Chapter 13
The following morning, the king said: I have not slept. All night I was like one burning with fever; for your wondrous words and your miracles have very nearly turned my judgment upside down.
I’hua’Mazda said: Because a man cannot understand a thing, shall he cry out, MIRACLE! Now I declare I have done no miracle; nor has Zarathustra. Yet to mortals these things are miracles! If so, is a man not a miracle to himself? Is procreation (having children) not a miracle?
This, then, I have found, O Asha, what man is not accustomed to, he calls a miracle; after he has seen a matter frequently, he calls it a natural law. What man have you found who comprehends the first cause of anything under the sun?
Why, then, should man waste his time in unprofitable research? Is it not wiser that man labor to raise his fellow-men out of misery and darkness, than to gratify his own personal desire for great learning?
The king said: You reason well. And yet, what learned good man have you found who will not say: Yes, to do good is a pretty philosophy! And there ends his aspiration. What, then, can I say, or what can you say, that will render the words fruitful?
I’hua’Mazda said: You are this day king of all the world; nor is there any other kingdom that does not pay you tribute. Whatever you desire is as a law to all other kingdoms. For that reason I come to you. Indeed, you were born to this end. Hear, then, the voice of your God, and you shall do what is good for your soul and good for all other people.
Asha said: I am almost tempted to accede to your wishes before you have revealed; but yet hear the voice of your king; what does it matter to me about the good of other people? Even if it is proven that great men have souls that live after death, it is not yet proven that the druks have souls also. If they have souls, then heaven must be a stupid place indeed. For you have not shown me that man obtains wisdom by dying, nor is it reasonable that he should do so. Rather tell me, O Zarathustra, how I may get rid of the world; for of what use is life at most?
I’hua’Mazda said: Because you do not rejoice in your life, you perceive that it is your philosophy that is deficient, and not that the world is. Yet I will prove to you that you are overflowing with happiness. To believe what I reveal and have faith in it, is to become happy. The king then answered him, saying: To believe, there is the matter. I declare to you, there is not a grain of belief in my heart. How, then, can it grow?
I’hua’Mazda said: He who can say, I can think of an All Highest, has the seed of everlasting life in him. He who lives the all highest he can; he who thinks of the All Highest; he who talks to the All Highest; he who tries to perceive from the standpoint of the All Highest, quickly transcends belief and becomes a very God in faith. He becomes master of himself, and feeds himself with happiness, even as men feed themselves with bread.
Asha said: What would you have me do? To which I’hua’Mazda said: With the people, you have greater authority than a God, greater than miracles. Your decrees are all powerful. You shall have a copy of this book written on stone and cloth, one copy for every sub-kingdom in your dominions. And you shall send it to them with a sword and a serpent, saying to them: Receive this book, for it is a Holy Book, the ALL HIGHEST LAW, the I’hua’Mazdian law, the Zarathustrian law, the Ormazdian law. And it shall be a rule and guide to you and your kingdom forever. And every king in the KINGDOM OF THE SUN shall serve one year in living with the poor, carrying the alms-bowl for sacrifices to Ormazd.
And when you have sent forth this decree into all the world, you shall yourself give up your kingdom; and you shall give to the poor all your gold, silver and cases, and all your treasures whatsoever, having nothing left to yourself but the clothes that cover you. And you shall go and live with the poor, carrying the alms-bowl yourself in the streets of Oas. And of the food you gather in the bowl, you shall give the choicest parts to the poor, saying: THIS IS THE SACRIFICE OF THE MANY GIVEN TO YOU; EAT OF IT, FOR IT IS THE VERY BODY AND BLOOD OF ORMAZD, OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN! But the poorest of all that is in the bowl shall be your portion.
At the end of one year you shall go about preaching the Ormazdian law, commanding the cessation of war and the abandonment of evil, and the acceptance of righteousness.
The king said: What can you promise me if I do all these things? Then I’hua’Mazda suffered Zarathustra to answer him: He said, NOTHING! Did the Creator ask this, before He made the world? If you desire to approach (draw closer to) your Creator, do as He does. Nor is it my place, nor the angels’ place, nor the place of God, to promise you anything. You are not my servant; and you shall serve only the Master, All Light (Jehovih).
And as I have taught you, so shall you go and teach others, explaining the Ormazdian law.
Asha said: Do the Gods in heaven give rewards for good works and sacrifices done on earth? Zarathustra said: He who does good works and makes sacrifices to Ormazd has his reward. For it is by this means, that the soul of man becomes strong, and especially strong for the first and second resurrections in the next world.
Asha said: To be with you, O Zarathustra, and feast on the wisdom of your words, I would make any sacrifice. Will you go with me among the poor?
I’hua’Mazda said: No, you shall go alone. And for company you shall pray to your Creator, and make songs of praise to Him, nor think any more of yourself than as if you were dead.
The king said: It is said of madmen that they think they are not mad. How, then, am I to know if I am mad? Will the world not adjudge me so, if I obey your commandments? And can the world not judge me better than I can judge myself? It was said of the ancients that Sughdha (Apollo) obsessed old men and weak-hearted women; and it was for that reason Osiris came and slew him. If there are Gods in heaven, as you say, maybe you have come to slay Osiris?
I’hua’Mazda said: You are a great multiplier of arguments; but in all your speech I have seen nothing that planned the resurrection of men from darkness into light. And is this not the All Highest that man should aim at?
Asha said: I am done. Your judgment is greater than mine. All you have commanded of me I will do. From this time forth I will serve only Ormazd, the Creator. Your God, O Zarathustra, shall be my God. Your ways shall be my ways. Starting now, I will argue forever on the side of the Creator. And in all matters, I will first ask myself what I shall say that would be like your God would say it; and what I shall do that will fulfill the Ormazdian law.