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260 ZOROASTER AND THE ZEND-AVESTA. of Ormuzd and sister of Sraosha, Mithra and others, bestows the human intellect, defends matrimony, and cares actively for the house. She confers power and riches, and gives beauty to maidens.
Another spirit is named Geush-urvan, “Soul of the Bull”; in the gathas we find this spirit complaining The soul of before Ormuzd of the oppressions and dangers
the bull. inflicted on him by enemies. Besides those named, many other spirits are invoked, such as the holy doctrine, the Holy Word, the genius of justice, etc. Here we see how prone Zoroastrianism was to personify abstract ideas, just as the Vedic religion personified material objects or forces.
We now come to the obverse side of the picture—the powers of evil, and their relations to Ormuzd and the The powers forces of goodness. It has already been stated
of evil. how prominently the Avesta asserts dualism in the government of the world; but there are not wanting those who consider that Zoroastrianism is not more dualistic than Christianity, and point to the fact that no attempt is made to account for the origin of either spirit, while the temporary character of the power of the evil one is distinctly asserted. (West, S. E., vol. xviii.) Haug says that Zoroaster held the grand idea of the unity and indivisibility of the supreme Being, and sought to reconcile the existence of imperfections and evils with the goodness and justice of God by supposing two primeval causes which, though different, were united. But it is surely simpler to take the plain statements of the gathas, that two powerful beings opposed and counteracted each other, but that the good Being is the stronger and will ultimately conquer, as expressing the essence of the creed of Zoroaster. If one reads the gathas naturally, without prepossessions, it will appear that Ahriman is imagined to have existed from the beginning.
Ahriman, the prince of the demons, is the opposite and counterpart of Ormuzd in all characters. He dwells
in infinite darkness, and is all darkness, falseAhriman. hood and wickedness, and around him all evil spirits collect. Any good man is his enemy, and he is
| SR No. | 007305 |
| Book Title | Great Indian Religion |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | G T Bettany |
| Publisher | Ward Lock Bowden and Co |
| Publication Year | 1892 |
| Total Pages | 312 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 42 MB |