Roj Ram Mah Khordad, 1379 Yz.
Fasli Roj Govad Mah Avan, 1378 Yz. – Birthday of Shah Behram Varzavand
Today is Fasli Mah Ava Roj Govad, which is a day of great spiritual connotation for Parsis, because it is the birthday of the promised saviour, Shah Behram Varzavand. How do we know this? This fact is mentioned in the Zand-i-Vohuman Yasht, more popularly known as Bahman Yasht. As you may be aware, our existing Avesta scriptures have Yashts for many of the Yazatas and Amesha Spentas. However, due to the destruction of the scriptures over the centuries, we have lost some of the Yashts, for example, Bahman Yasht, Sherevar, Spendarmad, Amardad Yashts are all missing. However, some scattered fragments of these Avesta prayers as well as their Pazend parts are available. We are lucky to have the Pazend part of the Bahman Yasht, which is recited by many Parsis with great devotion, especially during the Bahman month.
The contents of the Bahman Yasht are in the form of a conversation between Ahura Mazda and Prophet Zarathushtra, as they discuss the future of the earth and the Zarathushtrian religion. In this Yasht, a detailed description of the events which will happen after the death of Zarathushtra up to the end of a specific time period are given. In this discussion, there are ample sign and descriptions of the various saviours who will come down on the earth to bring back the Zarathushtrian religion to its lost glory. Among those whose names are given is that of Shah Behram Varzavand.
In paragraphs 90 and 91 of the Yasht it is written (free translation): ‘A prince will be born, of the name Behram Varzavand (or victorious Varzavand), some will also call him Shahpur. There will be a sign in the sky – a star falls on that day, Mah Ava and Roj Govad’.
Of course this basic information was further expanded upon by our Master, Ustad Saheb Behramshah Nowroji Shroff when he first brought the message of the Abed Sahebs of Demavand to the Parsis that they should get ready to welcome the saviour in their midst.
I will not go into the detailed explanation of the birth of Shah Behram Varzavand, the year of birth and his expected date of appearance in the physical world in this blog. That will come later as a series of blog posts after the current series on the life of Ustad Saheb gets over. I only want my readers to be aware that today is a special day and there are many events happening in the unseen world which will affect our lives in a dramatic way in the next few years.
For now, it is our duty today to take the name of Shah Behram Varzavand in our Tandorasti prayer, and also to pray the Chithrem Buyat prayer where also his name and advent is mentioned. The Chithrem Buyat, which is a very short prayer should be made a part of our daily routine as far as possible.
May the advent of the Promised Saviour Shah Behram Varzavand occur at its destined time and may He resurrect our religion to its former glory!
Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram
photo credit: Cupcake Sisters (Senel) via photopin cc
NOV
