The oldest zoroastrian religious scripture, as preserved at present, is known as the avesta. Zoroaster, who lived in eastern ancient iran around bc, created zoroastrianism. It may likewise well be remembered that it was cyrus, the ancient persian king, a follower of the faith of zoroaster. It is a multitendency faith centered on a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate conquest of evil with theological elements of henotheism, monotheismmonism, and polytheism. The extant avesta is all that remains of a much larger body of scripture, apparently zoroasters transformation of a. Holy book definition of holy book by the free dictionary.
Zoroastrianism or mazdayasna is one of the worlds oldest continuously practiced religions. Avesta is the name the mazdean mazdayasnian religious tradition gives. Download the bible, the holy quran, the mahabharata and thousands of free pdf ebooks on buddhism, meditation etc. As far as i can tell, as of now, there is only one real argument against christianity and that comes from zoroastrianism.
In his youth he astounded wise men with his wisdom. Translation of gathas the holy songs of zarathushtra. These many different texts are believed to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they were written down in the 3rd century. Zoroastrianism was founded by zoroaster or zarathushtra in ancient iran. This is the holy book of zoroastrianism itself and its printed here in a book that is just way too small. But monotheism existed long before the jews attained to it.
You will find here a selected list of books on zoroastrianism, life and teachings of zoroaster or zarathushtra, zoroastrian beliefs, zend avesta, parsees, indo iranian connection, ancient history and. The zendavesta is the sacred book of the parsis, that is to say, of the few remaining followers of that religion which feigned over persia at the time when the second successor of mohammed overthrew the sassanian dynasty 1, and which has been called dualism, or mazdeism, or magism, or. Program list and downloads more information contact. What is the name of the holy book of parsis and when was. The dualistic religious system founded by the persian prophet zarathustra zoroaster in greek and set forth in the avesta in the late 7th or early 6th centuries bce, teaching the worship of ahura. The teachings of zoroaster and the philosophy of the parsi religion.
They were in two big volumes of 500 to 600 pages each, and difficult to make a copy available to all zoroastrians. The holy book of zoroastrianism is the zend avesta zoroastrianism is also dualist. These files are edited from the original cassette tape masters, removing some of the tape filler music, along with. Zoroaster and his earliest followers were monotheists, dualism being a later development of the persian theology. Zoroastrianism definition of zoroastrianism by merriam. The zoroastrianbiblical connections influence of zoroastrianism in other religions. Zoroastrianism download books, sacred, spiritual texts. The zorastrian holy book is called the avesta and it is a compilation of all zoroastrian prayers, which were composed over several centuries, some dating back to more than 3500 years. Arguably the worlds first monotheistic faith, its one of. We provide the complete text of the extant avesta, the most ancient scriptures of zoroastrianism, as well as many pahlavi scriptures. Though he was a native speaker of old avestan and lived in the eastern part of the iranian plateau, his birthplace is uncertain. Zoroaster was born in either northeast iran or southwest afghanistan. It is hardly more than a century ago that the western world, already often enriched by the treasures of the east, received another gift, a contribution from persia, and a new text deciphered was added to our list of sacred books of ancient nations this was the avesta, or zendavesta, the bible and prayerbook of zoroaster, the prophet of ancient iran.
Zoroaster appears in the bahai faith as a manifestation of god, one of a line of prophets who have progressively revealed the word of god to a gradually maturing humanity. The zend avesta is the main texts used in the zoroastrian faith. Iranian prophet and religious reformer zarathustra flourished before the 6th century bce. I do not know how much you know about this religion, but it was founded by someone called zoroaster or zarathushtra who was born around 1200 bc and has a holy text called the avesta. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken english.
Zoroaster definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Parseeism, parsiism the faith of a zoroastrian sect in india type of. Avesta, the bible of zoroaster wikisource, the free. Zoroasterzarathustra c 550523 bce was a prophet and spiritual teacher who founded the religion of zoroastrianism. Eirciv 102a, spring 2006 vi february 7, 2006 basic bibliography some useful literature boyce, m. The very name asmodeus, in the book of tobit just referred to, was first understood when it was discovered to be none other than the name of the awful fiend aeshma daeva demon of fury in the avesta.
The essay tapes have relevant stories purposefully placed to. Pronunciation of zoroaster with 3 audio pronunciations, 2 synonyms, 1 meaning, 10 translations, 1 sentence and more for zoroaster. Learn how to say words in english correctly with emma saying free pronunciation tutorials. Other names for zoroastrianism are mazdaism and parsiism zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion. Avesta is a repository of oral texts, transmitted orally in fixed linguistic form until it was written down.
The precise date of the founding of zoroastrianism is uncertain and dates differ wildly from 2000 bce to 200 years before alexander. To judaism christians ascribe the glory of having been the first religion to teach a pure monotheism. Listen to the audio pronunciation in the cambridge english dictionary. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. The zoroastrian holy book, called the avesta, was written in the avestan language, which is closely related to vedic sanskrit. This book is useful for the later history of the zoroastrians. Most of the texts in these archives are extremely rare.
Dictionary grammar blog school scrabble thesaurus translator quiz more resources more from collins. Of that reward do thou thyself grant this advantage, that we may come under thy protecting guardianship, and that of righteousness for ever. Zoroaster thus shares an exalted station with abraham, moses, krishna, jesus, muhammad, the bab, and the founder of the bahai faith, bahaullah. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Zoroastrianism is an ancient persian religion that may have originated as early as 4,000 years ago. Some reference is made to windows to the past as stories, but it should be remembered that the stories are not intended to be entertainment, but to inform, elucidate, and inspire the listener.
Zoroaster was born of a virgin and immaculate conception by a ray of divine reason. It also includes information about the avestan language, and other useful information for students of zoroastrian religion. Zoroaster, also known as zarathustra, or as zarathushtra spitama, was the founder of zoroastrianism. Download the zend avesta in full text pdf download free here. Zoroastrianism definition is a persian religion founded in the sixth century b.
Full text of avesta, the bible of zoroaster see other formats stop early journal content on jstor, free to anyone in the world this article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized and made freely available to everyone in the world by jstor. Pronunciation of ayes found 8 audio voices and 5 sentences for ayes. Zarathustra, also spelled zarathushtra, greek zoroaster, born traditionally c. Holy book synonyms, holy book pronunciation, holy book translation, english dictionary definition of holy book. Zoroaster was born in northeast iran, close to the border of modern day afghanistan old persian empire. The gathas, or the holy songs of zarathushtra, were translated by me into persian about 20 years ago. Complete list and downloads bahai windows to the past programs and transcripts.
Not only was it a cohort of the ancient vedic hinduism, but also had a huge influence on the development of judaism and christianity. Zoroaster meaning of zoroaster, what does zoroaster mean. Zoroastrianism is ranked with judaism, christianity, and islam among the higher religions originating in the middle east the dates given for zoroaster by ancient and modern writers differ considerably. Ascribed to the teachings of the iranianspeaking spiritual leader zoroaster also known. Pronunciation of zoroaster with 3 audio pronunciations, 2 synonyms, 1 meaning, 10 translations, 1.
Ahura mazda translates as wise lord, reflecting the belief that he is all powerful. This includes the original words of their founder zarathushtra, preserved in a series of five hymns, called the gathas. We sacrifice to that brave yasna, the yasna haptanghaiti, the holy, the ritual chief. According to a legend preserved in the book of arda viraf, a 3rd or 4th century work, a written version of the zend avesta had existed in the. This is the book of daily prayers of the zoroastrians.
Zoroastrians believe that god is responsible for all good things that happen to people, and by worshiping him and studying the holy book, the avesta, followers believe they can get closer to god. Zoroastrianism, in spite of its small current number of adherents, has played a huge role in the study of comparative religion. Zoroaster was a religious reformer teaching a monotheistic religion based on choosing between light and darkness truth and falsehood. Dio chrysostom, plutarchs contemporary, declares that neither homer nor hesiod sang of the chariot and horses of zeus so worthily as zoroaster, of whom the persians tell that, out of love to wisdom and righteousness, he withdrew himself from men, and lived in solitude upon a mountain.