Chapter 16
Advice to Vishtaspa
Vishtaspa and his Enlightened Ones had gathered in the great hall to meet once again with the Lord Zarathustra. After much doubt, speculation and discussion with his Enlightened Ones and particularly with Djamaspa, Vishtaspa had made his decision: he had come to realize that that which he had believed in of old did not stand in harmony with divine wisdom. He learnt that Zarathustra’s strong logic adhered to reason hence he had no choice but to accept the benevolent creed with its brilliant instructions and beliefs.
The court had gathered on this day in order to witness Vishtaspa’s official conversion to the new faith.
Silence reigned as all eyes turned to Zarathustra and to Vishtaspa who rose to address the great Master of Wisdom:
“Oh mighty Zarathustra of boundless wisdom, the magnificence of your thoughts pierce the heavens. Your depth of thought and wisdom has no end and your illumination is far beyond any known to man. Today I proclaim to you in this great gathering witnessed by the wise Djamaspa, Frahushtra and the Enlightened Ones that I openly embrace your creed unto death.
Until this day I had bid in darkness. My world was both trivial and obscure and my reason was unripe and extinguished. You took me from the world of darkness to that of light, you took my wisdom which was locked in the gallows of rusty beliefs and you liberated it. You led me to see and judge wisely. You expanded my reason and prepared it to accept that which is right. You allowed me to comprehend what you advocated in your hymns.
Then,
Hear the finest sayings!
Look to them with illuminated reason!
Each of you choose one of the two paths!
Learn and spread this creed in your
consciousness before the great event!
(Gathas, chapter 30, verse 2)
Then, from between the two men were they to choose
that true leader who acted righteously to
advance divine thoughts.
O Mazda,
Never can a cunning leader who dissembles be
Sufficiently true and pure to carry out Thy command!
(Gathas, chapter 31, verse 10)
Truly, Zarathustra, did you show me the true manner of seeing, hearing, comprehending, speculating and choosing. It is a path in which there is no room for burdening the intellect, nor for self-interest, there is only thought, speculation and choice. I have heard your words, I have speculated much upon them and I have chosen the path you set before me. I now embrace the inspiring Avesta which is the basis of your creed. I will put on the Kusti and the sudreh and while there is life in this frame I will further your creed.”
Vishtaspa then read from the holy Avesta and put on the kusti and the sudreh and in the midst of much rejoicing the king converted to the new creed. Then he faced Zarathustra and spoke:
“On this great day, I ask you, before the Enlightened Ones, the leaders, the warriers and the representatives of the people, to show me the true method of government and rule.
Wise Zarathustra, you know that I reign over a vast kingdom. Since I have turned to your benign creed I hope to rule over the nation with justice for I want my people to live in peace and harmony. I wish to rid them of pain and of poverty and as I know you to be the one who can uproot these miseries in this land I ask you to guide me in this sacred aim.”
Vishtaspa finished his speech. The Enlightened Ones and all those present in his court had witnessed the change which had overcome their king and were gladdened by it. They all rose with the Lord of Light to hail the mighty king and to wish him health and joy in his sacred aim. Then the Teacher addressed the king and spoke on the manner of just rule.
“Mighty Vishtaspa, I am heartened to learn of your desire to rule in justice and truth and I wish you to succeed in these magnificent aims through your heightened wisdom. I came here today with a great volume in which all the laws and creeds of government are writ. I place it before you. Study it wisely and use its laws as your guide for they shall undoubtedly lead you to attain you goal.”
Vishtaspa was overjoyed by what he had heard and eagerly replied, “great Instructor, give me the book and I shall abruptly lend myself to the study of it.”
Upon seeing Vishtaspa’s eagerness and honest desire for guidance Zarathustra approached him and once again laid before him the single grain of wheat in the heart of a green leaf.
“Royal Vishtaspa and his court were puzzled by the grain, but unlike the first time when the king had left the hall in rage every one stared in pregnant silence at the grain. After some time the king declared:
“Wise leader, I know that you are once again about to give us an invaluable lesson but we find ourselves incapable of grasping your message. Thus, we ask you to teach us that which we are to know.”
With an ever gentle, thoughtful countenance and with a piercing understanding, Zarathustra clemently began to speak, “Noble Vishtaspa,” said he, “as you know the grain seemed lifeless before it penetrated the earth. It was reborn in the bosom of the soil where it grew and bloomed as it was nurtured by that soil, water, air and sun. It first showed signs of life when it lost its initial form as a grain and before it underwent a drastic change, before it reached its pinnacle of creation and bloom.
You too must mirror the action of the seed in your position as king—you must outgrow yourself, and be transformed before you can come to bloom. You must transcend your ‘self’ for if you continue to think only of your own good as you walk these magnificent royal gardens listening to the ceaseless bantering praises of your courtiers you will forever remain that lifeless seed. You will never be reborn neither will you ever bloom, grow nor create. You will only be able to lead your nation to progress through your existence and you will only lead your people to truth and to cultivation if and when you transcend the bounds of your being. Your ‘self’ must be forgotten—it must be shattered and overcome. Then will all your heart, soul, thoughts, wisdom, desire and strength come to bloom as from the single grain of a life-giving, creation-offering seed.
Brave Vishtaspa, the greatest challenge a ruler will ever face is the transcendence and the overcoming of his ‘self’. You must be truly wise, knowledgeable, powerful, thoughtful, keen and brave in order to be able to overcome your ‘self’.
I have asked the immaculate Mazda Ahura—that harmonizer of being and of righteousness to grant you and your followers your wishes. May you find the strength to spread the message of Mazda Ahura among men.
O Truth,
Grant us that mercy which is the reward of the virtuous!
O Righteousness,
Grant Vishtaspa and his followers their wishes!
O Mazda,
Grant us strength that we may spread Thy message
amongst men!
(Gathas, chapter 38, verse 7)
O Zarathustra,
Who is your righteous friend?
Who is the one who truly wants the honor and the finest
for the Council of the Wise?
T’is truly the bold Vishtaspa!
O Mazda Ahura,
I gather men through words spoken in divine speculation
that they might attain Thy Kingdom!
(Gathas, chapter 46, verse 14)
Noble Vishtaspa, do you remember Jamshid Vivangahan of whom I have said:
Amongst the sinners was Jamshid Vivangahan known.
For he humiliated the Lord of the Universe for the
pleasure of men.
O Mazda,
I trust in Thy final judgment of sinners.
(Gathas, chapter 32, verse 8)
I have a few words to say of him—instead of liberating himself to the powers of growth and development Jamshid came to only think of himself. Thus, did he inhibit himself. He ailed of self-centeredness and self-worship.
Mighty Vishtaspa, these two diseases are the foundations of all the pains which can assail a ruler of men. The greatest pain is ‘self adoration’. When a ruler comes to ail of this dreaded disease he will be surrounded by parasitic adorers—men of ailing souls who surround and feed upon the body of a healthy beast until they destroy him. The moment Jamshid found pleasure in himself and became self-centered he came to see himself as the Lord of Life. At that moment the maligners and the parasites came to feed off him and with their ceaseless praise and worship they warmed his heart. Self-worship invariably leads to the alienation of the person from his natural world and he becomes part of that world which exists only within himself—this is what befell Jamshid.
Before this Jamshid had lived amongst men but as of that day gradually an iron wall rose to separate him from the rest of the world and in time this wall attained such magnitude and strength that it came to plague him. In the end when Ajhi Dahak came to kill him he found Jamshid nestled in the heart of a tree completely cut off from the rest of the world. This tree the vicious foe struck down and thus killed the once mighty Jamshid. For, you see, Jamshid had so secluded himself from men that when his powerful foe—the grotesque Ajhi Dahak—came for him there was none among men to protect the king and he had no choice but to seek refuge in the heart of a mighty oak—there was he forever destroyed.
Brave Vishtaspa, you too, as any other being, will end as Jamshid once did should you come to self love. Parasites will come to live off you and off your powers and rapidly will you find yourself surrounded by rogues. These vultures will live off you by at once flattering you and by filling your soul with the dread of an adversary who will one day dethrone you.
Who are these adversaries?
They are none other than the most noble of men whom these cozeners cannot tolerate. Thus, will they separate you from these most brilliant men. At that time you will find yourself locked within a mighty fortress trembling at the approach of one and all for you will see a unique desire in all men—your annihilation. Thus, you will be forever plagued with doubt which will be the singular root of your tyranny. You will search out and find those whom you see as mighty adversaries and who you will deem as usurpers and you will look upon their every word with skepticism and you will rise to undo them. Your hands will write the decrees of death and your parasitic retinue will set upon and devour your would be assailant. Neither will your self-idolization, your ambition, your doubts nor you tyranny have an end. While the blood of your first victim is still warm you will seek out your next victim, you will be angered, your hands will seal another death sentence, and another head will fall. From that time on death and bloodshed will become an inalienable part of your nature. You who had once been a simple, just ruler will be transformed into the most tyrannous of all kings.
Neither will the plagues of self-idolization merely end there!
The vain ruler wants to be as excellent in all things as he is in kingship! From there will avarice set upon you and you who had once been content in this simple castle will seek the grandest and most luxurious of imperial palaces. You will strive to humble the earth to your every whim and you will want every corner of the cosmos to reflect your image. You presently stand before me speaking of your nation and of your people, but then nation, subjects and land will come to mean a single thing—Vishtaspa. You will have to be apart from all things and all earthly things will have to reflect your image. Your name will have to be spoken by one and all. All things will have to begin and end with your name. Your destruction will not end there! The more your avarice is fed the further will greed grow with you, a besetting sin until you need to rise above all creation. To you your kin, race, progeny, nation and your creed will be the greatest among men and you will have to take up arms to prove your every superiority. This uprising will be the advent of the most vicious, the most vile of all uprisings for it will entail pillage, plunder and human sacrifice. The harder you strive to prove your supremacy the greater will be the number of those who will oppose you and the greater will be the blood and tyranny you will resort to.
Great Vishtaspa, you have asked me to help you in your mighty task of ruling a nation. This shows you to have a noble, honest and enlightened soul and mind—it is the mark of your pure heart. But if you come to self-idolatry you will never abide by any advice for you will transform into a mounting pillar of vengeance at the merest sign of any form of opposition to your wishes and thoughts. You will writhe and smart at the slightest criticism as though your entire world has come to an abrupt end.
At the pinnacle of your self-worship you will at times appear the very body of humility but under that façade will lie a sea of vanity and pride. You humility will be but another weapon with which you will evoke further praise for your thirsting soul.
Today you gently listen to my words and to the words of those who attempt to advise you, but when you are truly proud you will find a passion for verbosity—you will never cease your prattle but you will endlessly banter on foolishly. The parasites about you will echo your seemingly wise sayings as though they were the very body and soul of sagacity.
Vishtaspa, today you have the greatest of ministers beside you who immediately warn you if you are about to waver and you in turn accept their warnings, but in the future—should you come to ail of self-idolatry—you will see yourself as the epitome of righteousness and magnificence—you will never be able to accept that you might be in need of advice.
Today your words are in total harmony with your wisdom, but your words and deeds will lose their harmony if you come to be afflicted. You will deem all things which are in any way connected to you as great and grandeur in word and deed will come to plague you for this grandeur will offend others and your airs will end in calamity but you will neither see the offense nor will you perceive the harm of your ways. You will only be concerned with your own grandeur which will soar above all men as majestically as the golden eagle—you will wing the horizon of your imagination in solitude.
Mighty king, you presently sit amongst us attentively heedful of what I say. I speak words of advice but if the cancer of self-idolization should ever grasp your soul you will no longer sit with us. You will have only your own company for your self-elevated mind will not be able to accept any other as worthy of your company. All men will seem to be your enemies and you will forever dread lest they cause you the least harm thereby tainting your image of yourself—this will be your limitation which will eternally incarcerate you within your own self-made goal. At that time my advice will be incapable of saving you, you will only allow the cell to open to allow a ceaseless flow of flatterers to enter and to sing your praise. Your days will be lost. You will hungrily await laudation as your beautified form momentarily passes before all eyes and you will expect shouts of rapture to rise unto the firmaments.
You are the ruler of a vast kingdom in which you are hailed by all who know you as kind and benevolent. Here you are well loved for you treat your subjects with kindness but once you are deified you will expect to be worshiped and thus you will offend men. Only the deceitful and the corrupt will remain with you for they shall find their cure in you. You see, they are as ailing as you yourself for they also suffer of the very same disease. You will appear to them as the magnificent all-powerful idol which they long to be. They will turn to this idol to worship it—to prostrate themselves at the feet of the omnipotent self-created Vishtaspa! They will rise to carry out your commands and in time you will find yourself faced with an army of the mentally deluded who carry out your commands with their hearts and souls. They need no longer adore their own images of themselves for you will rise in ill-fated majesty in their imagination—this will allow them to cover their own shortcomings and agonies! This cortege of hoodwinked adorers will become vicious wolves who will happily resort to any crime in your name. You will no longer entertain the learned company you see about you today but an array of werewolves—men who are both monstrous in being and in deed. They will come to you for you to approve of their wicked actions, and to receive from you further demented commands. Vishtaspa, as of that day you will only hear their howls; benevolence will forsake you and only madness, anger and vengeance will reign over you. Vishtaspa, you are a ruler of men and as such it is your duty to think a thousand times more calculatingly than ordinary men—you must think with benevolence, wisdom and honesty for the single blunder of a ruler will bring about a thousand sins in his flock. Today you have embraced the benign creed—a creed which thrives upon good words, thoughts and deeds. Beware, for if you ever come to err you will shatter the roots of this creed and you will mislead all those who have adhered to this faith.
Woe unto you if you bring weakness unto this faith!
Listen to me, Vishtaspa, command the ironsmiths to make an iron casement and place this grain therein. Each day at sunrise rise, bathe, face the light and pray in truth. Then, open the casement and talk to the grain of the earth and of the heavens. You must swear each day to be as the grain.
You must forsake the dark and silence and become as fruitful as the growing seed. Liberate and transcend your ‘self’ that you might bear fruit. Join the waters, the air and soil and the sun and live for only then will you grow, develop and bear fruit. Remember, the seed was lifeless while it stood in storage and only came to life when it fell into the hands of the farmer. Through being reborn did it change its form—only then did it undergo such changes that it was allowed to bloom, grow and procreate. Vishtaspa, be the growing seed—awaken!
I have not come here Vishtaspa to force my thoughts unto you. I have come for a much greater task—to awaken you.
Awaken, Vishtaspa, awaken as the seed did!
Great king, I have sung hymns which will lead and guide you. Listen to these hymns and think upon them!”
Vishtaspa attained the knowledge of his inner reward
through the brilliance of the assembly of the Magi,
through hymns rising from divine speculation, and
through truth—
A knowledge through which Mazda Ahura leads us to
bliss.
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 16)
Thus praise Mazda through words, thoughts and deeds!
Strive to please Him!
Choose blessed deeds!
Vishtaspa, a disciple of Zarathustra, and Frashushtra
have thoughtfully chosen the true path and creed
which Ahura showed to the Soushians.
(Gathas, chapter 53, verse 2)
When I speak of the inner knowledge I mean that knowledge which awakens you internally much like that power which awakens the dormant seed. The only knowledge which can lead us to happiness is that inner knowledge—the awakening of your understanding, the awakening of the miraculous power of the mind, and the awakening of the boundless forces of the mind. As I have said, Vishtaspa has chosen the true path which Ahura showed the Soushians who in my creed and religion is ‘he who renews’, he is the power and force which awakens men and the world from their deep slumber and leads them unto a renewed world. His power mirrors the force within the seed which causes its awakening, activity and rebirth.
I end my speech here Vishtaspa, for I have said all that I must say to you. You must now face the path which lies ahead of you. Your deeds will show how well you have understood the benevolent creed.
Praise be unto you and your Enlightened Ones!
May you be victorious!
May you come to liberate yourselves and your people and to lead them to happiness and to righteousness!