The Inner Fire: Faith, Choice, and Modern-day Living in Zoroastrianism

by Rohinton F. Nariman

Zoroastrianism might be a fast-declining religion in today’s world, but what is remarkable is its eternal enigma. It is hard to believe that the hymns of the faith have travelled down to us in accurate form and poetic metre, purely through the memory of generations of priests.
Zarathustra, the founder of the faith, belonged to a period of Persian history which antedated the Achaemenid dynasty (from 550 BC to 330 BC). He followed the old Rigvedic religion until he was the first to receive a revelation from Almighty God. The Gathas—the most sacred text of the Zoroastrian faith—were first composed and sung by Prophet Zarathustra.
Along with the complete comprehension of the Gathas, consisting 238 verses in the same language as the Rigveda, this book is for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the purpose of life on earth and what happens to mankind after death.
The Gathas are extremely relevant in modern times for the fundamental reason that they are timeless. They do not emanate from Prophet Zarathustra’s mind, but are revelations from Almighty God, making them universal in their approach. This book is an attempt to help the reader fully comprehend these and choose the path of leading a righteous life.

Genres: Religion

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2016

Reviews

[Shireen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how the book analysed multiple different parts of the Gathas (Zoroastrian religious scriptures) and arranges them to help outline some of the key tenets of the religion.

What I wish it did better was actually talk about how these beliefs impact our day to day lives - which is what the book title leads you to expect. The explanations and translations are really well done and it's easy to understand how you can still apply many of these tenets to life today, but it still feels a bit superficial in the sense that it is left more for the reader to consider them rather than discuss how they do currently apply to people's lives.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good try that comes up short.

I haven't encountered many books on Zoroastrianism written with the aim of introducing people to the faith (most of what I've seen are drier academic texts focusing on history or comparative theology). So, I was excited to see one written by a member of the faith for non-members.

Unfortunately, there were some issues. First, the book needs to be comprehensively re-edited, as it is a mishmash of history, theology, hagiography, and comparative theology, and that continues throughout all of the chapters. While there is some structure and organization across the chapters, it's rather weak and doesn't really serve the reader well.

There are also several cases where the author attempts to present articles of faith as objective fact; this doesn't surprise me and it's not uncommon in similar works, but it may rankle some readers.

Also, relative to the title, this book really doesn't answer many questions about faith, choice, or modern-day living in Zoroastrianism. It touches on those subjects, but often with very little depth. In the case, I believe the author took on a very large task and dealt with it by giving only brief, sometimes superficial, treatments. I think this is a case where the author's reach exceeded his grasp.

On the positive side, the quotations/excerpts from the gathas are presented well, and I found the author's commentaries on them to be useful and sometimes insightful. At a bare minimum, it has made me more curious to read the gathas for myself.

[Rahul Unnikrishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Mr. Nariman, who is an exceptionally brilliant legal scholar and a judge of the Supreme Court of India, does a masterly analysis of the Gathas, which contains 238 verses. The Gathas are poetic verses which are hymns that are sung to the creator. Mr. Nariman identifies three topics- the fundamentals of faith, holy immortals and, life and beyond, and discusses all the verses relating to these topics. Next, he gives a translation of five divisions of the Gathas -Gatha Ahunavaiti, Gatha Ustavaiti, Gatha Spenta Mainyu, Gatha Vohu Kshatrem and Gatha Vahista Isti. The translation of these verses are indeed a gift to people outside Zoroastrianism because these verses were never in a written form; these were memorised by the priests and were passed on to the next generation of priests. This book is for all those who want to have a deeper understanding of the values, thoughts and teachings of Zoroastrianism.

[Joshua Sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing about this book provided insight into modern Zoroastrianism. It briefly described the basic tenants, before providing an English translation of the Gathas … but … the sociocultural aspects are missing. I was hoping for more about how the religion survived into the modern world and some review of rites and rituals including why we may see the end of this religion in our lifetime and how modern believers feel about this … but … no.

[Rusty del Norte · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Inner Fire, written by Rohinton F. Nariman, is a book about Zoroastrianism - mainly the Gathas. In this book, he looks are different doctrines in the Zoroastrian faith & shows the verses that deal with this viewpoint. In this, the reader gains some basic understanding of this faith.

At the beginning, Nariman takes you through his own journey in which he becomes a priest as a child. He shows his gratitude for men whom helped train him during this time. In this, he memories Zoroastrian prayers & poetry. Poetry, he explains, is the type of verse that the Gathas use in helping with memorization.

He covers lots of bare basics of who Zoroaster is & what the faith it. Nariman gives an outline of history at this point. Its not a true analysis of these event or people. But just the basics - sometimes himself taking a few things as fact without questioning it.

A large part of the book is brief explanations of Zoroastrian tenets & their supporting verses. This happens over many chapters as these chapters are not incredibly long. Some of the verses sound familiar to those of Abrahamic faiths, but their meanings are different. Example, the term "holy spirit" doesn't have the same meaning. Instead, what one might think of the "holy spirit" or more akin to "Fire" in the Gathas.

Nariman closes the book with a brief rush through Persian/Iranian history that gives a little bit of background in explaining what is happening. Again, not much detail, but enough to whet the appetite for a longer study.

Overall, the book is good. I wish he dived into the text more with a commentary & historical background, but that wasn't the focus of this book. Instead, it was to 'scratch the surface' & it does just that.

[Pouruchisti Meherhomji · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a good overview of the Zoroastrian religion to those unfamiliar with the same. I expected a more in-depth analysis of the Gathas, which is lacking in the book.