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Of all the Creation stories we read none touches scientific realities as
much as the Gathic concept does in the making (and the unmaking) of life.
It talks of the awesome wonder of Creation, which embodies a sacred moral
and ethical code to which the sanctity of all life is subordinate. The
sacredness of the Tree of Life has been found
in every
form of spirituality as a widely recognised
symbol from prehistoric times. Indigenous peoples on all
Continents had spiritual locations identified as their ‘scared sites’. As
agricultural and pastoral societies developed they built sanctuaries of
trees, which were their guardians, never to be cut down or mutilated.
In Vedic Yajna
(Av: Yasna) twigs of Palash, the
‘flame tree’ were used as auspicious aromatic fuel for the sacred
fire. Our scriptures, too, talk of special wood and plants used to
fuel the Fire.
Vendidad 14.3 ‘….the righteous and good soul doth offer only
those plants,
which bear the sweetest fragrance as fuel for the Fire of Ahura Mazda…..’
Ahura
Mazda’s fourth Creation:
Parallel with scientific observations of the sequence of development of
life on Earth, it is symbolic our scriptures should emphasise that,
following on the Sky, the Earth and the Waters, Ahura Mazda’s fourth
Creation was Plant Life ahead of his fifth and sixth creations - Animals
and Humans.
Gatha
Spenta Mainyu 48.6 ‘….and Mazda through righteous acts
first created and clothed the bare Earth with trees and plants.’
This
creation of first life on Earth, a green mantle of
freshness/flourishing greenery of vegetation (Avestan: ‘Varena’
meaning ‘an exquisite garment’, see also the Gathic words
Varena and Varana) cladding the naked Earth, was well planned to
initiate the life-giving atmospheric capsule of air (our environment with
the precise proportion of Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen). This was
ordained by Ahura Mazda to evolve for the sustenance of his next two
Creations - Animal and Human life until the end of Zravaane Daraegho
Khadaate (limited Earth time).
Vendidad 9.46: ‘…….and the Druj shall flee, like an arrow well darted,
as hastily as would the previous season’s green freshness covering the
Earth.’
To the
Gathic/Avestan peoples, among ‘the first documented greenies’ on
record, all life - not just human life - has a higher destiny. Their
personification of the spirit of sacred plant life - the Creator’s supreme
attribute ‘Ameretat’- the Lord of Immortality as the protector of such
life, thus endowed all vegetation on Earth with sacredness, forever. The
wanton destruction of plant life and cutting down of trees was deemed
strictly unacceptable and its conservation, as a noble value, became
inherent in our traditional beliefs.
Hadokht
Nask XXII.13 quotes the comparative value of regretful actions:
‘.…..ridiculing
others, encouraging acts of idolatry, withholding charity from the needy,
cutting
down trees ..….then, it becomes obligatory to commence chanting the
Gathas.’
Only when
it became absolutely necessary was some clearance permitted but a strict
limit became mandatory.
Vendidad
9.2: ‘In truth, a good Mazdayasnian, well versed in the texts of
the scriptures, will fell trees only in one area of 9 lengths of the
extended arms within the 4 sides of a square’ (about 18 square meters).’
Vendidad
16.2 adds: ‘a good Mazdayasnian……….he carefully selects
areas devoid of plants, trees or sources of firewood during
the necessary clearance for a path, passageway or road.’
Soviet
archaeologists have identified three cultures of the second millennium BCE
(over a vast area of pastoral grassland and wooded forest regions) similar
to the Gathic settlement. Those specifically in the Kazakhstan region
were proto-Indo-Aryans and proto-Aryans of the Andronovo culture living
off the alluvial soil, watered by the Rivers Ob, Lena and many smaller
rivers and tributaries. Zarathushtra’s people were settled pastoralists,
who tended cattle and sheep and goats and who kept dogs for herding and
hunting in the rich grasslands and dense forests abounding in the
white-barked birch trees (‘spaetinish razurao’ of Ram
Yasht XV.31). They saw themselves as custodians as well as dependants,
thus becoming one with the natural world. They managed to harvest an
astonishing variety of products from the forest. The running waters and
the natural landscape of the grasslands in the vicinity promoted special
veneration. Such was there reverence for trees that planting them in the
name of noted persons and loved ones was an ingrained custom
Fravardin Yasht XIII.79 ‘nameni apo, yazmaide; nameni urvaro, yazmaide
(reverence by name to the waters; reverence by name to the trees)
The
sociology of such co-existence in Zarathushtra’s teachings enabled his
followers to practice the most intensive and sustainable of agriculture
known to early humans. The tree, in our scriptures, stands for stately
dignity and for everything that is fertile and abundant. It was already
known to the Avestan people that greenery and foliage attract clouds and,
therefore, rain.
The
effect of the Sun’s rays
Tir
Yasht VIII.7: ‘……Ahura Mazda gave admirable light and heat to the Sun to
make
the Earth fertile by felicitating the growth of Vegetation and increasing
…………’
and of
the Moon beams were known.
Mah
Yasht VII.4 ‘When the light of the full Moon shines, the attraction of
moisture
from the waters causes green coloured off-shoots to begin to sprout……….’
Through
ages the magnificent Cypress tree (deraakht-e-sarv) has remained an
emblem representing all that was beautiful, majestic and lasting. The
luxuriant growth of its branches and its deep evergreen hue last the whole
year round.
Our
Avestan ‘Paradise’ – a haven on Earth:
To the aesthetically sensitive Iranians, Nature and culture coalesce in
the serenity, greenery and flashing colours of parks, gardens and
reserves. The created landscape, indeed, exhibits the urge of the free
human spirit to exhilarate. Such aesthetic sensitivity of cultivating
gardens was enjoyed by the ancient Iranian kings and commoners alike in
our ‘ancestral homeland’. Every available area of land - the slopes as
well as flat land was used for their flowerbeds and rows of cypress and
pines. The main feature was the surrounding wall that
protected the garden against wind and provided the privacy of a blissful
seclusion away from the dust and distraction.
The word
‘Paradise’ stems from the Avestan word ‘Pairi-daeza’,
literally meaning ‘an enclosure surrounded by walls’ (‘Pairi’
surrounding / ‘Daeza’ wall). During Achaemenian
times a garden, orchard or park was called Pairi-daeza.
Vendidad
3.18 & 5.49 talk of ‘a walled enclosure covering
the allotted ground built by the Mazdayasnians.’
Priceless
ancient Iranian paintings depict closely the Avestan word, ‘Pairi-daeza’ –
(‘walled enclosure’), later corrupted to the word Paradise. They depict
all the features a typical Iranian ‘chahaar baug’, so called
because it has four areas divided by paths with flowering
shrub and scrub or, sometimes narrow water channels in the shape of a
cross dividing the enclosed area into four divisions. This magnificent
layout has been carried through and symbolised by the ancient concept of
the ‘four quarters of the world’ divided by four rivers.
The walls
ensure their private, enclosed nature and the strategic use of
shade-giving ornamental and protective wind breaks (Plane and Ash trees,
tall oriental Poplars, native Cypress, Palm, Judas trees, Willows and some
exotics) in lateral sunken beds towering over the shrub, afford protection
for the delicate plants and refreshment for the visitor.
Sometimes, one central alley is broad with raised walkways flanked by
flower beds (perennials, Roses, Lilacs, evergreen Viburnum shrubs,
Forsythias) between which are rills and pools, shaded by fruit trees (wild
Sour Cherries, Almonds, Pomegranates, Walnuts, Vines and Orange groves)
and fragrant shrub with masses of colours (Anemones, Muscari, Ranunculi)
under-carpeted with Clover and sparkling with spring flower-bulbs (Tulips,
Irises, Poppies) nestling under the shade.
At other
times, the broad central passageway is occupied with cascading water,
flowing down a steep gradient having walkways by its sides with orchard
trees spread out towards the high walls - an oasis garden.
Occasionally, a garden is fashioned around a natural spring. Water jets
and fountains are essentially latter-day (comparatively modern)
non-Iranian inclusions added during the renovation of gardens hundreds of
years old.
This
Paradise on Earth, the walled garden with its lingering aura of
fragrance in the air has been symbolically identified in prose form as a
personal world of spiritual reverence and affection in contrast to the
stark materiality of the outside world. As its gate, the only entrance to
this enchanted world, opens by favour of the Creator, we, earthbound
beings, transiently enter to reflect on and enjoy a far more
transcendental world of nature’s closeness.
Sadly,
the concept of a Paradise as a blissful place has been attributed entirely
to the post-Sassanian period after conquest. Even the Egyptians have been
credited as originators by virtue of the fact that a record exists of a
nobleman’s landscaping of trees and shrubs in a
painting found on a tomb wall dating 500 BCE.
In a hot, dry and dusty desert land, such a
place could only be limited to the palatial abode of the nobleman
and perhaps of the Pharaohs. The laying down of
parks and gardens for the commoners was just not thought of.
By 1000
BCE in Maa(n)da [Gk: Media]the Medes, in the first recognisable
Zarathushti Empire in their ‘new world’ (outside their
‘ancestral Homeland’) and later the Achaemenians, developed the
first concept of public parks, botanical gardens and game reserves
meant for the enjoyment of all. Such nature reserves with
ornamental trees, fruit trees, well-tended
meadows and game also became open spaces
for the refreshment of the mind and relaxation of the body. This
influence then spread to Greece and Rome (by 300-400 BCE).
Xenophon,
the Greek historian 430-354 BCE, who learnt about the aesthetics of
gardening during his travels in Asia, called it ‘Paradeisoi’, a
Greek equivalent of an Airyanic word. The Greek word ‘Paradeisoi’
(as garden) entered the first Bible in the Greek language. Then, becoming
the ‘Garden of Eden’, the word ‘Paradise’ was embraced by all three
Abrahamic religions.
Plane Trees:
Socrates 469-399 BCE learnt of the splendour of Iranian Gardens at the
palace in Sardis of Cyrus (the rebel Prince) younger brother of Xerxes II,
who attended to the trees himself. Xerxes, after defeating the rebel
prince, paid divine honours to the plantation of Plane Trees and entrusted
a senior commanders to nurture the plantation.
Achaemenian documents record welfare of orchards and wilderness reserves
took precedence over other matters of welfare in the State. Daraius I
took time off to introduce new foliage - Plane Trees from beyond the
Euphrates into Iran. To newly constructed Cities he allotted one third of
the land area inside the walls to houses and two thirds to the trees,
orchards and gardens. In medieval times the cities, like the modern city
of Tehran, were adorned with Plane Trees.
Cypress Trees:
Initially taken by the Romans to Italy and their European colonies, the
Cypress has not exhibited such longevity in Europe, where it rarely
survives even 2000 years, mainly succumbing to a tumorous growth in the
main trunk. Among the many species of the Cypress these tumours have not
been observed in Iran and the whole of the ancient Classical World (once
part of Greater Persia). Such is the Iranian reverence for plant life
that single trees, the Sarv e Abarkouh and the Sarv e
Cham (Cypress in the villages of Abarkouh and Cham) have been
nominated ‘Miraas e farhangi - Iran’s National Treasure’ (National
Cultural Heritage). These trees have possibly lived well over 4000 years
by virtue of the ideal environment - a crisp dry chemically unpolluted
desert environment of the Yazdi Dasht e Kavir. At the base of the
majestic tree in Cham is a shrine having a living flame maintained
continuously by the devoted villager custodians.
Sensitivity of plant life:
It is not correct to presume that, without the human and animal type
perceptive consciousness, plants have no feeling. The old concept of an
ability to feel was based on an erroneous idea that impulses from the
brain are electrical in nature. Nerve impulses have been shown to be due
to chemical changes at the synapses. Chemical changes of differing natures
are found in every organism. All life has the ability to perceive, feel
and react. The sensitivity of plants has even been attributed to the
domain of thought. Plant emotions are observed to behave like other Extra
Sensory Perception-class signals. Even the
fragrance of flowers can alter under differing environmental conditions,
as also the diverse aura of people can reflect upon plants near
them.
The
fragrance of flowers can alter under differing environmental conditions,
as also the diverse aura of people can reflect upon plants near them. The
fact that foliage reflects a certain warmth (and silent affection) when
nurtured with care, has been referred to in Rashna Yasht XII.17 [Rashna,
the Yazata of Truth / Justice has been called ‘upairi-urvaraa(n)m’
(highly affectionate)]. During my visits to the villages around
Yazd I was fascinated to hear about the villagers’ everlasting affection
for their Cypress and of the result of their nurturance - phrases like
“we are attached to it” and “it grows on us”.
Historical records have shown that after Caliph Ja’afar al Mutawaqqil in
861 CE ordered the cutting down of the ‘Sarv e Kashmar’ in Khorasan a
strong resolve occurred among all Zarathushti villagers in Iran to plant
and nurture a Cypress in their village courtyard – to grow “like the
tree of Zaradust, taller and bigger than any other in the
land of Iran.”
[i]
This article was posted on vohuman.org on July 15, 2005 courtesy of its
author, Dr. Sam Kerr, and draws from the material that appeared in the
Spring 2005 issue of the FEZANA journal |
