Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/502

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MYSTICS AND MYSTICISM

Unmistakable influence of Hindu Yogism. All this self-mortification of the body and the assumption of occult powers sounds unfamiliar to Zoroastrian ears. The whole fabric of the ascetic and unworldly view of life is in direct antagonism to the active, and, in the best sense, worldly spirit of the Mazdayasnian faith. In its every detail, as indicated above, the Parsi mystic school savours of the strong influence of the Indian Yogis. The Parsi ascetics of the period seem to have been in close acquaintance with the Hindu hermits. The author of the Dabistan informs us that Mobad Hushiyyar conducted him to see some of these Hindu ascetics,[1] and he speaks equally of Parsi adepts who were in constant touch with such Hindu monks.[2] He further mentions a Parsi ascetic who moved about in Gujarat clad in the garments of a Hindu hermit,[3] and who visited the great Sikh saint, Guru Har Govind.[4] Hirbad, a great Parsi mystic, moreover, gave instructions to his disciple, Mobad Hushiyyar, either to burn or bury his body, when dead,[5] because it mattered not whether a corpse was consigned to the fire or to the earth.[6] Every one of its details shows the total indifference on the part of these dissenters to what was really true of Zoroastrian observance.

  1. ↑ Db, vol 2, 137, 145.
  2. ↑ Ib., 146.
  3. ↑ Ib., 192, 193.
  4. ↑ Ib., 280, 281.
  5. ↑ Db, vol 3, 208.
  6. ↑ Desatir, tr by Mulla Firuz, vol 2, p. 29, Bombay, 1818.
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