Persian Literature and Politics

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Zarathustras idea on the Way of life is much harder to analyze. According to it, every person possesses this concept of Good-Mind, the level just fluctuates for each individual. Vohu-Mana, in itself a divine creation. The Good-Mind enables us to grasp Asha, the Ideal Truth; at the same time, it allows us to analyze the world of and recognize things for what they truly are, i.e. the extent and degree of these flaws. This is achievable by seeing reality and realizing how it strays away from the ideal state, i.e. Asha. This certain type of moral awareness is what he termed good-thought. From this good-thought one is inspired to do the right thing, to right the wrong, to perfect the state of imperfection. When the appropriate course of action is formulated and articulated it is called good word (Irani.)

Now this idea represents the obvious notion that each one of us acts different and are our own different beings. When it comes to morality everyone has their own sense to it. But at the end of the chosen action you have either made a moral choice or an immoral choice and that idea applies to everyone. The mind is what allows us to view the world the way we do and see it for exactly what it is. We form our thoughts and ideas while we judge things. That which is known in the Gāthās as good-thought. Eventually good-thought is what inspires us to do the right thing instead of the wrong. One that is absent of this idea it would mean they’re corrupted by evil. But when good-thought takes over and we do the right instead of the wrong it turns into good-word. Good-word is basically described as doing the correct course of action. There are always thoughts that inspire us to do a certain action, no one actually does a task in the spur of the moment without thinking about it. When you do something random, there is always something underlying that pushes you to do that task.

The spirit Spenta Armaity is what gives us our inspiration for whatever that may be. Spenta armaity translated out of Persian Literature and into English means Benevelonce or right-minded. It pushes us individuals to move from step to step. In this case our thoughts and intentions move from just those and into actions. For example, say you’re hungry, Spenta Armaity is what makes you get up and get something to eat, Zarathustra calls this formula good-deed. Zoroastrianism revolves around these three; good-thought, good-word, good-deed. The way zarathusta translates Ashas way of life is exactly through those three terms. Asha believed if everyone followed his ideal way of life the world could very much be perfect. In this the right-mided person is happy and content, with no ill thoughts or corruption by the spirit of evil. Most of these theological ideas are represented by some divine spirit. A right-minded person cannot be achieved without the presence of Khshathra Vairya.

The divine spirit Haurvatat represents the individual who lives by Ashas guidelines, reaches a state of well-being, this being of psychic and spiritual integrity which one might could be correctly able to characterize as perfection. Ameretat, represents the individual described by Haurvatat when they approach death and grants them immortal bliss. Life after death is viewed the same as some other religions such as Christianity. What happens to you is judged by your way of life and your moral choices along with ideals. Final judgement is passed dramatically while crossing Chinvad Peretus, Bridge of the Separator. This is where the virtuous cross to the Abode of Songs, the heavenly abode, and exist in a state of "Best Consciousness." The evil and corrupt fall away into the House of Falsehood, existing in a state of "Worst Consciousness," detached from Truth. These two ideas compared to the Popular religion Christianity in the United States, are the same when analyzed. The Abode of Songs represents Heaven, while the House of Falsehood represents Hell.

Zarathustras main focus while creating the Gāthās is to teach of a world struggled with the suffering of its people, the inequality in this world, and the imperfection of its inhabitants. With one goal in mind and that being transforming it into a perfect place. Which is possible through the teaching of good-mind. A perfect world brings a feeling of satisfaction to every good creation present in it. Asha believed the ideal society would come from this and create the peaceful social existence he longed for. All these would combine and lead to the interests of others becoming balanced and a harmonizing effect would take place. These are the religious goals according to the Gāthās, and bringing them about, the commandment of Ahura Mazda. The Gāthās is a very important piece in the history of Persian Literature.

Another important Persian poet known as Ferdowsi was born on 940 A.D. in Khorasan, a village near Tous. Most of his life was dedicated to creating the Persian Epic known as the Shanameh. At first, the piece was composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan, they were the chief instigators during the revival of Persian cultural traditions after the Arabs successful conquest of the seventh century. Ferdowsi is said to have died around 1020 CE, struggling with poverty and royal neglect. He remained confident of his and the influence that it would one day hold. One thing that cannot be overlooked is during his time, Arabic language was known as the main language of science and literature. Instead of Ferdowsi using Arabic, he chose to use only Persian in his masterpiece. Ferdowsi was quoted stating "Persian language is revived by this work". Which only goes to show the amount of confidence he had in the Shâhnameh. After years of hard work, it was finally completed in 1010 CE. He chose to present it to the sultan Mahmoud of Ghaznavid, who by that time had become the leader of Ferdowsi's homeland, Khurasan. Most of the information remains unknown about what went down and largely the stories are myths. One person states that Ferdowsi came to Ghazna in person and through the good offices of the minister Ahmad-ebn-Hasan Meymandi which allowed him to get sultan to agree on accepting his poem. Mahmoud unwisely discussed with certain enemies of the minister, on what Ferdowsi’s reward should possibly be. In the end, it was suggested that Ferdowsi should be given 50,000 dirhams. Yet they viewed it as too high of a reward for some reason. Although, Mahmoud was influenced by their words. So, the decision was made and Ferdowsi received only 20,000 dirhams. Ferdowsi was pretty pissed about it, so he went to the bath and, on coming out, bought a draft of foqa' (a kind of beer) and then chose to split the profit he had made, out of spite, between the bath attendant and the seller of foqa'. Nezami narrated the whole thing, and unfortunately just as

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