Chapter 2
Contemplation and Quest
Each day, just before sunrise, at the hour when the horizon was crimson hued and the cock broke into song, Zarathustra would rise to lose himself in contemplation and to grind out the enigmas of existence, and of life, in his mill of thought. With the swiftest wings of wisdom he would soar the horizon of reflection to scrutinize life in its perfection before he submitted it to his reason. He would then pick the fruit of this reasoning, dress it in golden phrases and chant his conceptions of the globe in glorifying hymns.
Zarathustra first proclaimed his perception of creation after he had painstakingly mauled over all the activities, developments, radiance and illumination of the sun, the moon, the stars and all the phenomena of the universe. He pored over the birth, development and maturation of man.
He strove to know existence, creation, and the creator for he was unable to accept that which the diviasnies alleged of the creator, of Mithra, of Sol and of all the deities. What was commonly believed failed to satisfy Zarathustra’s probing mind. Thus, he labored to comprehend all things in his own wisdom. He knew that the first step on the path of knowledge was to descend from the dais of self-satisfaction and to remove the veil of archaic thought which enshrouded men’s minds in order to step into the brilliance of reasoning. It was only possible to truly attain this end in the human mind through humility for one can only arrive at the threshold of knowledge through love.
However, the most imminent step was to turn away from ancient beliefs and to seek new knowledge with the aid of immaculate reason. Hence, Zarathustra reasoned and spoke to Mazda Ahura in him hymns:
O Mazda Ahura,
I beseech Thee,
Tell me the truth,
How can Thy adorers know Thee in their humility?
When wilt Thou teach Thy path to such a friend as I?
When wilt Thou aid me to attain pure thoughts in the
light of blessed truth?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 1)
Zarathustra rarely spoke of himself but rather strove to talk of all mankind for he well knew that happiness and contentment were possible only when men stood together to seek truth and pure thoughts.
Hence, instead of giving wing to his fancy and allowing it to stretch beyond the realm of the imagination thereby drenching himself in the complexities of an afterlife with which to busy his mind with senseless ambiguities, as was the manner of the diviasnies, he turned to that which lay about him—to life, to a finer manner of living: to the most perfect existence. He sought this finest way of life for himself and for all men. Thus, he relentlessly pursued the fount of this life for he sought to drown himself in its limpid purity.
Zarathustra, who aimed to guide men to an exquisite existence, knew that a leader could only truly lead men if he himself fist came to the perfection of purity, truth and righteousness. Therefore, he worked to learn how a leader might, in the light of truth, justly aid men in their lives and how he might guard them in their good deeds.
O Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth what is the fount and
the beginning of the perfect existence? What reward
will he who strives for it attain in life?
How, in the light of truth, will he who is chosen come
to be a pure companion, guide, and healer of men’s
lives?
How can he guard divine deeds?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 2)
The Teacher was aware of the effect of the sun on human lives. He well knew how men’s minds embraced the warmth on those cold, desultory, steppes and he realized that foremost in all minds was the longing for the warmth of the sun. He understood that men sought to keep the favor of the planets that they might continue to warm the earth. He knew that the constellations bewildered men in their dawning, setting, and in their illumination of the world. Hence, he strove to know them and their secrets.
O Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth who is the Father and
the creator of truth!
Who has allowed the sun and the stars to orbit?
Who is He who allows the moon to wax and wane?
O Mazda, I wish to realize these and all things!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 3)
Why did Zarathustra always speak of ‘the Creator’ and of ‘the Father of truth’ when he toiled to grasp the secrets of the sun and the constellation?
Because he came to understand that the universe was governed by an order in its radiance and change. He realized that men too are ruled in their beings and in their formation by a certain fixed order which he named ‘truth’. To him ‘truth’ was at once the ordered harmonizing ruler of existence within the human mind.
Unlike the deviasnies who took to secluding themselves from life in order to pry open the secrets of the vaults of the heavens with their imagination and fantasy Zarathustra faced the world to find his answers therein. He looked to the ground below, the skies above, the waters, the vegetations, the wind, the dark clouds and finally he looked at man and at man’s most valuable possession—the gift of thought and of reason. These were what Zarathustra sought to know and for this knowledge he searched within those very elements he observed. He would hold a grain of wheat or the petal of a flower within the palm of his hand and he would endeavor to comprehend its growth and development.
Oh Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth who holds the earth
below and endless skies above?
Who is He who has created the waters and all vegetation?
Who has wed the wind to dark clouds?
Who has created purity of thought?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 4)
“What miracles life holds! How wondrous is the Creator!” wondered the Teacher, “at dawn the sun lifts its head from the orient to light the world, commence the day and to traverse the breast of the sky before it reclines behind the hills at dusk and allows the world to be reclad in darkness. Where does this light and dark come from? Why does it appear? What are sleep, awakening, dawn, noon and night? Who is He who demands action of men at these times?
Man works during the day and lies down to rest at night; at times he eats, drinks, rests and toils. What are these aspects of life and who has created them?”
O Mazda Ahura,
I beg Thee to tell me in truth which artisan created
light and dark?
Which artisan created sleep and awakening?
Who is He who conjures the dawn, noon and dusk?
Who leads the wise to accomplish that which he must?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 5)
“I wish to know the rectitude of my thoughts. I firmly believe that that which the deviasnies hold is wrong. Sol and Mitra have no chariot, neither do they possess face, form, nor human attributes. They can neither be angered nor are they able to harbor pity. Custom and rituals, such as the sacrifice to Mitra, to the tyrants, and to the patriarchs are as misguided as any of the beguiling tricks of the karapans. They are but means of keeping men in complete ignorance. I only wish to guide men to pure thoughts, sound reasoning, fine bearings, righteousness and to truth. I hope to be unwavering in my creed. I hold this earth, this universe, and this productive life to exist for the happiness of man. Men must learn to enjoy the treasures the earth has amassed for them while they live. I will pledge eternal war against the wicked deviasnies who perpetually deceive men and lure them onto evil connivances for I wish men to elevate this world and to turn it into one where they can abide in prosperity, bliss, and abundance. Help me to be forever steadfast in my belief.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth,
Am I correct in advocating that which I believe?
Does righteousness advance truth?
Do pure thoughts create Thy kingdom on earth?
O Mazda,
For whom hast Thou created this bounteous world?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 6)
“There is no fraternity among men, yet there is a brotherhood amongst all other creatures. A growing weed holds communion with all that surrounds it as it rises to greet the luster of the sun while simultaneously it takes root in the soil. It is this union which holds together the earth, the sun and the constellations?
Yet men have various temperaments! I value that which allows men to achieve a superior existence and true happiness through divine power and righteousness. I need to know the mysteries of being and the potency which rules the temperaments and bearing of all men.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I beg Thee to tell me in truth,
Who was He who wed divine power to righteousness?
Who was He who devoted the son unto the father in his excellence?
I strive to know Thee, the true Creator of being, through
my resolution.
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 7)
“There is an end to life found in these wonders which encompass me. What does this world, in all its various aspects, mirror?
What is the aim of human existence?
Has life no other design but to feed and satiate us?
Has human life no other end but to prostrate itself in slavery to Mithra and to the deities?
Are we to forsake all happiness, joy and beauty in this world to be rewarded in the next?
Are we to suffer pain, torment, ill fate, and fardels in this life to give pleasure to Mithra and to Sol?
I have known various manners of thought in my quest for truth, but I have rejected them all. I believe existence and the universe to be vitally enriching and I profess the design of existence to be this very enrichment. Man, too, is but part of this design. From the hour of his birth until the moment of his death Man must endeavor to attain spiritual fulfillment. All psychological turbulence and human frenzy stem from Man’s inability to satiate his nature as he turns away from his need of perfection to a state of stagnation and sterility. He who quests spiritual consummation will be fulfilled and he shall attain peace and felicity.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I beseech Thee to tell me in truth,
How can I, whose sole aim in life is Thy command, come
to fulfillment?
How am I to attain peace and tranquility of mind through
pure words and thoughts?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 8)
“All beings have their own particular wisdom—a bud knows how to bloom and how to grow: it is wise to its source of sustenance. All beings recognize friend and foe: a herbivore instinctively turns to its source of nutrition for it is aware of that which can harm it. In man this instinctive wisdom is naturally embedded in his conscience. The pure turn away from malignant, overcast thoughts and find their singular way of life. If some are polluted, if others lack conscience or have become evil-minded it is because they have been waylaid! He who has barbarously looted others and he who has callously butchered another only to brazenly brag his accomplishments does so because his own conscience has been ravaged by diabolic teachings. I strive to unburden my conscience of murky, timeworn learnings and of all that which the rank necromancers and the pernicious have instilled in my mind. Yet I fear lest the barest grain of these obsolete teachings still holds seat within the volume of my brain. Though from my earliest years I have fought against these waned instructions I need to purge my being so thoroughly as to render it acceptable unto Mazda Ahura—the perfect knowledge of life. Ignorance and misunderstanding can scathe men’s consciences just as wisdom and intelligence can lead them to the truth. Hence, I shall cleanse my conscience with understanding. Yet knowledge is insufficient in leading me to His throne for I cannot arrive at His seat without the aid of virtue. I need spiritual strength. truth and pure thoughts for only through them can one arrive at His kingdom to eternally dwell therein.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth,
How can one cleanse one’s conscience and offer it unto
Thee?
May I attain Thy kingdom through submission to spiritual
strength, truth and good thinking!
May I come to bask in the light of Thy princely radiance!
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 9)
“There exist two manners of creeds: those which forestall and those which advance. The former holds a rigid frame which prevents any form of development within itself. Its commands are strictly dictated by its founders and leave no room for advancement. Its followers must blindly obey in fear of mortal retribution. He who disobeys is often harshly persecuted as an example to others. In such creeds man is debased to the nadir of bestial standing for he must blindly carry burdens laid upon him as he obediently gyrates around an iron stake firmly locked into the ground and which allows him but a particular grazing area. These people must act in accordance with their accepted beliefs for there is no possible manner of escape from the dungeons of these creeds except through death.
I well know these demanding, murky creeds which have incarcerated men for centuries. I have surrendered each and every one of them to the blades of my intellect prior to stepping out into His ream of light. I wish to guide men by unlocking these pestilent dungeon cells and by leading them out into a new existence. I have tirelessly sought a new creed together with the aid of truth, wisdom, learning and sagacity. I shall preach my creed to men.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I beg Thee to tell me in truth,
Which is Thy perfect creed for mankind?
Which creed allows us to abide by truth?
Which creed allows our deeds to return unto Thee in
righteousness?
I turn to Thee and to Thy creed in my wisdom and love!
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 10)
“Are we to despise the wicked and love only the virtuous? Are we to deal in duplicity with the righteous and with the wicked for the furtherance of our own interests? I have seen many who revere nothing save their personal gain; they involuntarily bow to every master. I have seen those who have enslaved themselves to a single powerful master only to forsake him and his bribes at the merest beckoning of one more powerful than he. I have seen men who brazenly lie, heartily steal and infamously step on their own ideals when the hour for further remuneration is at hand. They are the most loathsome, degenerate fiends whom I unceasingly avoid and despise.
Oh, that I might be permitted to guide men to pure light that they might prosper in the realm of glorious righteousness!
This end can only be realized through that which leads men to happiness, salvation, joy and peace.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I beseech Thee to tell me in truth,
How will fulfillment come to he who abides by Thy creed?
I am the first to be chosen by Thee to preach Thy word.
I love Thy followers but hold those others in enmity!
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 11)
“Must one bow to the whims of the avaricious ones whose aim is to raze, blast and bar?
Must we tolerate he whose sole desire is to inflict pain onto others?
Must we bear him to carry out his baneful goal in life or must we oppose this execrable creature?
There are some who meekly bend to the tyranny of the dorvands and continue in their abject existence without ever voicing their hatred. Many are they who continue in this way, but I shall never bow to such despotism for I hold that just as we must trim the growing branch and weed the fields so too must we efface pestilent predators from the stage of life. We must fight the tyrant for the sufferance of tyranny is in itself as opprobrious a sin as tyranny since it is the endurance of the meek which invites more infamy. Evil must be uprooted and the wicked must meet the consequence of their deviltry. As the evil ones are effaced from the face of the earth so are the virtuous born to adorn human life.”
O Ahura,
I beseech Thee to tell me in truth who among those I
address is most righteous!
Show me the dorvand!
Whom am I to turn to?
Must I aid he who has been wronged or the evil-doer?
How am I not to hold the dorvand who meets Thy forgiveness
by waging war on me as evil?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 12)
“They all lie and their demeanor betrays the hypocrisy of their words and deeds! They daily change their creeds. They expose depths of benevolence in a gentle guise which in truth is a cover for their brackish, arid bosoms that are as fetid as the vilest most chafing gales. Their thoughts are incapable of harboring aught but misery, wreckage, and destitution neither are they able to offer anything but acrimony and melancholy to others. They are as adders fanged and will not hesitate to bore their vicious poison into one’s life core. Their every word is a prevarication and behind their pious exterior lie a hundred snares of enmity and hatred. They advance under the banner of happiness and mirth only to retreat laying utter waste behind themselves.
How connivingly they mesmerize their audience!
How splendidly they herald goodness!
How villainously, how vengefully, how wrathfully they carve out one’s heart and down its succulent lifeblood!
Oh, how they plunder and ravage the world!
And what are men to do with these perjurers who know not the meaning of thought?
We must flee these wretches, these infernal degenerates, these foul beguilers. Men must avoid their malignant company.”
O Ahura,
I beg Thee to tell us in truth,
How are we to protect ourselves against falsehoods?
How are we to avoid the pernicious?
How are we to escape he who disobeys truth?
How are we to ward off he who will not adhere to good thoughts?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 13)
“This moiety of land is infested with weeds, thorns, bracken, rocks, wastes, and parasites yet beyond it lies an orchard with its magnificent fruit trees, and its gentle stream which rushes forward to flood its pond.
How lovely are the nightingales as they lend themselves to song every night in this paradise of growth!
Is it not true that this garden had once been as weeded as the other? Had it not the same thorns and rocks ravaging its beauty?
It was the gardener’s able hand which turned this thorn bush into a floral haven. Cannot men too be thus nurtured?
Can these belligerent, acerbic dorvands also be transformed? Can they too be brought to the truth?
What an arduous undertaking it would be!
Yet we must find the means through which men can be brought to forsake falsehoods and arrive at the ultimate truth!
What are those means?
Learning: divine learning!”
O Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth,
How can we transform lies into truth?
How can we cleans falsehood with Thy thought stimulating creed?
How can we defeat the dorvand?
How can we destroy their ruinous ways?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 14)
“Two mighty opposites confront one another. One is fierce and pitiless, the other is the selfless defender of its people. He has come to lay waste to the dorvand—which of these two deserves victory? Which of the two will Mazda Ahura, the ultimate wisdom of being, support?
I need to guide these innocent, misled men for many of them, in their shallowness, embrace sin—they are influenced by those who use them to further their own personal benefits. These naïve people have been brought to submission through the mortification instilled within their bodies and souls. They have become trained pedigrees of the highest perfection—trained to complacently carry out commands. Robbed of their intelligence, they have been tamed to allow their stone-hearted masters to reason and feel in their stead. I wish to liberate these people and the only key which can unfetter their chains is pure thoughts.
How I wish I could one day be the refuge of these people!
It is their very defenselessness which leads them deeper into sin. Most of them are so desperately lonely that they have willingly surrendered themselves to whoever they believe supports them.
Oh that I might lead these people to truth!
How sublime an ideal!”
O Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth,
Who is he who can victoriously come to aid men through Thy teaching?
Show me that wise healer!
Bestow blessed Sraosha and thoughts unto whomsoever Thou wilst!
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 16)
“Love adorns life; it softens all hearts and warms us with friendship and joy. I have seen some ravaged by anger, malice, vengeance, and wicked-mindedness lose their humanity and become arid wildernesses where ghouls prowl and prey. Man, a heavenly host, is transformed into a beast whose existence is to blast, slay, and scathe. I have seen the kind and the benevolent beguiled into killing and in time they have become savages who can stop at nothing to quench their insatiable bloodlust.
I long to be the messenger of love! I long to wash away the rust, rage, and violence of a soul and to replace it with love!”
O Mazda Ahura,
I beg Thee to tell me in truth,
How can I learn Thy love through Thine own guidance
and become one in Thee?
How can I lead men to fulfillment and to immorality
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 17)
“I once knew a Man and I often asked him how many bodies he had—one, two, ten, a hundred or more. And in truth he had them all. He was a simple gardener who made his own and any others’ abodes; he could build better than the finest mason. He dug his own aqueduct; he was more experienced than any other digger. A hundred sheep had he and to everyone he attributed its own particular name in accordance with its color.
He himself had brought his garden to fruition as he had chosen and planted every tree in its proper place. He was an expert in his work. At times he wove rugs, worked iron, or even molded clay into exquisite pots. In art he surpassed the masters. He could strum every musical instrument into song, master every science and speak adeptly on every subject. In truth, he was not a single man but two, ten, no he was hundreds of men. Many were the times when I studied this man only to marvel at the boundless ability of the human mind. Within the scope of man’s brain there lies a fathomless deep which, if cultivated, can become that which he was.
That is what I wish to achieve. I shall concentrate all my physical and mental powers on a single aim: the realization of the ultimate harmonizing truth of the universe which rules all minds. Should I come to cleanse my soul and to strive to obey truth all my physical and mental prowess will surge into an all-powerful billow that shall break forth in perfection within my mien.
What aim shall I serve in so doing?
That which is the aim of being—fulfillment and perfection.
Do I merely intend to serve my own personal benefit and to enjoy a personal fulfillment?
Never!
I will bring my powers to a culmination of creation and order and I will place them at the service of mankind that men too may ripen and be crowned with happiness and joy.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I beg Thee to tell me in truth, how can my innumerable powers come to fruition, strength and wisdom through truth?
How can I bring them to lead men to fulfillment and to immortality?
O that I might offer these powers unto men!
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 18)
“Men have different needs and each of these needs can only be met by another. I well know these needs for I realize both their material and their spiritual aspects. I wish to guide men to forsake their covetousness and turn to aid the needy that the weak may be comforted in the strong.”
O Ahura,
I ask Thee to tell me in truth,
What is the retribution of he who forsakes the poor?
What is the retribution of he who will not aid those who turn unto him?
I know what his punishment entails.
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 19)
“Oh, how I smart under the existence of these deviasnies!
How their leadership and reign stings me to the quick!
Oh, that they can so pervert minds!
That they so ruthlessly manipulate and raze a world through their evil karapans!
How these cancerous vermin oppress men from dawn to dusk!
How men beseechingly raise their arms to the heavens from eventide to sunrise begging to be saved from these rogues!
How these basest of the base creep about thinking of nothing but of their purses!”
O Mazda,
I ask Thee,
How can the deviasnies be honest rulers?
They have done naught but to pain and anger men through their kavis, their karapans and their wicked ones!
They have brought men to lament and to grieve.
They have never come to the truth, neither have they striven to cultivate the world!
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 20)
“Each man has his own way of knowing his god as I have mine. My means is through the strength and cultivation of a home, a city and a nation. The perfection of a home will lead to the perfection of a city which will in turn lead to the perfection of a nation. These perfections can only be attained through a single means: knowledge and pure thoughts. I shall lead men along this path that they may attain the kingdom of the mighty Ahura.”
O Mazda Ahura,
I ask Thee:
How will he who strives for the strength of his home, his city and his nation through knowledge and good thoughts come unto Thee?
(Gathas, chapter 44, verse 31)
“Each man’s deeds, whether good or evil, will return to him. From the hour of his birth man’s book of life is written at once recording both his evil and his virtuous deeds. This book shall conclude his hapless or fortunate end. These tomes will determine the rewards of the disciples of the truth and those of falsehoods accordingly.”
O Mazda,
I ask Thee to tell me.
How will the book of life, both past and present, punish the dorvands?
How will it reward Thy disciples of Truth?
(Gathas, chapter 31, verse 14)
“Your disciples shall be met with reward and punishment for they will learn which master to obey. Both the destructive dorvand and the benevolent follower of truth shall meet with a reward.
Happy are they who have dwelt under the guidance of a wise leader!
Woe to those who have abided by an infamous, erring dorvand for they shall descend to a hideous, scathing hell of persecution and outrage!”
O Ahura,
I ask Thee what is the punishment of he who strengthens the perfidious dorvand?
What is the punishment of he who is the plague of a benign leader?
How wilt Thou punish he who disjoins the masses of this benevolent guardian?
(Gathas, chapter 31, verse 15)