Zarathustra

by Joshua J. Mark
published on 28 May 2020

Zarathustra (also given as

Zoroaster, Zartosht,
Zarathustra Spitama, l. c.
1500-1000 BCE) was the
Persian priest-turned-
prophet who founded the
religion of Zoroastrianism
(also given as Mazdayasna
“devotion to Mazda”), the
rst monotheistic religion
in the world. He was a
priest of the Early Iranian
Religion who received a
vision from Ahura Mazda –
the chief deity of that faith’s pantheon – telling him to correct the error of polytheistic religious
understanding and proclaim the existence of only one true god – Ahura Mazda – the Lord of
Wisdom.

Zarathustra initially met with harsh resistance to his message until he converted the king Vishtaspa,
who then led his people to the new faith. Zarathustra then received messages from Ahura Mazda
while he was deep in prayerful meditation which he would repeat to his disciples. These messages
came in answer to questions and were memorized by the prophet and his followers as a living
scripture which was passed down from generation to generation in the ancient language known as
Avestan. The faith was embraced by the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) and the Parthian
Empire (247 BCE-224 CE) who maintained the oral tradition. Under the Parthian Empire, a written
record of the conversations between Zarathustra and his God was initiated.   

The scriptures were nally committed to writing by the scribes of the Sassanian Empire (224-651 CE)
a er Zoroastrianism was declared the state religion. The oral tradition in written form became
known as the Avesta (also given as Zend Avesta). Zarathustra’s vision of a single, all-powerful, all-good
God who took a personal interest in the lives and particularly the morality of human beings would
inform the later monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Early Life & Religion

There is no scholarly consensus on when Zarathustra lived or even the meaning of his name. It is
generally understood that in the old Iranian language some variant such as Zara-ustra had something
to do with the care of camels which may point to his family’s occupation, though this is far from
clear. The dates of c. 1500-1000 BCE are commonly accepted for the time in which he lived, taught,
and founded his religion based on a long tradition of scholarly work on the timeline of the Early
Iranian Religion, evidence of the acceptance of Zoroastrianism, and references in the Avesta.

His place of birth and lineage are also unknown.

The Avesta, the only source of information on
Zarathustra outside of commentaries written on it THE AVESTA, THE ONLY
and legends, does not concern itself with the details
of the prophet’s life nor with the peoples he would SOURCE OF INFORMATION
have interacted with such as the Medes or Persians. ON ZARATHUSTRA OUTSIDE
Once Zoroastrianism had been accepted, many OF COMMENTARIES &
di erent peoples of various regions claimed
Zarathustra as their own and provided justi cation LEGENDS, DOES NOT
for those claims but none are any more convincing CONCERN ITSELF WITH THE
than another. DETAILS OF THE PROPHET’S
He is thought, however, to have been born to LIFE.
Persian parents based on their names, Pourusaspa
and Dughdova. His family name was Spitama
(meaning, roughly, “of a white or shining power”). His father, Pourusaspa, was probably a priest
and his son would become one as sons usually followed in their fathers’ professions. He had four
brothers (two older and two younger) and was educated at an early age, suggesting a family of
signi cant means in that he was not sent to work nor is there any suggestion of his having any
occupation other than priest.

The faith he was devoted to is referenced today as the Early Iranian Religion or the Ancient Persian
Religion and was a polytheistic belief system in which many gods were presided over by a chief deity,
Ahura Mazda, who guided human activity through benevolence and wisdom, keeping at bay the dark
forces of the evil spirit Angra Mainyu (later known as Ahriman). Ahura Mazda had his gods and
spirits of light and Angra Mainyu his own legions of demons and spirits of darkness and the two were
in constant con ict over control of the world. Every good gi which Ahura Mazda bestowed on the
world would be corrupted by the schemes of Angra Mainyu who, nevertheless, would be thwarted by
Ahura Mazda’s wisdom in bringing good even from evil intentions.

Caught between these two entities were human beings and the early faith, as far as can be understood
from later reconstructions, emphasized the primacy of free will in choosing which side one would
ally one’s self with. One could choose the path of light and love by submitting to the will of Ahura
Mazda and one would then live well on earth and be assured of an a erlife in paradise or one could
join in rebellion and mischief with Angra Mainyu, corrupt whatever was good for one’s own sel sh
delights, and spend one’s life vainly attempting to nd happiness in the misery of others and, nally,
pass on to a dark hell a er death. Whichever path one chose, it was entirely one’s own responsibility
as Ahura Mazda had granted humans the power of choice and there was nothing more potent than
human free will as not even Ahura Mazda could (or would) try to subvert it.

Conversion & Mission

The Early Iranian Religion kept an oral tradition and so, with no written scripture nor commentary,
there is no way of knowing how the faith’s rituals were conducted. It is known, from references in the
Avesta and other Zoroastrian works, that there was a priestly class (the magi) and worship services
were conducted outdoors at shrines known as Fire Temples. Sacri ces were made at these temples,
most likely in the form of grains, animals, precious metals, and objects, which became the property
of the priests. In time, the priestly class grew wealthy from these sacri ces and their probable control
of rich farmlands. The names of two types of priests are given as karpans and kawis, but the
distinction between them is unclear as are their roles in religious observance.
 Ateshgah Fire Temple
by Nick Taylor (CC BY)
Zarathustra was already a priest by the age of 15, possibly apprenticed to an older clergyman, and le
his home at the age of 20. Which type of priest he was is unclear, but he objected to the ritual of
animal sacri ce practiced by the karpans. Zarathustra suggests he witnessed such sacri ces many
times, possibly even participated in them, but found them distasteful and antithetical to the goodness
of the gods. Whatever he may have done between the ages of 20 and 30 is unknown, but it is thought
he performed his duties as a priest in his hometown and may have started a family with his rst wife.

At the age of 30, he attended the festival of the Rites of Spring (almost certainly the Nowruz Festival
celebrating the New Year) and was saying prayers by a river when he experienced a divine vision. On
the riverbank before him, a celestial entity appeared in bright light calling himself Vohu Mahah
(“good purpose”) and telling Zarathustra that he had been sent by Ahura Mazda himself to deliver a
message of vital importance: the religion of the people as it was being practiced was in error. There
were not many gods requiring di erent types of sacri ce but only one god, Ahura Mazda, who was
not interested in animal sacri ce but in moral behavior. Vohu Mahah told Zarathustra that he had
been chosen by the One True God to preach this news and bring the people to proper understanding
of their relationship with the Divine.

Zarathustra accepted this vision as legitimate and began his mission instantly. He was rejected by his
former colleagues in the priesthood who had no interest in seeing their status challenged by an
upstart priest claiming a personal vision from God. His life was threatened, even his family seems to
have abandoned him, and he was forced to ee his home. In the Avesta, Zarathustra describes this
time in a lament:

What land should I flee to?

Where should I go to flee?
From my family and from my clan
They banish me.
The community to which
I belong has not satisfied me
Nor have [the rulers] of the country.
How, Thee, can I satisfy, O Mazda Ahura? (Yasna 46.1)
Later, in the same chapter, he gives the answer of the god who sends him to preach his vision in the
land of the king Vishtaspa; the monarch who would change his life and help establish his religion.  

Vishtaspa & Acceptance

Vishtaspa may have been a Bactrian king or may not have existed at all as he is represented. As
Zarathustra traveled toward his kingdom, he was in continual prayer with Ahura Mazda, asking
questions and receiving guidance, and these conversations would later be included in the Avesta.

Upon arriving at Vishtaspa’s court, he was

announced and proclaimed his vision. Vishtaspa
was no more pleased at hearing of a new faith than THE NEW RELIGION SEEMS
the people of Zarathustra’s hometown had been
and had him engage in a theological debate with TO HAVE GAINED MORE
the court priests. Zarathustra ably defeated all of CONVERTS FAIRLY QUICKLY
their arguments, showing how they worshipped & ZARATHUSTRA WAS
false gods while the One True God was making
himself known to them, but this challenged the HONORED WITH A PLACE AT
status quo far too much for Vishtaspa who had VISHTASPA’S COURT.
Zarathustra imprisoned.

The prophet would not renounce his vision,

however, and received wisdom from his god on how to convince Vishtaspa. He miraculously healed
the king’s favorite horse, which had been su ering from paralysis, and this inclined the king to listen
to Zarathustra’s message again in private. Vishtaspa was converted and decreed Zarathustra’s new
faith the religion of the land. According to some traditions, the priests who had argued against
Zarathustra were executed.

The new religion seems to have gained more converts fairly quickly and Zarathustra was honored
with a place at Vishtaspa’s court. He lived there in the company of the king for the rest of his life
while establishing the precepts of the faith and proper observance of rituals which, notably, did not
include animal sacri ce. He is said to have married three times and to have had three sons and three
daughters. According to one tradition, he died of natural causes when he was 77 while, according to
another, he was assassinated by a karpan priest in retaliation for dismantling the old religion.    

Zoroastrianism
The new faith Zarathustra founded drew on the old but established signi cant di erences. It was
based on ve principles:

There is only one God who reigns supreme: Ahura Mazda

Ahura Mazda is all-good
His eternal opponent, Angra Mainyu, is all-evil
Goodness is made apparent through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds
Each individual has free will to choose between good and evil

Human free will was central to the faith in that one’s choice determined one’s destiny. In choosing to
submit to, and follow, the precepts of Ahura Mazda, one was placing the common good above one’s
own sel sh desires in an e ort to maintain the divine order. If one chose to align one’s self with Angra
Mainyu, one placed one’s own interests above those of others which inevitably would characterize
one’s life as contentious, confused, bitter, envious, and petty. One could live a meaningful, elevated
life in service to others and one’s God, which would bene t one in this life and the next, or withdraw
to the darkness of Angra Mainyu and essentially work against the forces of order and goodness. If one
chose the path of Ahura Mazda, one expressed that choice through the central precepts of Good
Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds and practiced these through:

Telling the truth at all times – especially keeping promises

Practicing charity to all – especially the less fortunate
Showing love for others – even if they did not return that love
Practicing moderation in all things – especially in one’s diet

Virtuous behavior was a re ection of one’s faith in an all-good and all-powerful God who cared for
humanity and, speci cally, had an interest in one’s moral and ethical choices. Individual choice
de ned an individual’s life. If one paid lip-service to the faith but acted in opposition to it, one was
obviously aligned with Angra Mainyu and the forces of darkness and chaos. If one were truly an
adherent of the path of Ahura Mazda, one would show this choice clearly in the three core values of
personal behavior:

To make friends of enemies

To make the wicked righteous
To make the ignorant learned

If one chose the path of Ahura Mazda, and regularly showed one’s faith through the practice of these
precepts, one would lead a life which bene ted others as well as one’s self. Through consideration of
the greater good, one would be expressing the will of the Divine, not just one’s personal desires or
narrow goals, and would embody the values of the Supreme God in one’s daily life. The faithful
Zoroastrian would not only live a good and productive life but be assured of paradise a er death.

Yazd Atash Behram

by Zenith210 (CC BY-NC-SA)
According to Zarathustra’s vision, there were two essences to the soul which divided at one’s birth.
One’s higher spirit (fravashi) would direct one’s individual soul (urvan) toward physical existence in
the body so that one could experience the world and be faced with the choice between good and evil.
Three days a er one’s death, the urvan was reunited with the fravashi and traveled to the Chinvat
Bridge which spanned the abyss between the world of the living and that of the dead where they
would be met by the two dogs who guarded it.

These dogs would welcome a justi ed soul who had lived well but would snarl at those who had
chosen Angra Mainyu’s side in the cosmic struggle. A er meeting with the dogs, the soul would then
encounter the Holy Maiden, Daena, representing the conscience of the deceased. To the blessed soul
who would be justi ed by their choices, Daena would appear as a beautiful young girl; to those who
would be condemned in the a erlife for their sel shness, she would seem an ugly old hag.

Daena would lead the soul onto the Chinvat Bridge where it would be protected against demonic
attack by the angel Suroosh. As the soul crossed in Suroosh’s company, the bridge would widen to
welcome the justi ed soul, making for an easy passage, but would narrow and become precarious for
the condemned. Suroosh would guide the soul to the far end where the angel Rashnu, righteous
judge of the dead (and, in some traditions, the god Mithra) would decide one’s destination.

Those souls whose deeds were more or less equally good and bad went to a kind of purgatory known
as Hamistakan where they would remain until the end of earthly time. Those who had lived in
accordance with Ahura Mazda’s precepts went to the House of Song while those who had chosen
Angra Mainyu dropped from the bridge into the House of Lies. There were four levels of paradise
ascending upwards from the bridge, each more beautiful than the last, and four levels of hell
descending downwards to the lowest which was a pit of absolute darkness where the soul would
always feel alone no matter how many others were in its company.

Chinvat Bridge
by Uriel1022 (Public Domain)
Good or bad behavior in one’s life, according to Zoroastrianism, was not so much a “reward” or
“punishment” as the natural outcome of one’s personal choices in life. When Rashnu or Mithra
judged the soul on the Chinvat Bridge and assigned a destination, the soul understood the justice of
the decision based on the choices they had made. The soul had decided, when it was in the body, to
follow a course which would naturally lead to either paradise or hell – expressed and anticipated
throughout their lives – and so the judgment of the Divine was the natural consequence of their
actions.

Even so, the state of the soul was not eternal – whether one found paradise or hell waiting – because
Ultimate Goodness would not allow any of its creations to su er eternally nor come to languish in a
paradise which required no e ort to enjoy. Eventually, a messiah known as the Saoshyant (“One Who
Brings Bene t”) would come and bring the Frashokereti (End of Time) when all souls would be
reunited with Ahura Mazda in bliss and Angra Mainyu and his demons would be destroyed.  

Conclusion
This religion, as noted, was practiced from before the time of the Achaemenid Empire through that
of the Sassanians. During that time, innovations were made as evidenced by the so-called “heresy” of
Zorvanism which sought to resolve the problem of evil by making a minor god of time, Zorvan, of
the Early Iranian Religion, the Supreme Deity. Zorvan, in this belief system, represented In nite
Time and gave birth to the twins Ormuzd (Ahura Mazda) and Ahriman (Angra Mainyu). Ahriman was
given control of the world for 9,000 years but Ormuzd would then triumph and destroy the evil
works of Ahriman to redeem all the people.

Zarathustra’s religion continued to develop until 651 CE when the Muslim Arabs invaded and toppled
the Sassanian Empire. The faith had come under attack earlier by zealous Christians in the 4th
century CE but they did not have the political power to do much more than harass Zoroastrian clergy
and adherents. The Muslim Arabs destroyed Zoroastrian shrines, re temples, and libraries, burning
scores of Persian works, in an e ort to subjugate the people and impose their religion.

The Avesta, and commentaries, were saved by the Parsees – those who ed the region for India – or
by those who remained and kept the texts hidden. Zarathustra’s vision was thereby saved and the
practice of his religion continues up through the present day. His concepts of the primacy of free
will, individual responsibility for one’s choices in life and destination in the a erlife, personal
judgment a er death, a messiah who redeems the world, a heaven and hell, as well as a bridge
between the living and the dead, would come to inform Judaism, Christianity, and Islam signi cantly.
Zarathustra’s origins, family, even the meaning of his name might remain obscure but his vision
continues to be lived, not only by modern-day adherents of his religion but by the many others
whose faiths he lay the foundations for.

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About the Author
Joshua J. Mark
A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua
J. Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. He has taught history, writing,
literature, and philosophy at the college level.

Cite This Work

APA Style
Mark, J. J. (2020, May 28). Zarathustra. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://www.ancient.eu/zoroaster/

Chicago Style
Mark, Joshua J. "Zarathustra." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified May 28, 2020.
https://www.ancient.eu/zoroaster/.

MLA Style
Mark, Joshua J. "Zarathustra." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 May 2020. Web.
22 Oct 2020.

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