What is Time? Is it real? Did it begin with the universe? If Time itself had a beginning, can we meaningfully ask what came before it? Who created Ahura Mazda? Is Ahura Mazda Khu-da or self-created? Who created evil? Why does an all-powerful Ahura Mazda allow the persistence of evil? These are questions that have been discussed and debated over many centuries in not just the Zoroastrian tradition but almost every other religious or spiritual tradition.

Asho Zarathushtra in the Gatha refers to Spenta Mainyu (Creative and orderly mentality or spirit) and Angra Mainyu (Destructive and disorderly mentality or spirit) and suggests that we have the choice to choose wisely and with a reflective mind between the path of creativity and orderliness or destruction and chaos. However, Zarathushtra’s ethical vision of Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu evolved in later times, especially during the Sasanian dynasty into the concept of Ohrmazd, who was all good and powerful, and Ahriman, who was evil and also equally powerful.

The question also arose during this period that if Ohrmazd and Ahriman were primordial twins, who created them? This allegedly led to invoking an ancient and obscure Mesopotamian theory of Zurvan. Mesopotamia had extremely old traditions concerning, primordial cosmic principles, cyclical cosmic ages, astral time and fate, divine determination of human destiny, and the relationship between time, creation and death.

The cult of Zurvanism that thrived during the Sasanian era (third to the mid seventh century A.D.) seems to trace its roots to this ancient Mesopotamian belief.  Persian civilization was in prolonged contact with Babylonia and Mesopotamia, particularly during and after the Achaemenid period. Consequently, intellectual and religious exchange of ideas flourished. Zurvanism is seen by some scholars as a deviation from mainstream Zoroastrianism while a few others have viewed it as a mystical school of Zoroastrian thought.

Zurvan

Zurvan means Time and Zurvan was purported to be the father of Ormazd (the good spirit) and Ahriman (the evil spirit). According to scholars this theory or philosophy arose from the argument that if, at the beginning, there were primal twins (one entirely good and one entirely evil), then there must also have been a creator or father of these twin spirits and possibly Zurvan or Time was the father.

Scholar Prof. Dr. Mary Boyce described Zurvanism as a deeply rooted heresy that later weakened Zoroastrianism in its encounters with Christianity and Islam. It is believed to have received Sasanian royal patronage, helping explain its influence on several Gnostic traditions. The movement disappeared some centuries after the Arab conquest of Iran and the arrival of Islam in the mid-seventh century CE.

Zurvanite worship appears to have involved few distinct rituals, since Zurvan was regarded as a remote being who had entrusted worldly power to Ohrmazd. Existing Zoroastrian worship therefore remained largely unchanged. Zurvan was sometimes depicted as a winged, lion-headed deity encircled by a serpent, symbolising the movement of the Sun.

The concept itself is ancient. References to Zurvan appear in tablets from thirteenth and twelfth century BCE Nuzi in Mesopotamia, where Zurvan was associated with growth, maturity and decay.

As a modified form of Zoroastrianism, Zurvanism developed in Sasanian Iran, teaching that limitless, eternal and uncreated Time was the source of all existence, including Ohrmazd and Ahriman. Evil, however, originated from Ahriman, while Ohrmazd opposed him from the beginning.

The Bundahishn further explains that finite time emerged from infinite time to confine evil within the material world, ultimately allowing Ohrmazd’s light to overcome Ahriman’s darkness and the world to move towards perfection, with evil finally rendered powerless forever within the final perfected creation itself.

Vedic Similarity

In the Veda, Kaala or Kaal represents time, with the Atharva Veda offering one of its earliest detailed descriptions. It declares, “Kaalaha prajaa asrijat kaalo agre prajaapatim,” meaning, “Time created life. Time existed before the Progenitor.” It further describes Time as “the lord of all” and father of Prajapati, the creator. This idea closely resembles the Zoroastrian concept of Zurvan as the father of Ohrmazd and Ahriman. Both traditions therefore present Time as a primordial principle preceding creation itself.

In Hindu tradition, Kaal Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva, is associated with Time and ultimate dissolution. Similarly, in the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna reveals his cosmic form to Arjuna and declares, “I am Kaala,” and, in Gita 11.32, “I am Kaala, the destroyer of worlds.” Here, Time signifies more than duration. It becomes the cosmic force through which created forms eventually dissolve.

Creation and destruction are inseparable: everything that arises must eventually pass away. This makes the comparison compelling. Zurvan represents Infinite Time or Eternity, within which creation and destruction unfold, while Kaala represents Time as the inevitable power carrying all created existence towards dissolution and eventual transformation.

(The connection between Time, destruction and the Bhagavad Gita gained striking modern resonance through Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. After witnessing the first atomic bomb test at Trinity on 16th July 1945, he later recalled the Gita, famously translating its words as, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” For Oppenheimer, the explosion represented more than technological achievement or human destruction. It evoked the Gita’s ancient vision of Time as an overwhelming cosmic force through which worlds face dissolution.)

Time According To Buddhism

Buddhism approaches Time differently, focusing on change, causation and experience rather than a primordial entity. Central to this philosophy is Anicca, or impermanence: everything conditioned arises, changes and eventually ceases. Buddhism recognises past, present and future, but does not necessarily regard Time as having an independent, permanent existence. The past has ended, while the future has yet to arise. The present is where experience, intention and action unfold. This understanding gives the present moment special importance in Buddhist practice. Through mindfulness, one learns to observe experience as it arises, instead of remaining trapped by what has already happened or becoming consumed by uncertainty about what lies ahead in the future.

What Is Time?

Time is perhaps the most familiar feature of human existence and yet one of the most mysterious. We speak casually of the past, the present and the future. We measure seconds with clocks, years with calendars and lifetimes by the ageing of our bodies. We arrange history along a timeline and imagine the universe itself unfolding from a beginning towards an unknown future. Yet the deeper we look, the less obvious time becomes.

Modern physics has transformed our understanding of time, while philosophy, Buddhism and ancient Iranian thought have approached it from different perspectives. Buddhism explores impermanence and change, while Zurvan represents Infinite Time and primordial Eternity. Yet one question persists: does time exist independently, or is it simply how we experience reality?

Human experience makes time seem undeniably real. Clocks tick, days pass, people age and events unfold in sequence. Newtonian physics reflected this intuition, viewing time as absolute and universal, like a cosmic clock moving at the same rate everywhere. Einstein’s theory of relativity radically changed this understanding. Time became intertwined with space as spacetime, with its measurement affected by motion and gravity. It was no longer a universal river flowing independently.

The mystery deepens with the Big Bang. Rather than an explosion occurring within pre-existing space and time, relativity suggests that space and time themselves form part of the universe’s physical structure.

Time In Human Experience

The mystery of Time has fascinated philosophers, physicists, mystics and theologians for centuries. Physics questions whether Time is fundamental, Buddhism reflects on impermanence, Zurvanism imagines Infinite Eternity, while the Bhagavad Gita presents Time as the cosmic force of dissolution.

For us, Time remains intensely real. We live between memory and anticipation, measuring life through birthdays, relationships, achievements, journeys and losses. We know every moment passes, yet often wish some could last forever.

Perhaps Time is a river, a dimension, an expression of change, or something deeper still. Perhaps even the distinction between Time and Eternity ultimately dissolves. We simply do not know. And perhaps that mystery matters most, because asking “What is Time?” ultimately leads to deeper questions: What is reality, and who are we, who experience it?