What does ZAGNY mean in Associations?

Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York (ZAGNY)

https://spenta.edu/prospect_students.htm Kaikhosrov D. Irani Philosopher Kaikhosrov D. Irani was a philosopher specializing in Kant and the philosophy of science. Born in Bombay, India, he was the eldest son of Sir … ...Was a student of Albert Einstein, and worked together with AE in the Manhattan Project. Bullet Stakeholders فارسی Prospect Students Professors Other Institutes Media Campus Mktg. Mgr FAQ's Zoroastrianism, Spenta University Prepared By Dr. Mahmoud Khalighi 1. 3736 years ago is a long time ago, how can you prove a man of Zarathushtra existed? It is unquestionable that we have in our hand a collection of songs composed in an old dialect that has a strong similarity with the Veda’s dialect. In this authentic collection, we encounter frequently the name Zarathushtra as a personality who addresses to and admires God. He is listening to divine teaching and dedicates himself to God, chooses for himself the most progressive divine mentality, and he is chosen as the leader of the world. In addition, Zarathushtra has been mentioned, as a prophet, by different Authorities of history since the antiquity so that one cannot doubt about his Historical personality. 2. Can Gathas be a collective ideas and thoughts of Ancient Persians which it is Presented under the name of Zarathushtra? The content of Gathas shows that one person, named Zarathushtra, recited this collection of songs. Different verses of Gathas prove this fact. In some cases, pronoun “I” or “me” is intended to be Zarathushtra. In song 11, V.18, we read: “Whoever truly accomplishes through righteousness the complete renovation of lift for me, Zarthushtra, as is the will of God. 3. What does Airyana-Vaejah mean? -It means the “stem-land of the Aryans” and Aryans are the parent of Indo-European people of history. 4. Where was exactly this land located ? There exist many controversies about the original location of Aryans. Scholars have proposed different places from north of Europe to south of Russia. The last investigation, which is more justified than others, insist on a location between northeast of Black Sea and the Aral Sea. 5. How and when did the Aryans migrate from their original location? -Historical evidences prove that Aryans migrated from their original place in south of Russia to the West, East, and South during the second millennium B.C. It’s to say that that group of Aryans who migrated from south of Russia constituted the Indo-Iranian people. These people lived in the south of Aral Sea and north of Afghanistan. A group of these people moved to India and arrived to the Indus River in about 1700 B.C. Others came down to Iran. 6. What were the racial characteristics of Aryans? -They were of a white race and spoke in a language similar to Sanskrit. 7. What was the religion of Aryans? -Many authors believe that the original religion of these people was Mithraism. Mithra was undoubtedly a great god of the Aryans, but it was not the alone. Indra, god of thunder and rain, and Varuna, god of sky, are considered as the two powerful gods that were collaborating with Mithra. In general, Aryans were worshiping natural elements. Fire especially was very important phenomenon that was adored by Aryans. 8. What were the characteristics of the Iranian society before Zarathushtra? The Iranian society consisted of three classes: priests, warriors, and agriculturists. Here and there, the princes called Kavis, were ruling tyrannically over people. The class of priests, called Karapans, Athravana, and Usij, were taking charge of the religious affairs of the society and were propagating superstitions in the name of religion. They were living on the people’s charge. 9. What was the correct name of the Iranian prophet and what does the name Zarathushtra mean? -There is a lot of controversies about the meaning of the word Zarathushtra. This name, as is precisely said in Gathas, is Zarathushtra Spitama. The Greeks called him Zoroaster. Some of ancient Greek authors believed that this name meant star-worshiper. Some of the contemporary authors believe that it means “the owner of pastures”. Some others propose “who ploughs earth by camel”. Fr. Justi proposes: “the golden star.” The majority of scholars suggest simply the meaning of “the golden camel”. Azar Goshasp and Pourvalla believe that Zarathushtra means “golden light.” 10. Where was Zarathushtra born? -Bartholemea Geldner, Hertzfeld, and some other orientalists saggest Northwwestern Iran i.e. Azarbayejanm. They believe that the prophet escaped from enemies to Eastern Iran. The majority of authors like Henning, Christensen, and Humbach propose the Northeastern Iran. The latter view is more acceptable than others are. 11. Did Zarathushtra belong to Magi community? -Lommel believes that Magi, as a religious class, didn’t exist at the time of Zarathushtra, but the prophet of Iran belonged to the clergy class. Hertel doesn’t accept this view. He believes that Zarathushtra belonged to the farmer class. This view seems more justified than the former one, because of the strong protection the prophet shows towards the agriculturists. 12. When was the period of Zarathushtra? -There is a huge mass of controversy about the time of Zarathushtra. The main sources to which researchers refer are categorized in three groups: religious traditions, scientific investigations based on archeology and linguistics, and written works of Greeks, Romans, and Arabic writers. According to the first and the third category, the time of Zarathushtra varies from a few centuries to 6000 B.C. A critical study of the three mentioned sources proves that the time of Zarathushtra should be between 14th and 17th centuries B.C. 13. Was Zarathushtrianism the official religion of Achaemenids? -the answer is yes. The message of the great Achaemenian kings of Iran, like Cyrus and Dariush, in their inscriptions prove that the official religion of Iran under this dynasty was Zarathushtrianism. 14. How the teachings of Zarathushtra deviated from their original form after Zarathushtra ? -The ancient gods and archangels that were worshipped in the pre-Zarathushtrian period, like Mithra, Bahram, Anahita etc. entered into Zarathushtrianism and caused, to a great extent, the deviation of the religion. 15. Regardless of the revival of the ancient gods and angels, what changes took place in the Zarathushtrian ideology? -Abstract concepts that constituted the core of the teachings of Zarathushtra changed often into concrete ones in the later Zarathushtrian ideology. In addition many old traditions, like offerings to gods revived in the later religion. 16. Which period is called the Gathic period? -From about 1000 B.C. to about 800 B.C. During this period, the teachings of Zarathushtra were probably vivid and far from any deviation. 17. What was the original method of Zarathushtra to discover truth? -Seeking silent and solitary seclusion, imitation, doubting about the old divinities of his society, thinking, and reasoning were the main methods of Zarathushtra to discover truth. 18. Who were the relatives of Zarathushtra? -Pouruchisti, his daughter, Maidyoimaongha, his cousin, and Jamaspa, his son in law, were some of the prophet’s relatives. 19. Which period is called Avestan period? -from about 800 B.,C. to about 200 A.D. During this period, the Younger Avesta appeared., 20. Which famous old Iranian or Indo-Iranian Yazatas did enter into the official religion of Avestan period? -The more important of them were Mithra, Bahram, Anahita, Varuna. 21. Who were the Magi? -They were a religious class originally in Western Iran that could dominate the official religion in the later period especially under Sassanids. 22. How voluminous was the Avesta at the end of Achaemenian dynasty? -It was very larger than the present Avesta. It is said that it was written on the 2000 bull’s skins. 23. How antithesis between good and evil became more and more prominent in the Avestan period? -Hormazd (Ahura Mazda) and Ahriman (Angra Manyu) opposed each other. 24. Where were maintained the Zarathushtrian scriptures when Alexander was going to annihilate them ? -They were in two archetype copies and preserved in Dizh I Niisht and Ganj I Shapingan. 25. What did Alexander do with the Zarathushtrian scriptures? -The first scripture, which was deposited in the archive of Persepolis, perished in the conflagration of Persepolis. The second copy, which was preserved in Ganj I Shapigan was annihilated too through the chaos caused by the Alexander’s invasion. It is said that this later was translated into Greek language. 26. When did the invasion of Alexander occur? -It occurred in 330 B.C. 27. Who was the last king of Acheaemenian dynasty? -Darush III who was killed by Alexander’s soldiers. 28. What was the religion of Parthians? -The Parthians were strongly influenced by Zarathushtrianism in their religious beliefs. The old archangels, that gradually entered in the religion after Zarathushtra like Mithra, and the natural elements like fire were adored by Parthians and all Zarathushtrian traditions were honored under this dynasty. 29. What is Zand? -It is an interpretation of Avesta in Pahlavi language. 30. What is Pazand? -It is an interpretation and explanation of Zand. 31. What are the main ethical principles of Mithraism? -Mithra is the divinity of truth and justice and guards them, fights against falsehood and injustice. The fighting armies look to him for help and he never fails them. 32. How did Zarathushtrianism revive under Sassanids? -Ardashir, the founder of Sassanid dynasty, commissioned his high priest, Tansar, to collect the scattered Avestan works and to prepare an authorized compilation of sacred texts. This zeal continued by the descendants of Ardashir notably Shapur II, who brought the work to completion with help of his Dastur,Azarbad Marspand. Shapur declared the redacted canonical collection to be authoritative. 33. Of which point of view does the Pahlavi literature have a special importance? -The Pahlavi works explain, elaborate, and describe in detail much of what is stated in the original Avestan texts. 34. What was the trend of the religious thoughts of the Pahlavi period? -The process of materializing of original abstract concepts – mainly described in Gathas- reaches its climaRFx in the eschatological notions of the Pahlavi period. 35. What is Zarvanism? -It is considered as a sect of Zarathushtrianism Zarvan is the Boundless Time, created by Ormazd and with its creation the entire existence came into motion. Mani calls Zarvan in his heresay Time Eternal, the Father of God of Light, which creates Ormazd and Ahriman. 36. In which period did Mani propagate his religion? -It was under Ardeshir, but worked with greater vigor under Shapur I. 37. What were the main principles of Manichaeism? -Manichaeism was an eclectic religion, which was based on materials drawn from Zarathushtrianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Gnosticism. In this synthetic religion, the dualistic theory is accepted as the basic doctrine to explain the existence of evil, Light which is synonymous with God existed above and darkness below, Satan arose out of darkness, Celibacy, fasting, and suppressing bodily desires are recommended in this religion. 38. Which period called period of Decadence of Zarathushtrianism? -From the seventh to the eighteenth century. 39. What are the main reasons for decadence of Zarathushtrianism? -First of all, one can mention, as a reason for this decadence, the strong deviation of the later Zarathushtrianism from the original teachings of Zarathshtra. This deviation made the Zarathushtrianism full of superstition. The Zarathushtrian clergy –Mubeds- were taking advantage of their religious power and suppressing the low classes. Therefore, the Iranian people were unsatisfied with their religious system. Thus, Arab invasion easily destroyed almost all Zarathushtrian inscriptions and propagated the new religion. The majority of Zarathushtrians converted to Islam. Others, under the suppressing caused by Arab ruler, escaped to India, China, and other foreign countries to continue their hard lives. The frequent ravages by Tatars, Turks, Mongols, and Afghans in the following centuries maid the Iranians, notably Zarathushtrians, more and more perished. 40. Who were the famous Muslim writers who wrote about Zarathushtrianism in the early Islamic period ? -The more famous ones were Mas’udi (A.D.950), Biruni (A.D.1000), and Shahrestani (A.D.1169) 41 How did Parsi-Sanskrit literature expand in India? -Some of Parsi scholars began to translate the Pahlavi texts of Avesta into Sanskrit. The most illustrious representative of this group of Parei-Sanskritists is Neryosangh Dhavala who flourished about 1200 A.D. 42. What were Rivayats in the Zarathushtrian literature of the decadence period? -They are collections of tradition, customs, and rites, arranged in the form of questions and answers. In Persia and considered as the influence of the Muslim rule in Gujarat. These compilations provide a wealth of information on liturgical and social matters. 43. Which period of Zarathushtrian history is called the revival one? -Nineteen century and after. 44. What was the main factor that caused to modify the religious conceptions of the young people at the revival period? -Among other factors, one can mention illiteracy of the priesthood that failed to satisfy the intellectual wants of the enlightened youth. 45. How is used the science of comparative philology among the Parsi scholars of India? -Since 1771, when Anquetil du Perron published his translation of some parts of Avesta in Europe, the European and American scholars paid special attention to benefit from the scientific archeological and philological methods to understand Avesta. These way Parsi scholars began to use the western methods of philology in their works 46. How did the new school back to the Gathas at the revival period? -The use of the philological methods in the Avestan investigations led the scholars to discover a lacking of homogeneity between the different parts of Avesta. They perceived that the later Avesta could be a deviation from the Gathas, which are older than other parts and contain much abstract and spiritual concepts. These concepts seem more justified from the point of view of ethics,. This way, the scholars of the new scientific school showed a tendency to turn back to the Gathas 47. What is the Parsi theosophy in India? Parsi theosophy is the rejection of philological methods in investigations of Avesta. The theosophists try to discover the deep meanings of sacred texts through their own mysterious method 48. Who was Azar Kaivan? -He was the last Parsi adept who alleged to have the key to discover the esoteric meaning of the sacred text. He presented a book, called Dasatir, in a mysterious style of writing with the exotic and meaningless words claimed to be written under Khosrow Parviz. He should be considered as a theosophist whose belief is an eclectic system drawing its materials from Hinduism and Buddhism. 49. What are some controversies discussed between Reformers and Conservatives of the Zarathushtrian community in India in the revival period? -One subject of controversy was based on the fact that Avesta language was an unintelligible one that neither clergy nor laymen did understand it. The orthodox followers believed that uttering the Avestan prayers, even in an incorrect pronunciation, could be considered as worshiping and cause to gain the mercifulness of God. The Reformers, on the opposite side, insisted on the meaning of prayers and proposed the translation of prayers to be read. Another subject of disagreement was the alien customs that were going to enter into Zarathushtrianism through the inevitable social contacts. The orthodox clergy were in opposite side and reformer followers agreed with this process of acculturalization. 50. Did this conflict between conservative and free thought among Parsis lead to a formal division between themselves? -The answer is no. The rival parties, however, did not make any formal division. Due to flexibility that exists in the core of Indian civilization, the two extreme parties, orthodox and reformer, live peacefully with each other.

Community » Associations