Readers' Forum
“At a low ebb”
"At a low ebb”
In the article "At a low ebb” (Parsiana, December 21, 2013) it was reported that Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustee Khojeste Mistree sought to gag renowned Zoroastrian scholar Faribourz Rahnamoon on the grounds that the latter is a convert.
Perhaps Rahnamoon is a convert, but so are Ahura Mazda, the Asho Farohar and King Vistasp of Balkh.
The 41st name of Ahura Mazda, Varun, refers to the Rig Vedic Asura Varuna. Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper, the Dutch born scholar of Indology proposes that none less than Ahura Mazda is a development from an earlier dvandva (twinned) Varuna-Mitra (gods of societal affairs). The basis of Kuiper’s proposal is that the equivalent of Avestan mazda (wisdom) is Vedic medhira, described in the Rig Veda 8.6.10 as the "(revealed) insight into the cosmic order” that Varuna grants his devotees. In Kuiper’s view, Ahura Mazda is then a compound divinity in which the propitious characteristics of Mitra negate the unfavorable qualities of Varuna.
The Asho Farohar too is an Assyrian convert. "The winged disc has a long history in the art and culture of the ancient Near and Middle East. Historically, the symbol is influenced by the ‘winged sun’ hieroglyph appearing on Bronze Age royal seals. In Neo-Assyrian times, a human bust is added to the disc, the ‘feather-robed archer’ interpreted as symbolizing Ashur. It was adapted from earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian reliefs.”
Aredvi Sura Anahita is "the Avestan language name for an Armeno-Aryan cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of ‘the waters’ (Aban).”
Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh tells us that King Vishtasp was king of Balkh, which at that time had become a tributary state of Turan (Sugd). Balkh is located in Afghanistan, 21 kms north of the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Will Mistree banish Ahura Mazda, the Asho Farohar, King Vistasp and Aredvi Sura Anahita and erase them from Zoroastrian religious texts and history on the grounds that they all are converts, and because of their Vedic, Afghan, Egyptian and Armenian ethnicity?
In the article "At a low ebb” (Parsiana, December 21, 2013) it was reported that Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustee Khojeste Mistree sought to gag renowned Zoroastrian scholar Faribourz Rahnamoon on the grounds that the latter is a convert.
Perhaps Rahnamoon is a convert, but so are Ahura Mazda, the Asho Farohar and King Vistasp of Balkh.
The 41st name of Ahura Mazda, Varun, refers to the Rig Vedic Asura Varuna. Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper, the Dutch born scholar of Indology proposes that none less than Ahura Mazda is a development from an earlier dvandva (twinned) Varuna-Mitra (gods of societal affairs). The basis of Kuiper’s proposal is that the equivalent of Avestan mazda (wisdom) is Vedic medhira, described in the Rig Veda 8.6.10 as the "(revealed) insight into the cosmic order” that Varuna grants his devotees. In Kuiper’s view, Ahura Mazda is then a compound divinity in which the propitious characteristics of Mitra negate the unfavorable qualities of Varuna.
The Asho Farohar too is an Assyrian convert. "The winged disc has a long history in the art and culture of the ancient Near and Middle East. Historically, the symbol is influenced by the ‘winged sun’ hieroglyph appearing on Bronze Age royal seals. In Neo-Assyrian times, a human bust is added to the disc, the ‘feather-robed archer’ interpreted as symbolizing Ashur. It was adapted from earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian reliefs.”
Aredvi Sura Anahita is "the Avestan language name for an Armeno-Aryan cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of ‘the waters’ (Aban).”
Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh tells us that King Vishtasp was king of Balkh, which at that time had become a tributary state of Turan (Sugd). Balkh is located in Afghanistan, 21 kms north of the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Will Mistree banish Ahura Mazda, the Asho Farohar, King Vistasp and Aredvi Sura Anahita and erase them from Zoroastrian religious texts and history on the grounds that they all are converts, and because of their Vedic, Afghan, Egyptian and Armenian ethnicity?
BARAK AGA
barak.aga@hotmail.com
barak.aga@hotmail.com
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