Chapter 4
The Plaint of The Psyche of the Universe and Zarathustra’s Prophecy
Zarathustra descended his mountain. He had barely set out upon his route to the city when an unfamiliar dolorous plaint assailed his ears. The further he travelled the more piercingly the cry caterwauled as though the whole Earth and all her progeny had lifted their arms supplicatingly to the heavens to beseech divine interference in a cacophony of desperate lamentation. In the supplication there lay such agony that its intensity mangled Zarathustra’s soul to the quick.
Zarathustra rested on a rock beside a running stream of limpid water to lend ear to this lamentation: it was the bewailing entreaty of the essence of the world bursting forth in a pitch of tribulation and woe:
The psyche of the universe turns to Thee in affliction.
Wherefore didst Thou create me?
Wherefore didst Thou form me into being?
Wrath, oppression, avarice, cruelty and insolence have gripped my soul.
Thou art mine sole protector.
Show me the savior of goodness who will save me!
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 1)
Yet, it was the psyche of the universe that smarted and ached under the anger and offence which ravaged its existence—it now begged Ahura Mazda for sustenance. The psyche of the universe ached under the corruption which raped its being and in truth it carried its own unappeasable suffering. Zarathustra listened heedfully as the whimpering plea soared into an anguished entreaty:
“O horrible suppression!
Horrible ignorance!
Horrible pillage, rage, pain and vengeance!
Life in this world has become a paroxysm of suppression!
Screams of despondency assail one from every corner of the Earth!
Rotting corpses are strewn about the globe—at times they are the sacrificial bodies of one butchered at the temple of a deity, at others they are carcasses of human beings slaughtered to appease the greed of a pitiless god.”
Each evening, at sunset, the wicked ones would venture out into the dark, enter their foul dens of desecrated worship, and take communion with a blasphemous divinity around the blaze of a stygian fire. They would spatter this fire with a smoke wreathing substance to extricate from it its message of death. As it rose to tarnish the heavens this congregation of impious idolaters would break out in squeals of fiendish ecstasy, joyous at having once again communicated with their unhallowed deity.
They would then carouse to such a climax of inebriety as to resort to the wildest bacchanal revelries and to the most abandoned of blood-dripping orgies where all forms of carnage were condoned. They would step upon the closest living creature and wring from it its life blood as they stampeded around blazing sheets of flame deep into the dead of night.
As this devil’s communion reached its consummation the proselytes would depart only to deal out more perdition onto men by tormenting any homeless wayfarer who might have taken an ill-fated refuge from the night along the route of these fiend worshippers. As they racked and bled those about them their blood curdling shrieks would once more saturate the night sending more racking moans palpitating through the blackness.
Anger and vengeance had transfixed the world while the powerful ravaged the powerless. Some were destroyed by the torture, persecution and suppression yet others bore their talisman of suffering in their beasts as there was no means of retaliation. Their rage was left to build up into a pitch of abhorrence within their souls waiting for the day when there would come a chance to erupt in a frenzy of destruction to consume and efface all that lay about them. Stretches of nauseating emanations permeated the globe.
Words had become incomprehensible—unintelligible.
Deeds had become futile and inane.
The fire of wisdom and of thought had petered out.
No torch of wisdom existed to light the way of men’s eyes.
There was not the barest shimmer of penetration left to man.
Only darkness, darkness, darkness…
Only devastation, devastation, devastation…
There came a clamor from the distance.
Whom did it come from?
Had a bandit held up another weary traveler to rob him of his life and possessions?
Did another scoundrel hold the quaking throat of an innocent in the grip of his stained hands?
Did the fist of another ogre beat the breast of the meek?
Did an unfortunate wail out from the depths of a vermin infested dungeon?
Did the warm blood of a foot sore traveler seep out of his mutilated chest with his last heart beat?
Had the ruthless slap of a damned villain smarted the face of a wretched woman in a remote village hut?
Alas, whom did this scream come from?
Hearken, it was not a single cry but an endless wail…
Why did these lamentations rise from every corner of this globe?
Why did these savage, blackened souls rule this earth?
How could these oppressors so suppress the innocent?
In truth what could one call this land of the ill-starred?
Who had instilled all this rage, cruelty, destruction, bloodlust and greed within the hearts, souls and minds of its inhabitants?
What was this plague which ravaged the land?
Why could men not contend with their own gains—gains profited from their labor?
Why did each man covet his neighbor’s possessions?
Why were minds so engrossed in pilfering?
Why could the rich never be satiated?
Why did they lust unquenchingly and why did this greed never crease its wasteful growth?
What was this dread and anxiety that ravaged all hearts?
It was a dread which robbed men of joy, happiness and dreams while it envenomed all human relationships with suspicion and misgivings.
There was a fear that deprived man of the ability to enjoy terrestrial beauty. It had replaced men’s hearts with a mass of evil deeds.
Men faced one another with honest and pleasing miens to pledge trust in one another, yet in deed they transformed into nefarious wolves that simply ensnared, looted and raped one another’s minds.
In this era of faithlessness and gloom, despair was the solitary companion of the forsaken, pure, unsheltered and the weak of the earth while the suppressors and the corrupt thrived.
What was the end of life?
Why had men been created?
Had men been made to drown in a sea of anguish and torment?
Were men to abide forever in this manner of life?
Would these devastations and plundering never cease?
Would no savior come to liberate and to save man from his doomed fate?
As Zarathustra heard the wailing cries of the psyche of the universe he approached the city limits and it was in this city that he witnessed the source of the woeful elegy he had heard.
The city was clad in lurid melancholy overcome by pandemonium. The visage of those about him were beclouded and dimmed in spasms of wrath and sorrow. The inhabitants stumbled about in a stupor muttering obscenities. The virtuous were left to take shelter from their hapless fates wheresoever they could. The dissembling over gorged cozeners ruled the city to their own satisfaction. These offenders portrayed a human face to cover their wanting souls just as their sow skinned garbs disguised their hoary frames. Predators prowled the streets seeking lambs whose blood they could suckle while evil lurked in every niche of this sullied city. On the surface all were virtuous but in truth they were flagitious.
The pillars of all creeds and religions wavered in that impure city as guile and prevarication had long since stepped up onto the throne of sanctity. He who strove for the attainment of truth and righteousness met with defeat and only that loathsome brotherhood prospered. Youth were taken to lechery, women dealt in salaciousness and men practiced infidelity. The young lacked chivalry as the aged had bolted their tongues to admonitions.
None held out a supporting hand to his brother for whosoever sought help was soon blighted.
The finest were outcast whilst the most ruinous held positions of responsibility. No lip blossomed in elation for all brooded in tribulation. Marriage had been discarded leading the young to solitude, perversion and sin. Maidens turned to prostitution for it was a well sought trade.
The thoughts and deeds of the worthy had forsaken them. Men had left the hearth of their beliefs in all but in words—they turned to adorn their bodies in baubles at the cost of the loss of their souls.
The educated were mostly feared and as the inhabitants of this infamous city fled knowledge they turned to idolatry—foremost among the gods the divinity of gold was worshipped: he loomed over this corrupt city befouling its innermost recesses. The passion for gluttony and profiteering had replaced all needs in the human heart as it led minds into a wild labyrinth of degenerate snares. The city was poor and men lacked the primal necessities of life. The poor became poorer daily while the omnivorous gold lechers accumulated wealth. Men no longer heeded honesty in trade but zealously ransacked their brethren. Wives had forsaken motherhood and housewifery in favor of promiscuity—hearts harbored hate and lasciviousness as love fled the family hearth.
Ignorance chased away wisdom, darkness hunted light and pedantry shunned sagacity. Patience veiled herself from all eyes for men reviled her pure form as they rushed in pursuit of the satisfaction of their voracious appetites. Justice, mercy, fidelity and honesty trembled upon quivering knees. Revelry, joy and excitement hibernated in the deepest of slumbers whereas in their stead sorrow and mourning kept vigil over the city.
Justice quaked while injustice reigned in the seat of the law persecuting the just and the lawful to the benefit of the unlearned. Selfishness and pride poisoned life rendering sin lawful and advocating shame. Men’s tongues warmed to sycophancy, iniquity and spite for material advancements in life.
Fear and dread exerted an inclement hold on all for the righteous had traded place with the unrighteous. Men avoided knowledge and left it to be down trodden. Farmers left their land uncultivated, barren and uncropped.
Zarathustra wandered the city streets absorbing the message of the psyche of the universe with his eyes fastened on all men’s deeds.
Forthwith the defiled cozeners and the corrupt sorcerers who had recognized Zarathustra’s light and spirit approached him for they well knew how his creed and wisdom, if spread, could undo them. Their leader addressed the great Teacher:
“Do not sing your hymns for we shall lay waste to them. You shall not withstand the power of our necromancy with a few pitiful songs!”
The blessed Zarathustra heard the desperate anxiety under those empty threats.
“Draw forth and lend ear to my song,” said he in mirth and he raised his voice in wondrous adoration.
As Zarathustra’s divine song broke forth those despotic ogres shivered and fled for the Teacher had sung the last words of the psyche of the world: “Will no Savior come to guide men…” The Teacher stood enraptured by the message which soared from the depths of his soul.
For then did the Creator of the world demand of Truth:
who is Thine messenger on earth?
We shall strengthen him and guide him in his trial to refurbish the earth.
Whom dost Thou send to rule the world and to efface the wrath of the corrupt?
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 2)
Zarathustra recognized the familiar strain—it was His strain: The melody of Mazda Ahura and of the holy Asavan, guardian angel of the harmonizing order of truth and of the universe.
Mazda Ahura had commanded him to choose a leader of men in order to answer the wailing of the psyche of the universe and to send forth the leader to uproot the suppression and the injustice of the necromancers. Zarathustra was lost in the contemplation of that divine command when he beheld a brilliant form holding a torch in one hand rise from beyond the distant hills and approach him. The Teacher knew this splendid one who came towards him in steady steps—Asavan held in his hand the icon of the harmony and of the essence of the universe which Zarathustra had seen in the divine kingdom. The blessed Asavan addressed Zarathustra in gentle tones:
“You have heard the lamentation of this world and you have heard Mazda’s command. I have heard the questions of this bleeding harmony and psyche concerning the life of man, I have heard too your probing on how to cure these beings and I have come to answer you: the cure is that which you heard in the kingdom of light. All the chaos, pain, cruelty and injustice which rule men’s lives come from their forsaking of the truth and of the order of the universe. Men have turned to falsehoods which are the root of all evil. In this city it is these falsehoods which have caused the psyche of the universe to wail forth so in dolorous lamentation. I shall answer Mazda’s commands by sending you forth with the message I gave you in the kingdom of Light. I shall now tell you why Mazda Ahura seeks one who can cure the pains of life and give it happiness once more.
Heed well that which I now recount!
Existence relentlessly grows and develops. The jewel of the universe eternally changes form through this growth and development. This development has a particular eternal design which fulfills its perpetual successive gradation. Truth is the sole ruler of the universe—it rules all created things. It blossoms, wilts, beckons and bars. It creates and it breaks, it sends forth and it removes. It accumulates and it scatters. Asha is the sole ruler of the universe, of all its processes and of its changes. It invariably rules over men’s lives and it is Asha who gives life all its various aspects.
You have seen the cruelty and the destitution of this city. Does Asha dictate all these processes or does it reject them?
The answer to this question is clear: if Asha is the coordinator, if it is the harmony of creation, if there is no disharmonizing element in creation, if all things have their order in this universe, if Asha is the annihilator of disharmony and disorder then any form of disruption—be it anger, pain, bloodshed or theft—in the lives of men stands in opposition to Asha and must therefore be eliminated.
And how is this upheaval to take place?
Through the elements of growth and development which are intrinsic in the universe—through that growth and development which are inborn in human thoughts and wisdom for it is these very elements that raise the level of man’s wisdom to such a height as to allow it to fight against the invading disorder so as to reinstate natural harmony. This element of growth and perfection will uproot primeval hackneyed systems which have long since reached the end of their days to replace them with new, creative successors.
Now you know why Ahura Mazda, the ultimate wisdom of creation whose form is brilliance and whose essence is truth, upon hearing the lament of the harmony of the universe commanded me to choose that leader who is able to quench the cruelty of the maligners and to lead the world to cultivation and truth. I profess before you that the leader who can hope to achieve this supreme undertaking is he who has heard the movement of the need for change in his time. He is the one who can unfurl thoughts, illuminate minds, grasp the message of his era and convey it to others. As for answering Mazda Ahura’s search for that leader who can put an end to human suffering it is not I but Vohuman who can achieve that end. Hence, in response to Ahura Mazda’s question as to the leader of men I say:
Truth answered thus:
Amongst men I know of none who can unearth evil
and liberate the true from the clutches of the evil ones.
Amongst these men the chosen one must be more
Powerful than any for us to support.
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 3)
The angle of truth spoke thus:
Mazda Ahura knoweth best that which the vile idolaters
have done in the past.
He knoweth what they will do in the future.
For He is the only judge.
His will be done!
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 4)
I and the psyche of the creative universe raise our
Arms in supplication to Him.
To worship Ahura,
To beg Him to spare the good and their leader the
wrath of the dissolute.
(Gatha, chapter 29, verse 5)
Having sung his hymns the angel of the truth departed.
Once again from beyond the hills there came radiance—a halo of light appeared carrying another familiar form in its embrace. The form drew unto Zarathustra and instantly the Teacher recalled that blessed night when the divine Vohuman had come to him to lead him to the realm of the Amesha Spenta. Presently it was this celestial being who addressed him in response to Mazda’s question:
And then did Mazda Ahura, whose wisdom is the herald
and the formation of life speak:
Dost thou know a righteous ruler and Art thou not the
Lord’s anointed guardian of the world?
(Gatha, chapter 29, verse 6)
Mazda Ahura spoke and waited for Vohuman’s reply.
“That leader who is to rise at this time to fulfill Asha’s command must be the embodiment of the spirit of his time. He must fight against destruction and putrefaction in favor of novelty and construction. His heart must be purged of lies and adorned with truth. He must love men and creation in order to destroy the fiends with his wisdom and laud the virtuous. His thoughts must be as solid and fruitful as his behavior. He must hold such powerful ties with the pure and the righteous as to ceaselessly gain sufficient strength from this union to raise himself above all men. Should such a leader—endowed with illuminated creative thoughts, a pure and loving heart palpitating with love for his people—rise undoubtedly the forces of creation and the power of Asha will guide and support him against his foes: this is the leader which the era seeks and he shall come. Asha commands it, creation commands it—growth and development command it.”
Thus spoke the holy Asha as he joyfully raised his eyes to the heavens:
I know of only one who abides by our teaching.
He is the blessed Zarathustra.
He is the only one who truly wishes to spread the
creed of the adoration of Mazda and the truth.
Thus shall we endow him with the power of charismatic speech.
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 8)
This thought inspiring joyous speech is the gift of
the holy Ahura.
His will is truth.
Mazda Ahura has endowed the righteous with this
speech that they might cultivate the world.
O blessed thoughts,
Who is he who abides by you to aid men unto truth?
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 7)
O Ahura,
Strengthen him through truth and good thoughts that
he might build and make peace!
O Mazda,
I know him as the most perfect of Thy creations.
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 10)
Thus was the greatest moment of history made.
The blessed Vohuman delivered the message of the holy Mazda Ahura and Zarathustra was crowned the liberator of the psyche of the universe from pain, suppression, cruelty and oppression. Yet the psyche of the world was unappeased.
Could Zarathustra truly succeed?
Could one who would not resort to physical force, one who could not resort to arms conquer the greatest army of evil?
The psyche of the universe knew of Zarathustra’s illuminated thoughts and profound wisdom, it saw the highest form of human sagacity in him and yet it knew human life to be incapable of existence and improvement without material gain. The psyche of the universe stood in awe of one who would vanquish this army of sinners and knavish sorcerers.
And then did the psyche of the world roar:
Must I accept the words of a feeble man?
Must I support him?
I sought a powerful leader.
When will such a one aid me with his mighty sword?
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 9)
Mazda Ahura, who could see the doubt of this psyche assured it of Zarathustra’s puissance.
The blessed powerful strain of His words made thought inspiring speech spring from the Teacher’s lips to warm men in their brilliance as only the spring sun can warm the winter-ridden earth. Mazda’s words, spoken through Zarathustra, led men to a world of purity and righteousness. Zarathustra’s speech carried worlds of feeling, stimulation, wisdom and thought.
When men heard his felicitous words and basked in his eternal hymns their minds drowned in thought while their souls took flight. Their thoughts and wisdom bloomed with radiance and flooded their souls with knowledge and the power of comprehension—this was Zarathustra’s aim. He never forced his beliefs unto others. His greatest achievement was the arousal of men’s thoughts and through this means those who heard his words lost themselves in cogitation and stepped out into the effulgence of knowledge. The Teacher’s though- inspiring, heart-warming words soon brought forth subliminal changes in men thereby accomplishing the greatest upheaval in history—an upheaval which forced the retreat of ignorance and darkness to replace them with wisdom, thought, knowledge and illumination.