Conundrum of Aryan Scriptures

‘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.

1.  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.

2. 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.