Parsi Zoroastrians following the Shahenshahi calendar are currently observing the Holy month of Bahman. In the pantheon of Zoroastrian Divinities, Bahman Amshaspand ranks next to Ahura Mazda and is the guardian of animals, particularly Goshpands like cow, goat, sheep etc. It is for this reason that devout Parsis abstain from eating meat throughout the entire month of Bahman or at least avoid eating meat on Bahman Roj of Bahman Mah and the days dedicated to Bahman’s Hamkara (co-workers) – Mohor, Gosh and Ram.

The Path Of Wisdom

Bahman is the Persian form of the Pahlavi word Wahman and the original Avesta – Vohu Manah, a term which most scholars translate as the ‘Good Mind.’ While Ahura Mazda is the Lord or Creator of Wisdom, Bahman is the Mind of the Creator that is Good. According to Pahlavi sacred texts, when Asho Zarathustra was thirty years old, he went to the river Daiti (also known as Daitya) where he received a vision of Vohu Manah, who led him to the presence of Ahura Mazda. The river is also referred to as Weh Daiti which mean the river of the good law. All this could also be interpreted as Asho Zarathushtra’s good mind (Vohu Manah) leading him to the creator or the source of all wisdom (Ahura Mazda), through the pure flowing waters of the river of the good law.

In the Gatha, Asho Zarathushtra asserts that the path leading to Ahura Mazda is through Vohu Manah. In other words, propitiating Bahman Amshaspand takes one closer to God. However, interpreted at a moral and ethical level, exercising the right moral choice with the help of the good mind can take one closer to Ahura Mazda, who in Zoroastrian theology is seen as the very Lord or Master of Wisdom.

In the Gatha, Asho Zarathushtra also urges his followers to attain happiness through wisdom, which once again can be acquired by reflective thinking and exercising moral choices within an ethical framework.

Sacred Vestments

In Pahlavi texts, the Sudrah is referred to as Vohu Manah Vastra or the garment of Bahman Amshaspand; just the way the Kushti is referred to as the girdle of Sarosh Yazata. In Persian, sud means beneficial and rah means path. It is believed that wearing the sudrah gives the wearer wisdom, while tying the kushti over it gives the wearer Sarosh Yazata’s Divine protection. Thus, wearing the sudrah is to adorn the garment of Vohu Manah and walk on the right or beneficial path towards Ahura Mazda, which leads to Ushta or happiness. Indeed, wisdom is often considered a path to happiness.

Wisdom includes applying knowledge, learning from mistakes, and making sound decisions, leading to a more fulfilling and joyful life. Wisdom is not just about accumulating knowledge, but about applying that knowledge to make choices that promote personal growth, positive relationships, and a sense of purpose, all of which contribute to happiness.

Innate And Acquired Wisdom

Ancient Zoroastrian scriptures refer to two types of wisdom – Asne Kherad or innate wisdom and Danish or acquired wisdom. While Asne Kherad is considered as a gift (from Ahura Mazda) Danish is wisdom gained through learning, experience and knowledge. Zoroastrianism emphasizes the importance of living in accordance with Asha, which encompasses Truth, Order and Righteousness and both, innate and acquired wisdom, are critical to understanding and living the path of Asha.

The Pahlavi book Menog-i Khrad (Spirit of Wisdom) highlights the importance of both types of wisdom, with the main protagonist by the name Danag seeking wisdom from the personified Spirit of Wisdom. This ancient text explores various aspects of wisdom, including the benefits of moderation and the dangers of excess. This book belongs to the genre of Andarz (advice) literature, containing mostly practical wisdom.

The first chapter of Menog-i-Khrad (the longest with one hundred and ten paragraphs) deals in detail with the question of what happens to people after death and the separation of the spirit from the body. Accordingly, Danag who is the seeker of wisdom asks the spirit of wisdom: “Which is that good work which is greater and better than all good works, and no trouble (anjinako) whatever is necessary for its performance?” The spirit of wisdom answered thus: “To be grateful in the world, and to wish happiness for everyone. This is greater and better than every good work, and no trouble (angejinako) whatever is necessary for its performance.”

Wisdom Of The Book Of Kings

The Shahnameh or Book of Kings composed by the poet Ferdowsi, is an epic tome. Ferdowsi, who died in the year 1020 at age eighty, spent the last four decades of his life on this book. With fifty thousand rhyming couplets, it is the largest epic work ever composed by a single person. The Shahnameh is based on the Khotay Namak or Royal Book, compiled during the reign of the Sassanian king Khosrow I, who ruled from 531 to 579 AD.

What is most interesting in the Shahnameh, as far as the wisdom religion is concerned, is the manner in which Ferdowsi composes the stories. To use Aristotle’s terms, he divides the story into three stages: theos (or logos: the story itself), pathos (emotion), and ethos (ethics). Each major story begins with the remembrance and praise of the one God, who is the source of everything — the heavens, the earth, life, and wisdom (kherad). Even when Ferdowsi refers to letters written by the kings and heroes, these letters also often begin with theology.

The main part of the story proceeds with the ‘acts and duties’ of courage, hard work, justice, and goodness which embody qualities of chivalry. Toward the end of the story, Ferdowsi comments on the perishable nature of life and this world: “Nothing has a fixed or lasting existence; everything passes; this world is like a guesthouse built in the wilderness; enjoy life and let others enjoy it as well; do your best and plant seeds of goodness.

According to Ferdowsi:

This is the way of the world

It raises us up from the dust

And then scatters us on the wind.

Live in joy with your beloved now.

 

Contemplate on how this world turns and moves:

It lifts a man to the heights of pleasure,

And then throws him underneath the soil.

The world has no shame in doing this.

This contemplation of the passing nature of life and the belief that it is best to cherish and live in the moment or now was later developed in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a set of Persian quatrains immortalized in English by the verse translation of Edward FitzGerald, in 1855:

Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend.

Before we too into the Dust descend:

Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie,

Sans Wine, sans Songs, sans Singer, and – sans End!

To conclude, happiness and wisdom are intertwined. Embrace wisdom in every aspect of life to cultivate lasting joy. Make wise decisions, learn from mistakes and remain humble and curious.