Frashogard

Roj Fravardin, Mah Dae 1377 Yz.

Continuing our series of beautiful sayings from the Pahlavi word “Datistan i Menog i Khrad”, here is another priceless gem:

The Wise One asked the Spirit of Wisdom: “is Wisdom better, or skill or goodness?”

The Spirit of Wisdom replied: “That Wisdom, with which there is no goodness, should not be regarded as wisdom.

And skill, with which there is no wisdom, should not be regarded as skill.”

A man may have multiple degrees or doctorates, but still be ignorant – because he does not really know how to apply his acquired knowledge for the common good. As he acquires more such education he becomes even more insecure, and attempts to hoard it. For example, a man may stumble upon a cure for a dreaded disease. As per the Zarathushtrian religion, he should share that knowledge for the greater good. But conventional wisdom will lead him to try and “patent” his cure, and monetise it. Which choice is better? The Spirit of Wisdom’s answer clears our doubts.

Similarly a person may have some very unique skills – say an ability to be very proficient in writing computer programming code. But without the wisdom to really channel his skills in the right direction, he may use this skill to hack into protected sites like Banks and Financial institutions and attempt to steal passwords and identities to use for fraudulent transactions. Thus even though he may be skilful, without wisdom to know what is right and wrong as per the Divine Order, his skill leads him towards the Evil Path which may make him successful in the short term but will eventually lead him to ruin.

The Spirit of Wisdom, that is, Ahura Mazda Himself shows us the right path and reminds us that even with wisdom and skill it is still possible to go onto the wrong path. As the Avesta declares:

“Aevo pantao yo Ashahe, vispe anyaesham apantam.”

“there is only one Right Path – the Path of Truth and Righteousness, all other paths are non-paths”

Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram

Roj Amardad, Mah Adar 1377 Yz.

Continuing our series of beautiful sayings from the Pahlavi word “Datistan i Menog i Khrad”, here is another priceless gem:

The Wise One asked the Spirit of Wisdom: “is charity better or truthfulness? Or thanksgiving or wisdom? Or perfect mindedness or contentment?”

Read the rest of this entry »

Roj Khorshed, Mah Meher, 1377 Yz.

I had written about the Pahlavi work Datistan-i-Menog-i-Khrad or “Opinions of the Spirit of Wisdom” in my last post. This is a catechism (question and answer session) written by an unknown author, who identifies himself only as ‘danag’, meaning ‘wise one or sage’, possibly a scholar-Dastur somewhere around the 5 th century AD. Unfortunately, we do not have the complete book with us. The existing manuscripts end abruptly after the 62nd question. The format of this book generally follows the pattern:

Read the rest of this entry »

Roj Ava, Mah Meher, 1377 Yz.

Among the various Avesta scriptures that survived the repeated rounds of destruction, first at the hands of Alexander, then the Arabs and Mongols and the ever flowing abrasions of time; most were classified and arranged into the Yasna, Vispered, Vandidad, Yashts, other Khordeh Avesta prayers etc. However, amongst the survivors were also pieces of Avesta that were once part of some larger prayer lost in entirety. Some fragments were found as remains of manuscripts thrown in to the fire by zealots trying to wipe out Zarathushtrian scriptures which were then carefully preserved by the persecuted families. Several of these fragments were collected and annotated by the laborious efforts of the early European savants like Westergaard and Darmesteter who published them in the 19th century.

Read the rest of this entry »