Frashokereti
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Frashokereti (
The doctrinal premises are (1) good will eventually prevail over evil; (2) creation was initially perfectly good, but was subsequently corrupted by evil; (3) the world will ultimately be restored to the perfection it had at the time of creation; (4) the "salvation for the individual depended on the sum of [that person's] thoughts, words and deeds, and there could be no intervention, whether compassionate or capricious, by any divine being to alter this." Thus, each human bears the responsibility for the fate of his own soul, and simultaneously shares in the responsibility for the fate of the world.[1]
Etymology and meaning
The name suggests "making wonderful, excellent".[n 1] D. N. MacKenzie in A Concise Dictionary of Pahlavi gives the meaning as "the Restoration (at the end of time)".[2] Considering this meaning, the first part could indicate "early, first, initial", related to fra prefix, cognate with pro in Greek and Latin. Then the overall meaning being "making into initial state", hence "restoration".
Eschatology
The
The narrative continues with a projection of Ahura Mazda and the six Amesha Spentas solemnizing a final act of worship (yasna), and the preparation of parahaoma from "white haoma". The righteous will partake of the parahaoma, which will confer immortality upon them. Thereafter, humankind will become like the Amesha Spentas, living without food, without hunger or thirst, and without weapons (or possibility of bodily injury). The material substance of the bodies will be so light as to cast no shadow. All humanity will speak a single language and belong to a single nation without borders. All will share a single purpose and goal, joining with the divine for a perpetual exaltation of God's glory.[4]
Although frashokereti is a restoration of the time of creation, there is no return to the uniqueness of the primordial plant, animal and human; while in the beginning there was one plant, one animal and one human, the variety that had since issued would remain forever.[1] Similarly, the host of divinities brought into existence by Mazda continue to have distinct existences, "and there is no prophecy of their re-absorption into the Godhead."[1]
See also
Notes
- ^ The second part kərəti in Avestan means "making" (kardan in New Persian), but the meaning of the adjective fraša- is not certain; it probably indicates, and is usually translated as, "wonderful, excellent".
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-23902-8.
- ^ MacKenzie, D.N. (David Neil) (1971), A Concise Dictionary of Pahlavi, London: Oxford University Press, p. 33.
- ^ Eileen Gardiner (10 February 2006). "About Zoroastrian Hell". Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
- ^ Taylor, Richard P. (2000), Death and Afterlife: A Cultural Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, p. 312.
Further reading
- Boyce, Mary. (1975) A History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. 1 (Handbuch der Orientalistik Series). Leiden: Brill; Repr. 1996 as A History of Zoroastrianism: Vol 1, The Early Period.
- Boyce, Mary. (1984) Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism (Textual Sources for the Study of Religion). London:Rowman & Littlefield.
- Moazami, Mahnaz. (Winter 2000) Millennialism, Eschatology, and Messianic figures in Iranian Tradition Archived 2012-10-22 at the Wayback Machine (Journal of Millennial Studies) Boston University.
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