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A Reference to Maga in the Tibetan Translation (S. Kawasaki) (D283b7-284a1) The Vedas are not a proper means for knowing the Dharma.
As they teach the illicit sexual relation (agamya-gamana), they are like the books of the Nästikas and of the Persians."
(17)
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The teachings of Maga as described in TJ agree with what we already know about Maga in the following points:
1) Killing of ants
In his description of the Persian manners and customs, Herodotus (ca. 484430 B. C.) writes about the attitudes of their priesthood toward ants and other small creatures. "The Magi, on the contrary, kill animals of all kinds with their own hands, excepting dogs and men. They even seem to take a delight in the employment, and kill, as readily as they do other animals, ants and snakes, and such like flying or creeping.”3)
2) Drinking of wine (surāpāna)
Again, Herodotus mentions the Persian attitude toward wine as follows: "They are very fond of wine, and drink it in large quantities."4)
3) Animal sacrifice, especially bull-slaying
The above-mentioned sentence from Herodotus' History tells us also about Maga's practice of animal sacrifice. The sacrifice of bull (taurobolium) is generally accepted as the central act of worship in Mithraism, and is represented in relief in every Mithraic sanctuary.5) In a Zoroastrian literature, Yasna xxxii, 10, we hear of the teacher of evil who 'declares the ox and the sun are the worst thing to behold with the eyes,' which may perhaps refer to the nocturnal sacrifice of bull by Mithraists. Zoroaster, in his reform, accused the priesthood of the old cult of handing the ox over to 'fury' or 'violence.' In Yasna xxix, 1, the soul of the ox itself cries out saying 'violence, fury, cruelty, fri
(D283b7)/ rig byed ni chos rtogs pa la tshad mar gyur pa ma yin te gan gi phyir bgrod par bya ba ma yin pa la yan bgrod par bya bar ñe bar ston pahi phyir med pa pa (D284a1) dan/ par sig gi bstan bcos bshin no/
3) Herodoti Historiae I, 140; George Rawlinson tr.: History of Herodotus, 2 vols., 3rd ed. (London, 1875), vol. I, p. 265.
4) Ibid. I, 133; Rawlinson tr., vol. I, p. 259.
5) Franz Cumont: Les Mystères de Mithra, (Paris, 1913).
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