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Gernot Windfuhr ZOROASTRIAN AND TAOIST RITUAL: COSMOLOGY AND SACRED NUMEROLOGY1 Gernot Windfuhr La conception du Yasna que /'on vient d'exposer repose, non sur le texte meme, qui alui seul ne suffirait pas areveler le secret qu 'ii cache, mais sur le ceremonial. James Darmesteter2 INTRODUCTION In a number of publications and presentations I have suggested that the Zoroastrian Yasna ritual is intimately correlated with the Zoroastrian cosmos and calendar, and thus Time, in a nontrivial way. 3 In particular, 1 I like to thank Dastur Dr. Firoze M. Kotwal and Professor James W. Boyd for kindly having provided me with copies of their work throughout the years of our ac­ quaintance, in particular F.M. Kotwal/J.W. Boyd, "The Zoroastrianparagna Ritual", Journal ofMithraic Studies 2, 1977, pp. 18-52, and F.M. Kotwal/J. W. Boyd, A Persian Offering. The Yasna: A Zoroastrian High Liturgy (Paris, 1991 ). 2 J. Darmesteter, Le lend-Avesta, 3 vols. (Annales du Musee Guimet; Paris, 1892-93, repr. Paris, 1960); cited from vol. 1, p. LXXXIX. 3 G. Windfuhr, "Vohu Manah: A Key to the Zoroastrian World Formula", in Michi­ gan Studies in Honor of George G. Cameron, ed. L.L. Orlin (Ann Arbor, 1976), pp. 269-31 0; "Where Guardian Angels watch by Night and Evil Spirits fail, or Notes on the Zoroastrian Prototypical Heaven," in Festschrift in Honor ofDavid Noel Freedman, ed. C. Meyers/M. O'Connor (Winona Lake/Indiana, 1983), pp. 625-645; "The Word in Zoroastrianism", Journal ofInda-European Studies 12, 1984, pp. 133-178; "Cosmol­ ogy and the Zoroastrian Yasna-Ritual", paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, October 1986; "The Zoroastrian Yasna-Ritual: Space and Time", paper presented at the 197th Meeting of the American Oriental Soci­ ety, Los Angeles, March 1987; "The Secret of the Yasna-Ritual in Zoroastrianism", paper presented at the FEZANA Conference on the Significance of Zoroastrian Ritual, Voorhees, N.J., July 6, 1991; "Das Geheimnis des zoroastrischen Yasna-Rituals", paper presented at the Second Meeting of the Societas Iranologica Europaea, Bamberg, Ger­ many, September JO-October 4, 1991; "Significance of Zoroastrian Rituals", FEZANA Journal 4, 1991, pp. 14-15; "The Logic of the Holy Immortals in Zoroastrianism", The Journal ofthe Research and Historical Preservation Committee, vol. 2: Proceedings ofthe 174 GERNOT WINDFUHR it appears that the instruments on the central ritual table correlate with the 12 months of the Zoroastrians calendar. These observations are based on the simple premise that the Yasna ritual, its liturgical texts joined with the chapters of the Visperad, is prominently enacted during the sea­ sonal festivals. This premise would seem to be supported by the likely origin of the ritual in its present form under the auspices ofthe Sasanian rulers, whose preoccupation with time reckoning and with the revolution of the stars and planets is well recognized. It is only natural that without support by parallels in other traditions such analysis must remain rather tentative. This paper presents some comparative notes on the Taoist ritual and the Zoroastrian Y asna ritual. Both are the product of two ancient traditions that evolved independently, and are far apart in their histories and social contexts. But they share their cyclical re­ storative function that is correlated with communal seasonal festivals and with passages in the life cycle ofindividual members ofthe community, and both have enjoyed strong royal support for extended periods at one time or another. As such they both have cosmic ramifications. Being preliminary, these observations will initially focus on the more accessible aspect, rela­ tively speaking, that is, the layout the ritual area in the two traditions. The comparison may contribute to elucidate some cosmological as­ pects of the Yasna ritual. More cannot be claimed for it is unlikely that a global 'key' will ever be found to its magnificent verbal, temporal, and spatial architecture. It necessarily incorporates a multitude of accumu­ lated layers and interpretations since its archaic beginnings. One has to recognize some basic facts about interpretations, here following Kristo­ fer Schipper in his 'An Outline of Taoist ritual' (numbers added here ):4 Second North American Gatha Conference, Houston, Texas, 1996, ed. S.J.H. Manek­ shaw/P.R. Ichaporia. (WomelsdorflPA, 1996), pp. 237-274; "A Note on aryarnan's Social and Cosmic Setting", in Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia: Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology, eds J. Bronkhorst/M. Deshpande (Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora 5; Cambridge, 1999), pp. 295-336; "Cosmic Numerology in Zoroastrianism: The Four Sa­ cred Manthras", in Philologica et Linguistica. Historica, Pluralitas, Universitas. Fest­ schrifi fur Helmut Humbach zum 80. Geburtstag am 4. Dezember 2001, ed. W. Bisang/ M.G. Schmidt (Trier, 2001 ), pp. 563-571; "References to Zoroaster and Zoroastrian Time Reckoning in Rumi's Masnavi", in Proceedings ofthe 3"1 International Congress, K.R. Gama Institute, Bombay, January 6-9, 2000 (Mumbai, 2002), pp. 58-70. 4 K.M. Schipper, "An Outline of Taoist Ritual", in Essais sur le rituel, 3, ed. A.-M. Blondeau/K.M. Schipper (Louvain/Paris, 1995), pp. 97-216; spec. p. 112. .
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