Zoroastrianism is the ancient religion of Persia. It is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions. It was founded about 3500 years ago by the prophet Zarathushtra. Zarathushtra preached that there was one God, whom he called Ahura Mazda. Ahura means “Lord,” and Mazda means “Wise”, so Zoroastrians call God the “Wise Lord”.

The basic scripture of Zoroastrianism is a set of 5 poetic songs called the “Gathas,” which were composed by Zarathushtra himself. The Gathas are composed in a very ancient language known as Avestan, which is closely related to Sanskrit.

In the Gathas, Zarathushtra preached that the One God, Ahura Mazda, is transcendent, but he is in constant relationship with human beings and the world God created through his Attributes. These Attributes are how God reaches the world, and how the world reaches God. Zarathushtra did not specify a fixed number of Attributes, but soon after the Prophet they were specified into seven. These attributes are called the “AmeshaSpentas,” or “Bounteous Immortals.” Each one of these embodies an attribute of God, as well as a human virtue. They are also symbols for the various sectors of Creation over which God watches.

Zoroastrian worship involves prayers and symbolic ceremonies said before a sacred fire. Zoroastrianism does not teach or believe in reincarnation or karma. Zoroastrianism also believes in the progress of sacred time, and the eventual end of time. Zoroastrians are roughly split into two groups: The Iranians and The Parsis.

Parsis

The Zoroastrians of India, According to Parsi lore they spent nineteen years on the island of Diu, after which they set sail again and landed in Sanjan also on the west coast of India.Their populations peaked at 69, 000 in 2001 and stood at about 57, 264 in 2011 Census data.

‘Sugar in Milk’

The most popular one, called Qissa-e-Sanjaan, narrates that an Indian ruler called Jadi Rana sent a glass full of milk to the Parsi group seeking asylum. His message was that his kingdom was full of local people. The Zoroastrian immigrants put sugar (or a ring, in some versions of the story) into the milk to indicate an assimilation of their people into the local society, like “sugar in milk”.

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