The role of Iranian myths in the Kār-nāmag i Ardaxšīr i Pābagān

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Ph.D in Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages, Faculty of Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Iran is a land of great contrasts: a land of deserts and jungles, of snowy mountains and luxuriant valleys; Geography inevitably affects culture, and it is not surprising that in Iran is a number of different cultures any of which have produced different mythologies. No nation’s religion or myth can be understood separately from its historical background. Myth is a symbolic expression of the interrelationship established by man between various phenomena and man himself. Over all, myth is part of history, for myth embodies the views of man about himself, his world and its development. Thus, myth and history are completely intertwined in Zoroastrian belief. The Iranians understand the whole of their history, past, present and future in the light of mythology. To the ancient Iranian the divine was not a distant reality far removed from human experience but a factor of everyday life. Man’s daily and rituals life involves direct and immediate contact with the divine beings. Kār-nāmag i Ardaxšīr i Pābagān the oldest historical, romantic and mythical story from the Sassanid period has been made according to the beliefs and myths common among the people. While the story recounted the hero-king's wrath against the enemies and propagated his bravery, also, it reminded the religious rites and teachings of the believers. In this way, the people knew the king and felt united with him. The historical accuracy of this story is not in question; its myths are charters that display social design and moral and religious behavior; so that believers live according to it. Ardašir sees necessary the establishment of an official religion and the union between religion and the state in the existence person of the ruler, and in order to reach the government, he suppresses all his opponents. The alliance between religion and government had not been experienced at the national level until then. Therefore, the government needed the support of the people; In this way, the mental gods are embodied and help the hero or savior; research questions include: 1) Who are the mythical incarnate gods and the helpers of Ardašir? 2) In the Kār-nāmag, what did Ardašir do to show his popularity, glory and power? The purpose of this article is studying the mythological and ritual culture and anthropology of this story. In this research, the myths of the first part of the story are examined, that's mean, the myths associated with Ardašir, the founder of the Sassanid system, it has been studied analytically and descriptively. Studies have shown that, goddess of wealth Aši/Art, god of glory/ Farrah (Xwarrah), god of Victory/ Wahram, god of Fire/ Atar, god of Obedince/ Sraosha, these gods were the helpers of Ardašir in this story. The god of wealth is embodied in the role of Ardavan's daughter in the story and reaches the kingdom with she and other gods of Ardašir. Religious people know the Art/ Aši or the angel of wealth and abundance and the benefactor of Farrah, they consider the company and help of Ardavan's daughter as the embodiment of the angel of wealth and his company. Thus, god of Art/ Aši, the giver of Farrah, glory and wealth in the embodiment of the king's daughter, who brings the treasure of the father and the good news of the astronomers for hero, rescues him from prison and death, and for promotes the religion and unity of Iran and the glory of Iranians,  accompanies Ardašir for unity religion and government. In this way, Farrah Kiani moves away from the previous king and accompanies the hero-king. After the time of  the Kiygashtasb king, Farrah did not join anyone. The kingdom no longer boasted of having Farrah. But Ahuramazda saved it for the Iranians until the Day of Judgment. Farrah who according to myth, reaches the savior at the end of the world, in the Kār-nāmag i Ardaxšīr i Pābagān, according to the religious leader, in the form of a ram, accompanies Ardašir for the ideal goal of uniting religion and government. The ram is specifically described as the embodiment of Farrah Kiani and Divine. Now, if a believer considers the ram as a symbol of the god of Victory (Bahram), it is the same belief; there is no objection to one of the mythical incarnations of the god of Victory being described in the form of a ram; Especially that Ardašir, for praise be to the victory  from the god of Victory in different cities of Iran, orders the construction of the fire temple of Bahram. The erection of a fire temple both calms the believers to perform religious worship and shows the popularity and power of the hero-king; or if people promise to accompany the ram and consider it a symbol of wealth- Which is to be inherited after the victory of Ardašir and the foundation of the new government- the storyteller's opinion is provided. God of Victory (Bahram) in the incarnation of a ram- symbol of wealth and power animal husbandry of Iranians- accompanies Ardašir, so that viewers describe that accompaniment; The ram first follows Ardašir, then, he moves next to him and when he rides on Ardašir's horse, anymore, Ardašir's defeat becomes impossible. The storyteller turns fifteen-year-old Ardašir of the story during events with the help and support of angels- which are familiar to the piousness- into a hero, and this hero is responsible for establishing a new government with strong foundations of religion. After the Alexander of Macedonian invaded Iran and destroyed the Zoroastrian religious book, such a government was the wish of the Iranians. However, the Parthians bravely and devotedly liberated Iran from the Seleucids and preserved it for nearly five centuries and their hard defeats overcame the enemies; but with the structure of the tribal rule and religious tolerance, they could not meet the needs of the people. In the meantime, Ardašir's slogan went beyond preserving the country and that was the satisfaction of the beloved gods of the Iranian people and the establishment of a religious government that no one else could harm. For popularity and glory and power, Ardašir kills Karm Xwāday in a ritual way. The biggest antithetic and demon that bothers him and he reconstructs near the believers, that Fereydoun has killed the dragon. And all around Iran, for praise be to the god of Victory, he built the expensive fire temples of Bahram. In the story, people are familiar with the tyranny of Zahak, Afrasiab and Alexander. The storyteller does not explain, by saying their cruelty, he shows Ardašir as Fereydoun. Dualism is characteristic of the Zoroastrian religion, and it is the belief in the existence of two fundamentally opposing forces involved in the work of the world. In Zoroastrianism, life is a battlefield between the good and the bad; truth is law and order, and lie is disorder and chaos. Man has the choice between "truth" and "lie". A man who chooses the truth, the gods accompany him and a man who chooses to lie, devils accompany him. The hero's move is to establish religion; All obstacles are evil. Ardašir's war with the enemies is a battle of good and evil. Wherever the hero wants to be endangered, the gods are embodied, when the daughter of Ahriman (Jahi) as the daughter of Ardavan wants to kill the hero, the god of fire is embodied in the form of a rooster. Because it is only needed that the poison been poured in the cup and not being eat it. Believers are familiar with the controversy between good and evil and the appearance of gods as animals does not diminish the popularity of gods; rather, it increases their power and popularity among the religious. Iranian myths depict the final pattern of believers' daily lives. In the Kār-nāmag we should not look for the real features of the historical Ardašir. We should look for the customs and rituals of the people and the beliefs of the believers who show Ardašir as a paradise model of the hero-king. This story is not made by a storyteller; rather, a group came together to build it; a group of astronomers, geographers, historians, sociologists, storytellers and most importantly, religious jurists tried to make a story in simple and popular language, while entertaining, people's support for the new government is offered. The present article only had the opportunity to address some of the favorite myths of religious people from the point of view of believers and the purpose of the narrator.



 
 
 

Keywords

References

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