ADURBAD MARASPANDAN
Allegation by Traditionalists
and
Response by Ali A. Jafarey
Allegation No. 18 by Certain Traditionalists:
<<He (Jafarey}said Aderbad Maraspand (one of the great Dasturjis of the
past who poured moulten metal on his chest and was unharmed) was a trickster and
a publicity seeker. Aderbad Maraspand was a pure Zarathushtri saint who by the
virtue of his purity and spirituality was able to come out unscathed from this
great Aryan test of fire. To insult a great saint in this manner is the height
of cowardice and sordid behaviour.>>
Allegation by Dr. Pallan R. Ichaporia:
<<<From: PIchaporia@aol.com
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 16:24:17 EDT To:
Zoroastrians@least.eng.sun.com
Subject: Religious: Great Iranian Zoroastrian Saint Insulted by Jafarey
Dear readers: All Zoroastrins should register their protests to Jafarey for
insulting one of the Greatest Iranian Saint Mobedan Mobed Aturpat Mahrespandan.
. . . Jafarey has insulted the great soul of Saintly Aturpat
Maharespandand as a low "Makarani" but Dinkerd has shown the pure
Iranian origin of the saint Maharaspandan. Jafarey has no sources and
references to show the great soul Maharaspandan as a low "Makarani",
and as usual, he has made up a fairy tale.
I had to be rather strong in my protest because this time Jafarey has gone too
far, insulting living Zoroastrians is one thing but insulting departed soul of
one of the greatest Iranian Zoroastrian Saint is unpardonable. With
regards to all, Dr. Pallan R. Ichaporia>>>
Comment by Jafarey: As if this was not enough to stir the subscribers, we
read a reworded longer posting on the following day:
More by Ichaporia: <<< From: PIchaporia@aol.com
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 05:12:43 EDT To:
Zoroastrians@least.eng.sun.com
Subject: Religious: Jafarey ridicules a great saintly soul
Dear friends; For your reading pleasure. Jafarey insulted and ridiculed the
great Iranian Saint Aturpat Marespandan as a low "Makarani", I want to
know his source and reference in calling a great saintly soul as a low "Makarani".
Or has he, as usual, made up a fairy tale I like to see all true
Zoroastrians prevent Jafarey from getting away after insulting a truly great
Iranian Zoroastrian Saint Aturpat Maharespandan as a low "Makarani",
and all must protest in no uncertain manner so he is prevented to commit
any further nasty deeds in the future..
I am giving further details about Mobedan Mobed Aturpat Mahrespandan, the
great Iranian Zoroastrian Saint. . . . He was the inhabitant of KURAN . . . [text
deleted to avoid repetition] . . . He is one of the very few leaders of the
Iranian community who were canonized as Saints (Phlv. 'hu-fravart').
Note: the ancient place of KURAN was not in Makran but was in the province
of Pars/Fars (ancient name Persis). [[Please note that Dr. Ichaporia
himself does not have a source to prove Kuran was/is in Pars. He also does not
know that Pars in Persian and Fars in Arabo-Persian is "Parsa" in Old
Persian and that Persis is the grecized for Parsa]]
Now let us examine what Dasturji Dhalla (whom Jafarey claims as his teacher)
said about Aturpat Mahrespandan: In his 'History of Zoroastrianism', Dasturji
Dhalla writes (p319): . . . [ text deleted to avoid repetition] . . .
Now Jafarey who claims Dasturji Dhalla as his teacher seems to have forgotten
Dasturji's eachings.Dasturji calls Aturpat Maharespandan "ILLUSTRIOUS"
and nowhere ridiculed Saint Adarbad Mahrespand as a "Makarani'.
It seems that Jafarey is not true even to his teacher.>>>
Rejoinder by Jafarey: This second appeal too was felt not strong enough
to stir up support. Dr.
Ichaporia came up again after 8 days on 18 July to repeat himself:
<<<Any attempt to belittle the departed great saintly soul of
Adarbad Maraspandnd should be resisted and strongly opposed by all devout
Zoroastrians.>>>
These three uproaring appeals are by a person who had stated in his earlier
posting that it was the "first [not true] and the last" response to
Jafarey. I pity the person who could not resist the temptation of an opportunity
he imagined would work to silence me. He could not keep his promise even for one
month.
Let us see if Dr. Ichaporia, after brooding for 11 days, is telling the Truth,
nothing but the Truth.
I had written on 28 June:
"Incidently, we have a Makrani who is reported to have served most to
"institutionalize" the Sassanian brand of Zoroastrianism and canonize
the 21-volume Avesta-cum-Pahlavi "nasks," and who is alleged to have
compiled the Khordeh Avesta. He is Adurbad Mahraspandan. He was from Makran . .
. "
DOES THE READER SEE ANY WORD THAT SPELLS <LOW> IN MY TEXT?
I wrote about "Makranis," the people of Makran: ". . . the
Baloches, whether from . . . Makran or any other part of their habitats in
Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, . . . are culturally and
linguistically far far more Iranian than the Parsis are. Racially too, they have
as much of mixed
Iranian "blood" as any other Iranians, including "born"
Zoroastrians, have, and definitely much more than certain "complexed"
Parsis who cannot hide their "Dubra" features."
ANY RIDICULE OR INSULT TO "DENIGRATE" THE MAKRANI, WHICH COULD
EVENTUALLY APPLY TO ADURBAD MAHRASPANDAN?
In my clear conscience, NO people are LOW, no matter what their homeland happens
to be -- from the aborigines of Australia to the Zulus of Africa, from the
whitest albino to the blackest African, from the fair Fins to the dark "Dubras,"
and this includes very much my people, the Iranians from Azerbaijan to Makran
and Khuzistan to Khorassan. They are all humane humans.
Low ARE the complex-ridden racists who consider others low. And low and mean are
the "medicine men" who make money by milking the modest Makaranis and
then call them "low". It is the inferiority complex of these
very persons which makes them brag about a racial superiority that none has.
Race runs amok and leaves no trace. Virtue values and lasts for ever.
One would wonder as to why all the turbulence. The answer is DISTRACTION from
the questions I had asked and the ones that are being asked for which the
uproar-makers and cheap-shooters have no answers. The answer is DISTRACTION from
the REAL issue of the "Contents of the prescriptive later Avesta as
against the reflective Gathas." Answers by the
"Traditionalists" will
recoil and expose their weakness. Distract attention and get away with it,
especially if there is "scapegoat" to blame and flame. That is exactly
what they are doing.
CONCLUSION:
Who <<<insulted and ridiculed the great Iranian Saint Aturpat
Marespandan as a low "Makarani">>>? The very person who added
the word <<<low>>> to my text on "Makrani." And who
<<<as usual, made up a fairy tale>>>? The very person who
distorted my *version* to fit his fits.
No wonder, there was only one weak squeak from Dr. Aspi Maneckjee of Canada in
response to his triple appeal for <<< [1] All Zoroastrins should
register their protests . . . [2] . . . I like to see all true Zoroastrians
prevent Jafarey from getting away . . . .[and (3)] . . . Any attempt to belittle
the departed great saintly soul of Adarbad Maraspandnd should be resisted and
strongly opposed by all devout Zoroastrians.>>> The storm he thought he
was brewing to flood me with, has fizzled out. Seventeen days and no
registration. Seventeen days and no prevention. Seventeen days and no
"true" or "devout" Zoroastrians to listen to Dr. Ichaporia
the "normative" Zoroastrian!
One point has become clear now. Recent outbursts show that Dr. Ichaporia and Mr.
Maneckshaw have now openly joined the regular shouters on the Alias. I ignore
uproar-makers and cheap- shooters. This is the only response they deserve. And
that is what they are going to get from me.
* * * * *
I wrote about duping the simple. Tricks to make the simple wonder in awe and
lies to slander the righteous are nothing new. This has been going on all along
history. But the Zoroastrian Alias is not subscribed by the simple alone. In my
opinion, intellectuals form the clear majority. IT IS AN INTELLECTUAL FORUM
troubled by uproar-makers. That is the reason why uproars do not get the support
they heave for. Uproars surely do one thing. Turn the intellectuals off - off to
other sites, off to other communities, off to other faiths -- where there are no
noises, no shouts, no slander, no personal insults; where there is talk to take,
talk to make, talk to learn, talk to teach, and talk to LOVE.
* * * * *
To turn to serious subjects
(e) The Alias readers may like to know more about the link between Adurbad
Mahraspandan and Makran (present Persian pronunciation "Mokran",
classical Persian "Mukran," Balochi "Makoran," Pahlavi
MWKWL'N, pronounced "Mukuran," and Makran is the Indianized form
adopted by the British). All Iranian and Arab geographers and historians who
have their books in Arabic and Persian since the 8th century CE have mentioned
Mokran. Ferdowsi mentions it in the Shahnameh on several occasions. It is on the
Iranian Plateau and has been an integral part of Iran. British imperialism
divided it into two parts, at present one in Iran and the other in Pakistan, but
the people in both are Iranians speaking the Iranian language of Balochi.
Here is a quotation from the Encyclopaedia Iranica, edited by Prof. Ehsan
Yarshater, Mazda Publishers, page 477. It is by the late Dr. Ahmad Tafazzoli, a
young very outstanding Pahlavi scholar, of Tehran lost in a recent car accident:
<ADURBAD i MAHRSPANDAN ("Adurbad. son of Mahrspand"), Zoroastrian
mobad of mobads (mowbedan mowbed) or high priest in the reign of the Sasanian
king Shapur II (A.D. 309-79). The Pahlavi Bundahishn (P. 237.2) traces Adurbad's
lineage back to the legendary Dursarw. son of Manuchihr; similarly Biruni's al-Athar
al-baqia mentions him as a descendant of Dwsr (ed. J. Flick, Documenta Islamica
Inedita, Berlin. 1952. p. 76). He was a native of the
"village Kuran" (kwrn MT', Dinkard, p. 219.11), unless this is a
corruption of "a village of Mukran," southeast Iran (i.e., *mwkl'n
M7';see R. C. Zaehner, Zurvan. a Zoroaslrian Dilemma. Oxford, 1955. p. 52, n.
1). A Koran in Fars province is recorded by Yaqut (IV, p. 247).>
The late Prof. R.C. Zaehner has this note in his "Zurvan, A Zoroastrian
Dilemma, Oxford, 1955" on page 52: <. . . Aturpat I Mahraspandan i (hac)
mukran deh but - Adhurbadh, son of Mahraspand, who came from the province of
Makran . . .> Prof. Zaehner adds a sub-note also: <The Pahlavi has MWKL'N
which may most easily be read as 'hac kuran.' A village 'kuran' is mentioned by
Yaqut . . . as being in Fars. But our present place is 'deh'
"province" and is therefore best identified with Makran or Mukran, the
province east of Kirman. Greater Bundahishn has 'makurastan' (MKWLST'N) and
Antia gives 'makrastan' (MKLST'NW).>
The late Prof. Bahram Faravashi, author of "Farhang-e Pahlavi,"
Tehran, 1973 [to this day, an unmatched Pahlavi dictionary for which Prof.
Faravashi received the Imperial Iranian Prize], gives another version of Makran
as Makristan, and adds that it is the place from where Adurbad Mahraspandan
hailed.
But even if one insists to close his eyes blind and read MWKWL'N as if it were
MN KWL'N to render it "from Kuran," we have good data on that too:
"Loghat-nameh-ye Dehkhoda," the voluminous encyclopedia of the Persian
Language, Tehran, gives in all 10 villages named as Kuran in Iran. One near
Rezaieh in Azerbaijan, another in Esfarayen, two in Khorassan, and SIX in MAKRAN.
The first "Kuran" in Makran is near Saravan; the second Kuran-e Bala
(Upper Kuran), the third Kuran-e Payin (Lower Kuran), both near Iranshahr; the
forth Kuran Dap near the port of Chah-Bahar; the fifth Kuran Kash also near
Chah-Bahar; and the sixth Kuran Kahmgar near Saravan. *Six Kurans in Makran!*
And none in Pars!
Whether we take it to be Kuran or Makran, Mobedan Mobed of the Sassanians,
Adurbad Mahraspandan, was from Makran, a Makrani. And Makran was/is an integral
part of Iran. Its inhabitants have been as *pure* Iranians as any other Iranians
on and about the Plateau happen to be.
* * * * *
(f) Regarding the "ordeal of molten metal," all I have to add to what
Mr. Ardeshir Mehta and Mr. Farshid Bakhtiari have said, is that when LOGIC
fails to convince the minority *intellectuals*; miracle, magic and trickery are
employed to dupe the majority simple to force and enforce the issue. Did
Adurbad undergo the ordeal? I do not believe it. He had all the power, all the
resources to suppress any opposition-a power the Sassanians employed to brutally
crush all those who opposed them. Adurbad did not need any stunt. He lived in
the 4th century CE of the Sassanian supremacy. The "miracle" ascribed
to him was written 500 years later in the Pahlavi books. We know that these
books were written/rewritten during the Islamic period of utter depression for
Zoroastrians-enough to make a mountain of mole to keep the laity from going over
on the other dominating side, also very rich by that time in miracle
stories.
If "miracles" were working, things would have been exactly what the
miracle-believers want. If miracles were potent, the Arabs would not have
bulldozed the Sassanian empire flat, and Zoroastrians would not have dwindled
from an estimated population of 15 million 1400 years ago to 80,000 of the
"simple," "Traditionalist," "Liberal,"
"Reformist," "Ilm-e Khshnumist," "Pandole group,"
and now "Normative" Parsis living to foresee and forecast their
extinction in the next three or four generations. Miracles are only reported and
even if "authenticated," they have no bearing at all in advancing the
Traditionalist/Khshnumist factions whose followers speak so much about them -
only to console themselves against the gloomy future. These miracles are only
tales of minor incidents in the simple living led by the simple.
* * * * *
As far the restoration of the pristine purity of the Good Religion, the Gathas
are the ever-fresh, ever-refreshing LOGIC that are ahead of time in every walk
of life. With the Gathas as our Guide, we have no need whatsoever to resort to
trickery. Tricks are for the tricksters, and one of them is
distraction through distortion to disturbance.
Let us study the Gathas with our bright mind, learn, reflect, understand,
practice, teach and preach only to base our life on LOGIC and logistics.
Let us do our share in promoting peace and prosperity on our living world
of humans, other animals, plants, and every other God-given good thing on this
good ground.
Ali A. Jafarey
* * * * * *
LINKS:
TO Return to the Relevant Original
Allegation, CLICK
Introduction
& the Gist of "The Plain Reality Behind The Intricate Falsity"
(Allegation No. 18)