word ‘upastha’ which is slight moderation of the word
Avesta.
1.2. Angirasa
and Bhrigus : Cults of Deva Yasna and Mazda Yasna respectively
Brighu means bright and Angirasa means dark.
The author brings our attention to the fact that Persians (Bhrigus) are fair
compared to the Angirasa and uses this to further ascertain the fact that the
Asura cult of Bhrigu is related to Zoroastrianism.
1.3. Prophet
Zarathustra and Parsu Ram
Along with the literal meaning of the word
Parsu Ram (Parsu- Persian in Sanskrit), the author using excerpts from Rig Veda
very convincingly claims Parsu Ram to be the Sanskrit name for Prophet
Zarathustra.
1.4. Age
of Prophet Zarathustra
Despite of the
claims of 1000 B.C. to be age of Zarathustra by some famous Iranologists, Chatterji
has a different opinion. Since Vedas and Avesta are very intimately related,
lowering down the age of Avesta will lower down the age of Vedas to 1000
B.C.which is contrary to the astronomical calculations of Tilak.
Though this
assertions seem convincing but the fact that Avesta are doctrines of Sage
Bhrigu and Zarathustra/Parsu Ram the foremost prophet seem contradictory.
1.5. Extracts
from Mahabharata
Kunti refers to Vahiliki as daughter of
Bactria
Nakula
calls hanging dead bodies on trees as a custom of his maternal relatives.
(Parsi tradition of disposing dead bodies)
Karna
ridicules Salya (king of Media) as ruler of people who are casteless and
riteless (Zoroastrians).
These excerpts
clearly portray the correspondence between Hindus and Zoroastrians at the time
of Mahabharata.
Jatindra Mohan
Chatterji blends out a very interesting relationship between the ancestors of
the Indo – Iranian Aryans through his extensive research of the Vedas and
available remains of Avesta. In my opinion, his deep understanding has enabled
him to make such bold and convincing assertions which are unparalleled with any
book ever written on the topic. After reading this text and rethinking traditional
epics like the Mahabharata and recalling the bedtime tales of sages such as
Vishamitra and Vashista that my Grandma used to tell helps me see Chaterji’s
assertions fall more in place.
- Sufism, which is an essential part of Islam is nothing but a reproduction of the Chisti of the Gatha grafted on the original Islam. The author uses many citations from Koranic verses and traditional epics of Muhammad, Ali, Hassan and Salman to support his stance.
2.1. Muhhammad’s association with Salman influenced
him to incorporate beliefs and practices of Mazda Yasna into Islam.
The word ‘din’ for religion is taken from the
avestan language.
The reference of
the scripture ‘Fukraan’ in Koran is not clear and according to Chatterji we can
understand it’s meaning only if we assume it to be the book of distinction or
Gatha.
2.2. Iran and Sufism
The fact that
Sufism grew only in Iran and the common concept of ‘love for God’ has been very
well used by the author to assert his point that Sufism has indirectly evolved
out of the Chisti of Gatha that contains original verses of Maha Ratu
Zarathustra.
With such deep
analysis of Koran and Islamic history, the author is quiet convincing in his claim
that Sufism is based on the Gatha of Avesta.
