Prophecy: A History of the Future
Robert A. NELSON
Asian Prophecy
Prophecy: A History of the Future
Robert A. NELSON
Asian Prophecy
1. Hindu Prophecy
2. Buddhist Prophecy
3. Zoroastran Prophecy
4. Bahai Prophecy
As do the Christian, Jewish and Moslem religions, the Asian faiths of the Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrans and Baha’i also include detailed prophecies that warn of the impending end of this cycle of civilization, and the return of a World Savior. The Japanese yearn for the arrival of Miroku Bantsu or Rigden Japo. The Altai of Asia call him the White Burkhan and Oirot ("Messenger"). Hindus expect the advent of the Kalki Avatar and Maitreya. He is called the Saoshyant by the Zoroastrans. Tibetans expect the advent of Gessar Khan to save them from the Chinese.
According to Hindu cosmology, the universe is cyclical, passing through four world ages. Each yuga, as they are called, is shorter and less pleasant than the previous epoch due to the degeneration of morality. Currently we are in the last, the Kala Yuga, in which dharma (correct behavior), is only one-fourth of its beginning quality. The Kala Yuga is only 4,320,000 years long. At its end, religion will disintegrate and society will become more secular. When the world becomes hopelessly degenerate, it will end in catastrophe and a new mahayuga ("great yuga") will begin. One thousand yugas is one day in the life of Brahma, the godhead of Hinduism. At the end of each day, the universe comes to an end and is resorbed into the Brahma for an equally long night, during which time it exists only potentially. He reappears at dawn, and creation begins anew. The present age is the first day of the 51st year of Brahma’s life. He lives 100 years, each of which comprises 360 days and nights. Then he dies, and the universe is dissolved into nothingness that lasts for another cosmic century. Then he is reborn to live another 311,040 billion years.
The Kali Yuga allegedly began in 3012 BC, so apparently we have many cosmic hours to wait for it to end; nevertheless, many people believe that the end is nigh. At that time, the Kalki (White Horse) Avatar, the tenth and final incarnation of Vishnu, will arrive. The heavens will open and he will appear on his white horse with his sword "blazing like a comet". He will destroy the wicked and restore purity. Entire continents will sink and rise in the process.
The eschatological Hindu text Divya Maha Kala Jnana ("The Divine Knowledge of Time") allegedly was composed circa 1000 AD by Jagas Guru Srimad Virat Potaluru Veera Brahmendra Maha Swami. The book describes social conditions before the arrival of Kali Purusha, the Kalki Avatar, by the Kali year 5101 (~ 1999 AD). That being is the incarnation of Kali, the destructive and procreative female aspect of Brahma. At that time, Kali Purusha will be called Sree Sree Sree ("Thrice Great") Veera Bhoga Vasataraya Maha Swami. The text Kala Jnana also describes the current world conditions of sexual perversion and horrid disasters that precede the end of this era of errors.
The Vishnu Purana (4: 24) advises us as follows about the conditions at the end of this civilization:
"The leaders who will rule over the earth will be violent and will seize the goods of their subjects. The caste of servants will prevail and the outcasts will rule. Short will be their lives, insatiable their appetites; they will hardly understand the meaning of piety. Those with possessions will abandon agriculture and commerce and will live as servants or following various possessions. The leaders, with excuses of fiscal need, will rob and despoil their subjects and take away private property. Moral values and the rule of law will lessen from day to day until the world will be completely perverted and agnosticism will gain the day among men.
"The causes of devotion will be confined to physical well-being; the only bond between the sexes will be passion; the only road to success will be the lie. The earth will be honored for its material treasure only. The priestly vestments will be a substitute for the quality of the priest. A simple ablution will mean purification, the race will be incapable of producing divine birth. Men will ask: what authority have the traditional tests? Marriage will cease being a rite. Acts of devotion, however scanty, will not produce any result. Every way of life will be equally promiscuous for all. Those who own and spend more money will be the bosses of men who will have only one aim, the gaining of wealth however dishonestly. Every man will consider himself as good as a Brahmin. Men will be terrified of death and fear scarcity; by this alone they will keep up an outward appearance of religious feeling. Women will not obey the orders of their husbands or their parents. They will be selfish, abject, liars, fallen and given to evil ways. Their aims in life will be sensual satisfaction only.
"When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon the earth. He will be born as Kalki in the family of an eminent Brahmin of Sambhala village, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. By his irresistible might he will destroy all the barbarians and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then reestablish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, the Age of Purity."
The Buddhist teachings describe the Kalachakra (Wheel of Time), which revolves in cycles like the Hindu yugas. According to the Maitreyavyankarna ("Prophecy of Maitreya"), Buddha will incarnate as Lord Maitreya ("The Buddha Who Returns") at the end of the present cycle after major geological catastrophes have so changed the face of the planet that he can walk from continent to continent. During his reign, humanity will attain salvation, and even the gods will be liberated from their desires.
The last Hindu Avatar explained the job to Bharata Prince Arjuna, as recorded in the Bhagavad-Gita (4:7-8):
"Whenever there is decay of righteousness... and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I Myself come forth... for the destruction of evil-doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age."
In the Surangama Sutra, Gautama Buddha told his disciple Sariputta of the signs that precede the end of the age:
"After my decease, first will occur the five disappearances. And what are the five disappearances? The disappearance of attainments [to Nirvana], the disappearance of the method [of doing so], the disappearance of [spiritual] learning, the disappearance of the symbols [of Buddhism], the disappearance of the relics...
"Then when the Dispensation of the perfect Buddha is 5,000 years old, the relics, not receiving reverence and honor will go to places where they can receive them... This, Sariputta, is called the disappearance of relics."
BuddhaIn another conversation with Ananda, recorded in the text Vinya Pitaka (II: 253), the Buddha modified this prophecy, reducing the time by half:
"If, Ananda, women had not retired from the household life to the houseless one, under the doctrine and discipline announced by the Tathagata [another Buddha], Dharma would long endure; a thousand years would the good Dharma abide. But since, Ananda, women have now retired from the household life to the houseless one, under the doctrine and the discipline announced by the Tathagata, not long Ananada, will Dharma endure; but five hundred years, Ananda, until the Dharma abide".
The Chinese Buddhist text Abhidharmakosha (4.12c. III) affords a few more details about this prophecy:
"The monks and stream-attainers will be strong in their union with Dharma for 500 years after the Blessed One's Parinirvana. In the second 500 years they will be strong in meditation; in the third period of 500 years they will be strong in erudition. In the fourth 500-year period they will only be occupied with gift-giving. The final or fifth period of 500 years will see only fighting and reproving among the monks and followers. The pure Dharma will then become invisible."
In Chapter 26 of Digha Nikaya, we are told:
"At that period, brethren, there will arise in the world an Exalted One named Maitreya, Fully Awakened, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a Buddha, even as I am now. He, by himself, will thoroughly know and see, as it were face to face, this universe, with Its worlds of the spirits, Its Brahmas and Its Maras, and Its world of recluses and Brahmins, of princes and peoples, even as I now, by myself, thoroughly know and see them."
Elsewhere, the Buddha said of Maitreya:
"Maitreya, the best of men, will then leave the Tushita heavens, and go for his last rebirth. As soon as he is born he will walk seven steps forward, and where he puts down his feet a jewel or a lotus will spring up. He will raise his eyes to the ten directions, and will speak these words, 'This is my last birth. There will be no rebirth after this one. Never will I come back here, but, all pure, I shall win Nirvana."
In recent years, a claimant calling himself Maitreya, with headquarters in England, has been offering himself to the world. He was born in 1944 in Iran, and claims to be a descendant of the Iranian king Nader Shad. His apologists offer numerous prophetic "proofs" of his authenticity, but all of them are dubious. In particular, he forgot to walk and talk at birth, and lotuses fail to sprout in his footsteps.
"Maitreya"The Gautama Buddha also made this prophecy concerning the advent of Maitreya:
"And the Blessed One said to Ananda, I am not the first Buddha, nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened one, endowed with wisdom, auspicious, embracing the Universe, an incomparable Leader of Men, a Ruler of Devas and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths, which I have taught you. He will establish His Law, glorious in its spirit and in the letter. He will proclaim a righteous life wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim. His disciples will number many thousands while mine number many hundreds.’
"Ananda said, ‘How shall we know Him?’
"The Blessed One said, ‘He will be known as Maitreya.’
In the sacred text Anagatavamsa, the sage Sariputta asked Buddha Arahant about the future Buddha, and was told:
"I am now the perfect Buddha;
And there will be Maitreya too
Before this same auspicious aeon
Runs to the end of its years.
The perfect Buddha, Maitreya,
By name, supreme of men."On another occasion, Sariputta asked after Maitreya again, and the Buddha replied:
"At that time, the ocean will lose much of its water, and there will be much less of it than now. In consequence a world-ruler will have no difficulties in passing across it. India, this island of Jambu, will be quite flat everywhere, it will measure ten thousand leagues, and all men will have the privilege of living on it. It will have innumerable inhabitants, who will commit no crimes or evil deeds, but will take pleasure in doing good... Human beings are then without any blemishes, moral offenses are unknown among them, and they are full of zest and joy. Their bodies are very large and their skin has a fine hue. Their strength is quite extraordinary. Three kinds of illness only are known --- people must relieve their bowels, they must eat, they must get old...
"Maitreya, the best of men, will then leave the Tushita heavens, and go for his last rebirth into the womb of that woman [Brahmavati]... As soon as he is born he will walk seven steps forward, and where he puts down his feet a jewel or a lotus will spring up. He will raise his eyes to the ten directions, and will speak these words: 'This is my last birth. There will be no more rebirth after this one. Never will I come back here, but, all pure, I shall in Nirvana!'...
"For 60,000 years Maitreya, the best of men, will preach the true Dharma, which is compassionate towards all living beings. And when he has disciplined in his true Dharma hundreds and hundreds of millions of living beings, then that leader will at last enter Nirvana. And after the great sage has entered Nirvana, his true Dharma still endured for another 10,000 years..."
The Buddha also described the decline of religion in the latter days of this age:
"How will it occur? After my decease there will first be five disappearances. What five? The disappearance of attainment (in the Dispensation), the disappearance of proper conduct, the disappearance of learning, the disappearance of outward form, the disappearance of the relics. There will be these five disappearances.
"Here attainment means that for a thousand years only after the Lord's complete Nirvana will monks be able to practice analytical insights. As time goes on and on these disciples of mine are non-returners and once-returners and stream-winners. There will be no disappearance of attainment for these. But with the extinction of the last stream-winner's life, attainment will have disappeared....
"The disappearance of proper conduct means that, being unable to practice jhana, insight, the Ways and the fruits, they will guard no more the four entire purities of moral habit. As time goes on and on they will only guard the four offenses entailing defeat. While there are even a hundred or a thousand monks who guard and bear in mind the four offenses entailing defeat, there will be no disappearance of proper conduct. With the breaking of moral habit by the last monk or the extinction of his life, proper conduct will have disappeared...
"The disappearance of learning means that as long as there stand firm the texts with the commentaries pertaining to the word of the Buddha in the three Pitakas, for so long there will be no disappearance of learning. As time goes on and on there will be base-born kings, not Dharma-men; their ministers and so on will not be Dharma-men, and consequently the inhabitants of the kingdom and so on will not be Dharma-men. Because they are not Dharma-men it will not rain properly. Therefore the crops will not flourish well, and in consequence the donors or requisites to the community of monks will not be able to give them the requisites. Not receiving the requisites the monks will not receive pupils. As time goes on and on learning will decay. In this decay the Great Patthana itself will decay first... While a four-line stanza continues to exist among men, there will not be a disappearance of learning. When a king who has faith has had a purse containing a thousand coins placed in a golden casket on an elephant's back, and has had the drum sounded in the city up to the third time, to the effect that: 'Whoever knows a stanza uttered by the Buddhas, let him take these thousand coins together with the royal elephant' --- but yet finding no one knowing a four-line stanza, the purse containing the thousand coins must be taken back into the palace again --- then will be the disappearance of learning...
"As time goes on and on each of the last monks, carrying his robe, bowl, and tooth-pick like Jin recluses, having taken a bottle-gourd and turned it into a bowl for almsfood, will wander about with it in his hands, thinking, 'What's the good of this yellow robe?' and cutting off a small piece of one and sticking it on his nose or ear or in his hair, he will wander about supporting wife and children by agriculture, trade and the like. Then he will give a gift to the Southern community for those of bad moral habit. I say that he will then acquire an incalculable fruit of the gift. As time goes on and on, thinking: 'What's the good of this to us?', having thrown away the piece of yellow robe, he will harry beasts and birds in the forest. At this time the outward form will have disappeared...
"Then when the Dispensation of the Perfect Buddha is 5,000 years old, the relics, not receiving reverence and honor, will go to places where they can receive them. As time goes on and on there will not be reverence and honour for them in every place: from the abode of serpents and the deva-world and the Brahma-world, having gathered together in a space round the great Bo-tree, having made a Buddha-image, and having performed a 'miracle' like the Twin-miracle, will teach Dharma. No human being will be found at that place. All the devas of the 10,000 world system, gathered together, will hear Dharma and many thousands of them will attain to Dharma. And these will cry aloud, saying: 'Behold, devatas, a week from today our One of the Ten Powers will attain complete Nirvana.' They will weep, saying: 'Henceforth there will be darkness for us.' Then the relics, producing the condition of heat, will burn up that image leaving no remainder.
"That, Sariputta, is called the disappearance of the relics."
The Buddhist sage Nichiren (1222-1282) left these specific notes of the signs of our times:
"When, at a certain future time, the union of the state law and the Buddhist Truth shall be established, and the harmony between the two completed, both sovereign and subjects will faithfully adhere to the Great Mysteries. Then the golden age, such as were the ages under the reign of the sage kings of old, will be realized in these days of degeneration and corruption, in the time of the Latter Law. Then the establishment of the Holy See will be completed, by imperial grant and the edict of the Dictator, at a spot comparable in its excellence with the Paradise of Vulture Peak. We have only to wait for the coming of the time. Then the moral law will be achieved in the actual life of mankind. The Holy See will be the seat where all men of the three countries [India, China and Japan] and the whole jambudvipa [world] will be initiated into the mysteries of confession and expiation; and even the great deities, Brahma and Indra, will come down into the sanctuary and participate in the initiation."
Nicholas Roerich, who traveled in Asia during the 1920s, transmitted this Tibetan prophecy of the end of the present era:
"First will begin an unprecedented war of nations. Afterwards brother will rise against brother. Oceans of blood shall flow. And the people shall cease to understand one another. They shall forget the meaning of the word teacher. But just then shall the Teachers appear and in all the corners of the world shall be heard the true teaching. To this word of truth shall the people be drawn, but those who are filled with darkness and ignorance shall set obstacles. As a diamond glows the light in the tower of the Lord of Shambhala. One stone on his ring is worth more than all the world's treasure. Even those who by accident help the Teachings of Shambhala will receive in return a hundredfold. Already many warriors of the truth are reincarnated. Only a few years shall elapse before everyone shall hear the mighty steps of the Lord of the New Era. And one can already perceive the unusual manifestations and encounter unusual people. Already they open the gates of knowledge and ripened fruits are falling from the trees..."
For many centuries, the mystical tradition of Agharti (or, Aghartha) and its ruler, the King of the World, has existed in Tibet and Mongolia. Many people believe Agharti to be a real place, a hidden civilization located in a series of huge caverns under Tibet and Mongolia, with secret entrances all over the earth. Whenever the King of the World makes prophecies, the birds and animals on the surface suddenly become silent. Hundreds of years ago, the King of the World uttered a prophecy that pertains to the present state of human society:
"Men will increasingly neglect their souls. The greatest corruption will reign on earth. Men will become like bloodthirsty animals, thirsting for the blood of their brothers. The crescent [Islam] will become obscured, and its followers will descend into lies and perpetual warfare. The crowns of kings will fall.
"There will be terrible war between all the earth's peoples; entire nations will die --- hunger, crimes unknown to law, formerly unthinkable to the world. The persecuted will demand the attention of the whole world. The ancient roads will be filled with multitudes going from one place to another. The greatest and most beautiful cities will perish by fire. Families will be dispersed; faith and love will disappear. The world will be emptied.
"Within fifty years there will be only three great nations. Then, within fifty years, there will be 18 years of war and cataclysms. Then the peoples of Agharti will leave their subterranean caverns and will appear on the surface of the earth."
The related prophecy of the idyllic hidden kingdom of Shambhala states that each of its 32 kings will rule for 100 years. While they reign, conditions in the outside world will deteriorate. Men will fight more and more wars, seek power for its own sake, and materialism will reign. These modern barbarians will unite under an evil king and conquer the earth. When they think that nothing is left to conquer, the mystic mist will evaporate to reveal Shambhala. The huge army of barbarians will attack Shambhala. King Rudra Cakrin will lead the fight against the invaders, who will be destroyed in a final great battle.
Mahatma GhandhiShortly before he was assassinated, Mahatma Mohandas Ghandhi predicted the future of the human race to a group of friends and associates:
"Mankind is approaching hard times, because as soon as the measure of its sins will be full, it will be called to account by the superior power above us. You may call this event as you wish: Judgment day, final settlement, or doomsday. It will come, most likely, very soon. Whoever will survive this settlement will see an entirely new earthly existence manifested. For a long, very long time the world war will be crossed out from the dictionary of mankind, perhaps even for all time. Christmas, the festival of Christianity, will be accepted by all religions as the true festival of Peace. Blessed be, who will live to see this epoch!"
In the summer of 1983, guru Bhagwan Rajneesh Chandra broke a 3-1/2 year period of silence to announce the impending end of the world. Fortunately, he was wrong, or at least premature in his scheduling:
"Man is now living in his most critical moment and it is a crisis of immense dimensions. Either he will die or a new man will be born... The period of this crisis will be between 1984 and 1999. During this period there will be floods which have never been known since the time of Noah, along with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and everything else that is possible through nature. There will be wars which are bound to end in nuclear explosions... Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bombay --- all these cities are going to disappear, and the holocaust is going to be global, so no escape is possible."
Sri AurobindoThe spiritual master Sri Aurobindo was given a vision of the "Great Man", the coming Messiah, which he transmitted in poetic form:
"To bring God down to the world on earth we came,
To change the earthly life to life divine...
A mutual debt binds man to the Supreme:
His nature we must put on as He puts ours;
We are children of God and must be even as He:
His human portion, we must grow divine.
Our life is a paradox with God for key.Since God has made Earth, earth must make in her God;
What hides within her breast, she must reveal...I know my coming was a wave from God.
For love must soar beyond the very heavens
And find it secret sense ineffable;
It must change its human ways to ways divine,
Yet keep the sovereignty of earthly bliss.
A few shall see what none yet understands;
God shall grow up while the wise men talk and sleep;
For man shall not know the coming till its hour
And belief shall not be until the work is done.
God must be born on Earth and be as man
That man being human may grow even as God."
ZarathustraThe Zoroastran religion arose circa the 7th century BC, and perhaps even several centuries earlier, according to some commentators. Zoroaster (or, Zarathustra in Persian) taught that the primary deity is Ahura-Mazda had as his opponent Anghra Mainyu, who proposed the druj ("The Lie"). Though closely matched in power, Ahura Mazda will eventually overcome Anghra Mainyu.
Zoroastrans also believe in cosmic cycles of time lasting 12,000 years and divided into 3,000-year epochs. At this time we are in the second epoch, the "Time of Mixture", which refers to the interaction of good and evil. Zoroastrans await the birth of a Saoshyant (savior) who is now overdue.
When Zoroaster died, his sperm was miraculously preserved in Iran’s Lake Kansaoya. When the time arrives, the sperm will impregnate a girl who is swimming there, and she will give birth to three sons. The first will be Ukhshyat-ereta ("He who makes righteousness grow"); later he will be called Hoshedarmah. One millennium later, Ukhshyat-nemah ("He who makes reverence grow") will be born, to be followed 1,000 years later by Astavat-ereta ("Righteous world"), who will oversee the end of time.
Chapter 3 of the Zoroastran text Zand-i Vohuman Yasht contains very lengthy prophecies (easily the longest in the world) about the later days of this era (excerpted here from Sacred Books of the East, volume 5, Oxford University Press, 1897; translated by E. W. West):
"Zartosht said thus: 'Creator of the material world! O propitious spirit! what token would you give of the tenth-hundredth winter?'
"Ohrmazd spoke thus: 'Righteous Zartosht! I will make it clear: the token that it is the end of thy millennium, and the most evil period is coming, is that a hundred kinds, a thousand kinds, a myriad of kinds of demons with disheveled hair, of the race of Wrath, rush into the country of Iran (Airan shatro) from the direction of the east, which has an inferior race and race of Wrath.
"'They have uplifted banners, they slay those living in the world, they have their hair disheveled on the back, and they are mostly a small and inferior race, forward in destroying the strong doer; O Zartosht the Spitaman! The race of Wrath is miscreated and its origin is not manifest.
"'Through witchcraft they rush into these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created, since they burn and damage many things; and the house of the house owner, the land of the land-digger, prosperity, nobility, sovereignty, religion, truth, agreement, security, enjoyment, and every characteristic which I, Ohrmazd, created, this pure religion of the Mazdayasnians, and the fire of Warharan, which is set in the appointed place, encounter annihilation, and the direst destruction and trouble will come into notice.
"'And that which is a great district will become a town; that which is a great town, a village; that which is a great village, a family; and that which is a [great] family, a single threshold.
"'O Zartosht the Spitaman! They will lead these Iranian countries of Ohrmazd into a desire for evil, into tyranny and misgovernment, those demons with disheveled hair who are deceivers, so that what they say they do not do, and they are of a vile religion, so that what they do not say they do.
"'And their assistance and promise have no sincerity, there is no law, they preserve no security, and on the support they provide no one relies; with deceit, rapacity, and misgovernment they will devastate these my Iranian countries, who am Ohrmazd.
"'And at that time, O Zartosht the Spitaman, all men will become deceivers, great friends will become of different parties, and respect, affection, hope, and regard for the soul will depart from the world; the affection of the father will depart from the son; and that of the brother from his brother; the son-in-law will become a beggar from his father-in-law, and the mother will be parted and estranged from the daughter.
"'When it is the end of thy tenth hundredth winter, O Zartosht the Spitaman, the sun is more unseen and more spotted; the year, month, and day are shorter; and the earth of Spandarmad is more barren, and fuller of highwaymen; and the crop will not yield the seed, so that of the crop of the corn-fields in ten cases seven will diminish and three will increase, and that which increases does not become ripe; and vegetation, trees, and shrubs will diminish; when one shall take a hundred, ninety will diminish and ten will increase, and that which increases gives no pleasure and flavor.
"'And men are born smaller, and their skill and strength are less; they become more deceitful and more given to vile practices; they have no gratitude and respect for bread and salt, and they have no affection for their country.
"'And in that most evil time a boundary has most disrespect where it is the property of a suffering man of religion; gifts are few among their deeds, and duties and good works proceed but little from their hands; and sectarians of all kinds are seeking mischief for them.
"'And all the world will be burying and clothing the dead, and burying the dead and washing the dead will be by law; the burning, bringing to water and fire, and eating of dead matter they practice by law and do not abstain from.
"'They recount largely about duties and good works, and pursue wickedness and the road to hell; and through the iniquity, cajolery, and craving of wrath and avarice they rush to hell.
"'And in that perplexing time, O Zartosht the Spitaman, the reign of Wrath with infuriate spear and the demon with disheveled hair, of the race of Wrath, the meanest slaves walk forth with the authority of nobles of the land; and the religious, who wear sacred thread-girdles on the waist, are then not able to perform their ablution, for in those last times dead matter and bodily refuse become so abundant, that one who shall set step to step walks upon dead matter; or when he washes in the Barashnom ceremony, and puts down a foot from the stone seat, he walks on dead matter; or when he arranges the sacred twigs and consecrates the sacred cakes in their corpse-chamber it is allowable.
"'Or, in those last times, it becomes allowable to perform a ceremonial with two men, so that this religion may not come to nothing and collapse; there will be only one in a hundred, in a thousand, in a myriad, who believes in this religion, and even he does nothing of it though it be a duty; and the fire of Warharan, which will come to nothing and collapse, falls off from a thousand to one care-taker, and even he does not supply it properly with firewood and incense; or when a man, who has performed worship and does not know the Nirangistan ['code of religious formulas'], shall kindle it with good intentions, it is allowable.
"'Honorable wealth will all proceed to those of perverted faith; it comes to the transgressors, and virtuous doers of good works, from the families of noblemen even unto the priests, remain running about uncovered; the lower orders take in marriage the daughters of nobles, grandees, and priests; and the nobles, grandees, and priests come to destitution and bondage.
"'The misfortunes of the ignoble will overtake greatness and authority, and the helpless and ignoble will come to the foremost place and advancement; the words of the upholders of religion, and the seal and decision of a just judge will become the words of random speakers among the just and even the righteous; and the words of the ignoble and slanderers, of the disreputable and mockers, and of those of divers opinions they consider true and credible, about which they take an oath, although with falsehood, and thereby give false evidence, and speak falsely and irreverently about me, Ohrmazd.
"'They who bear the title of priest and disciples wish evil concerning one another; he speaks vice and they look upon vice; and the antagonism of Ahriman and the demons is much brought on by them; of the sin which men commit, out of five sins the priests and disciples commit three sins, and they become enemies of the good, so that they may thereby speak of bad faults relating to one another; the ceremonies they undertake they do not perform, and they have no fear of hell.
"'And in that tenth hundredth winter, which is the end of thy millennium, O righteous Zartosht, all mankind will bind torn hair, disregarding revelation, so that a willingly-disposed cloud and a righteous wind are not able to produce rain in its proper time and season.
"'And a dark cloud makes the whole sky night, and the hot wind and the cold wind arrive, and bring along fruit and seed of corn, even the rain in its proper time; and it does not rain, and that which rains also rains more noxious creatures than water; and the water of rivers and springs will diminish, and there will be no increase.
"'And the beast of burden and ox and sheep bring forth more painfully and awkwardly, and acquire less fruitfulness; and their hair is coarser and skin thinner; the milk does not increase and has less cream; the strength of the laboring ox is less, and the agility of the swift horse is less, and it carries less in a race.
"'And on the men in that perplexing time, O Zartosht the Spitaman, who wear the sacred thread-girdle on the waist, the evil-seeking of misgovernment and much of its false judgment have come as a wind in which their living is not possible, and they seek death as a boon; and youths and children will be apprehensive, and gossiping chitchat and gladness of heart do not arise among them.
"'And they practice the appointed feasts of their ancestors, the propitiation of angels, and the prayers and ceremonies of the season festivals and guardian spirits, in various places, yet that which they practice they do not believe in unhesitatingly; they do not give rewards lawfully, and bestow no gifts and alms, and even those they repent of again.
"'And even those men of the good religion, who have reverenced the good religion of the Mazdayasnians, proceed in conformity with those ways and customs, and do not believe their own religion.
"'And the noble, great, and charitable, who are the virtuous of their own country and locality, will depart from their own original place and family as idolatrous; through want they beg something from the ignoble and vile, and come to poverty and helplessness; through them nine in ten of these men will perish in the northern quarter.
"'Through their way of misrule everything comes to nothingness and destitution, levity and infirmity; and the earth of Spandarmad opens its mouth wide, and every jewel and metal becomes exposed, such as gold and silver, brass, tin, and lead.
"'And rule and sovereignty come to slaves, such as the Turk and non-Turanian of the army, and are turbulent as among the mountaineers; and the Chini, the Kavuli, the Softi, the Ruman, and the white-clothed Karmak then attain sovereignty in my countries of Iran, and their will and pleasure will become current in the world.
"'The sovereignty will come from those leather-belted ones and Arabs and Rumans to them, and they will be so misgoverning that when they kill a righteous man who is virtuous and a fly, it is all one in their eyes.
"'And the security, fame, and prosperity, the country and families, the wealth and handiwork, the streams, rivers, and springs of Iran, and of those of the good religion, come to those non-Iranians; and the army and standards of the frontiers come to them, and a rule with a craving for wrath advances in the world.
"'And their eyes of avarice are not sated with wealth, and they form hoards of the world's wealth, and conceal them underground; and through wickedness they commit sodomy, hold much intercourse with menstruous women, and practice many unnatural lusts.
"'And in that perplexing time the night is brighter, and the year, month, and day will diminish one-third; the earth of Spandarmad arises, and suffering, death, and destitution become more severe in the world.'
"Ohrmazd said to Zartosht the Spitaman: 'This is what I foretell: that wicked evil spirit, when it shall be necessary for him to perish, becomes more oppressive and more tyrannical.'
"So Ohrmazd spoke to Zartosht the Spitaman thus: ' Inquire fully and learn by heart thoroughly! Teach it by Zand, Pazand, and explanation! Tell it to the priests and disciples who speak forth in the world, and those who are not aware of the hundred winters, tell it then to them so that, for the hope of a future existence, and for the preservation of their own souls, they may remove the trouble, evil, and oppression which those of other religions cause in the ceremonies of religion.
"'And, moreover, I tell thee this, O Zartosht the Spitaman! that whoever, in that time, appeals for the body is not able to save the soul, for he is as it were fat, and his soul is hungry and lean in hell; whoever appeals for the soul, his body is hungry and lean through the misery of the world, and destitute, and his soul is fat in heaven.'
"Zartosht inquired of Ohrmazd thus: 'O Ohrmazd, propitious spirit! creator of the material world who art righteous!' -- He is Ohrmazd through righteous invocation, and the rest through praise; some say 'righteous creator!' -- 'O creator! In that perplexing time are they righteous? And are there religious people who wear the sacred thread-girdle on the waist, and celebrate religious rites with the sacred twigs? And does the religious practice of khwetodas continue in their families?'
"Ohrmazd said to Zartosht thus: 'Of the best men is he who, in that perplexing time, wears the sacred thread-girdle on the waist, and celebrates religious rites with the sacred twigs, though not as in the reign of King Vishtasp.
"'Whoever in that perplexing time recites Ita-ad-yazam and one Ashem-vohu, and has learned it by heart, is as though, in the reign of King Vishtasp, it were a Dvazdah-homast with holy-water.
"'And by whomever prayer is offered up, and the Gatha-hymns are chanted, it is as though the whole ritual had been recited, and the Gatha-hymns consecrated by him in the reign of King Vishtasp.
"'The most perfectly righteous of the righteous is he who remains in the good religion of the Mazdayasnians, and continues the religious practice of khwetodas in his family.'
"Ohrmazd said to the righteous Zartosht: 'In these nine thousand years which I, Ohrmazd, created, mankind become most perplexed in that perplexing time; for in the evil reigns of Az-i Dahak and Frasiyav of Tur mankind, in those perplexing times, were living better and living more numerously, and their disturbance by Ahriman and the demons was less.
"'For in their evil reigns, within the countries of Iran, there were not seven towns which were desolate as they will be when it is the end of thy millennium, O Zartosht the Spitaman! For all the towns of Iran will be ploughed up by their horses' hoofs, and their banners will reach unto Padashkhvargar, and they will carry away the sovereignty of the seat of the religion I approve from there; and their destruction comes from that place, O Zartosht the Spitaman! This is what I foretell.'
"'Whoever of those existing, thus, with reverence unto the good, performs much worship for Ohrmazd, Ohrmazd, aware of it through righteousness, gives him whatsoever Ohrmazd is aware of through righteousness, as remuneration and reward of duty and good works, and such members of the congregation, males and females, I reverence; and the archangels, who are also male and female, they are good.'
"Zartosht inquired of Ohrmazd thus: 'O Ohrmazd, propitious spirit! Creator of the material world, righteous one! Whence do they restore this good religion of the Mazdayasnians? And by what means will they destroy these demons with disheveled hair, of the race of Wrath?
"'O Creator! Grant me death! And grant my favored ones death that they may not live in that perplexing time; grant them exemplary living that they may not prepare wickedness and the way to hell.'
"Ohrmazd spoke thus: 'O Zartosht the Spitaman! After the ill-omened sovereignty of those of the race of Wrath there is a fiend, Shedaspih of the Kilisyakih, from the countries of Salman;' Mah-vand-dad said that these people are Ruman, and Roshan said that they have red weapons, red banners, and red hats.
"'It is when a symptom of them appears, as they advance, O Zartosht the Spitaman, the sun and the dark show signs, and the moon becomes manifest of various colors; earthquakes, too, become numerous, and the wind comes more violently; in the world want, distress, and discomfort come more into view; and Mercury and Jupiter advance the sovereignty for the vile, and they are in hundreds and thousands and myriads.
"'They have the red banner of the fiend Shedaspih of Kilisyakih, and they hasten much their progress to these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created, up to the bank of the Arvand, some have said the Frat river, unto the Greeks dwelling in Asuristan; they are Greeks by strict reckoning, and their Assyrian dwelling is this, that they slay the Assyrian people therein, and thus they will destroy their abode, some have said the lurking-holes of the demons.
"'They turn back those of the race of Wrath in hundreds and thousands and myriads; and the banners, standards, and an innumerable army of those demons with disheveled hair will come to these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created.
"'And the army of the invader is an extending enemy of the Turk and even the Karm, be it with banners aloft when he shall set up a banner, be it through the excessive multitude which will remain --- like hairs in the mane of a horse --- in the countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created.
"'The leather-belted Turk and the Ruman Shedaspih of Kilisyakih come forth with simultaneous movement, and in three places, with similar strife, there was and will be three times a great contest, O Zartosht the Spitaman!
"'One in the reign of Kay Kaus, when through the assistance of demons it was with the archangels, and the second when thou, O Zartosht the Spitaman, receivedst the religion and hadst thy conference, and King Vishtasp and Arjasp, miscreated by wrath, were, through the war of the religion, in the combat of Sped-razur ["the hoary forest"],' some have said it was in Pars; 'and the third when it is the end of thy millennium, O Zartosht the Spitaman! when all the three, Turk, Arab, and Ruman, come to this place,' some have said the plain of Nishanak.
"'For when one shall be able to save his own life, he has then no recollection of wife, child, and wealth, that they may not live, in that perplexing time, O Zartosht! Yet the day when the hundredth winter becomes the end of thy millennium, which is that of Zartosht, is so that nothing wicked may go from this millennium into that millennium.'
"Zartosht inquired of Ohrmazd thus: 'O Ohrmazd, propitious spirit! Creator of the material world, righteous one! When they are so many in number, by what means will they be able to perish?'
"Ohrmazd spoke thus: 'O Zartosht the Spitaman! When the demon with disheveled hair of the race of Wrath comes into notice in the eastern quarter, first a black token becomes manifest, and Aushedar son of Zartosht is born on Lake Frazdan. It is when he comes to his conference with, me, Ohrmazd, O Zartosht the Spitaman, that in the direction of Chinistan, it is said --- some have said among the Hindus --- is born a prince; it is his father, a prince of the Kayanian race, approaches the women, and a religious prince is born to him; he calls his name Warharan the Varjavand,' some have said Shahpur. That a sign may come to the earth, the night when that prince is born, a star falls from the sky; when that prince is born the star shows a signal.'
"'It is Dad-Ohrmazd who said that the month Aban and day Vad is his father's end; they rear him with the damsels of the king, and a woman becomes ruler.
"'That prince when he is thirty years old --- some have told the time --- comes with innumerable banners and divers armies, Hindu and Chini, having uplifted banners for they set up their banners --- having exalted banners, and having exalted weapons; they hasten up with speed as far as the Veh river --- some have said the country of Bambo --- as far as Bukhar and the Bukharans within its bank, O Zartosht the Spitaman!
"'When the star Jupiter comes up to its culminating point and casts Venus down, the sovereignty comes to the prince.
"'Quite innumerable are the champions, furnished with arms and with banners displayed, some have said from Sagastan, Pars, and Khurasan, some have said from the lake of Padashkhvargar, some have said from the Hiratis and Kohistan, some have said from Taparistan; and from those directions every supplicant for a child comes into view.
"'It is concerning the displayed banners and very numerous army, which were the armed men, champions, and soldiers from the countries of Iran at Padashkhvargar --- whom I told thee that they call both Kurd and Karman -- it is declared that they will slay an excessive number, in companionship and under the same banner, for these countries of Iran.
"'Those of the race of Wrath and the extensive army of Shedaspih, whose names are the two-legged wolf and the leather-belted demon on the bank of the Arvand, wage three battles, one in Sped-razhur and one in the plain of Nishanak;' some have said that it was on the lake of the three races, some have said that it was in Maruv the brilliant, and some have said in Pars.
"'For the support of the countries of Iran is the innumerable army of the east; its having exalted banners is that they have a banner of tiger skin, and their wind banner is white cotton; innumerable are the mounted troops, and they ride up to the lurking-holes of the demons; they will slay so that a thousand women can afterwards see and kiss but one man.
"'When it is the end of the time, O Zartosht the Spitaman, those enemies will be as much destroyed as the root of a shrub when it is in the night on which a cold winter arrives, and in this night it sheds its leaves; and they will reinstate these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created.
"'And with speed rushes the evil spirit, with the vilest races of demons and Wrath with infuriate spear, and comes on to the support and assistance of those demon-worshippers and miscreations of wrath, O Zartosht the Spitaman!
"'And I, the creator Ohrmazd, send Neryosang the angel and Srosh the righteous unto Kangdezh, which the illustrious Siyavarshan formed, and to Chitro-miyan son of Vishtasp, the glory of the Kayanians, the just restorer of the religion, to speak thus: ‘Walk forth, O illustrious Peshotan! to these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created; consecrate the fire and waters for the Hadhokht and Dvazdah-homast! That is, celebrate them with the fire and waters, and such as is appointed about the fire and waters!’
"'And Neryosang proceeds, with Srosh the righteous, from the good Chakad-i-Daitik to Kangdez, which the illustrious Siyavarshan formed, and cries out from it thus: ‘Walk forth, O illustrious Peshotan! O Chitro-miyan son of Vishtasp, glory of the Kayanians, just restorer of the religion! Walk forth to these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created! Restore again the throne of sovereignty of the religion!’
"'Those spirits move on, and they propitiate them; with holy-water the illustrious Peshotan celebrates the Dvazdah-homast, with a hundred and fifty righteous who are disciples of Peshotan, in black marten fur, and they have garments as it were of the good spirit.
"'They walk up with the words: ‘Humat, hukht, huvarsht,’ and consecrate the fire of the waters; with the illustrious Hadokht they bless me, Ohrmazd, with the archangels; and after that it demolishes one-third of the opposition.
"'And the illustrious Peshotan walks forth, with the hundred and fifty men who wear black marten fur, and they celebrate the rituals of the Gadman-homand ("glorious") fire, which they call the Roshano-kerp ("luminous form"), which is established at the appointed place, the triumphant ritual of the Farnbag fire, Hordad, and Amurdad, and the ceremonial with his priestly cooperation; they arrange and pray over the sacred twigs; and the ritual of Hordad and Amurdad, in the chapter of the code of religious formulas demolishes three-thirds of the opposition.
"'Peshotan son of Vishtasp walks forth, with the assistance of the Farnbag fire, the fire Gushnasp, and the fire Burzhin-Mihr, to the great idol-temples, the abode of the demons; and the wicked evil spirit, Wrath with infuriate spear, and all demons and fiends, evil races and wizards, arrive at the deepest abyss of hell; and those idol-temples are extirpated by the exertions of the illustrious Peshotan.
"'And I, the creator Ohrmazd, come to Mount Hukairya with the archangels, and I issue orders to the archangels that they should speak to the angels of the spiritual existences thus: ‘Proceed to the assistance of the illustrious Peshotan!’
"'Mihr of the vast cattle-pastures, Srosh the vigorous, Rashn the just, Warharan the mighty, Ashtad the victorious, and the glory of the religion of the Mazdayasnians, the stimulator of religious formulas, the arranger of the world, proceed to the assistance of the illustrious Peshotan, through the order of which I, the creator, have just written.
"'Out of the demons of gloomy race the evil spirit cries to Mihr of the vast cattle-pastures thus: ‘Stay above in truth, thou Mihr of the vast cattle-pastures!’
"'And then Mihr of the vast cattle-pastures cries thus: ‘Of these nine thousand years' support, which during its beginning produced Dahak of evil religion, Frasiyav of Tur, and Alexander the Ruman, the period of one thousand years of those leather-belted demons with disheveled hair is a more than moderate reign to produce.’
"'The wicked evil spirit becomes confounded when he heard this; Mihr of the vast cattle-pastures will smite Wrath of the infuriate spear with stupefaction; and the wicked evil spirit flees, with the miscreations and evil progeny he flees back to the darkest recess of hell.
"'And Mihr of the vast cattle-pastures cries to the illustrious Peshotan thus: ‘Extirpate and utterly destroy the idol-temples, the abode of the demons! proceed to these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created! Restore again the throne of sovereignty of the religion over the wicked! When they see thee they will be terrified.’
"'And the illustrious Peshotan advances, and the fire Farnbag, the fire Gushnasp, and the triumphant fire Burzin-Mihr will smite the fiend of excessive strength; he will extirpate the idol-temples that are the abode of demons; and they celebrate the ceremonial, arrange the sacred twigs, solemnize the Dvazdah-homast, and praise me, Ohrmazd, with the archangels; this is what I foretell.
"'The illustrious Peshotan walks forth to these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created, to the Arvand and Veh river; when the wicked see him they will be terrified, those of the progeny of gloom and those not worthy.
"'And regarding that Warharan the Varjavand it is declared that he comes forth in full glory, fixes upon Vandid-khim ["a curbed temper"], and having entrusted him with the seat of mobadship of the mobads, and the seat of true explanation of the religion, he restores again these countries of Iran which I, Ohrmazd, created; and he drives away from the world covetousness, want, hatred, wrath, lust, envy, and wickedness.
"'And the wolf period goes away, and the sheep period comes on; they establish the fire Farnbag, the fire Gushnasp, and the fire Burzin-Mihr again at their proper places, and they will properly supply the firewood and incense; and the wicked evil spirit becomes confounded and unconscious, with the demons and the progeny of gloom.
"'And so the illustrious Peshotan speaks thus: ‘Let the demon be destroyed, and the witch be destroyed! Let the fiendishness and vileness of the demons be destroyed! And let the gloomy progeny of the demons be destroyed! The glory of the religion of the Mazdayasnians prospers, and let it prosper! Let the family of the liberal and just, who are doers of good deeds, prosper! And let the throne of the religion and sovereignty have a good restorer!’
"'Forth comes the illustrious Peshotan, forth he comes with a hundred and fifty men of the disciples who wear black marten fur, and they take the throne of their own religion and sovereignty.'
"'Ohrmazd said to Zartosht the Spitaman: 'This is what I foretell, when it is the end of thy millennium it is the beginning of that of Aushedar.
"'Regarding Aushedar, it is declared that he will be born in 1600, and at thirty years of age he comes to a conference with me, Ohrmazd, and receives the religion.
"'When he comes away from the conference he cries to the sun with the swift horse, thus: ‘Stand still!’
"'The sun with the swift horse stands still ten days and nights; and when this happens all the people of the world abide by the good religion of the Mazdayasnians.
"'Mihr of the vast cattle-pastures cries to Aushedar, son of Zartosht, thus: 'O Aushedar, restorer of the true religion! cry to the sun with the swift horse thus: 'Move on!' for it is dark in the regions of Arezahi and Sawahi, Fradadhafshu and Widadhafshu, Wouru-bareshti and Wourujareshti, and the illustrious Xwaniratha. '
"'Aushedar son of Zartosht cries, to the sun he cries, thus: ‘Move on!’
"'The sun with the swift horse moves on, and Varjavand and all mankind fully believe in the good religion of the Mazdayasnians.'
"Ohrmazd spoke thus: 'O Zartosht the Spitaman! this is what I foretell, that this one brings the creatures back to their proper state.
"'When it is near the end of the millennium Peshotan son of Vishtasp comes into notice, who is a Kayanian that advances triumphantly; and those enemies who relied upon fiendishness, such as the Turk, Arab, and Ruman, and the vile ones who control the Iranian sovereign with insolence and oppression and enmity to the sovereignty, destroy the fire and make the religion weak; and they convey their power and success to him and every one who accepts the law and religion willingly; if he accept it unwillingly the law and religion ever destroy him till it is the end of the whole millennium.
"'And, afterwards, when the millennium of Aushedar-mah comes, through Aushedar-mah the creatures become more progressive, and he utterly destroys the fiend of serpent origin; and Peshotan son of Vishtasp becomes, in like manner, high priest and primate of the world.
"'In that millennium of Aushedar-mah mankind become so versed in medicine, and keep and bring physic and remedies so much in use, that when they are confessedly at the point of death they do not thereupon die, nor when they smite and slay them with the sword and knife.
"'Afterwards, one begs a gift of any description out of the allowance of heretics, and owing to depravity and heresy they do not give it.
"'And Ahriman rises through that spite on to the mountain of Damawand, which is the direction of Bevarasp, and shouts thus: ‘Now it is nine thousand years, and Faridoon is not living; why do you not rise up, although these thy fetters are not removed, when this world is full of people, and they have brought them from the enclosure which Yim formed?’
"'After that apostate shouts like this, and because of it, Az-i Dahak stands up before him, but, through fear of the likeness of Faridoon in the body of Faridoon, he does not first remove those fetters and stake from his trunk until Ahriman removes them.
"'And the vigor of Az-i Dahak increases, the fetters being removed from his trunk, and his impetuosity remains; he swallows down the apostate on the spot, and rushing into the world to perpetrate sin, he commits innumerable grievous sins; he swallows down one-third of mankind, cattle, sheep, and other creatures of Ohrmazd; he smites the water, fire, and vegetation, and commits grievous sin.
"'And, afterwards, the water, fire, and vegetation stand before Ohrmazd the lord in lamentation, and make this complaint: ‘Make Faridoon alive again! so that he may destroy Az-i Dahak; for if thou, O Ohrmazd, dost not do this, we cannot exist in the world; the fire says thus: I will not heat; and the water says thus: I will not flow.’
"'And then I, Ohrmazd the creator, say to Srosh and Neryosang the angel: ‘Shake the body of Kersasp the Saman, till he rises up!’
"'Then Srosh and Neryosang the angel go to Kersasp; three times they utter a cry, and the fourth time Sam rises up with triumph, and goes to meet Az-i Dahak.
"'And Sam does not listen to his words, and the triumphant club strikes him on the head, and smites and kills him; afterwards, desolation and adversity depart from this world, while I make a beginning of the millennium.
"'Then Soshyant makes the creatures again pure, and the resurrection and future existence occur.
"'May the end be in peace, pleasure, and joy, by the will of God! So may it be! Even more so may it be!"
The Zoroastran text Bundahishn ("Creation", also known as Zand-agahih, "Knowledge from the Zand"), includes a chapter of apocalyptic prophecy. The book states that in the millennium of the first Saoshyant Hoshedarmah, people will stop eating meat, then milk, then vegetables, then water, until they stop eating altogether for ten years before he manifests. During his lifetime, Ahura-Mazda will resurrect the dead during a period of 57 years. Then the final judgment will be convened by the Sadvastaran ("Righteous Judges"), who will separate the good and evil. The righteous souls will enter heaven, and the wicked will go to hell for three days. Then a huge comet named Gochihr will strike the planet, and the resulting heat will "melt the metal of Sharewar" ("Chosen power", a spirit with power over metals):
"In the final war between good and evil, fire and death will swirl over all, and every man will have to pass through boiling lava. To the just and righteous men, the lava will be as warm as milk, but to the wicked men, it will be scalding and fatal."
Then all humanity will be reunited, and all will receive an elixir that will give them immortality. Finally, Ahura-Mazda will defeat the evil Anghra Mainyu.
In Chapter 9 of Jamasp Namak ("The Book of Jamasp"), he recounts the signs of the times for King Vishtasp, thus:
"Jamasp the astrologer said to him that when the time of Aushedar would appear, these several signs shall necessarily appear. The first is this, that the nights will be brighter. The second is this, that Haptoiring (a star in the Bear constellation) will leave its place and will turn in the direction of Khorasan. The third is this, that the intercourse of persons one with another, will be great. The fourth is this, that the breach of faith, which they will make at that time, will have quicker and greater results. The fifth is this, that mean persons will be more powerful. The sixth is this, that wicked persons will be virtuous. The seventh is this, that the Drujs (evil powers) will be more oppressive. The eighth is this, that the magic and tricks which they will perform in those times, will be very bad. The ninth is this, that the noxious creatures, like the tigers, the wolves, and four clawed animals will do great harm. The tenth is this, that misinformed persons will commit great oppression upon the Dasturs of religion. The eleventh is this, that the injury to the Dasturs of religion will be unlawful; they will take their property by force and will speak evil of them. The twelfth is this, that the blowing of the summer and winter winds shall not be useful. The thirteenth is this, that affection for pleasure will be prevalent. The fourteenth is this, that those who arc born at that time will reach death more in a miserable way and in untimely way . The fifteenth is this, that respectable persons in spite of their respectful position, will practice too much of untruthfulness, injustice, and false evidence. Death, old age, unchecked pride, and strength will overtake (lit. reach) all countries. Then there will come the Dastur of the world. The apostle will cleanse the whole country. The sixteenth is this, that the two caves which are in Seistan will be destroyed and the seas of the cities will carry away the water and the whole of Seistan will be full of water."
Zarathustra spoke thus in this prophecy of his successor in our time:
"When a thousand two hundred and some years have passed from the inception of the religion of the Arabian and the overthrow of the kingdom of Iran and the degradation of the followers of My religion, a descendant of the Iranian kings will be raised up as a Prophet."
The Zend Avesta (Favardin Yast 13: 129) says this about the coming World Savior:
"He shall be the victorious Benefactor by name and World Renovator by name. He is Benefactor because he will benefit the entire physical world; he is World Renovator because he will establish the physical existence indestructible. He will oppose the evil of the progeny of the biped and withstand the enmity produced by the faithful."
The Baha'i (Persian, "of glory") faith, was founded in the late 19th century by Mirza Husayn Ali of Nur, known as Baha'u'llah (Arabic, "The Glory of God") in fulfillment of a prophecy by Mirza Ali Muhammad of Shiraz, the Bab. The Baha'i religion has its expectations of "The Seventh Angel", who will appear sometime before the year of Mustageth (2001 AD) at the end of this age. He is described as follows in Abdul-Baha’s book, Some Answered Questions:
"When the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which will cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then and only then will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody."
"The Seventh Angel is a man qualified with heavenly attributes, who will arise with heavenly qualities and character. Voices will be raised, so that the appearance of the Divine Manifestation will be proclaimed and diffused. In the Day of the Manifestation of the Lord of Hosts, and the epoch of the divine cycle of the Omnipotent which is promised and mentioned in the books and writings of the Prophets --- in that Day of God, the Spiritual and Divine Kingdom will be established, and the world will be renewed; a new spirit will be breathed into the body of creation, the season of the Divine Spring will come, the clouds of mercy will rain, the sun of reality will shine, the life-giving breeze will blow, the world of humanity will wear a new garment, the surface of the earth will be a sublime paradise; mankind will be educated, wars, disputes, quarrels and malignity will disappear; and truthfulness, righteousness, honesty, and the worship of God will rule forevermore; meaning that the Spiritual and Everlasting Kingdom will be established. Such is the day of God, for all the days that have come and gone were the days of Abraham, Moses and Christ, or of the other Prophets; but this day is the day of God, for the sun of reality will arise in it with the utmost warmth and splendor."
Another vague prophetic promise is made elsewhere in the same book:
"These twenty-four great persons, though they are seated on the thrones of everlasting rule, yet are worshipers of the appearance of the universal Manifestation, and they are humble and submissive, saying, 'We give thanks to Thee, O Lord God Almighty, Which art, and wast, and art to come, because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power and hast reigned' - that is to say, Thou wilt issue all Thy teachings, Thou wilt gather all the people of the earth under Thy shadow, and Thou wilt bring all men under the shadow of one tent. Although it is the Eternal Kingdom of God, and He always had, and has, a Kingdom, the Kingdom here means the manifestation of Himself; and He will issue all the laws and teachings which are the spirit of the world of humanity and everlasting life. And that universal Manifestation will subdue the world by spiritual power, not by war and combat; He will do it with peace and tranquility, not by the sword and arms; He will promote these divine teachings by kindness and righteousness, and not by weapons and harshness. He will so educate the nations and people that, notwithstanding their various conditions, their different customs and characters, and their diverse religions and races, they will, as it is said in the Bible, like the wolf and the lamb, the leopard, the kid, the sucking child and the serpent, become comrades, friends and companions. The contentions of races, the differences of religions, and the barriers between nations will be completely removed, and all will attain perfect union and reconciliation under the shadow of the Blessed Tree."
Amen.
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