Undermining Zoroastriansim from within & without: by Dr. Pallan R. Ichaporia
TACTICS OF MANI TO UNDERMINE ZOROASTRIANISM
Presently we are witnessing several attempts by vested interests to undermine Zoroastrianism. Such attempts are similar to the nefarious activities of Mani. The readers will find the parallel between the tactics of Mani and those presently undermining Zoroastrianism by propagating that the real message of Zarathushtra is tainted by the followers of Zarathushtra.
Mani, the heretic founder of Manichaeism used several ploys to weaken Zoroastrianism in the Sasanian Iran. He first gained favors of Shapur I, and would have been successful in destroying Zoroastrianism, had it not for Bahram I, and the Zoroastrian sage Kardir who put an end to the cultic activities of Mani and saved Zoroastrianism from the heretic Manichaeism.
The following is from an article by D.A. Scott: "Manichaen Responses to Zoroastrianism"
"MANI'S APPROACH TO ZOROASTER FORMS A REVEALING PICTURE TO START WITH......MANI ACKNOWLEDGED ZOROASTER AS AN EARLIER MESSENGER OF LIGHT......ON ONE HAND ZOROASTER WAS BEING UPHELD AS THE BRINGER OF TRUTH BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, HIS ORIGINAL MESSAGE......HAD NOT BEEN HANDED DOWN CORRECTLY. INDEED THIS WAS A CRUCIAL POINT FOR MANI IN RELATIONSHIP TO ZOROASTRIANISM......MANI EXPLAINED: THE FACT THAT THE LATER EVOLUTION OF ZORAOSTRIANISM HAD PRODUCED A CORPUS OF LITERATURE, BELIEFS AND COMMENTORIES THAT ON VARIOUS POINTS TOTALLY WENT AGAINST CONCEPTS OF WHAT ZOROASTER CONSTITUTED TRUTH......THE REASON PUT FORWARD FOR DIVERGENCE OF TEACHING WAS, THAT ZOROASTER'S MESSAGE HAD TO A GREATER OR LESSER EXTENT BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD AND AT TIMES DISTORTED BY SUBSEQUENT ZOROASTRIAN FOLLOWERS. THUS MANI SPLIT ZOROASTER AWAY FROM ZOROASTRIANISM, MAKING THE WAY CLEAR FOR HIM (MANI) TO USE WHATEVER ASPECTS OF ZOROASTRIANISM HE THOUGHT APPROPRIATE TO CONVEY THE MESSAGE THAT IF THERE WERE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MANICHAEAN AND ZOROASTRIAN TENETS THEN IT COULD BE PUT DOWN TO LATTER HAVING MISUNDERSTOOD ZOROASTER'S PREVIOUS REVELATION......
MANI PROCEEDED TO UTILIZE ZOROASTRIAN DOCTRINES IN A FLEXIBLE FASHION TO UNDERMINE ZOROASTRIANISM'S 'LEGITIMACY'......MANI NOT ONLY SPLIT ZOROASTER AWAY FROM THE FULL CORPUS OF ZOROASTRIANISM, BUT ALSO TWISTED ZOROASTRIAN SCRIPTURAL MEANINGS. THIS GAVE MANI THE CHANCE THEREBY TO PICK AND CHOOSE EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED TO, SO AS TO PROMOTE HIS HERETIC CULT AND CIRCUMVENT TRUE ZOROASTRIANISM......WITHIN ZOROASTRIANISM VARIOUS 'DIVINE' FIGURES (YAZATAS) WERE DEALT WITH IN A CONTEMPTUOUS MANNER......MANI WROTE IN HIS 'SABUHRAGAN', MIDDLE PERSIAN TEXT (WHICH HE PRESENTED TO SHAHPUR I) HOW HE (MANI) EXPRESSED HIS MESSAGE IN ZOROASTRIAN CONTEXT. JUST IMAGINE OURSELVES TO BE SHAHPUR LISTENING TO MANI. ALREADY WE WOULD HAVE HEARD THE PERSUASIVE FIGURE TALKING ABOUT ZOROASTER AS A PREVIOUS MESSENGER OF TRUTH, POINTING THE WAY AS IT WERE FOR MANI'S OWN MISSION......FURTHERMORE ZOROASTRIANISM WAS PORTRAYED, IN MUCH THE SAME WAY AS ZOROASTER HAD BEEN, PREACHING MANICHAEAN TENETS......IN FACT WHEN WE LOOK AT MANI'S USAGE OF ZOROASTRIAN DEITIES WE CAN SEE THE USE OF A PERSISTENT PATTERN OF THOSE DEITIES TO REINFORCE THE MANI'S TEACHINGS THAT WERE TO BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF ZOROASTRIAN INFLUENCED AUDIENCE......THE RESONANCE OF THIS (I.E. MANI'S TEACHING) IS ZOROASTRIANISM OF 'GOOD THOUGHT, SPEECH AND DEED' WHICH WAS THE VERY ESSENTIAL CORE OF AHURA MAZDA, AND THE PIOUS ZOROASTRIAN'S ASPIRATION - AS EXPRESSED FOR EXAMPLE IN THE DAILY FRAVARANE PRAYER......
ONE INTERESTING EXAMPLE OF MANI'S USE OF ZOROASTRIAN LITERATURE COMES FROM SOGDIAN MANICHAEAN MATERIAL HELD AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY......AN EXAMPLE OF THIS ACCEPTANCE, YET MODIFICATION OF ZOROASTRIAN DOCTRINE, CONCERNED THE IDEA OF DAENA OF A PERSON MEETING {HIM/HER) AFTER DEATH IN THE FORM OF A YOUNG VIRGIN FEMALE. THIS PERSONIFICATION OF 'INNER SELF' GOES BACK TO VERY EARLY ZOROASTRIAN DAYS ( YASNA 31,20 AND LATER ON IN THE VENDIDAD 19,30)"......IF WE WANTED TO SUM UP OUR ANALYSIS OF MANI'S USAGE OF ZOROASTRIAN LITERATURE AND THE DOCTRINES CONTAINED WITHIN, A TRIPLE PROCESS CAN BE DISCERNED:
FIRSTLY:- MANI SHOWED HIS AWARENESS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ITS (ZOROASTRIAN LITERATURE) EXISTENCE. SECONDLY::- MANI USED SELECTIVELY ZOROASTRIAN DOCTRINAL ASPECTS TO SUIT HIS OWN PURPOSE THIRDLY:- HE SPECIFICALLY REJECTED AND VERBALLY DENOUNCED THOSE ZOROASTRIAN DOCTRINES WHICH HE FELT WERE NOT SUITED TO HIS ACTIVITIES. HIS APPROACH WAS SELECTIVE ADOPTION, ADAPTATION NECESSARY FOR PROPAGATING HIS CULT AND REJECTION OF OTHER ZOROASTRIAN DOCTRINES WHICH WENT AGAINST HIS PURPOSE......THUS IT WAS THAT SELECTED ZOROASTRIAN THEMES HE CUNNINGLY USED TO THE FULLEST,......IN BRIEF IT CAN BE SAID THAT MANI ADOPTED AND ADAPTED ZOROASTRIAN RELIGIOUS DETAILS TO PROPAGATE HIS HERETIC CULT"
Although by its inherited strength Zoroastrianism ultimately defeated Mani and his cult in the Sasanian times, the present Zoroastrian adherents should be ever more vigilant against similar teachings of heretics who have raised their heads again."
Dr. Pallan R. Ichaporia.