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Wellness Curated
The Avesta and Its Teachings on Life and Beyond
What does it mean to live with truth, righteousness, and a sense of responsibility toward the world? The Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrianism, offers answers that are just as meaningful today as they were thousands of years ago. But how do these ancient teachings apply to modern life?
In this episode, Dr Ramiyar Karanjia—scholar, author, and Principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute—joins us to break down the deeper messages of the Avesta. He explains what “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” truly means beyond its well-known phrase, the role of fire as a bridge between the physical and the divine, and why Zoroastrianism places such importance on protecting nature.
We also get into the hidden world, the power of the mind in spiritual practice, and the system of preserving the Avesta through memory long before it was written down. What wisdom does this ancient text hold for those seeking clarity and balance today? And what simple practice from the Avesta can shift the way you think?
Tune in for a fascinating conversation that looks beyond religion and into the heart of what it means to live with purpose.
For a transcript of this show, go to https://wellnesscurated.life/the-avesta-and-its-teachings-on-life-and-beyond-2/
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Anshu Bahanda: Let's go to ancient Persia. So there's a young Zoroaster who gets a divine vision from Ahura Mazda, the Wise One, and he gives him the truths of existence. Now, Zoroaster's teachings were passed on in the oral tradition and over time they got compiled into the Avesta, which is the holy book of the Zoroastrians. Now, at the core of the Avesta lies Gathas, or the hymns which are attributed to Zoroaster himself. And they offer profound insights into ethics, into spirituality, and into the human connection to the divine.
I'm going to read a particular verse from the Gathas. "Through the good mind, O Wise One, I realise you as the creator of the world, the source of truth and righteousness, granting joy and strength. You guide those who uphold truth through good deeds."
These words encapsulate the essence of Zoroastrianism. We talk here about truth, we talk about righteousness, we talk about contributing to the world by doing good deeds.
And like a lot of other scriptures, the Avesta itself had a lot of challenges because, during the time of Alexander, during the invasion of Alexander, much of the original texts were destroyed. And then, using oral tradition, the Zoroastrian priests worked very hard to put together these texts again. And they compiled them, and they translated them into Pahlavi during the Sasanian era.
Welcome to Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living, which is our current series, and the season that we're talking about at the moment is Sacred Text: Timeless Wisdom. I'm your host, Anshu Bahanda, and I would like to welcome Dr Ramiyar Karanjia. He did his Master's and PhD from St. Xavier's College in Mumbai. He's a principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute. He teaches religion, he teaches Iranian history, and he teaches Iranian languages. His contribution is that of an author, an editor, he's a translator, a columnist, and he's enriched the Zoroastrian tradition with his teachings.
Thank you for being here with us, Dr Karanjia. It's a privilege to have you here today.
So, Dr Karanjia, before I get into asking you questions about the Avesta, I want to ask you something to clarify things for myself and just to put it into context for all our readers.
I was in Uzbekistan a couple of months ago, and they were talking about how all of Central Asia was part of Iran earlier and how there was a lot of Zoroastrianism there at that point. So, when did Zoroastrianism actually start? Was it as far back as 4 to 6 BCE?
Dr Ramiyar Karanjia: Zoroastrianism is a very ancient religion. In fact, arguably, some may argue, but it is considered the first revealed religion in the world.
And Prophet Zarathustra as the first prophet for mankind. He was born in such antiquity that the exact date is difficult to put. According to our ancient tradition, even when archaeology was not in the picture, we believed that Prophet Zarathustra was born in 6500 BC—around it. It is almost 8500 years ago now.
The Prophet himself was born in a belief system called Mazda Yasna. Mazda is the name of the God of the Zoroastrians. Yes. So he is more well known as Ahura Mazda. Yes. Or Hormazd.
So, this word Hormazd is made up of two words: Ahura and Mazda. Mazda means wisdom, and Ahura is a title that means lord. So, Mazda became the full name of the God, but before that, the God was known as Mazda.
And almost 1500 years before the Prophet was born, there was a belief system called Mazda Yasmin.
AB: So you're saying that that's when Zoroastrianism, the way we know it today started? Around 6000 BCE, 6500 BCE. The reach of Zoroastrianism was huge at one point, is that right? All the way to Central Asia, all the way to Egypt, when the Iranian Empire was huge. Is that right?
Dr RK: See, when we talk of ancient Iran, we should know that it is not one landmass as we know it today. The place that we today call Iran, also known as Persia—but properly, formally known as Iran—is as it is just now.
But when you talk of Prophet Zarathustra and when I talk of the kings and Saoshyant, the benefactors before Prophet Zarathustra in the Mazda Yasna system, they were not staying in present-day Iran. If you read Iranian history, there was a group of kings called the Achaemenian Kings.
They talk about the Arian Empire, roughly around 600 BC to 200 BC, roughly like 333. Then Alexander brought an end to the Achaemenian Empire—you mentioned it when you introduced the religion. So, for around 350 to 400 years, these Achaemenian kings, who were also Zoroastrians, occupied almost 60 to 65% of the then-known world. They occupied what we today know as much of Central Asia. Much of parts of Africa, parts of Europe, even parts of North India. They were kings of almost 60% of the world at that time.
AB: Now, I want to talk about the Avesta. So when was it first compiled?
Dr RK: So, when we talk of Avesta, we should know that it means two things. One, it is the name of the language. Second, it is the term applied to the collection of all the scriptures and texts that are written in that religion, which are written in that language.
AB: So, Avesta Pahlavi is a language, correct?
Dr RK: Pahlavi is a language that came hundreds of years after Avesta. It's like Sanskrit and Hindi. Avesta, as a language, was used during the time of Prophet Zarathustra. That is, we can say around 6500 BC. Okay. But at that time, writing, as we know it today, was not known. Much of the Avesta that Prophet Zarathustra brought was in an oral tradition. But we are also told in our religious books that it was written down on parchments and cowhides. So, there may have been perhaps one copy or two copies of the Avesta in a very rudimentary script.
Today, archaeologists have come to the conclusion that the first scripts, the oldest scripts that have been unearthed, are about five and a half to six thousand years old. Okay. So, in such a script, only one or two copies were made and deposited in the archives of the kings.
You know, though the language is so old, it did not have a script of its own. The script that we use to write Avesta today is called Dindavara. So, it's not Pahlavi; it's Dindavara, a totally different language.
Even during the Achaemenian period, we are told that the Achaemenian kings, in their palaces at Persepolis, had deposited the sacred Avestan texts. But once again, in a script that we do not know of. These were destroyed by Alexander.
AB: So, it was interesting when I was in Central Asia. The comparison—like, in India, Alexander is called Alexander the Great, right? But in Central Asia, there's a very different perception of him. Yeah, it's all about perception, right?
Dr RK: Yes, exactly. In our religious text, he is called Alaksander Gajastak. Gajastak means "the cursed one." So, okay, generally, if a Zoroastrian has some knowledge about his religion, he would not say Alexander the Great.
AB: Yes, very interesting. I want to come back to the Avesta now. Will you explain to us the structure of the Avesta? Because I believe there are a lot of sections to it.
Dr RK: Let's start from today and then go backwards. So, presently, the Avesta that we have is divided into four distinct books. One book is called Khordeh Avesta, which is the daily prayer book for Zoroastrians. Okay. Then there is a book called Yashts. Yashts are bigger texts dedicated to divine beings, invoking individual divine beings. Then we have a text called Yasna, which has 72 chapters. You read out the translation of a verse from the Gathas. So, the Gathas are the direct outpourings of the Prophet. They're supposed to be in the first person, and they are poems—that's why they are called Gathas. So, these Gathas are just 17 chapters in this book of 72 chapters, which we call the Yasna. Then there is another book called Visperad, which is dedicated to the seasonal lords, the Lords of the Season, and has 24 chapters.
Finally, there is the Vendidad, which is more or less a law book—a book about do's and don'ts, about purity and impurity.
AB: So, there are five scriptures. Okay. And tell me, these were destroyed by Alexander, right?
Dr RK: No, let me go back. Sorry to confuse you. Yes, our religious tradition says that Prophet Zarathustra gave 21 books of scriptures to his people and to the patron king. These are referred to as Nask.
Nask means a volume. Okay, so there were 21 Nasks. As I told you, they were written in a script that we don't know today, on parchments and hides. Just a couple of copies were kept in the archives, while the rest were preserved through oral tradition.
So, what Alexander destroyed were actually those 21 books—21 volumes, 21 Nasks. But fortunately, because they were memorised by heart by 21 groups of priests or families of priests, they made an attempt to regather these people and write down the scriptures once again.
AB: And you know, one of my favorite questions when we're doing this—and the reason we're doing Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living—is the question I keep asking everyone: How is this relevant today? How is what happened then relevant today? This work that was done to put the Avesta back.
Dr RK: See, today we are spoiled for choices. If you want to save your work, you will save it on your hard drive. Then you will save it on an external hard drive. Then you'll again go to the cloud and save it. Why do we do this? Because we have it in our genes not to put all our eggs in one basket. So, this is the concept that those people had. They knew that written records could be destroyed, but what is in memory will always remain. And not only one person—they shared the job. If there was a priest, a family of a hundred priests was given the responsibility of one Nask, one book. Like, I may make a mistake here, another priest may make a mistake there. So, many editions were taken in, they were collated, and then a final edition was made. That also shows teamwork.
AB: There's one thing that, you know, growing up, my Parsi friends have always talked about, and that is Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds—or Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta.
Dr RK: Zoroastrians are associated with these three words.
But if you look at it, all religions teach goodness. There is not a single religion anywhere in the world that tells people not to be good. Goodness, in that sense, is not a monopoly of the Zoroastrian religion. But what they have done is emphasise that goodness is necessary and important—perhaps the most important thing—to be good in our own hearts and for others.
In our scriptures, a question is asked. You will be surprised: What is a good thought? What is a good word? And what is a good deed?
At our level, goodness means being good—we have to be good, we have to be nice to others, we have to be civil with people. But according to the Zoroastrian religion, when they say "good thoughts," it goes one step deeper and says that a good thought is the very thought that God had at the time of creating the universe.
It's a very beautiful idea. What was the thought that God had when creating the universe? And it's very simple: progress and prosperity.
And finally, what is a good deed? It is wonderfully said that all deeds that ultimately lead humanity to final liberation are good deeds—praising all righteous things and helping all righteous things move toward the one final goal of mankind.
So, of course, Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds in its elementary form is necessary and important. But in its more advanced understanding, as the religion explains, it gives you another perspective altogether.
AB: I will remember that. Thank you. Very interesting. I also heard this fascinating story that a friend of mine was telling me about the sacred fire and how it was brought to India. I don't know if it's true, but this is what she heard—that it was carried from Iran by an all-Parsi crew sent by Air India. Is that right?
Dr RK: Zoroastrians left Iran—not all, but a sizable number—around 1,300 years ago to salvage and safeguard their religion.
Because in Iran, which was then taken over by the Arabs, it was difficult to follow the religion. They were forced to change their faith, so they had to leave the shores of Iran en masse. When they had to choose where to go, they chose to come to the hospitable shores of India. About 1,200 years ago, a sacred fire was ignited in Sanjan, a place in Gujarat, after coming from Iran to India.
And that fire is still burning after almost 1,300 years at our holiest of holy places, called Udvada.
Now, you’re talking about a flight with an all-Parsi crew bringing fire. That happened only about 40 to 50 years ago. I don’t recollect the exact date right now.
When Aden was taken over—there was a revolution in Aden. Aden is a place in Yemen. At the time, there was a sizable Parsi population there because one Parsi gentleman had gone there, settled, and was doing business. He brought many Parsis over, and they had established a fire temple. But after the revolution, there was a danger that the fire might die down. Because the Parsis would be forced to flee.
Now, you can only transport a sacred fire by land route.
So, they tried to bring the fire by land route, but it would have had to pass through four or five different countries and take weeks, which was not a viable option at that time. So they had a choice: either break the rule of the religion to a certain extent and let the fire survive or risk losing it.
The religious think tank decided that they could tweak the rule just enough to allow the fire to be transported by a special Air India flight, which was specially fitted with certain modifications.
Sanctions were taken at the prime ministerial and ministerial levels to make this possible. Not only was there an all-Parsi crew, but after arriving in Mumbai, roads were specially closed, and an all-Parsi police fleet escorted the fire.
It was first brought to Mumbai, kept there for a few hours for some rituals, and then taken to Lonavala. But the fire is still burning.
AB: So, tell me about the importance of the sacred fire in the religion and how it is created. I believe there are four very difficult elements involved, including lightning.
Dr RK: When we Zoroastrians, and when our scriptures, talk about fire, the word for fire in Avesta is Atar. Now, Zoroastrians pay great respect to fire, but they don’t directly worship the fire. Why?
Because we Zoroastrians consider fire as a living representative of God on earth. God can only be visualised as light. Right. God can be visualised only as life. God can be visualised only as warmth. And all these things come together in fire. That’s why the symbolism of fire is that it is the representative of God. When you want to talk to God, when you want to reach out to God, go to fire. And the fire will take your prayers to God and bring God’s blessings back to you.
AB: And tell me, how does one create this fire? I believe it's not easy to create a new fire.
Dr RK: It's very difficult. I'll tell you. Zoroastrians grade fire into three different levels.
One is the simple household fire, which we call the Dadgah. Dadgah means any fire in its proper place.
The second is called Adran, or more loosely, Agyari. That’s a simple, ordinary fire temple. In that, the fire is specially created. Fire is taken from four sources: the house of a priest, the house of a farmer, the house of a soldier, and the house of a worker. Hours upon hours of rituals are performed over each individual fire—at least about 100 hours of rituals are put into that. Then, the four fires are amalgamated, and that fire is enthroned in a fire temple, which is the fire of the second grade.
Now, you mentioned something about the fire of lightning. That is for the fire of the highest grade. The fire of the highest grade comes from 16 different sources. One of the sources is lightning—fire from lightning. And there are 15 other sources.
The hours of rituals that go into it run into thousands. And then that fire is enthroned in a temple of the highest grade, which we call an Atash Behram.
There are only four such Atash Behrams in Mumbai today, and four others in the rest of India.
AB: And how many are there in the world? Is there a count or not?
Dr RK: Outside India there is only one Atash Behram in Iran. In total, there are only nine Atash Behrams in the world. Nine in the whole world.
AB: The Avesta talks a lot, I think, about living in harmony with nature—this concept of Asha, truth, and order. So, can you talk to me a little bit about how modern environmental challenges can be overcome using teachings from the Avesta?
Dr RK: See, this again is a wonderful question because we regard the Zoroastrian religion as an ecological religion. We break down creation into seven groups and consider each creation as sacred.
It is accepted that each creation was made for man because man is the most supreme creation. But that does not give man the right to misuse creation.
Another beautiful aspect is that there is a divine being who looks after every creation. So, if you offend a creation, you offend the divine being associated with it.
Each of these seven divine beings is called an Amesha Spenta, which are somewhat like archangels—higher, because, as I told you, there are many angels in the religion, but only seven archangels.
Each archangel presides over one creation. If you look after that creation, then that archangel, who also presides over a virtue, blesses you with the power to attain more and more of that virtue.
AB: So can I quickly ask you to tell me what the seven creations are?
Dr RK: The first creation, in that order in one of our books, is the earth, then the sky, then the water, then the plants, then animals, and then humans.
And finally comes fire, which gives energy and life to all the other creations. So, it has an existence of its own as well as giving life and vivifying all the creations. These are the seven creations.
And there is one archangel who looks after each creation. Each archangel also looks after one virtue.
AB: So, Dr Karanjia, you've been teaching Zoroastrianism extensively, and you've done a lot for the religion. Tell me, what are some of the challenges you come across when you're trying to translate the Avesta?
Dr RK: See, as I told you, Avesta is a very, very old language—one of the most ancient languages that has survived today.
And that, by itself, makes it difficult to translate because the older the language, the more complex the grammar is. Secondly, another challenge in translating Avesta is that there are some concepts and technical words that have no equivalent in any known languages, especially English.
I'll give you just one example. One of the most well-known words from our Avesta is Asha, which we talked about earlier. Yes, so Asha is the divine order, but it also means truth. It also means righteousness. It also means piety. It means so many things. Now, in different places in the Avesta, the word is used in different contexts. The challenge in translation is deciding which meaning to use.
Another challenge is that Asha is also the name of the divine being who looks after this concept. So, is it a proper noun? Is it an abstract noun? Is it a common noun? And if it's an abstract noun or a common noun, what is its exact meaning in that context?
So, translation becomes very subjective.
AB: So then how do you teach this to the youngsters?
Dr RK: When we teach children, we just use one word for one concept. Like for Asha, we just use truth. Because for a very young child, it is difficult to grasp all of this. I’ve been teaching children as young as four and five years old. The biggest challenge is that you have to become four or five years old yourself—to understand what they will comprehend, what they will like, what they will appreciate, and what they will enjoy. If you lose their attention, you are completely lost. So, when we translate, we have to make people understand that this is just one sense of the word that we are taking. It could be something else.
AB: There's one more thing that I want to talk about, and that is the Tower of Silence. And correct me if I'm wrong—in the Avesta, as you said, it's an ecological religion. Because of the importance given to nature, you don’t like to pollute the earth. Correct. And therefore, when someone passes, the bodies are given to the vultures so that they go back into the system.
Dr RK: Yes, but vultures were just one part of the system. There are other parts of the system that people generally don’t know about.
The system is called Dohkmenashini, where Dakhma is a circular, round, open structure without a roof in which the bodies are placed.
The word Nashin refers to the process that works on the dead body. Along with the vultures, there are two other elements at play: sunlight and other birds—smaller carrion birds—that assist the vultures.
Presently, for the past 20 or more years, vultures have unfortunately disappeared because the global vulture population has declined due to the painkilling drug diclofenac, which is commonly used for animals.
But for the past 25 years, the Dohkmenashini system has worked through the effect of sunlight, which dries up the body, disinfects it, and disintegrates it.
Of course, it takes longer than when the vultures were present, as they would eat away the flesh much faster. But even without vultures, we still regard it as the best system because it does not pollute the earth, fire, water, or air in any major way.
Special filters are also in place so that when liquids from the body seep into the earth, or when rainwater washes over the body and then goes into the ground, that water is filtered before it reaches Mother Earth.
Filters made of sandstone and lime are built into the structure, which is called the Dakhma. There is a special architectural design for constructing this place, which is generally referred to as the Tower of Silence.
AB: Do you have any practical advice or simple practices from the Avesta that you can recommend for anyone looking to explore this further? Explore Zoroastrianism more?
Dr RK: Zoroastrianism, as a religion, has a philosophy that is open for all to read, understand, and practise in their lives. But the religion itself—its practices and community institutions—is closed to outsiders. However, the beautiful philosophy can be understood and followed by everybody. So, the basic essence of the Zoroastrian religion is: Number one: If you want to take something away from it, it is happiness—to be happy and positive oneself, and then transmit that happiness and positivity to others. The Avesta goes further to say that a person who makes others happy will invariably become happy. The second thing is that the world we see is only a small part of the world we are living in. There is a much bigger unseen world that we must be aware of, and it gradually reveals itself to us. Like in any religion, you talk about God, angels, and the soul—all of these are unseen elements. This unseen aspect of existence must be acknowledged, and one has to be aware of it while living. And lastly, never underestimate the power of the mind.
Our mind is our greatest asset. Zoroastrianism acknowledges this because the divine being that comes second to God is called Bahman. Bahman is the divine being that presides over the mind, and he is poetically called the Gatekeeper of Heaven. This means that it is your mind that can lead you to heaven. Even the Sanskrit word mantra comes from the word man, meaning mind. So, mantras also work through the mind. The word for spirituality in Avesta is Mainu, which also comes from man. This means that you can be spiritual only through the mind.
AB: Okay, so just before you go, give us one quick practice to control the mind.
Dr RK: You have to take a breath. And while taking the breath, you have to chant—whatever is in your religion or tradition. You can either speak one word from that tradition, which your faith permits you, or a short line at most. Take 10 to 12 such breaths, and this will energise you. It will bring positivity to your mind and make your mind active and agile to take on the challenges of life.
AB: Thank you so much, Dr Karanjia, for sharing your profound insights and for talking to us about so many different things.
Dr RK: Thank you for having me. As we say, the parting greeting is Yazdan Panabad, it means, may you be in the protection of God.
AB: So, as we saw, Zoroastrianism reminds us of the transformative power of truth, righteousness, and mindful living. And as Dr Karanjia said, I’m going to conclude with this reflection from the Avesta:
"Happiness comes to those who bring happiness to others."
Thank you for joining us for Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living: Sacred Texts, Timeless Wisdom. Do go and subscribe to our page, because that’s how we can bring you better and better speakers.
Thank you so much. I’ll see you next time.
