A History of Religious Ideas, Volume 1: From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries

by Mircea Eliade

The punishment of the wicked, the rewarding of the virtuous, obsess Zarathustra. In another hymn he asks, “What penalty is provided for him who procures empire (khshathra, ‘power, potency’) for the wicked evildoer?” (Yasna 31. 15). Elsewhere he exclaims: “When shall I learn if you have power, O Wise One (Mazdā) with Justice (Arta), over each of those who threaten me with destruction?” (48. 9). He is impatient at seeing the members of the men’s societies continuing to sacrifice bovines and consume haoma with impunity: “When wilt thou strike this filthy liquid?” (48. 10). He hopes that he can renew “this life” (30. 9) and asks Ahura Mazdā if the just will conquer the wicked now (48. 2; see further on). Sometimes we feel that he is hesitant, troubled, humble, wanting to know the Lord’s will more concretely: “What dost thou command? What wouldst thou have as praise, as worship?” (34. 12).