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The term “Zoroastrianism,” coined in the 19th migrated to other parts of the world, and in the century in a colonial context, is inspired by a postcolonial age, especially since the 1960s, this Greek pseudo-etymological rendering (Zoro- movement has intensified, so that the so-called astres, where the second element is reminiscent is the key factor for the future of the word for star) of the ancient Iranian name development of the (Stausberg, 2002b; Zaraϑuštra (etymology unclear apart from the sec- Hinnells, 2005). Given their tiny numbers, their ond element, uštra [camel]). This modern name non-proselytization and their constructive con- of the religion reflects the emphasis on Zarathus- tributions to Indian society (e.g. example through tra () as its (presumed) founding figure their various charitable contributions [Hinnells, or . 2000]), and their commitments to the army and Zoroastrianism and Hinduism share a remote other Indian institutions, which are routinely common original ancestry, but their historical celebrated in community publications, the trajectories over the millennia have been notably and their religion have so far not drawn forth any distinct. Just like Hinduism claims and maintains negative social response in . a particular relationship to the spatial entity know offshoots of older Indo-European and as India, Zoroastrianism has conceived itself as Indo-Iranian poetic traditions, the oldest tex- the religion of the Iranians and of (Staus- tual sources of Iranian and Indic religious tradi- berg, 2011). In the aftermath of the Arab/Mus- tions, namely the and the oldest vedic lim conquest of Iran in the mid-7th century ce, textual corpora (the Ṛgveda), share a series of however, Zoroastrianism lost its claim to religious grammatical and lexical similarities (so much so supremacy (which had already been challenged that Avestan can often be easily “retranslated” by ) and over the centuries became a into Vedic and has been interpreted on the basis merely tolerated religious minority in Iran. Yet, of Vedic grammar and lexicon/semantics). A the Zoroastrians continue to consider themselves “Vedicizing” reading of the Avestan texts, how- the remnants of pre-Islamic Iran; for example, ever, risks disconnecting the Avestan texts from their religious calendar reckons the years accord- the later developments in Zoroastrianism and ing to the reign of the last emperor of Iran, - the later Zoroastrian exegesis, , gird III (reportedly crowned in 631 ce). and interpretive history attested mainly in Mid- Given extant trading networks, the coastal area dle Persian treatises dating from the 9th or 10th of southern has served as a refuge for century ce (but often continuing and quoting Zoroastrian groups permanently settling there much older materials). Interestingly, as shown by since an unknown period before the 10th century Y.S.-D. Vevaina (2010), this Zoroastrian exege- ce. There are also records of Zoroastrian settle- sis employs strategies of cosmological homolo- ments in , but these communities gies similar to those employed by the ancient have disappeared over the course of time. Reflect- Indian Brāhmaṇas (see → and Brāhmaṇas). ing their Persian origins, the Zoroastrians of west- (Note that the extent of Avestan textual corpus ern India are known as the Parsis. In demographic and the later religious literature of the Iranians terms, Zoroastrians currently count no more than [Zoroastrians]are much smaller than their Indian some 120 to 130 thousand, around half of them counterparts.) residing in India, the homeland of contemporary The present entry address main points of Zoroastrianism where one finds most of its rich- contact between Hinduism and Zoroastrianism est of social and religious institutions. Since the diachronically. The timeline goes from the 2nd 19th century, Bombay () has emerged as millennium bce to the present. the main center of the Parsis, an overwhelmingly urban community. Since Independence, partly caused by emigration and partly by changes in TheR ̣gveda and the family structures and general values, the Parsi population of India (and ) has seen a Similar source-critical problems surround the sharp decline. Since colonial times, Parsis have vedic and the Avestan texts. To begin with, their 606 Hinduism and Zoroastrianism historical contexts remain a matter of specula- Mazdā (“ ”), where the tion; in a circular operation, their societal context deity answers Zarathustra’s queries on a variety can only be extrapolated from the texts them- of issues, so that these texts constitute Ahura selves. Scant geographical contained Mazdā’s revelatory speech. Zarathustra and Ahura in the Avestan texts points to an origin of at least Mazdā also feature in the Old Avestan texts, in some of these texts in and the regions particular in the enigmatic fiveGāϑā s (Songs), around the Iranian–Pakistani borderland (in which are often interpreted as compositions by today’s political geography) – that is, west of the Zarathustra but whose historicity is denied by rgvedic texts. There is no archaeological evidence some scholars. Be that as it may, in the Gāϑās, for the Avestan texts, but these texts have some- Zarathustra appears as the poet-performer/ times been read into archaeological findings. sacrificer (Skjærvø, 2003) and the intimate inter- Like the vedic hymns, the Avestan texts were locutor of Ahura Mazdā and other divine figures transmitted orally. Sometime, probably in the 4th including the “fashioner of the cow” and some or ce, a special alphabet (the Avestan divine agents-cum-abstract entities and ethical alphabet) was devised to commit the Avestan qualities, most prominently aṣ̌a ( or order) texts to writing in a phonetically “correct” man- and ( thought). The former is ner, but the oldest extant manuscript only dates etymologically and semantically related to Vedic from the 13th century. Already relatively early, ṛtá (and both are intimately linked with the fire), partly because of migration and the spread of but ṛtá does not appear as a personal agent in the religion and partly due to ordinary linguistic the Ṛgveda (Oberlies, 2012, 67). The opposition change, the Avestan texts were recited by between aṣ̌a and druj (; Ved. drúh) is of fun- who no longer spoke the Avestan language. One damental importance for the Gāϑās – and so is can assume the of oral vernacular trans- the opposition between the executors of truth lations (and possible commentaries), but, with (aṣ̌āuuan̆ ) and the executors of lie (drәguuaṇt) the exception of a Sogdian fragment, the Middle and between the and the daēuua, which, Iranian/Persian translations and commentaries contrary to their Vedic cognates (), appear are all that is left. In these manuscripts, text and as antigods/; Aešma (“Fury”) is a leading translation-cum-commentary (known as zand) daēuua. The human and superhuman world of the were largely transmitted together. The Avesta is Gāϑās is torn by conflicts. On the human level, the not a uniform text, and its different strands (parts) community apparently saw itself threatened by have been transmitted independently. As a mate- others, hostile enemies who are characterized as rial , the Avesta first made its appearance as non-herdsman ( 31.10) – “non-cattle breed- a result of European orientalist publications in the ers among cattle-breeders” (Yasna 49.4); most of 18th and 19th centuries. all, however, their are wrong. Humans face Linguistically, the Avestan corpus contains a the need to make the right decisions by engaging somewhat more archaic stratum (the so-called in the right form of interactions; the con- Old Avestan texts), which is not a direct ances- sequences of the wrong choices are dramatic and tor of the apparently later materials (the so-called extend into the postmortal state. Young Avestan texts) that make up for by far its The Gāϑās are referred to a mąϑra (“word” largest part. The later texts seem to represent a lin- or “formula,” corresponding to Ved. ) in guistic stage of development similar to the inscrip- Gāh 1.6. Thepoetry of the Gāϑās is impregnated by tions by the Achaemenian (Persian) kings from features well known from the Rgvedạ and other the 5th and 4th centuries bce, but this does not Indo-European literatures. Examples include cultic provide any sort of chronology. It would vocabulary such as phrases of pleading (Oberlies, be wrong to assume that the Ṛgveda necessarily is 2012, 45), the vocabulary of the chariot race (Hintze, the older model compared to the Avestan texts; in 2009, 14–16), the poet’s complaints (Skjærvø, 2001), fact, one finds linguistic and religious innovations and blame and praise (Skjærvø, 2002). on both sides, and one should not interpret the Among the most significant differences is the Avestan corpus as a reformed Ṛgveda. Almost all prominence of Zarathustra in the poetry of the extant Avestan texts are used in rituals, and that is Gāϑās. When “1st person singular speech is found how they came to be transmitted. in the Rig Veda,” it “is a characteristic of gods, not Several of the Young Avestan texts are framed poets, in sharp contrast with the Gāthās” (Jami- as dialogues between Zarathustra and the supreme son, 2007, 35). TheGāϑā s are characterized by an Hinduism and Zoroastrianism 607 insistent monotony of 1st singular poet/2nd disputed (see e.g. Skjærvø, 2004, and Schwartz, singular that traps the two into a claus- 2006, for different interpretations). Compared trophobic dialogue – which. . .is one of the with the Ṛgveda, the Avestan is of less features that gives the Gāthās their peculiar importance for the order of society and the legiti- intimate power. (Jamison, 2007, 95) mation of power of the ruler (Oberlies, 2012, 31–33); in the Avestan texts, this function was Compared with the Ṛgveda, in the Gāϑās, “the absorbed by the xvarәnah (charisma or fortune), relations between man and are depicted as an elusive agent empowering those who manage more direct, immediate, and mutual” (Jamison, to capture it; originally residing in the mythical 2007, 31). In the (later) Young Avestan texts, sea, it is distributed over the earth for the benefit however, the figure of Zarathustra becomes more of the living by the (deity of ) the . schematic by being turned into a kind of role The offering or consecration of sacrificial meat model and prototype for humanity (Stausberg, in the Yasna was abolished at an unknown date 2002a, 31–40); he becomes the central figure of (maybe as late as in the early 19th cent., possibly a historical vision leading from the prototypical as an adaptation to a Hindu environment). In living being to the heroes of the future (eschato- some priestly ceremonies, the Yasna is recited logical) renovation of the world (see below). Later in combination with two further Avestan texts, literary traditions in Middle and New Persian namely the (a collection of praise texts) unfold “biographical” narratives on Zarathus- and the Vīdēvdād (The Law Keeping Demons tra’s life and mission with a focus on his birth, his Away). With the exception of some chapters childhood, and his visions of and conversations (including the first two, describing the different with the (incl. Ahura Mazdā), culminating places of the earth put in order by Ahura Mazdā in Zarathustra making the “king” Wištasp accept [ch. 1] and the myth of Yima and the great winter his religion (Stausberg, 2002a, 40–68). [ch. 2]), the Vīdēvdād is a “legal” text, framed as The Old Avestan texts are the compositional a dialogue between Ahura Mazdā and Zarathus- center of the Yasna ( or ), a tra and mainly concerned with issues of pollution text consisting of 72 divisions (where the Old and ways to get rid of the pollutants (e.g. demons, Avest. sections can be found in chs. 28 to 54) witches, sorcerers). The text praises recited in the priestly ritual of the same name. as the preferred mode of subsistence (Vīdēvdād (The word corresponds to the Ved.→ yajña.) The 3.4). Like in Hinduism, pollution and → purity are Old Avestan section comprises some manthric a main concern in Zoroastrianism (see Choksy, formula, the Gāϑās, and the Yasna Haptaƞhāiti 1989; de Jong, 1999; Stausberg, 2004). Main forms (Worship in Seven Chapters; see Hintze, 2007) – of pollution discussed in the Vīdēvdād include a recitation prose in praise of Ahura Mazdā and -created animals such as snakes and spiders, his creations, centering on the (ritual) fire in dead bodily matters (such as hair and nails once chapter 36, the kernel of the concentric structure of they are cut off ) and bodily excrement, and, most the Yasna. The Young Avestan parts of the Yasna of all, menstrual blood and corpses. Menstruation placed around the Old Avestan core assemble a and the disposal of corpses (and the purification variety of materials declaring the praise of a series of people and things contaminated by menstrual of material and divine entities including the fire, blood and corpses) require extensive ritual elabo- the , and Haoma, the Avestan counterpart ration and have over the millennia remained key of the vedic . modes of self-identification, but traditional modes Haoma is at the same time a deity, a substance of practices have undergone severe change in the (originally probably bot. [Flat- modern period, in particular in Iran (somewhat tery & Schwartz, 1989] but later in ritual practice less so in India), where the religious system has replaced by ephedra), and a liquid prepared by been simplified with an emphasis on , his- the priests by reciting texts in honor of Haoma tory, and beliefs (Stausberg, 2004; 2012). and other divine agents, mixing the ephedra twigs For the disposal of corpses, the Vīdēvdād pre- (with pomegranate twigs, consecrated , and scribes the removal of the dead bodies on dry, goat’s milk), pounding them, and filtering the high, and deserted places, where the flesh is mixture in the early first part of theyasna ritual then removed from the bones by dogs and birds and its preparatory service (where it is not mixed of prey; in a second, optional, step, the bones with milk). The status of Haoma in the Gāϑās is may then be gathered and preserved in special 608 Hinduism and Zoroastrianism receptacles (ossuaries). Note that this mode of from , and the general resurrection and the procedure does not require the erection of any establishment of a future body for mankind. The massive structures. Although propagated rigor- struggles for the renovation of the cosmos will ously in the Vīdēvdād and described by foreign be heralded by Zarathustra’s posthumous sons. observers, this was not the only funerary practice Returning to the earlier sources, among the in ancient Iran; was also practiced. It was other texts making up the Avestan corpus, there probably only in the Islamic period that funerary are two linked to the 30 days of the structures surrounded by walls became the norm. calendar, and there is a collection of 21 hymns Given the different climatic conditions in India, (yašts) to individual deities (and the seven amәša the Parsis have developed a refined model (which spәṇtas), including the (deities of ) sun, moon, and includes a filtering system for water entering the earth. The collection starts with Ahura Mazdā; this interior and a hole serving as a main receptacle for hymn (Yašt 1) contains a list of 54 names of Ahura the bones in the middle) for the daxmahs (known Mazdā, which emphasize, among other aspects, as towers of silence since the colonial period). In his and founding activities; his recent decades, since the large-scale (97–99%) benevolence and protection; his wisdom, insight, decline of in India caused by the anti- and ; and his majesty and lordship inflammatory drug Diclofenac, the natural func- (Panaino, 2002). The other deities deserve praise tioning of this funerary system has been seriously in their own right insofar as they are affiliated with compromised; so far the system has been retained Ahura Mazdā by subordination and/or by mutual with some modifications (the establishment of support, for example by worshipping each other solar panels serving to dehydrate the corpses), or sacrificing for each other. Among the deities because it is considered essential for the preserva- praised by the yašts, two names also occur in the tion of the religion and for the of the Ṛgveda: Miϑra () and Vaiiu (Vāyu), and in of the deceased to the other world, which requires both corpora, they have domains and functions the sun to shine on the bones. (The soul travels in common, probably inherited from earlier his- to the other world along the rays of the sun.) In torical layers. The Avestan Miϑra shares some epi- many Indian cities, in Iran, and in most diaspora thets (strong arms and carrying a club) with the countries, Zoroastrians use burial or (to a lesser vedic (Oberlies, 2012, 69), the “Smasher of extent) . The main argument against Obstacles” (Vṛtrahán); in Iran, the corresponding burial and cremation is the pollution of the earth word Vәrәthrajan is used as an epithet of some dei- and fire, which are both held to be inherently ties (Ahura Mazdā, Sraoša, and Haoma), divine creations and material indices of two dei- (Yasna 54.2), the heroes of the great eschatologi- ties that form a group of the seven innermost dei- cal battles (Yasna 19.89, 95), and the slayer ties of the Zoroastrian – the so-called Θraētaona (Yasna 19.35f.); in addition, there is beneficial immortals amәša( spәṇtas), who act in a separate deity of that name (Vәrәthragna) in accordance with Ahura Mazdā and embody vir- Zoroastrianism (see also Greenebaum, 1974). tues and the different parts of the cosmos. In total, there are a dozen or so nominally In addition to the eschatological fate of the identical deities (among the 90 or so attested individual (see Stausberg, 2009, for the concept of Zoroastrian divine figures), mostly of inferior hell), Zoroastrianism has developed a cosmologi- importance, in the vedic and the Avestan texts. cal narrative, most fully elaborated in the Middle The list includes, by way of examples, the water- . This narrative starts from the deity Apąm Napāt, the deity of hospitality Airi- origin of the world, with the emergence of the iaman (Aryaman), the messenger-deity Nairiiō. conflict between Ahura Mazdā and his adversary, saŋha (Narāśaṃ sa), the deity of healing Θrita resulting in the creation of the world and the state (Trita), the of dawn Ušah (Usas),̣ and the of mixture of . Humans are expected wind-god Vāta. In addition, there are similar or to fight with Ahura Mazdā and his good creation partly identical mythical motives such as that of (including the deities) against the adversary and the dragon slayers (Watkins, 1995), and there are his counter creations (including the demons, deities who share cognate functions and respon- which strive to enter the human bodies). The sibilities such as Ātar and , the deities of fire, narrative ends with the violent clashes at the end or Arәduuī Sūrā Anāhitā and Sarasvatī, who both of “limited time,” the renovation of the cosmos, confer rain, fertility, and eloquence to their wor- the final cleansing of sinners and their release shippers (Oberlies, 2012, 78). Hinduism and Zoroastrianism 609 Some Zoroastrian deities, most importantly point onward, Hindu India was clearly within the the “Wise Lord” (Ahura Mazdā), are quali- field of vision of Zoroastrian authors. A Middle fied asahura , but there has probably been no Persian work of unknown date and miscella- cult of a class of (corresponding to the neous content describes different kinds of people vedic ) in pre-Zoroastrian Iran (Narten, and countries. For India, the text emphasizes the 1996). Several scholars have noted the similari- complexity of the country: there are different cli- ties between Ahura Mazdā and Varuṇa, whereas matic zones, different diets, different ways of life, Zoroastrian conceptions of the divine with their and different funerary traditions; for religion, emphasis on law, , order, and regular- the text states that some belong to Ahura Mazdā ity – and consonant with the negative semantics and others to his adversary, since they practice of the word daēuua (Ved. deva) – leave no space witchcraft Ayātgār( ī Žāmāspik 8.4 [Messina, for a character like Indra, who is in fact castigated 1939]). In the 9th century ce, the Zoroastrian as a daēuua () in some Zoroastrian texts theologian Mardānfarrox, son of Ohrmazddād, starting with the Avestan Vīdēvdād (10.9; 19.43). writes about his religious quest that has taken him In these texts, Iṇdra appears at or near the top of abroad, namely to India (Škand Gumānīg Wizār lists of demons that are to be annihilated. Interest- 10.44). Moreover, outlining the early history of ingly, it is Ardwahišt, the variety of the (Zoroastrian) religion, he notes that some of the Avestan “Good Order” (Aša Vahišta), who is its early protagonists carried the religion all the assigned that task (starting with the Middle Pers. way to “Rome and India” (10.68), which thereby translation of the Gāϑās [ Yasna 48.1]). A Middle becomes a potential Zoroastrian territory. In the Persian text states that Indar (this being the Mid- 13th century, a New Persian text from Iran enti- dle Pers. form) “freezes the minds of the creatures tled the Cangranghācah-Nāmah recounts the fic- from practicing righteousness” (Great Bundahišn tive story of the Cangranghācah, 27.7; Andrés-Toledo, 2009, 220), and another who at the time of Zarathustra had come to Iran one (Dēnkard 9.32.3) gives an attribute for Indar, and the court of Zarathustra’s patron; entering namely Kōšīdār (“Fighter” or “Slayer”). This fits a debate, he was refuted by Zarathustra at every the name of the demon following Indar on all these point, and, acknowledging his defeat, he accepted lists – namely, Saura (traditionally interpreted as Zarathustra’s religion, which he subsequently Saurva, i.e. Ved. Śarvā), probably meaning arrow/ spread in India and adjacent countries (Scott, spear but maybe already appearing here as a 1988, 107; Jackson, 1899, 86). Interestingly, this personified demon (Andrés-Toledo, 2009, 224). text came about at a time when the Zoroastrians Together with Saura and sometimes also together had already become a minority in Iran and some with the third demon from these lists, Nāŋhaiϑiiå of their coreligionists had established themselves (another name with a Ved. background, for the in India. Ved. Nāsatya is an epithet of Áśvināu), the Middle Persian Indar prevents people from wearing the undershirt and belt/cord that all Zoroastrians Iconographical Convergence in are supposed to have on their bodies (Dēnkard Central 9.9.1). In a new Persian text (Ṣad Dar-i Bondeheš 2.13–16), however, Iṇdra/Indar (now appearing Very few iconographical representations of Zoro- as Andar) plays a malign role in individual escha- astrian deities are available from ancient Iran, tology by causing anguish to the departed and and the ones that we find are almost exclusively carrying the sinners to hell and inflicting punish- part of royal propaganda such as coins, seals, and ments on their . At least from the time of the reliefs. In the 3rd century ce, for example, Ahura Middle Persian texts, but maybe already for the Mazdā is presented as the almost exact counter- hearers of the Avestan Vīdēvdād, the identifica- part of King Ardaxšīr; god and king face each other tion of Iṇdra/Indar/Andar as an Indian god was either standing or sitting on horses. The Zoroas- probably imperceptible, and he simply appeared trian scriptures – the Avesta and the Pahlavi lit- as a powerful arch demon. erature in Middle Persian – do not describe visual Indo-Iranian cultural encounters, exchanges, manifestations such as images or statues of dei- and translations are witnessed in → astrology / ties. The Pahlavi texts even contain a negative astronomy and games (see e.g. Panaino, 1999). terminology for “idol,” “idolater,” and “idola- Given this intercultural awareness, from a certain try.” (Boyce, 1975, interprets this as evidence for 610 Hinduism and Zoroastrianism an iconoclastic purification movement.) Among of no fewer than 23 Zoroastrian deities, which is contemporary Zoroastrians, one finds various a major part of the main pantheon. Many images iconographical representations of Zarathustra, of were found in Panjikent, east of , both Zoroastrian heroes and places, and of fire altars, in houses and in . Some representations but there are no cultic representations of deities still echo Greek models, while others are indige- (such as consecrated images, busts, or statues of nous creations, but some, it seems, are deliberately deities used for ritual purposes). modeled on (Grenet, 2010). In , however, Zoroastrianism took The Kushana Vāyu–Śiva iconographical fusion is a different shape from the model championed continued by the pair of Mahādeva–Wēšparkar by the Pahlavi literature from Persia. Especially (as identified by the SogdianVassantara Jātaka in Sogdiana, situated north of , between [see Humbach, 1975]; the name Wēšparkar is the Oxus (Amu Darya) and Jaxartes (Syr Darya) derived from the full Avest. name of the deity). in modern (and partly ), Another pair identified by the text is Indra– archaeologists have excavated a rich iconographic Adhvagh – the latter Sogdian word meaning repertoire. (Direct traces of Zoroastrianism in “supreme god” – that is, Ahura Mazdā. Given the central Asia disappear with the Mongol invasions, Avesta–Pahlavi textual tradition quoted above, if not earlier.) In the present context, it is worth this appearance of Indra is an inversion; the texts noting that Sodgian artists drew inspiration from were either of little relevance or unknown or no Indian iconography when representing Zoroas- longer understood. One example of depictions trian deities. of Indra–Adhvagh is a series of terracotta figures In this, they may have been following the (Marshak & Raspopova, 1996, 195–198). The art- example by the coins issued by the kings of ist drew on three iconographical registers: the Kushana Empire in Bactria (where there was a Indra (hence the elephant vāhana), the Sasanian strong Buddhist presence) in the 2nd century ce. king (hence the royal ribbons), King David with While many images of Zoroastrian deities are his cithara, a proper allusion to Ahura Mazdā’s derived from those of Greek gods with whom they function as master of . (Grenet, 2010, 92) were identified or associated, on some Kushana coins, one finds depictions of the Buddha and Other iconographical types or attributes of images of Mahāsena, Viśākha, Skanda, and serving to illustrate (traits of ) Kumāra. In an interlinear gloss of a dedicatory different Zoroastrian deities probably include inscription, the names Mahāsena and Viśākha Kārttikeya (→ Murukaṉ) and → Durgā. The Indian are identified with the Zoroastrian deity Srōš iconographical vocabulary was useful for the (Avest. Sraoša [“Harkening”]), maybe because development of a Zoroastrian iconography, but he and Mahāsena shared the epithet of the cock eventually Sogdian artists became more inde- (Grenet, 2010, 88). An even stronger fusion pendent in depicting Zoroastrian deities (Grenet, occurred when the Zoroastrian deity Oēšo – that 2010, 94). is, Vayuš – assumed a kind of Śaiva iconography (three headed and four armed, with trident and club). Apparently, this god remained popular Magas and Bhojakas even among the later Kushano-Sasanians, who on their coins referred to themselves as “Mazdean The Sāmbapurāṇa and the Bhavisyapurāṇ ̣a [Mazda-Worshipping, i.e. Zoroastrian] Lord” report about a certain group of , the and depicted fire altars, yet who would also show Maga Brahmans. Their name seems to refer to → Śiva in a traditional style, the religious/ritual specialists of the ancient Ira- nians (Old Pers. maguš; Grk. mágos; Lat. magus), with raised hair standing in front of the bull and the name of the special girdle worn by the Nandī, while replacing the name by Magas – the avyaṅga (lit. having non-incomplete an epithet suitable for both Vayu and Śiva: limbs) – can be interpreted as deriving from the burzāwand yazd (in the Pahlavi version), Avestan aiβiiåηhana, the Avestan name of the “the god who possesses the heights.” (Grenet, belt/cord that Zoroastrians are supposed to wear 2010, 89) (Humbach, 1978, 237; 2002, 89). The origin of the For Sogdiana, which had close contacts with group is traced to a certain Sāmba, who (to give a India, F. Grenet has identified visual depictions very brief summary of the legend) – in the hope of Hinduism and Zoroastrianism 611 getting rid of leprosy, from which he suffered as a receded under the surface. More recent reports result of a curse by his father Kṛsṇ ̣a – resorted to quoted by H. Humbach (2002, 92f.) show that Mitravana, where he bathed in the Candrabhāgā; their Iranian background is obliterated but that there he found the statue of the sun, carved in they are still recognized as being somewhat dif- wood by the deity Viśvakarman, which Sāmba, on ferent from other groups. Apparently, they enjoy the request of the sun-god, put up in Mitravana in a reputation as astrologers. In some passages a newly constructed dedicated to the sun. in the Bhavisyapurāṇ ̣a, the name of the Magas Since no Brahmans were available, on the advice appears in alteration with that of another group, of the sun-god, Sāmba invited 18 families of the the Bhojakas (who are already attested in the Magas of Śākadvīpa (i.e. the continent of the śāka 7th cent. [Humbach, 1978, 245]). H. Humbach tree), who wore the avyaṅga, and for them he built argues “that the Bhojakas had usurped the Maga the city of Sāmbapura, which must be Mūlasthāna tradition and considered themselves as Magas (modern ; see Humbach, 1978, 230ff., for but were not acknowledged as such by the Magas the fuller version with sources; see also von Sti- themselves” (2002, 91). While the Bhojakas are etencron, 1966). In the → Mahābhārata, these sometimes reported to wear the avyaṅga, other Magas of Śākadvīpa are mentioned as one reports say that they wear the amāhaka, a snake- alongside three others, whose names seem to shaped girdle – which would be an antipode to have been derived or formed somewhat artifi- Zoroastrianism, where the snake is a creature cially from Iranian words (Humbach, 1978, 230; of the evil spirit. However, the Bhavisyapurāṇ ̣a 2002, 90). The name Sāmba probably derives from provides some pieces of information that have that of Sambos, a king who, according to several a Zoroastrian pitch: their wearing of a mouth Greek and Latin sources describing Alexander the veil and use of twigs in rituals (like Zoroastrian Great’s expedition down the Indus in 326 bc, first priests), their eating in silence and saying prayers subordinated to Alexander, then revolted, and five times a day, respect for the dog and its rela- eventually fled eastward beyond the Indus (Hum- tion to funerals, the mention of Rājña and Srausạ bach, 1978, 238; 2002, 93). (i.e. the Zoroastrian deities Rašnu and Sraoša), Another piece of evidence for the Iranian and some reports about the and birth background of the Maga Brahmans is provided of Jaraśastra, apparently Zarathustra, which do by the 6th-century astrologer and Maga Brah- not resonate with any known Zoroastrian sources man Varāhamihira, whose name is formed on (Humbach, 1978, 248–250; 2002, 91f.). Even if, as the basis of an Indian borrowing (Mihira) of the H. Humbach suggests, these pieces of information Middle Persian form (Mihr) of the ancient Iranian were acquired from Indian Zoroastrian (Parsi) Miϑra. In his Pañcasiddhāntikā (1.23–25), which informants, this does not diminish their value as has a parallel passage in the Vateśvarasiddhāntạ evidence for the intended “Zoroastrianization” of (1.5. 117–120), Varāhamihira (who may have the Bhojakas; even if they were , the author had an Iranian astronomer as his guru) describes of these puranic passages wanted to make it clear the “year of the Magas,” where he gives 30 names that they, just like the Magas, had a Zoroastrian of the “ of the degrees of the signs” (1.23 connection. [Neugebauer & Pingree, 1970, 32–33]). A com- parison of this list with that contained in the with its 30 deities (; The Parsis “[] worthy of being worshipped”) shows several correspondences that “testify to a direct Historically speaking, there is probably no one of the Zoroastrian list of the yazatas fixed date for the arrival of the Zoroastrians and the attempt to arrange them according to an who became known as the Parsis (they probably Indian (Śaiva) picture” (Panaino, 1996, 585). This arrived in several waves), but in 1599, an Indian indicates the active knowledge of a Zoroastrian Zoroastrian , Qay Qobād Sanjāna model, probably stemming from ancient tradi- from (Gujarat), composed a unified nar- tions of reinterpretations. rative in 432 Persian couplets starting with the Eventually, the Magas seem to have spread to creation of the world and culminating in the Magadha (south Bihar) at a later date; accord- transfer of the main consecrated fire of the Parsis ingly, new versions of their history came into to Navsari, thereby celebrating his own priestly being. Their Iranian background or connection lineage. From his priestly perspective, the narra- 612 Hinduism and Zoroastrianism tive fuses the history of the world with the history 85) now translates it in the following way: “when of his community and that of its main sanctuary; they perform the noble act of children, on that by implication, this establishes the leadership of night they should be married” (Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān the priesthood (in his lineage) as the guardians of 158). The text proposes a program of assimilation this fire sanctuary. The account is entitledQes ṣ e-yị by abandoning weapons and adopting language Sanjān (Story of Sanjān), after the name of the and clothing (for women) and non-secretiveness place on the Indian coast where the nucleus com- about their religion. The first element of the sub- munity, led by a learned priest-astrologer, arrived sequent explanation or translation of their reli- by boat from Iran “to save our lives and for Reli- gion by the priest points to their descent from gion’s sake” (Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān 111; trans. Williams, the mythical first (Iranian) king, Jamšid (Avest. 2009, 77). Threatened by a dangerous storm, they Yima); the priest then points to their religious made a vow to establish an ātaš-i bahrām, a fire respect for or worship of five elements (fire, of Bahrām (Avest. Vәrәthragna), the protector water, sun, moon, and cow) before he mentions deity whom they had invoked (along with Ahura the creator-god, their belt/cord, and their prayers Mazdā) in their desperation. (An ātaš-i bahrām (Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān 167–171). The final three ele- is the highest class of ritual fires; until 1765, the ments address purity rules for the women in case Parsis had only one ātaš-i bahrām, and the conse- of menstruation, childbirth, or miscarriage/still- cration of the second one resulted from a conflict birth (Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān 172–175). between different groups of priests; nowadays A widely circulating oral narrative of unknown there are eight fires, or fire temples, of that type date (often erroneously believed to be part of the in India: four in Mumbai, two in , one in Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān) reports the ruler to initially have Navsari, and one in the coastal village of .) denied access, pointing to a full glass of milk; with Since Bahman Qay Qobād provides some appar- great presence of mind, the priest is reported to ently clear dates about the itinerary of the Parsis have inserted some sugar into that glass, which from Iran to India (via Hormuz), earlier genera- did not flow over; being like the sugar in the milk tions of scholars tried to establish a date of arrival of Indian society has become a leitmotiv of Parsi (reviewed by Williams, 2009, 207–217), but these identity making in modern India. The five condi- reconstructions have failed to yield any consen- tions explain the ethnoreligious diversity of the sus. In the Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān, the ātaš-i bahrām is Parsis and reflect some factual cultural patterns referred to as šāh-i irān (king of Iran), or as the such as their specific Gujarati dialect (known šāh-i šāhān (), and today it is called as Parsi Gujarati) and their food and garments, Iranshah, implying that the fire is the successor of which are all recognizably regional but with some the Iranian kingship that was lost with the Arab special (Persian) traits. Nowadays, initiations and invasion but is kept up by the Parsis in India. are occasions to display this ethnic heri- Bahman Qay Qobād reports a dialogue between tage ceremonially in combinations with the puri- the priest-leader of the migrants and the local fications and blessings performed by the priests. ruler of Sanjān, who is introduced as a “good rājā” The Zoroastrian religion is embedded in an eth- by the name of Jādi and whose historical identity nic legacy, together constituting what has been remains unresolved (Williams, 2009, 175). When called Parsi Zoroastrianism. In modernity, when the priest asks for asylum for the “strangers” who boundaries became challenged, this ethnoreli- “have come . . . for refuge and home within your gious continuum with its diverse poles of genea- land” (Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān 142; trans. Williams, 2009, logical lineage and religious turned 83), the ruler grants this on five conditions: that out to be a fragile construct; intermarriages (and they must explain their religion to him, that “they the related issue of conversion) have been the key must renounce the language of their own land” sites to expose its ambivalences. and “speak the language of Hend,” that their Another notable episode of the Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān women shall “wear such garments as our women narrated by Bahman Qay Qobād in quite some wear,” and that “they shall lay down these swords detail are two battles in which the Parsis, on and weapons, and never more shall gird them on request of the Hindu rulers, join the Hindu army again” (Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān 154–157, trans. Williams, to fight against Islamic forces on their way to 2009, 85); the fifth and final requirement has tra- conquer that part of India. Having won the first ditionally been understood as an obligation to cel- battle, the Hindu-Parsi coalition is annihilated in ebrate weddings at night, but A. Williams (2009, the second battle (Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān 243–352). It is Hinduism and Zoroastrianism 613 unclear whether these battles ever occurred, but mon among the Parsis in the course of the 19th the account was probably inspired by political century (Stausberg, 2002b, 66). In 1858, Dosa- and military events in the 15th and 16th centuries bhoy Framjee, a notable reformer, reinterpreted in Gujarat. Bahman Qay Qobād sides the Parsis the Qesṣ e-yị Sanjān by suggesting that the Zoro- with the Hindus against the ; the lost astrians might have tried to conceal their real battle and the immersion of their blood into the beliefs from the Indian ruler, but now the time soil of India amount to their ultimate sacrifice for had come to once again rid Zoroastrianism from their host country, sealing their transformation “Hindu superstitions” (Ringer, 2011, 157). Later, from Iranians into Parsis, even though as Par- however, the strong impact of the → Theosophi- sis, they retain a distinctive ethnic and religious cal Society among the Parsis (Stausberg, 2002b, culture. Historically speaking, though, despite 112–118) allowed the discourse of reform to some instances of discrimination, it seems that become reconciled with an interest in Hinduism the period of Islamic rule over India allowed the (and esotericism). (which is not a Parsis to prosper (Stausberg, 2002a, 404f.). point of Zoroastrian doctrine) was championed It is reported that a learned priest by the name by some Parsi theosophist authors. Theosophists of Neryōsang Dhaval, who probably lived in the like H.S. Olcott and A. Besant gave speeches about 11th or 12th century ce, was the first and most Zoroastrianism. In the 1920s and 1930s, some prominent of some learned Zoroastrian scholar- Indian intellectuals – among them Rabindranath priests to translate several Avestan and Middle → Tagore – published books on Zoroastrianism Persian texts into (see Bharucha, 1906). that partly tried to align it with Indian religious In addition to these translations, a certain Ākā literature, most notably the → Bhagavadgītā or the Adhyāru (who some think was a Hindu) com- → Upanisadṣ (Stausberg, 2012, 127–132). posed 16 Sanskrit ślokas; the oldest manuscripts Comparison with the Zoroastrian communi- are from the 17th century, but H.-P. Schmidt, the ties in Iran indicates a number of Parsi practices principal editor and translator, them to that have originated as a result of their interaction be from the period of 900 or 1000 ce (1960–1961, with their Hindu environment. Like Hinduism, 192), a theory that strikes me as rather speculative. Parsi Zoroastrianism puts a great emphasis on Apparently, these ślokas were meant to define the → auspiciousness, especially in relation to births, identity of the Parsis, even though they were not initiations, and marriages (referred to as “aus- widely known among them: almost all of these 16 picious occasions” in Parsi folk taxonomy); the ślokas end on the line, “those are we Parsis.” The date of initiations, engagements, and marriages Parsis are referred to as a varṇa (śl. 11). Hormazd is partly determined with reference to astrology. (i.e. Ahura Mazdā) is mentioned in the first and The celebration of auspicious occasions includes last śloka. In addition to various elements famil- the performance, by (preferably married) women iar from other Zoroastrian sources, the ślokas (with children but barring widows), of a number also have some points stemming from a Hindu of rites (Stausberg, 2004, 35–37; Kreyenbroek & background; interestingly, the woolen belt/cord Munshi, 2001, 18–19) centered on the body of is described as “well measured (with ends) like the subject to be felicitated with the help of a set snake-mouths” (śl. 3), which recalls the informa- of “auspicious objects,” which are arranged on a tion about the Bhojakas, so that the text can have metal tray (Guj. sēs). Such objects include vegetal originated in a Hindu-Parsi environment simi- items such as flowers, rice, unshelled almonds, lar to such a group (Stausberg, 2002a, 393–398; dried dates, betel leaves and betel nuts, and coco- Schmidt’s translation is reprinted in Williams, nuts that are often painted (in red) with the svas- 2009, 233–237). tika symbol. Water is kept in silver beakers. In In the 19th century, like in other religious tra- one rite (known in Guj. as sagan), the person to ditions, a reform movement started among the be felicitated receives a colored kuṃ kum dot on Parsis, aiming at modernizing the religion under the forehead (and often also on the feet), where the rhetorical guise of a return to its authentic some grains of rice are made to stick on the historical kernel. The initial targets were practices kuṃ kum dot; the person also holds some items such as child marriages, which were branded as placed on the metal tray. The coconut is handed “Indian” – that is, as not originally Zoroastrian to him or her, a garland is placed around his or (i.e. Iranian). Not without resistance from influ- her neck (a common form of felicitation in its ential people, child marriages became less com- own right), and rice is showered on him or her 614 Hinduism and Zoroastrianism (a common gesture of blessing). Contrary to the Choksy, J.K., Purity and Pollution in Zoroastrianism: rituals performed by the priests, who are all male, Triumph over Evil, Austin, 1989. these rites are executed in silence – that is, the women De Jong, A., “Purificationin Absentia: On the Develop- ment of Zoroastrian Ritual Practice,” in: J. Assmann & do not recite any texts. Moreover, on auspicious G.G. Stroumsa, eds., Transformations of the Inner Self days or occasions, Parsi women mark relevant in Ancient , Leiden, 1999, 301–329. thresholds with ephemeral drawings with white Flattery, D.S., & M. Schwartz, Haoma and Harmaline: The or colored chalk powder on the ground; these are Botanical Identity of the Indo-Iranian Sacred Halluci- known as chalk, chauk, or → raṅgolī (see Stausberg, nogen “Soma” and Its Legacy in Religion, Language, and 2004; Munshi & Stewart, 2002, for illustrations). Middle-Eastern Folklore, Berkeley, 1989. 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