Chapter 29
During the night, Pon’yah, King of the Sun, thought that perhaps he could obtain the secrets of Zarathustra, regarding his powers with uz, and he sent him the following message: If you will reveal the secrets of your power to your king, your life shall be spared; and if you will prostrate yourself before the King of Kings, saying: There is none higher! You shall have five cities to rule over all your days.
To which Zarathustra sent back the following reply: Zarathustra has no secrets to reveal; neither does he desire five cities, nor one city, to rule over. Tomorrow I shall die, and on the following night you shall die also. And yet, before you die, you shall see the temple of the stars split in two and fall down; and the city of Oas shall fall and rise no more; and Ya’seang, in Jaffeth, shall become KING OF THE SUN, and his dynasty shall stand thousands of years.
The king was surprised at such an answer, and so angered that he struck the messenger with his sling, and he fell dead, and the king ordered his body to be cast into the den of lions.
It was nearly midnight when the body was brought, and Zarathustra, being tall, saw above the wall, and he called out, saying: Do not cast the body into the lions’ den; for I will call him to life in the name of Ormazd. And the men laid the body down by the outer wall, and Zarathustra said: He who is standing by the body shall lay his hand upon it, for the power of life is through life.
And the man laid his hand on the flesh of the man’s body between the neck and the back, and Zarathustra said: Repeat after me: LIFE OF YOUR LIFE, O ORMAZD! Restore this, Your son, to life!
And, lo and behold, the man awoke to life, opened his eyes, and presently rose up; and Zarathustra told him to depart out of the city. Now, the arrest and condemnation of Zarathustra had caused thousands of people to assemble around the prison; and they saw the man restored to life; and some of them went with him out of the city. And all night, after that, Zarathustra healed the sick, and restored the blind and deaf, by calling over the walls in the name of the Father.
When it was nearly sunrise the next morning, the place of the executions was crowded with spectators. Many of the Zarathustrians believed that Zarathustra would liberate himself by the power upon him; and on the other hand, the king’s people, especially the learned, desired to realize his execution, for they denounced him as an impostor.
The latter said: If he is the Master of the I’huans, let him prove his powers while he is hanging by the feet.
It was the law of Oas to keep twelve executioners, representing twelve moons, and at sunrise every morning they put to death whoever had been adjudged to death the previous day. Now, there were two thieves in prison with Zarathustra, condemned to the same ignoble death. And they were weeping and moaning! Zarathustra said to them: Do not weep, nor moan, but rather rejoice. He who gave you life is still with you. He will provide another and better home for your souls.
Behold, I do not weep, nor moan. They who put us to death do not know what they do. The multitude should rather pity them than us. Today you shall escape from the tyranny of Oas.
Zarathustra preached till high noon, and when the light fell on the top of the temple of the stars, the twelve executioners entered the prison and bound the prisoners’ hands together behind their backs; then with another rope they tied the feet, bringing the rope up the back of the legs and passing it between the arms; and they carried the end of the rope up over a beam and down again; and the executioners seized the rope and pulled upon it. And they swung the bodies of the victims high above the walls and secured the rope, leaving them hanging there.
Zarathustra was thus hung between two thieves; and while he was still alive a bolt of light fell upon the temple of the stars, splitting it in two, and it fell to the ground. From that, a cloud of dust arose that grew till the air of the whole city was choking; and then down came another bolt of light, and, lo and behold, the walls of the city fell down, and Zhoo’das perished in the chamber of the wall.
The multitude ran for the king; and when they brought him out of the palace, another bolt of light fell on the palace, and it crumbled into dust. The king called to his guards, but they did not obey him, but fled; and, so, the multitude slew the king.
The learned men then went down to the place of executions, and Zarathustra was not dead yet; but the two thieves were dead. And Zarathustra said to the learned men: Now I will give up my body, and behold, you shall say I am dead. Let the executioners then take down my body and cast it into the lions’ den, and you shall witness that they will not eat my flesh. And some shall say: Behold, the lions are not hungry. At that time you shall cast in the bodies of the two thieves, and lo, the lions will fall upon them and eat their flesh.
Then the learned men shall say: Behold, that happened because Zarathustra’s virtue lay in his flesh, which was different. Now I declare to you, these things are not of the flesh, but of the spirit. For angels shall gather around my body and prevent the lions from tearing my flesh. Of which matter you shall testify before the multitude; for when the lions are devouring the flesh of the thieves, the angels will go away from my body, and, behold, the lions will return and eat my flesh also. By which it shall be proved to you that even lions, the most savage of beasts, have spiritual sight, and are governed by the unseen world, even more than man.
After Zarathustra had thus spoken to the learned men, he spoke to the Father, saying: Receive my soul, O Ormazd! And his spirit departed out of the body, and in that same moment the whole earth shook and trembled, and many houses fell down. So they cast the body into one of the dens, in which were seventeen lions, but they fled from the body. Then the executioners cast in the bodies of the thieves, and, lo and behold, the lions fell upon them instantly.
And when the angels went away from Zarathustra’s body, the lions returned to it and ate also. And the keepers turned in other lions, and all the flesh was eaten. And the multitude ran and brought the body of Zhoo’das and cast it in, and the lions ate it also. And next they cast in the king’s body, and the lions ate it, and were appeased of hunger.
Now when it was night, some of the Zarathustrians gathered together at a neighbor’s house; and Asha was present, and they formed a living altar in order to pray for the soul of Zarathustra, and for the two thieves, and for Zhoo’das, and lastly, for the king. And now the learned men came, saying: Why have you not, during all these years, notified us of these things? Behold, Zarathustra is dead! Asha said:
Have I not carried the alms-bowl publicly, proclaiming them from day to day? And the learned people said: Pity, old Asha! A knave has dethroned his reason! || Now I declare to you, it is the same now as in the olden time; the learned men are farther away from the Father than are those devouring lions. You look into the corporeal world for light, truth, and power, but are blind to the spirit, which underlies all things. I declare to you, whether it is heat, light, or disease that floats in the air, or growth that comes out of the air, in all things it is the unseen that rules over the seen. And more powerful than heat and light, and life and death, is Ormazd, the Person of all things.
Till you have learned this, I can explain nothing that you can comprehend. And yet, to know this, is the beginning of the foundation of everlasting happiness.
While Asha was thus speaking, behold, the soul of Zarathustra came and stood before them, and he was arrayed in the semblance of his own flesh and color, and in his own clothes. And he spoke, saying: Do not fear; I am the same who was with you and was hanged and died, whose flesh was devoured by the lions; I am Zarathustra! Do not marvel that I have the semblance of a corporeal body, for its substance is held together by the power of my spirit. Nor is this a miracle, for the spirits of all the living each hold in the same way, its own corporeal body. As iron attracts iron, the spirit learns to attract from the air a corporeal body of its like and measure.
Then someone present inquired: Where are the two thieves? To which Zarathustra said: As steam rises from boiling water, without shape or form, so are their souls this hour. For this reason I was sent into the world by the Father. Let him who would become controller of his own spirit toward everlasting life, learn the Ormazdian law, seeking to grow in spirit, instead of living for the things of this world.
Behold, in attendance here are Lords of the Hosts of Heaven, who are Sons and Daughters of the Most High Ormazd, the Creator. They will now gather together and re-clothe the thieves, and show you what they are like. || Presently the two drujas, the thieves who were hanged with Zarathustra, stood before the people in sar’gis, and they raved, cursed, and moaned; but they were blind and dumb as to where they were. Then Asha asked them who they were and what they wanted, but they only cursed him, and added that they were to be hanged.
Asha said: Behold, you are already dead, and your spirits risen from the earth! To which they replied by curses against the king. And now the Lords of heaven re-clothed the spirit of the king, but he also did not know that he was dead, and he also cursed, at which, the spirits of the thieves attacked him with evil intent, and all the people saw these things. But the Lords of heaven took away the sar’gis, and mortals could no longer see the drujas.
Zarathustra said: As they were angered and spiritually dumb while in their earthly lives, so do they even now cling to the earth. For which reason you shall sing anthems and pray for them three mornings at sunrise; three high-noons, and three evenings at sunset. Do this also for all your kindred who die, or who are slain, from this time forward, forever.
And you shall utter only words of love for the dead; for whoever utters curses for the dead, brings drujas upon himself. In your love and forgiveness, you raise them out of the torments of hell. And because you raise up others, so does Ormazd raise up your own souls.
Then someone asked how long a spirit lingered about? To which Zarathustra said: Some for three days, some for a year, some for a hundred years, and some for a thousand years! Until they have wisdom and strength to get away. But after three days you shall no longer desire the spirit of the dead to remain with you; rather you shall say to Ormazd: Deal with him and with us in Your Own way, O Father; we are content. || It is better for the spirits that you do not call them back from the higher heavens down to the earth; it is better for you that you remember them high up in paradise; for these thoughts will enable you to rise after you are dead.
Remember that All Light answers everything in heaven and earth after its own manner: If you kill, you are answered in torments sooner or later: If you utter falsehood, you are answered in falsehood: If you curse, you will be cursed in return: If you hate, you will be hated: If you seclude yourselves, you will be excluded: If you keep evil company in this world, you will be bound in evil company in heaven: If you seek to become a leader of men, remember that they whom you rule over will be your burden in heaven: If you do not teach, you shall not be taught: If you do not lift others up, none will lift you up: For in all things the same rule applies in heaven as on earth, for it is a continuation in spirit of that which is practiced in the flesh.