The Three Fundamental Beliefs of Zoroastrianism
The Zoroastrian religion, also known as Mazdayasna, centers around three fundamental beliefs, or the three Essentials of Zoroastrian religion as Ervad Jivanji Mody calls them:
- Belief in the existence of One God – Ahura Mazda
- Belief in the Immortality of the soul
- Belief in the responsibility hereafter for good and bad acts done on earth
The Revelation to Zoroaster
The Zoroastrian religion, as revealed to the prophet Zoroaster by Ahura Mazda, was communicated to King Vistasp and his other disciples. Zoroastrianism contemplates no sects or sections; the community of believers in Zoroastrianism are all Mazdyasnians. However, due to a historical mistake in the calendar, there is a difference of opinion among contemporary Parsis regarding the New Year’s commencement.
Differences in New Year Observances
The larger section, the Shenshais, believe their New Year begins in mid-September, while the smaller sect, Kadmis, observe it a month earlier. Despite this, there are no differences in religious beliefs between the sects. The Zoroastrian year consists of twelve months, each with thirty days, plus five intercalary days known as Gatha Ghambars, which are the holiest days of the year.
Muktad Ceremonies and Farvardigan Days
Muktad ceremonies, considered the most important rituals in Zoroastrianism, are performed during the Farvardigan days. The majority of Parsis in India regard eighteen days as Muktad or Farvardian days. According to Dastur Darab, the real Farvardigan days are fifteen, comprising the last five days of the old year, the five Gatha Ghambar days, and the first five days of the new year. However, some believe only ten days are Farvardigan days. Regardless of the number, these days hold great sanctity in Zoroastrianism.
Ritualistic Practices and Prayers
Zoroastrians emphasize the recitation of prayers and the performance of Muktad ceremonies, which are acts of great religious merit. These ceremonies, as enjoined by the Zoroastrian religion, are believed to bring blessings not only to the individuals performing them but also to the entire community, including non-Zoroastrians.
Historical and Scriptural Basis
The importance of the Farvardigan days and the Muktad ceremonies is highlighted in the Farvardin Yast, a sacred Zoroastrian text. This Yast, written in the Avestaic language, dates back to as early as 1500 B.C. The text glorifies the Furohurs and their powers, and it emphasizes the need for ceremonies during the Farvardigan days to honor these spirits.
Farvardigan days form the most important festival in the Zoroastrian calendar, and the ceremonies performed during the Farvardigan days form the most important ritual of the Zoroastrian religion. They agree in saying that the performance of the Muktad ceremonies during the Farvardigan days is enjoined by the Zoroastrian religion–that those ceremonies are acts of great religious merit–they form the most important portion of their divine worship, and that according to the beliefs of those that profess the religion the performance of the Muktad ceremonies not only brings down the blessings of the Almighty on the party performing them and his household but on the whole community, be they Zoroastrians or non-Zoroastrians–their King and his Satraps, and on the whole universe.
Importance
They are ceremonies that involve praise, adoration, propitiation, recognition and worship of the Supreme Being from all his creatures here below. The non-performance of the Muktad ceremonies is, according to the scriptures, a sin which is taken into account when, after death, a man’s good and bad actions are weighed and reward or punishment is meted out to the soul.
Paragraphs 49 to 52 of the Farvardin Yast show that the Zoroastrians are asked to perform certain ceremonies during the Farvardigan days. 78. The Farvardin Yast is written in the Avestaic language, and its earliest age is said by some scholars to be 1500 B.C., whilst others give 600 B.C. as the date when it came into existence. Dastur Darab and Professor Max Muller are of opinion that the former date is correct.
This Yast is dedicated to the Furohurs and is a glorification of the powers and attributes of the Furohurs in general. On the Farvardigan days the Furohurs “come and go through the Borough–they go along for ten nights asking this:”–(Para, 49.)
(50). Who will praise us? Who will offer us a sacrifice? Who will meditate upon us? Who will bless us? Who Will receive us with meat and clothes in his hands and with prayer worthy of bliss? Of which of us will the name be taken for invocation? Of which of you will the soul be worshipped by you with a sacrifice? To whom will this gift of ours be given that he may have never-failing food for over and ever?”
And the concluding paragraphs show that if a Zoroastrian performs these ceremonies the Furohurs “will leave the house satisfied and carry back from here hymns and worship to the Maker Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Sapentas.”
When the Furohurs come down to the earth during the Farvardigan days and ask for the performance of the ceremonies as mentioned in para. 50 of the Farvardin Yast, they go on to say,
(51) And the man who offers them up a sacrifice with meat and clothes in his hands, with a prayer worthy of Bliss, the Awful Fravas his of the Faithful satisfied, unharmed and unoffended, bless thus:
(52) May there be in this house flocks of animals and men! May there be a swift horse and a solid chariot! May there be a man who knows how to praise God, and rule in assembly, who will offer us a sacrifice with moat and clothes in his hand and with a prayer worthy of bliss.
There can be no doubt that the performance of certain ceremonies during the Farvardigan days is enjoined as the duty of every true Zoroastrian by Ahura Mazda himself. In the Bahaman Yast, para. 45, Ahura Mazda, speaking directly to Zoroaster, reveals to him in a prophetic spirit that the Farvardigan ceremonies will not be performed with the same devotion they should be performed in the troublous times in the future.
He says to the Prophet:
(45) And they practise the appointed feasts of their ancestors, the propitiation of Angels, and the prayers and ceremonies of the season Festivals and Guardian Spirits in various places, yet what they practise they do not believe in unhesitatingly; they do not give reward lawfully and bestow no gifts and alms, and even those they bestow they repent of again.”
Conclusion
Thus, Farvardigan days are the days appointed for the performance of the Muktad ceremonies–that the performance of those ceremonies is enjoined by the religion of Zoroaster–that it is a duty cast on every Zoroastrian by his religion to perform Muktad ceremonies–that the performance of those ceremonies is an act of great religious merit which brings to the man who gets them performed Hathim or Great Reward, and that the non-performance of them is a great or what is always spoken of as a Bridge Sin.