KHORDADSAL -  Birth Anniversary of Zarathushtra

Today it is KHORDADSAL, the sixth day after Navroze...the Zorashtrian New Year. 

It is the day when the Birth Anniversary of Zarathushtra , one of the 10 Adi Gurus is celebrated.

Shri Mataji mentioned that He has incarnated not just once but for about 4/5 times in Persia. 

His teachings have been incorporated in one of the oldest religions of the world called Zorashtrian Religion. 

The Five Gathas or the five Celestial Songs have been attributed to Him and have come down in His own words which make up the eschatological part of the religion, revealing its essence. 

He was born in Spitaman Clan thousands of years ago before Christ in Central Asia and it is said that instead of crying like every child at birth, He was born smiling and laughing. 

The times preceding His birth were full of violence, unrest, disturbance, strife and unhappiness. 

The Spirit of Mother Earth found it intolerable and She apparently cried out in anguish to the Creator Ahura Mazda, to send a saviour to bring about a change in human consciousness so that goodness, peace, harmony, joy, love, compassion, justice and health were restored back on earth.

 Dogdo and Paurushasp were chosen to be His parents. Dogdo was a beautiful pious lady who started getting dreams about the future and she was sent to a safe place at her father's friend's house. The two friends agreed to get their children married and soon after Dogdo became pregnant and people could see a soft beautiful light emanating from her body which grew brighter by the day suggesting that she was carrying a special child, a special Soul.

 At birth, this little child knew the reason why He was born and the purpose of His life. Some of the wicked souls also knew about this and feared that He was born to put an end to their wicked ways.

There are number of stories about evil attempts to put an end to His life, like putting Him in front of horde of stampeding wild horses, stampeding cattle, leaving the baby in a cave of the wolves, giving Him potions of poison disguised as medicines, etc.,but each time the child was miraculously saved. 

As the child grew up, He was found to be very intelligent and compassionate and was a quick learner, very kind to people and animals alike. 

He left home to seek the truth and it is said that an archangel called Bahman Ameshaspand appeared before Him and blessed Him in His meditation. In fact the whole concept and understanding of Angels, immortal holy beings created by Ahura Mazda to assist Him and His creation was first brought to the world by Mazdayasnie Zarthosty Religion. 

Today, angels are revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims apart from others who also believe in them.

After gaining deep insights through his meditations, Zarathushtra came to the court of King Vistasp, who ruled over those ancient realms. After getting satisfied by His answers to the questions raised by the wise men in the court on various aspects of life, He was asked to stay at the court and teach everyone. 

However, some evil courtiers feeling threatened, tried to defame Him by keeping some pieces of bone, hair etc in His room accusing Him of sorcery.

Then, Zarathustra was imprisoned in spite of His protestations of innocence. However, some days later, He heard from the prison guards that the King's favourite horse Asp I Siyah had collapsed and the King was desolate. 

The horse's four legs had curled into his stomach and no healer or doctor could cure him. 

Zarathushtra offered to help and the desperate King agreed to let Him try. Zarathushtra placed four conditions to which the King agreed. 

As He chanted the name of God and some prayers , one leg after another came out of the curled position and the horse stood up on all his legs. 

As part of the promise, the King, Queen and their son became followers of Zarathushtra's teachings and faith, giving birth in a formal way to Zorashtrian or Zarathosty Religion. 

The king's subjects soon followed and the faith spread more easily as it now had the royal sanction. The evil courtiers who had plotted against the Holy One were imprisoned and Zarathushtra's name was cleared from defamation. 

Thus, one of the oldest proclaimed religions of the world came into being.

Christianity and Islam which came in much later have borrowed a lot of concepts from this ancient religion, whose original teachings are in the 'now extinct' Avestan language , which is a sister language of Sanskrit. 

Later on, there have been additions in Pehelvi and Pazand languages which were spoken during the times of regimes that followed. But unfortunately, a lot of religious teachings of this great religion have been lost when Alexander and other conquerors burnt the libraries at the time of conquest. 

But "The Gathas" which make up the very essence of the religion, in the prophet Zarathushtra's own words , have still come down to us through the oral tradition of the priests who memorized them and passed on the legacy to those who came after them. 

Zorashtrian Religion is a very forward-thinking religion and which has at its core the idea of transformation of human beings as its main teaching. 

Through the practice of "Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds" (manashni, gavashni, kunashni) one is motivated to side with goodness and righteousness, for the very sake of it and not for any worldly reward. 

Also, every human being is expected to purify himself or herself and rise above and become a helper to Ahura Mazda, the God , to look after the Creation. 

Like every good religion today the essence of all the religions are forgotten as the followers get more lost in the rituals and superficialities. The same fate has overcome this great religion too. But now through SAHAJA YOGA, we all realize where the religions have gone wrong and unless and until we see through the conditionings of the religion of our birth, we cannot expect to come out of them. 

All religions come from the depths of truth. 

But each of us has to see that everything that has been added to the religion later and which in fact goes against the religion, is not mistaken for the religion. Only then can we realize the true religion... which is within us. Only by accepting all religions , understanding their very essence , we can grow deeper in our understanding. 

Courtesy - Armaity Bhabha, Sahaja Yogini