دار بيبليون
Zara6: The Cosmic Order in Hinduism and Zoroastrianism / Lecture by Lwiis Saliba
On Zoom, Wednesday 16/03/2022
The Cosmic Order in Hinduism
and Zoroastrianism
The possible impact of Zoroastrianism on Hinduism in general is highly probable. Foltz, for his part, refers to the same basic concepts in the Vedic and Zoroastrian traditions. The cosmic law, Dharma or Rita in the Vedic expression, ( ) is found in the Avesta. And when one takes into consideration that Hinduism itself derived its name from this cosmic system, Dharma, and was known as Sanatana Dharma, one realises the breadth and depth of the interaction, or rather the overlap, between the two traditions. “The supreme cosmic principle for them (Indians and Iranians) is the system of universal truth,” says Foltz. “The Sanskrit word is Rita, in the Old Persian it is Arta, and in the Avesta it is Asha, all of which share the same root with the English Word Right. And they considered that each of the different gods played a particular role in maintaining this cosmic order.
We have previously explained the Vedic term Rita, saying: “Rita comes from the root Ri, which means to organise. Rita means the universal cosmic order, the organising reality of animate and immobile beings. In the Upanishads and the Mahabharata there is an important synonym for Rita: Dharma. The word also means cosmic order.
The unique philological and etymological roots of the word in ancient English, Persian, Rig Veda and Avesta, are evidence of the deep roots of the concept of cosmic law in ancient Indian, Persian and European cultures. As for the common source, it is most probably the Rig Veda, whose language, i.e. ancient Sanskrit, is the mother of the Indo-European languages, as historians and linguists affirm.
Soma is the elixir of life, flight and ascent
Foltz stops at an important meeting point between ancient Hinduism, or Vedic, and Zoroastrianism, which we have already discussed here: Soma, the miraculous juice and elixir of immortality, which is found in the Avesta: Homa at the point where the S becomes H. In our thesis, “the oldest book in the world”, we explained this very important meeting point, and what we said about it:
We have previously presented a comparative study between the Rig Veda and the Avesta, in which we indicated a similarity between the Soma of the Rig Veda and the Homa of the Avesta.
These similarities between soma in the Rig Veda, and homa in the Avesta, go so far as to lead us to conclude that they have the same attributes, or even that they are two names of the same nominee. We have already mentioned what some ancient linguists have said, that the S in the language of the Rig Veda is transformed into H in the language of the Avesta. Soma is thus transformed into Homa.
But this identification is not limited to the Homa of the Avesta. The Soma of the Vedas, as some historians say, is the same as the elixir of the Greeks, and the palliative of immortality known to all Indo-European peoples. However, according to Robert Kfoury, the fact remains that the Vedas allow direct access to a reality unknown to other peoples. When the Greeks wrote about the elixir, it no longer existed. And the drone that the Iranians drank, was at that time a substitute for the original ancient drink, and a useless sedative ().
That’s what we said. So what does Foltz add? He presents Soma and Homa in terms of mystical/yogic experience and supernatural abilities obtained by the spiritual seeker. We have dwelt on this issue several times in previous research. Let us first quote the Canadian orientalist and then comment on it. Foltz says: “The soma drinker not only destroys the boundary between heaven and earth (heaven and earth “the two worlds”), but also erases all difference between himself and the god (Soma). Time and space no longer constrain him, so he can fly anywhere and see anything. The influence of this tradition covers the whole of human experience because it is certainly very old, and because the shamanic experience of “flying” by breaking all barriers of time and space is also widespread in human cultures. ( )
Our orientalist speaks of the Siddhis, and we have discussed them several times in our research, especially the ability to fly, and we have cited the Yoga Upanishads (pre-Christian era): worlds through its powers, where the yogi moves as he pleases” ( ).
From the Shiva Samhita (one of the ancient sources of yoga) we have reported the following:
“The yogi acquires the gift of prophecy, and he moves as he wishes, wherever he wishes in space (…) and he can disappear. He can even fly if he wants in the air” ().
In his text, Foltz links the ability to fly with the experience of soma and the use of this juice to obtain this supernatural ability. So did Zoroaster’s ascension and the ascension of his disciples, which we discussed explicitly in the previous chapter, result from the experience and use of Homa? The Soma drinker, as Foltz says, quoting the sources of yoga, destroys the boundaries between heaven and earth, which means that he becomes capable of ascending to heaven.
There is no doubt that the phenomena of celestial ascent, which abound in Zoroastrianism in its various periods, are linked to Homa and to a specific use of it, similar to the experience and use of the Soma yogis. A careful comparison of the various Zoroastrian accounts of Ascension, and the Soma experiences referred to in the Rig Veda texts and other ancient Indian sources, would throw new light on the phenomena of Ascension that we find in most religions, especially in the three Abrahamic religions. This is a matter that requires independent and separate research.
Gods who fall to become demons
There is another problem in the field of the interaction between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism, which we consider to be very important. It can be summarised by the phenomenon of the transformations of gods into demons and vice versa, which is clear from a comparison between the Vedas and the Avesta. The scholar of Sanskrit studies, the orientalist Max Muller (1823-1900) summarises it for us. Muller ( ) based himself on a number of common religious terms, but which have opposite meanings in the Vedas and the Avesta. In Rig Veda, the term Deva is used to mean luminous. In India, the deities are called Devas (plural) and mean lights. On the other hand, Diva, which has become Devi in modern Persian, means demons in the Avesta. When performing religious rituals, the Zoroastrian takes into account that he says with reverence, addressing his Creator: “I will not return to the worship of demons” ().
How did the Devas turn into demons in the Avesta? An obvious question that arises. The designation is the same word and the same etymology in both holy books, but the meanings are contradictory! And when one remembers the close links between them, one is certain that the matter does not come about by chance. Let us first finish presenting Muller’s theory, and then return to our central question.
Muller adds: “And the Zoroastrian expels Deo the Satan, who is himself the Deo of God in India. The Zoroastrians worship Ahura Mazda, and according to one of the rules of phonetics, the Persian letter H corresponds to the letter S in Sanskrit. And in India, for example, it is the same as for Sindh, because Sindh, as it is called, is part of Hind (India) known to Iranians more than others. On this basis, Ahura in the Avesta is the same as Asura in Sanskrit as well as in the Rig Veda, and the meaning in the latter is the impure spirit or Satan.
The demons of the Rig Veda are the Asuras, or rather: the dark forces that limit, divide and resist the Devas (gods) and evolution, which represent human desires and hatreds, i.e. everything that results in destruction, falsehood and total loss (). How did these demons become the gods of the Avesta? Or rather their first and only god, Ahura!
The scholar Mercia Eliade raises this important issue and tries to give us some answers. He says: “The conflict between Ahura Mazda and the Devas had been determined earlier in Indo-Iranian times, because Vedic India had pitted the Devas against the Azuras, with the difference that religious values in India had developed in these two groups in a different sense from what happened in Iran: The Devas became the true gods, in their victory over the older class of deities of the Asuras, who were regarded as demonic beings. A similar process took place in Iran, but in the opposite direction: the ancient gods, Devas, were demonised. Eliade concludes: “The great Azura and the Indian Varuna became Ahura Mazda”.
In fact, Eliade’s presentation does not differ in form or content from what his predecessor, the scholar Muller, has said. So what can we conclude from all this? It is clear that the movement that went in one direction in India went precisely in the opposite direction in Iran. But the movement itself remains the most important for us: the fall of the gods to become demons.
Isn’t this exactly what we see in the Abrahamic religions, with a slight difference that makes the above mentioned gods mere angels!
The Devas were demonised in Iran. And before that in India the Asuras suffered the same fate! Is this not exactly what happened to Satan, the angel who refused, was arrogant and fell to become a devil? Here, the story of Satan appears in the texts of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and later in the Qur’an, inspired and drawn from the Avesta. It remains that its primary source is the Rig Veda and other Indian Vedic texts, so that Zoroastrianism’s role as a link and bridge between the religions of the Far East and the Middle East has come to have greater importance, as well as a pivotal role.