Chapter 22
The Council of the Magi
“I now wish to institute the Council of the Magi—the Council which is to see to the correct administration and institution of the benevolent creed and to fit it to the needs of the people. This council will also be responsible for the protection of the nation and the culture of Iran. It will strive to keep an everlasting bond of friendship between the nation and all the neighboring countries for it shall strive to uphold eternal peace among men. I have already said all that was necessary to be said of our creed and of the manner of life among men. However, neither my advice nor your own will is sufficient to carry out the administration of our City of Light. All creeds, nations and homes need to be protected. They also need to be able to grow along with the needs of the times. This can only be achieved if the most benevolent, just and sagacious of people lead our native land—Iran. Not all those who embrace this creed stand in the same stance and not all of them will be able to become leaders one day. I have divided my followers into three groups: the kin, the colleagues and the friends.
The first group are the friends who are exalted in truth, righteousness and in rectitude. Hence, are they called the friends. The second group are the colleagues who have surpassed the primal stage and have arrived at the level of uprightness—they are dedicated to the people and to the needy. The third group are the kin. They are those who have transcended the first two levels and have arrived at this unique state of being. These people have so ardently embraced and carried out all the norms of this creed that they have come to be known as kin. These are the ones who are fit to instruct and guide the Council of the Magi.
I have sung of these groups in my hymns and I have reminded them as to their duties:
O Ahura,
May he who comes to the true as either kin, colleague
or friend be endowed with the finest of miens!
May one who cultivates the world in his trials come to
the abode of truth and divine thoughts!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 3)
Thus Mazda does praise Thee and thus do I long for Thee!
May all disobedience and evil thoughts be uprooted!
May the kin forsake malice and disobedience!
May the colleagues be saved from falsehoods and from
the enmity of those closest to them!
May the friends not suffer the malice of gossip!
May false leadership be ever undone in the world!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 4)
O Mazda Ahura,
The kin, the friends and the colleagues need Thee to
arrive at perfect happiness!
Yet the devas see Thee as of old!
May we be Thy messengers!
May we save Thy followers of the enmity and hatred of
the evildoers!
(Gathas, chapter 32, verse 1)
The most important element in the foundation of the Council of the Magi is that neither its members not its leaders must ever be known publically. It is a secret council which must be allowed to carry out its functions in the most private manner for only those who have arrived at the highest level of chastity and nobility of character are allowed to enter its fold. These people must have killed the desire for self-aggrandizement within themselves prior to being accepted by the council. It is the dire duty of this council to realize the needs of its times and to act according to those needs. This council is essentially built upon the two mighty pillars of message and responsibility. Once the council has realized the needs of its particular period of time it will then clarify the responsibility of each of the members and of the individuals of the Zoroastrian society. This will in turn be relayed to the members through the message and it will be the individual responsibility of each person to see that he carries out that which is expected of him. There are no laws nor norms to limit the power of the council. This council is built upon the need, love and advance of the benevolent creed for the happiness and eternal well-being of Iran and for peace throughout the world. This is what dictates the function of the council.
Why have I founded this council?
Why must this council necessarily function?
Because the creed, Iran and the world will always have their enemies. It is in order to be able to confront these enemies and to prevent them from doing further harm that I built this council. At this point in time, as I have repeatedly sung in my hymns, the council members themselves will choose their leader whom they will deem as the most wise, chaste and noble of men. He will be known as the Sage of the Magi or the Sraosha of the times. He will direct the responsibilities of the council. This Sraosha of the times is the Savior of the nations who will always exist throughout time to awaken the council to the needs of that particular period.
O Mazda,
The Saviors of the nations will be those who will
carry out their duties in the light of divine thoughts.
Their deeds will be based upon Thine instructions and
upon truth.
In truth they have been sent to overcome and to uproot
anger.
(Gathas, chapter 48, verse 12)
The Council of the Magi is one of brotherhood and it must therefore strive to advance friendship and fraternity among men, so too must it spread the creed of righteousness based upon the instructions of the Amesha Spentas amongst men. Listen well to some of the responsibilities of this council and to the names of some of the council members:
O Mazda Ahura,
When will truth, divine thoughts and spiritual strength
Come to us?
When will the Council of the Magi accept Thy creed?
Now that there hath come unto us a leader we will
embrace his guidance.
(Gathas, chapter 29, verse 11)
O most bounteous Mazda,
Come unto me!
Reveal thyself unto me
That I might deliver my message unto men in the radiance
of truth and divine thoughts apart from the Council of the
Magi!
May we come to realize our responsibilities!
May we come to know that prayer which is worthy of Thee!
(Gathas, chapter 33, verse 7)
The reward which Zarathustra hath promised the Council
of the Magi is the realm of the Sraosha.
For from the beginning t’was the seat of Ahura Mazda.
This is the message I deliver unto you for it can only be
attained through truth and divine thoughts.
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 15)
O Mazda,
Who is the friend of the holy Zarathustra?
He who abides by truth looks to righteousness and guards
the Council of the Magi through truth, righteousness and
divine thoughts.
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 11)
O Mazda.
I come to Thee through these loving hymns. On the path
of truth and through deeds based upon divine thoughts.
I shall endlessly seek knowledge until the day I realize
my aim.
(Gathas, chapter 50, verse 9)
Wise Djamaspa, who longed for the light, chose
Knowledge through the radiance of truth.
Then, through divine thoughts did he come to spiritual
strength.
O Ahura Mazda,
Grant this knowledge unto all those who love Thee
and to all those who seek shelter in Thee!
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 18)
The divine Medioman, who strove for religious knowledge
and spiritual life, has pledged himself to me.
He strives to advance the world through the instructions
of the creed of Mazda and through his deeds.
(Gathas, chapter 51, verse 19)
O wise Djamaspa,
May he who has been created to succor the people
and to liberate them listen to these instructions for
the true will never seek unity with the dorvands.
Those who have illuminated understanding will reap
the finest rewards and will in the end be united with
truth.
(Gathas, chapter 49, verse 9)
These men do I name as part of the Council of the Magi for they are my ‘chosen ones’, but never again is the name of the council members to be made public.”