Each stanza of this song contains the translation in italics, a brief commentary, and a closing thought to ponder.
Try reading on stanza each day and pondering upon its meaning.
ABERRATION
These cunning persons are the ritualistic priests, called the karapan by Zarathushtra. The word actually means “arrangers of rituals”, but it also means “chatterers” and “mumblers” which they indeed were. They were the only priests that Zarathushtra knew of; in his Songs, he does not refer to any good priest.
The karapans were not alone. There were also the rulers, turned into luxury lovers through the spoils they had accumulated. The two, having a common vested interest of exploiting the people, had joined hands to enrich themselves. They kept the people in darkness and ignorance through their increasing lust for wealth. They had become tyrants, an action that earned them people’s hatred. However, they forgot that the Divine was watching them and a day would dawn when a thought-provoker would rise and lead the people out of their exploitation and darkness and to divine light.
Song 5.1 (Yasna 32.1)
O false gods beware,
the family, the community, and the fellowship,
all pray to the Wise Lord
for bliss in the manner I do,
and they say: May we be Your messengers
to control those who are Your antagonists.
Zarathushtra warns the priests of old cult that their days are over. All, from the family to the world fellowship, have become enlightened enough to join him in becoming missionaries of the Divine Message that will curb the exploiting activities of the professional monopolists and create a new world.
The false beliefs that permeate our societies are doomed when the people reject them in search of the joy that comes from the Divine’s vision for reality.
Song 5.2 (Yasna 32.2)
The Wise Lord, an ally through good mind
and a good friend through the glorious righteousness,
has responded to them:
"We have chosen the good and progressive serenity for you."
(And they say:) "May it be ours!"
The Divine loves and supports those who use their good mind and act according to the universal law of righteousness, and work as messengers of the divine doctrine. God grants them a serene and calm life in which to progress. Happy, they pray to have it forever.
The Divine has granted us the peace of progressing in serenity and doing good.
Song 5.3 (Yasna 32.3)
But you deceptive gods,
and those who vehemently venerate you,
are the creations of evil mind, wrong, and disdain.
You are notorious for your deceitful deeds
in the inhabited part of the Earth.
Any gods that are worshiped as a power stronger than human, are less than The Divine. These are a creation of a mind NOT focused on the Divine. Such a mind produces wrongful thoughts, words, and deeds, and leads to contempt for free people by the zealots of religiosity. It is they who are known to be engaged in deceiving and exploiting simple people.
Harmful belief systems are born from the minds of wrongful and unethical people not focused on The Divine.
Song 5.4 (Yasna 32.4)
Because you have, with your actions,
made the mortals do the worst,
only to be called as daeva-devotees,
who give up good mind,
and run away from the Divine intelligence
and from righteousness.
Deceptive priests make people do for themselves even the worst acts only to make the people feel that they are devotees of the so-called gods. These people are thus kept away from using their God-given intelligence and do not act righteously.
Deceitful rulers structure society in a way that incentivizes oppresion and exploitation for their own benefit.
Song 5.5 (Yasna 32.5)
Thus you have deprived mankind
of good life and immortality.
But in fact, you, who are but deceptive gods,
have deceived yourselves
with your harmful mentality, deeds, and speech
by providing the wrongful with power.
Belief in false gods has misguided human beings not to lead a good life and therefore not to attain immortality. But this very action is self-defeating because when these beliefs are translated into harmful thoughts, words, and deeds, the result is chaos caused by the wrongful in power.
False beliefs bring chaos.
Song 5.6 (Yasna 32.6)
However, even if this power makes
a great offender attain fame,
You, Wise Lord, remember well
the fact by the best mind
that in Your dominion and under righteousness,
Your doctrine will prevail.
Even if a criminal becomes famous for their wielding of wrongful power, it will not last long. Eventually, the divine doctrine, through best thinking, will be established in the divine dominion, chosen by the righteous in accordance with the Universal Law.
Wrongful power and fame do not last. Divine Doctrine does.
Song 5.7 (Yasna 32.7)
Regarding these offenses,
no wise person has ever attained power
which could be called life,
a life, said to be achieved
by the force of flowing metal.
Of such, You, Wise Lord,
know best the consequences.
Power attained through brute force cannot be called life. It is living. A wise person will never do it. God knows best the end of that living.
Through life’s trials we learn the proper way to live.
Song 5.8 (Yasna 32.8)
Regarding these crimes,
it is said that Yima son of Vivanhan
also sounded himself the god of our world.
For such a crime too,
as far as I am concerned,
the final judgement lies with You.
Among those who have committed crimes, Yima (King Jamshid) is reported to have declared himself the “god of the world”. But as far as Zarathushtra is concerned, he leaves it to God to be the final judge. He offers no other insight.
Note: King Jamshid’s reign and feats symbolize the period during which the Indo-Iranians migrated from northern steppes to the Iranian Plateau and then survived a severe spell of the ice age. His period also symbolizes many advances made in social comforts. When Jamshid felt that it was he who had provided his people with prosperity, he became proud and arrogant and declared himself “the Creator of the World”. The boast brought his downfall.
Do not pass judgment on another without insight into the circumstances.
Song 5.9 (Yasna 32.9)
The evil teacher destroys with his teachings
the doctrine of the wisdom of life.
He prevents people
from the precious acquisition of good mind.
I appeal to You, Wise Lord, and to Righteousness,
expressing my mind in words.
A harmful teacher will not teach how to live a thoughtful life. He has to keep people in ignorance and away from knowledge attained through good mind. Zarathushtra wants the Divine to help him, through righteousness, to express the truth in understandable words so that people are awakened.
False teachers prevent the people of the world from reason and good thinking.
Song 5.10 (Yasna 32.10)
Indeed, he devastates the doctrine
who considers it the worst to look
at the world and the sun with plain eyes,
who sets the just against the wrongful,
who destroys settlements,
and who hurls a deadly weapon at the righteous.
Four types of people destroy the Doctrine Zarathushtra shares.
(1) The superstitious who do not see the world and the sun as plain creations but imagine them to be deities with mythical tales;
(2) who connive to have a just person confront a wrongful person;
(3) the aggressors who destroy human habitation; and
(4) who hurt the righteous.
False teachers give power to unethical people and encourage destruction and violence.
Song 5.11 (Yasna 32.11)
Also they devastate life
who highly regard the wrongful
as lords and ladies,
rob people of their property,
and try hard to distract the righteous
from their best mind.
People who regard the wrongful rich as lords and ladies, who exploit people to deprive them of their belongings, and who, through various means, try to distract the righteous people to give up thinking as good as they can, are also among those who disturb and destroy life.
Unethical people in positions of power will do all they can to distract you from using the best thinking.
Song 5.12 (Yasna 32.12)
It is through such teachings
that they try to distract mortals
from excellent deeds.
For them, the Wise One has decreed ill consequences,
because they devastate worldly life in luxury.
It is for this reason that grabbing priests have chosen
the wrong dominion of the wealthy instead of righteousness.
It is through exploitation of the poor by the rich that good life on earth is disturbed and destroyed. The priests also side with the rich instead of the righteous persons because it pays them well in return. The consequences for these wrong teachings and doings are harmful. That is the divine justice – do harmful things, receive harmful outcomes; do beneficial things, receive beneficial outcome.
False teachings lead to greed and motivate harmful people to commit unethical acts
to amass more riches at the expense of others.
Song 5.13 (Yasna 32.13)
It is because of such power
That the grabbers of this life
wish to gain their spoils in the house of worst mind.
And they, Wise Lord, who, in their lust,
growl about the message of Your thought-provoker,
lust, in turn, prevents them from seeing righteousness.
Spoils grabbed by the priests has given them power. It provides them with a gainful living. It is a life of lust lived with the worst mind, and their lust does not allow them to see righteousness, the Truth. It makes them create an uproar against the thought-provoking message of Zarathushtra.
The deceitful who steal, swindle, and manipulate are trapped in an awful state of consciousness which prevents them from seeing Truth or righteousness.
Song 5.14 (Yasna 32.14)
Seizing such spoils,
even the sagacious princes
have long been devoting their minds and efforts.
They have, thus, resorted to help the wrongful.
Fired by the wisdom-wasting drink,
they have declared that the world must be destroyed.
The Kavi princes, although men of knowledge, were cooperating with the practicing priests in exploiting people. The two had a common interest – exploitation. Thus the rulers were helping the wrongful. Addicted to “haoma”, the instant intoxicating drink prepared ceremoniously to "raise their energies", their aggressive mood was destroying the world.
Greed will blind many people by setting their minds on committing harm to amass wealth.
Song 5.15 (Yasna 32.15)
It is with such actions
that the ritualistic priests and princes are annihilated
through the very people,
whom they have deprived of the power to live as they wish.
Of these two parties,
the latter will be taken to the house of good mind.
Once the truth espoused by Zarathushtra is understood, the priests and princes are overthrown by the very people who are deprived of their rightful freedom to live. It is the free people who ultimately enjoy the blessings of good mind.
Evil actions committed to gain wealth are self-destructive,
in the end the oppressed will overthrow the greedy wrongdoers.
Song 5.16 (Yasna 32.16)
Every teaching of the talented
is the best to listen to.
Wise Lord, I am powerful enough
to meet the two-fold threats,
and restrain the crime of the wrongful
directed against friends.
Zarathushtra, through his genius insights, declares his teachings are the best to listen to. He is confident that he will be able to meet the threat posed by the priests and the princes. He is sure to stop the cruelty done to his companions.
Listen to the counsels of the wise and talented people in your life.
We invite your comments on these Gathas so that our insights might teach one another.
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