HORMAZD YASHT
Response to Jal Birdy and TMZA's
Allegation
<<Letter No. 3: Monday, October 16, 1995
This letter implies that the Hormuzd Yasht, which
Zarathushtis pray regularly with devotion was fabricated by mobeds to elevate
their status.
... "In Iran, the conditions were very favorable. The
âthravans rose, quietly replaced the mânthrans and the magavans, and became
the highest authority so much so that they even claimed Zarathushtra was an âthravan.
This was not enough. They even put words into Ahura Mazda's mouth that he too
was an âthravan, nay âthravatema, the supreme âthravan. The entire Avesta,
including the Gathas and their supplements in the Gathic dialect, a dialect
different from their own, was claimed to be the âthravan composition, the
divine composition revealed by the supreme âthravan Ahura Mazda, to an
ever-asking âthravan Zarathushtra." ... >> [end of the letter]
Dear companions, do you see any allusion to the Hormazd
Yasht? Do you see the implication that the prayer/s <<which Zarathushtis
pray regularly with devotion was fabricated by mobeds to elevate their
status>>? I do not. If any of you does, please do not hesitate to give it
on zoroastrians@listbot.com for all of us see and believe that the President of
North American Mobeds is exposing my wrongs
done to "Traditional" Zoroastrianism. Otherwise the true implication
is that someone has been twisting my statements into a lie.
The above paragraph speaks of the post-Gathic takeover by the "Âthravans," the
"Fire-Priests" of the Indo-Iranian days, of the control of the
religious affairs. He should have scholarly taken this very point against me and
proved that I have been wrong in my statement and not to go off the track to
pick unrelated implications.
Let me now give what I have written about the Hormazd
Yasht. It was read as a part of my paper at International Conference on the
Yashts, organized by Committee for Conference on Yashts and The Zoroastrian
Association of Greater New York Inc. with co-sponsorship from The Zoroastrian
Association of Greater Boston and The World Zoroastrian Organization, London,
U.K., New York October 7 and 8, 1995. The title was "Yasht, Each A
Collection Of Compositions By Different Authors." It is given in my latest
publication "The Avesta At A Glance, Books N Bits Publications, Cypress,
California, 1999. (Copies may be ordered from the Zarathushtrian Assembly
office)
(Beginning of my quotation) "Hormazd Yasht: Stanzas 1
to 11, Ahura Mazda counts 20 of His
names and ordains Zarathushtra to recite them day and night to guard against
devilish designs -- arms, armies, enemies, sorcerers, demons, kavis, karapans
[pre-Gathic priests], robbers, two-legged heretics, and four-legged wolves. Let us note that Ahura is the twelfth and Mazda the twentieth
name and the two stand apart. Stanzas 12 to 15 Ahura Mazda counts, in a
different style, another 52 names, which if recited at any time would protect
him against various assaults and injuries.
Here only few of the group of 20 names are repeated, and Ahura and Mazda
are tenth and eleventh. Stanzas 16 and 17 recommend that the names should be
recited "when waking up from sleep and going to sleep, when going to sleep
and waking up, when girdling the koshti and when unwinding it, when going out of
house, when leaving the town, when going out of country, and when entering
another country." One wonders who but the simple laity followed this
recommendation. Stanza 19 is worth
noting: It ignores the 52 names and
talks about the first group of 20 names. It
is a clear sign that the 52 names were interpolated at a later date by a person
who forgot to change the figure of 20 to 52 or bring the total to 72.
Of these 72 names, only four are mentioned in the Gathas.
They are Ahura, Mazda, Sewishta (Songs 1.5. 7.11), and Vispa-hishas
(10.4). Stanza 20 is nothing but
stanza 16 of Song 9 (Yasna 44) in the Gathas, inserted in, for apparently no
reason. Stanza 21 hails the Kayanian Glory, Airyana Vaęjah and other objects.
It also has Ahuna Vairya and Ashem
Vohu and then in stanza 22, these
very verses are venerated. Yenghę Hâtâm comes next.
Stanza 23, Ahuna Vairya and Ashem Vohu. Zarathushtra is told in stanza 24
not to let the friendly people suffer. In stanza 25 to 27, the Incremental
Immortals are introduced to Zarathushtra. Various beings are venerated in
stanzas 28 to 32 to overthrow evil entities. Could this be a single composition,
addressed (?!) to a single deity? Or is it by a single deity addressing mankind
at more than one time in different styles? ………. The Hormazd Yasht appears
to prescribe the Divine names as a substitute for all prayers, including the
Koshti prayers. The prescription
does not seem to have succeeded." (end of my quotation)
Is there anything that has an inkling of what the Ervad
alleges? Anything in the past two responses to his 1st and 2nd allegations? Yet,
he says in concluding his statement: <<We hope the above three sample
postings will give you some idea, which we have had the misfortune to be exposed
to. There are many more such
postings from Mr. Jafarey, scattered through the years, which we are not able to
give due to shortage of space and time.>>
Does any of the quotations given by him amount to <<the Avesta prayers that we have recited with devotion through the millennia are now suddenly of dubious authenticity and only good for historical and geographical interest. …….>>? All I have said and say is that the Gathas are the Divine Songs of Zarathushtra, the Gathic Supplements are by his companions and their Gathic successors, and the rest of the Avesta compositions are by pre-Gathic and post-Gathic authors whose names are not attached to their compositions. Each part is authentic in its capacity and nothing is <<dubious>>. If I have said anything other than this, let him or any of his more scholarly colleagues quote me in context without resorting to implication, distortion, and other blasphemous tactics. Let them present the truth to prove themselves truthful. Proof is Truth. No proof is no truth. It is lie, druj.
My postings are not scattered through years. My essays in
shape of articles and books are, all published from 1964 to the latest in 2000,
available at the libraries of the Zartoshti Anjoman and Zartoshti Youth
Organization in Tehran, and the California Zoroastrian Center and the
Zarathushtrian Assembly in Orange County. I have nothing to hide. All one has to
do is to mention the subject and he/she will have a certified photo copy. The
same holds true about every posting of mine on the former Alias and Z-List and
the present "zoroastrians" and "asha". Many of my friends
and foes have downloaded and preserved them. Nothing is lost or alleged to be
lost the way I hear the 5000 (sic) signatures of Bombay Parsis against my
possible participation in the coming congress have been lost. Poor Mr. K.N.
Dastoor who is reported to have hurriedly collected them at the nick of time
before the 6-7 February meeting of the Executives!
I repeat my challenge: "And I would not mind at all if Ervad Birdy invites other "Traditionalist" scholars -- Dastur Dr. Feroze Kotwal, Dastur Dr. Kaikhusroo JamaspAsa, Mr. Khojasteh Mistry, Ervad Kaikhushro N. Dastur, and of course, Dr. Pallan R. Ichaporia, -- to give a joint answer to the three points raised by him against me. That would be more enlightening to the readers, especially to the Traditionalists. It would, if they are convincing enough to their own readers, put a complete stop to all I am alleged to have stated in my writings and postings. I shall be silenced. How about trying that instead of beating about the bush and/or raising cries in conferences?" And I add that he may, to strengthen the team, add Western scholars like Prof. Helmut Humbach, Prof. James Russell, Prof, Prods Oktor Skjaervo and other "World-known scholars" who take part in the Traditionalist Avesta Conferences.
Further more the zoroastrians@listbot.com has plenty of space and time until the FEZANA AGM in May for him to elaborate the uproar created by him and his colleague. It will make it clear as to who is misleading whom and why; and who is distorting statements to suit his interest? Will he? Can he?
* * * * * *
LINKS:
To Return to the Relevant Original
Allegation, CLICK
Introduction
to The Plain Reality Behind The Intricate Falsity
(Allegation No. 5)
and
Samples of Offending Letters by Jafarey
(Letter 3)