Dualism, or the doctrine that existence is under the domain of two antithetical principles, has frequently been proposed as present in the Zoroastrian religion.[i] Often this determination has been applied rigidly to the faith’s entire history, with forces designated as good and evil said to operate on both spiritual and corporeal levels. Little consideration has been given to deliberate theological elaboration on the nature of these two forces.[ii] Dualism, in one form or the other, indeed may have been present in Zoroastrianism during most time periods. In one document, written in the Middle Persian or Pahlavi language during the ninth century AD, a Zoroastrian theologian named Mardanfarrokh I Ohrmazddadan expounded: ” It is explicitly revealed that there are two original principles, no others. Furthermore, good (Pazand: nyak Pahlavi: nek) cannot arise from evil (Pazand: vad Pahlavi: wad), nor evil from good. Thus, it should be understood that something completely perfect in terms of goodness (Pazand: neki Pahlavi: nekih) cannot produce evil (Pazand: vadi Pahalvi: wadih). If it could [produce evil] then it is not perfect, because when something is defined as perfect there is no place [in it] for anything else. When there is no place for anything else, nothing else can arise from it. Since God is perfect in terms of goodness (Pazand: vahi Pahlavi: wehih) and wisdom (Pazand danai Pahlavi: danagih), evil (Pazand: vatar Pahlavi wadar) and ignorance (Pazand adani Pahlavi: adanih) cannot arise from God. If it were possible [for evil to arise from God] then God would not be perfect, and if God were not perfect and good it would not be possible to praise him as the righteous creator. ” This passage, cited from latter Pazand rendering of the Pahlavi Shkand Gumanig Wizar or Doubt Dispelling Exposition (8:101-110), had been composed at the time when Zoroastrians were under political and socioreligious pressure from Muslims to adopt Islam.
In that situation, such words were intended to bolster the faith of Zoroastrians living under Islamic rule by calling attention to one aspect then fundamental to Iranian religion: cosmic dualism. Mardanfarrokh did so by contrasting the dualistic worship of Ahura Mazda (ormazd) the creator God and condemnation of Angra Mainyu (Ahreman) the destructive devil to the monotheistic veneration of Allah who, according to Islamic belief, is the ultimate source of all things good and evil.
The theme upon which Mardanfarrokh I Ohrmazddadan drew was not a new one. It had become, in many respect, the central tenet of Zoroastrianism — namely, an all-encompassing struggle between good and evil symbolized by Ahura Mazda against Angra Mainyu, truth opposed to lies, wisdom casting light upon ignorance, life holding death at bay. Humans too were drawn into this grandiose struggle by dogma claiming all people are born to combat evil (also known as the lie). A passage in the Bundahishn or book of Primal Creation (3:23-24), a Phalavi text whose present version dates from the eleventh century AD, recounts an archaic covenant established when: “Ahura Mazda deliberated with humanity’s consciousness’ and immortal soul, and having granted omniscience to all humanity inquired, ‘Should I create you in corporal form to battle the lie (Pahlavi: druz Old Persian drauga, Avesta: drug), vanquish it, and then be resurrected perfect and immortal, ? or must you always be safeguarded from the adversary (Pahlavi: ebgat Avesta: aibigati). Which option appears more advantageous to you?” It is written that: “The immortal souls of humanity knew, through omniscience, of Angra Mainyu’s evil afflicing the material world and of the adversary’s eventual defeat. So they agreed to enter the material world.” The notion of an absolute cosmic or universal dualism where God and devotees constantly contest the devil and his evil eventually found representation in many forms of Zoroastrian life — from politics to art and literature.[iii]
The Bundahishn, like the Shkand Gumanig Wizar, echoes views and attributes of Mazda worshippers living during the Middle Ages, a period roughly spanning the sixth to the sixteenth centuries A.D. Yet, the question arises whether the Zoroastrian notion of dualism had always been so stark, in contrasting good combating evil throughout the universe, or if its extremism developed gradually by spreading from an ethical dimension of faith, into the daily activities of Zoroastrians.[iv]
