While we have the main vedas, upanishads, the mahabharata in several translations we also present newer commentaries, anthologies. The religion is believed to have influenced many of other world religions, including christianity. Founded by the iranian prophet and reformer zoroaster in the 6th. Hinduism or the indian belief system is definitely much much older than zoroastrianism.
The timeline goes from the 2nd millennium bce to the present. The zoroastrian book of holy scriptures is called the. Zoroastrian refugees, called parsis, escaped muslim persecution in iran by emigrating to india. Be it known that, the good religion is one that is in correspondence with the divine intuitive reason. The chronological comparation of zoroastrianism and judaism is complicated due to several reasons. I do not know how much you know about this religion, but it was founded by someone called zoroaster or zarathushtra who was born around 1200 bc and has a. A section of this avesta is known as the khordehavesta which means the smaller or selected avesta. Zoroastrianism is thought to have arisen in the late second millennium b. This religion was likely similar to early forms of hinduism. Both traditions have similar names for some elements like apah water, vayu air. Formerly they had adopted the gujarati language and the dress of their hindu milieu. This includes the original words of their founder zarathushtra, preserved in a series of five hymns, called the gathas. Zoroastrianism now has an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 worshipers worldwide. Thus sanatana dharma means the eternal duty or the eter.
Sometimes called the official religion of ancient persia, zoroastrianism is one of the worlds oldest surviving religions, with teachings older than buddhism, older than judaism, and far older than christianity or islam. Both use fire in their sacrificial ceremonies and consider fire as sacred and auspicious. Zoroastrianism was the state religion of three persian dynasties, until the muslim conquest of persia in the seventh century a. The first of the oldest surviving religious texts, the pyramid. The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. All spiritual systems have roots in beliefs dating back millennia meaning that the main. Hinduism is the oldest religion, but it didnt start out as a religion, it started out as practices then it got transformed into a religion. Why is zoroastrianism considered to be older than judaism. Due to the lack of evidence, we cant say exactly if zoroastrianism is older than judaism. Zoroastrianism is a religion, one of the oldest according to tradition, it was founded by zoroaster after he received a vision in which he was introduced to ahura mazda, and told of the great god and his adversary. The population of india is tens of thousands of years old. Zoroastrianism is younger than the vedic religion but older than modern hinduism. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. Im having trouble finding out exactly when zathustra th citydata forum general forums religion and.
One of the worlds oldest surviving religions, zoroastrianism played an important. Starting from the first civilizations in sumer and ur to the vast metropolitans of today like new york and london, religion has been around and played a key part in lives of people. The holy book of zoroastrianism is the avesta, which contains the gathas, or the seventeen hymns by zoroaster, and the the younger avesta, which includes commentaries, myths, ritual descriptions, and more. The vedic sacrifices are called yajna and zoroastrian ones yasna.
Zoroastriansare much smaller than their indian counterparts. Zoroastrianism download books, sacred, spiritual texts. However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. It was founded by the prophet zoroaster approximately 3500 years ago. Religion or dharma has been a factor of the human experience throughout history, from. The year of pluto new horizons documentary brings humanity closer to the edge of the solar system duration. The avesta is nearer the veda than the veda to its own epic sanskrit. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. There are less than 190,000 followers of zoroastrianism worldwide. The earliest texts of hinduism which are still read the vedic texts date from about 1500 to bce. Zoroastrianism rose circa 6,000 bce to 4,000 bce and remained a dominant religious tradition until the prophet. Differences and similarities between hinduism and zoroastrianism and their. Zoroastrianism, ancient preislamic religion of iran that likely influenced the.
At this moment the archaeological discoveries point to zoroastrianism to be older. But some scholars would argue for a very early date for zoroaster, and ancient iranian religion certainly predates the 6th century bce. Zoroastrianism is a founding belief system acknowledged to have heavily influenced both abrahamic judaism, christianity, islam and dharmic hinduism, buddhism, jainism. Which religion is older, zoroastrianism or judaism. For example, the story of creating the world in seven days is told in avesta one of the texts that predate the bible. The latter represent the basic source of the religion. Hinduism hinduism is the indigenous, most predominant religion of.
I have read that zoroastrianism is older than and begot, more or less judaism and hinduism. In search of one of the worlds oldest religions the. They are pure zoroastrianism, but will give a good impression of what happened in the jerusalem temple. According to zoroastrianism, followers can pray as often as they like. It is a heterodox yet orthopraxic faith centered in a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate conquest of evil with theological elements of henotheism, monotheismmonism, and polytheism. He saw other radiant figures too, but could not see his shadow on the ground, a sign which convince zoroaster his vision was authentic.
Compare and contrast zoroastrianism and judaism essay. There are many things common between zoroastrianism and the vedic religion. According to the zend avesta, the sacred book of zoroastrianism, zoroaster was born in azerbaijan, in northern persia. As far as i can tell, as of now, there is only one real argument against christianity and that comes from zoroastrianism. An introduction to zoroastrianism zoroaster, mazdayasna, ahura mazda, ashu zarathushtra mark shah. Gandhra and the formation of the vedic and zoroastrian canons. This still makes hinduism noticeably older than most other religions, but it is in serious competition with zoroastrianism. The two main streams of population in india, native to india i. The major problem is the datation of the start of judaism.
Two, there was obviously a desire by the sasanians to associate zoroaster with their esteemed ancestors, the achaemenids, and to maintain that zoroaster was a figure of greater antiquity, and thus more worthy of veneration, than alexander e. The present entry will address main points of contact between hinduism and zoroastrianism diachronically. It survives there in isolated areas but primarily exists in india, where the descendants of zoroastrian persian immigrants are known as parsis, or parsees. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism.
An introduction by jenny rose, demons of the flesh. This is the book of daily prayers of the zoroastrians. Here at the hinduismsection of, we aim at presenting the original works that lay the foundations of hinduism. Given that the islams birth was based on destroying the idol worshippers, and. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. This may make these creeds as old, if not older, as zoroastrianism. The complete guide to left hand path sex magic by ni. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. Religion has been a major focal point in any society and in any culture. Both zoroastrianism and islam are monotheist religions founded by historical founders and originated in middleeast long after hinduism.
Vedic tradition has hotr priest zoroastrianism has zaotr. Zoroastrianism at a glance zoroastrianism is one of the worlds oldest monotheistic religions. Sanatana means eternal and dharma means duty, activity or nature. Which one is the oldest religion hinduism or zoroastrianism. Which is an older religion, hinduism or zoroastrianism. The persian thrust for written religious and law texts. Hinduism is followed by hindus and zoroastrianism is followed by people referred to as parsis. Zoroastrian texts depict one of the worlds oldest monotheistic religions practiced in iran around 600bc650ce. Married householder, own caste, older then wife, wealth and pleasure until grandchildren are adults 3. Zoroastrianism was born from vedic religion of indian people. Sanatana dharma is the original religion that comes down from the dawn of creation of this universe. Animism still practiced today, this ancient way of thinking has roots in. Not included, then, are the various animistic and shamanistic traditions. Zoroastrianism still survives in pockets in the hindu kush on the.
Im having trouble finding out exactly when zathustra th. The oldest zoroastrian religious scripture, as preserved at present, is known as the avesta. Is zoroastrianism the oldest religion in the world. They differ from literary texts by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual practices, commandments or laws, ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and for creating or fostering a religious community. But zoroastrianism being 8367 years old seems a little unbelievable. In search of one of the worlds oldest religions the getty iris. The relative authority of religious texts develops over time and is derived from the ratification. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. The protoindoiranian religion is considered the precursor of the vedic religion and zoroastrianism. Difference between zoroastrianism and islam difference. Here is an incredible post that lists the similarities between rig veda and avesta the holy book of zoroastrians. Prior to the islamization of iran, zoroastrianism was the primary religion of iran. Zoroastrianisms influence on judaism, christianity, islam.
It was founded by the prophet zoroaster or zarathustra in ancient iran. It is curious that in either the book of nehemiah or ezra, the priest had to teach the people the law because the people could not understand. Zoroastrianism or mazdayasna is one of the worlds oldest continuously practiced religions. The beliefs of zoroastrianism were spread across asia via the silk road, a network. Aramaic scripts were available to write down a manual, even a longer book grantha.
Download the bible, the holy quran, the mahabharata, and thousands of free pdf ebooks on buddhism, meditation, etc. Zoroastrianism is the ancient, preislamic religion of persia modernday iran. Religious texts are texts related to a religious tradition. As the linguists of both europe and india worked with the language of the gathas attributed to zarathushtra it became clear that they were far older than the language spoken in iran at the time of king darius father. The prophetic record of human destiny and evolution zinovia dushkova. Both the religions have a past of forcefully converting people of other faiths into theirs and both have prescribed form of regimented religious practices.