According to Zoroastrian scripture, the end of the world will
come about when a comet, called Gochihr, strikes the earth. Its
"fire and halo" will melt all metals and minerals and
will burn up the world in a general conflagration. The resulting
boiling flood of metal will flow over the earth like a river.
The righteous, as well as the wicked souls (released from hell)
will pass through it. The wicked will be purified of their sins,
but the pious will feel like they're passing through warm milk.
The most detailed description of this is found in the 30th chapter of the Bundahishn.
Frashegird (Av. 'Frasho-kereti', lit. 'making wonderful') refers to the
renovation of the universe, the last judgment. The exact date of Zarathushtra is
uncertain, but was probably around 1000-1200 BC.
1. After that time when Zarathushtra came to a consultation with
Ohrmazd, and 1,500 years after the time of Zarathushtra, when
it is the millennium of Religion, Ushedar will come into consultation
with Ohrmazd for 50 years. 2. On the same day Mihr Yazad, that
is, the sun, will stand at mid-day, for ten days and nights it
will stand at the zenith of Heavens.
3. For three years, whatever plants are not needed (i.e.
not harvested) they will not wither then.
4. He [i.e. Ushedar] will purify the religion, he will
bring (the ritual precepts of) Hadamansar into use, and men will
act according to Hadamansar.
5. The (members of the) wolf species will all go to one place,
and in one place they will be merged, and there will be one wolf
whose breadth (will be) 415 paces and length 433 paces.
6. And on the authority of Ushedar they [i.e. the Mazda-worshippers]
will muster an army, and they will go to battle with that wolf.
First they will perform the yasna, and through their yasna
(it will) not (be) possible to withstand (them).
7. Then Ushedar will say: 'With the sharpest and broadest blades
find a means (to destroy) that demon of great strength'. And then
men will slay that demon, with whip and dagger and mace and sword
and lance and arrow and other weapons.
8. And for one parsang around, poison from that demon will envelop
the earth and plants and they will burn.
9. Out of that a demon [?] will scamper (in) the form of a black
locust, and it will go into the demon of the serpent, and in that
will be its habitation; for this reason it will not (any longer)
be very oppressive.
10. After 400 years there will be the Malkosan rain. 11. When
it is the time for that rain, (in) the first year the upholders
of Religion will say to people: 'Store provisions, for there will
be rain'; people will store provisions.
12. (In) that year there will not be rain; and (in) the second
year they will speak likewise and (people) will store provisions
(but in) that year there will not be rain; (and in) the third
year they will speak likewise and (people) will store provisions
(but in) that year there will not be rain); and (in) the fourth
year they will speak likewise and the unbelieving people will
say: 'That which the Mazda-worshippers say will not be, for they
said this before also, (but) it was not so'.
13. Those provisions which they have stored previously will not
be required for ten winters, and they will not store provisions
any more, and (in) that year there will be rain.
14. (In) the first year it will stop three times in summer, three
times in winter; (in) the second year it will stop twice in winter,
twice in summer; (in) the third year it will stop once in winter,
and once in summer. 15. (In) the fourth year, (in) the month of
Hordad and (on) the day of Dai-pa-Mihr, snow will fall, until
the month of Dai on the day of Dai-pa-Mihr;14 it will not stop
at all even for a (little) time (16) and then the Mazda-worshippers
will curse (him); by the curse of the Mazda-worshippers he will
die, and the lives of men and beneficent animals of the place
will be weak.
17. And then in those times men and beneficent animals will be
brought from the var which Jam [[Jamshed, i.e. Yima Khshaeta]] made, and they will stay in different
places; and they will be very great in body, very comely, good
workers. But he (is) a powerful demon, whom they will not be able
to kill in battle.
18. And when that winter has passed, beneficent animals will be
so weak so that when people see one of the beneficent animals,
then it will seem to them (to be) a miracle. 19. And wild animals
of the mountain and of the plain will come to men, and they will
think thus: 'Men will treat us just like their own children'.
20. And then Ashawahist will cry out (from) above, and will speak
thus: 'Do not kill those beneficent animals any more as you have
killed them (up to) now! For the beneficent animals will come
to maturity so (slowly) that henceforth they will dwindle away.
Do not kill (them)!'
21. And the Mazda-worshippers will act accordingly. And the wild
animals of the mountain and the plain, when maturity will come
to their bodies so (slowly) that thenceforth they will dwindle
away, will come to men and they will say: 'Eat me, before the
devouring dragon devours me!' and the Mazda-worshippers will act
accordingly.
22. At the end of the millennium, Ushedarmah will come in to
consultation with Ohrmazd for 30 years. 23. The sun will stand
at the zenith from that day for 20 days and nights. 24. And for
six years, those plants which are not needed will not wither.
25. And he will bring (the legal precepts of) Dadig into use:
people will act according to the law.
26. And the (members of the) serpent species will all go forth
to one place, and in one place they will be merged, and there
will be one serpent, 833 paces in breadth 1,666 paces in length.
27. And on the authority of Ushedarmah the Mazda-worshippers
will muster an army and they will go into battle with that serpent.
28. When they arrive Ushedarmah will say: 'perform the Yasna!'
and they will perform the Yasna, and they will chase that demon
away, and for one parsang poison from that demon will envelop
the earth and they will burn.
29. From that a demon will scamper forth (in) the form of a black
locust, and in the demon of the two-legged species (will be) its
habitation; for this reason it will not (any longer) be very oppressive.
30. In that millennium, Zohak will escape from (his) fetters.
He will take dominion over demons and men; thus he will clamour:
'Whoever does not harm water and fire and plants, then bring him
so that I may devour him'.
31. And fire and water and plant will go to Ohrmazd complaining
of the harm which men are doing to them, and they will say: 'Raise
up Faridoon (who is) dead, so that he will smite Zohak, for if
(it is) otherwise, I will not exist on the earth!'
32. Then Ohrmazd with the Amahraspands will approach the soul
of Faridoon. 33. And he will say: 'Stand up, smite Zohak!' 34.
The soul of Faridoon will say: 'I cannot smite (him), go to the
soul of Saman Kersasp!' 35. Then Ohrmazd with the Amahraspands
will approach the soul of Saman , and he will raise up Saman Kersasp,
and he [i.e. Saman Kersasp] will slay Zohak. 36. Zohak will cry
out so much that one quarter of the beneficent animals in Eranshahr
will run away.
37. After that, at the end of the millennium of Ushedarmah,
the Soshyans will come in to consultation with Ohrmazd for 30
years. 38. And (on) that day the sun will stand at the zenith
for 30 days. 39. And when the Soshans comes back from consultation,
then Kay Khosraw will come towards him, when he is sitting (up)on
Way of the Long Dominion. 40. The Soshans will ask: 'What man
are you, whose soul even (sits) (up)on Way of the Long Dominion,
changed by you into the form of a camel?' 41. Kay Khosraw will
answer: 'I am Kay Khosraw'.
42. And the Soshans will say: '(Are) you Kay Khosraw of far-reaching
intelligence, who foresaw with wisdom when you destroyed the image
shrine on (the shore of) Lake Chechast?' 43. Kay Khosraw will
say: 'I am that Kay Khosraw'. 44. And the Soshans will say: 'So
you did a goodly deed! For if you had not done (it), it would
have been the thief of all that transformation whereby (there
will be) the bringing about of the Good Renovation'.
45. Again he will ask: 'Did you smite the scoundrel Tur Frangrasiyab?'
46. He will say: 'I smote (him)'. 47. The Soshans will say: 'So
you did a goodly deed! For if you had not smitten the scoundrel
Tur Frangrasiyab, he would have been the thief of all that (transformation)
whereby (there will be) the bringing about of the Good Renovation'.
48. The Soshans will say: 'Go, my Lord, and praise the Religion';
Kay Khosraw will praise the religion.
49. Then in those fifty-seven years Kay Khosraw will be Lord of
the Seven Regions, the Soshans will be Mowbadan Mowbad.
50. And then Kersasp will go (forth) with that mace of good width,
and Tus will stand before him and will put an arrow in (his) bow;
he will say to Kersasp: 'Praise the Religion, that is perform
the Yasna with the Gathas, throw away the mace, for if you do
not praise the Religion and throw away the mace, then I shall
shoot this arrow at you!'
51. Because of (his) fear of Tus's arrow, Kersasp will praise
the Religion and throw away (his) mace.
52. All people will be upholders of Religion; they will be loving
and benevolent to one another.
53. All people living after that will not die.
54. (As for) those (who are) dead, the Soshans, and the makers
of the Renovation who are his helpers *will raise them in (their)
dead bodies.
55. Ohrmazd will summon bones from the earth, and blood from the
waters, and hair from the plants, and spirit from the wind; he
will mix one with the other and he will create the form which
each has [i.e. in this present life].
56. The Soshans will perform one Yasna, he will raise one fifth
of the dead; with the second Yasna a fifth, with the third Yasna
a fifth, with the fourth Yasna a fifth, with the fifth Yasna he
will raise all the dead.
57. And every person will recognize (others), saying: 'This (is)
my father' and 'this (is) my brother!' and 'this (is) my wife!'
and 'this is someone of my family!'
58. There will once again be enjoyment of all food and all the
things from which (there is) pleasure and comfort and enjoyment
for mankind, just as Ohrmazd created (the world) in the primal
creation.
59. There will be a thousand times as many foods and tastes as
there are now. 60. He who (so) believes will eat, and he who does
not (so) believe will not eat.
61. Ohrmazd will make this earth twice as great (in) length and
breadth as it is now, and the human form will be made with the
loveliness which they saw as most fair and good in the world.
62. A man will be given the very same padixshay wife whom he had
in the material world. 63. He who had no wife, will then be given
a wife. 64. The woman who had no husband will then be given a
husband.
65. That man and woman who did extraordinary (good) deeds in the
physical body, they will be given one to another.
66. And when they raise up the dead, those who perpetrated *injury
and *harm to those of the *Good Religion and acted *with violence,
they will all die; for three days they will lie down dead.
67. And then they will be restored, and those other margarzan
(sinners), every one dead will be restored, except those *thinking
and also *doing evil against the Yazads.
68. There was an authority who said: 'The dead will be raised
up again, they will confess and for every margarzan (sin) which
they committed, then shall their heads be cut off once, and they
will be thrown back to Hell, and the punishment of 9,000 years
will be shown to them'.
69. And at dawn after the third night Spandarmad will stand up
and say: 'Punishment for all of them! And as for the other sinful
ones, who were not margarzan sinners, they are to be punished
for the sins they committed!'
70. And Shahrewar will melt the metal of all the mountains in
the world, it [i.e. the molten metal] will reach (up to) mouth
level at the place of the test, and all mankind will pass through
that (molten) metal, and by this the sinful will finally become
cleansed of their sins.
71. And for them the pain will be just as if molten metal were
released on them in the material world. 72. For the righteous
it will be easy, as if they take them into warm milk.
73. Before the Soshans will raise up the dead, on his authority
an army will be mustered; they will go into battle with the demon
Heresy.
74. He will ask the demon Heresy: 'Demon, your task against the
belief of the Mazda-worshipping religion was that you committed
a sin in the body which then said this: "I am the agent".
Surely your task is pointless [?], is it not?' 75. And it will
say: 'I am the offspring of the Evil Spirit, whose task is not
pointless [?], nor is mine'.
76. The Soshans will perform one Yasna; that demon will slither
away to the place where it is now; from that place it will slither
back, and it will slither (over) this earth on the four uppermost
sides, and the uppermost one third (of the total area).
77. The earth will cry out: 'I cannot endure this demon, which
is indeed hidden, I cannot endure its habitation in me, for its
seizes me with such scarification and tears me like the four-legged
wolf when it tears the belly of beneficent animals from them and
seizes their young.
78. 'So go forth, (you) who are Mazda-worshippers, and seek the
remedy for this!' 79. Accordingly the Mazda-worshippers will muster
an army and they will perform a Yasna. 80. That demon will slither
from that place where it is. 81. And it will slither to the middle
third part of this earth, and to the furthermost [i.e. lowest]
third part. 82. The earth will cry out just as I wrote above.
83. And that demon will slither from that place, it will go to
that (other) place where it is now, and it will seize the demon
Gozihr, and will tell him: 'The creations of the Holy Spirit wish
to inflict punishment on the creations of the Evil Spirit. I will
never agree to (let) the creations of the Holy Spirit punish the
creations of the Evil Spirit'. And both will slither off at once
from that place.
84. And they will slither to the lowest third part, the furthermost
third part of this earth, and the earth will cry out in the same
manner (as I wrote above).
85. And the Mazda-worshippers will likewise perform a Yasna, and
through their Yasna (it will) not (be) possible to withstand them.
88. And then Shahrewar will release molten metal into that hole
where they entered (the world), and it will go in after them.
87. Those demons will thus fall from this earth to Hell, just
as a stone, 88. when it falls or is thrown into water, quickly
sinks to the bottom of the water. 89. Then when punishment is
inflicted on the wicked ones, the Sosans will perform one act
of worship and one-fifth of the other demons will be destroyed,
and he will perform a second act of worship one-fifth (will be
destroyed), (with) a third act of worship one-fifth (will be destroyed),
(with) a fourth act of worship one-fifth (will be destroyed) and
he will perform a fifth act of worship and all the demons will
be taken away.
90. Wrath and Greed will (each) say to the Evil Spirit: 'I shall
devour you, ignorant Evil Spirit for your creation has been seized
from you and the thief (has suffered) no harm and it is not possible
for me to survive'.
91. First demon-created Greed will devour Wrath of the bloody
club, and second he will devour demon-created Zamestan, and thirdly
Sej of the furtive movement, and fourthly Zarman short of breath,
until (only) a few yet live.
92. The Evil Spirit will say to demon-created Greed, and demon-created
Greed (will say) to the Evil Spirit: 'I shall devour you, ignorant
one, for the Yazads seized the evil creation from you'.
93. The Evil Spirit will stand up and go to the Holy Spirit; thus
he will say: 'This creation was created by me, and demon-created
Greed, who is my creation, now says that you wish to devour me;
I shall take you to judgment'.
94. Ohrmazd will stand up with Srosh the righteous, and Srosh's
righteousness will smite Greed. Ohrmazd (95) will expel the Evil
Spirit out of the sky, with the hateful darkness and the evil
which he first brought when he invaded, and he will expel all
(of it) from the sky through the hole through which he [i.e.,
the Evil Spirit] invaded. And that hole will make him so stunned
and senseless, (that) after that (his) stupefaction will remain.
96. There was one who said: 'The eternally-existing ones will
make him powerless by killing his form. The Evil Spirit will be
no more: no (more) of his creation!'
97. At that time, when the wicked will have been punished and
will have passed through the (molten) metal, there will be the
Assembly of Isadwastar and reward and punishment will be given
to every person (according) to the number of good deeds he has
done.
98. They will perform one act of worship and the earth will rise
by three spears (in) height, with the second act of worship it
will rise by 300 spears (in) height, with the third act of worship
(it will rise by 3,000 spears in height), with the fourth act
of worship it will rise by 30,000 spears (in) height, with the
fifth act of worship it will reach the star station, and Garothman
will descend from the place (where it is now) to the star station.
99 Then Ohrmazd and the Amahraspands and all the Yazads and mankind
will be in one place, and the star too and the moon and the sun
and the Victorious Fire will all be in the form of a man who is
strong, and they will all be in the form of a man, and they will
come to the earth.
100. Then it will be entirely the creation of Ohrmazd.
101. And after that it will not be necessary for him to perform
any action, and mankind, in the likeness of a body of 40 years
of age, will all be immortal and deathless, and ageless, and without
feeling or decay.
102. And their work will be this, to behold Ohrmazd and to pay
homage, and to do for the other lords all (things) which seem
to themselves very peaceful. Everyone will love others like himself.
And the goodness of the Future Body, apart from what (I have)
written above, is such that it can neither be known nor described
through limited human knowledge and reason.
103. All the beneficent animals will exist once again, and (also)
the taste of meat. Female will be caused to merge again into female
and male into male until they have been merged once again in lineage
back to the Uniquely-created Ox.
104. Then the body of the Ox will be fashioned in the spirit state,
it will be merged into the body of men. It will leave the taste
(of meat) in the body of men.
105. If, after that, meat eating is not necessary, it is because
the pleasure of the taste of all meats will remain in the mouth
at all times; and then the body of the Ox will return to mankind,
and it will exist bodily in the material world.
106. And man and woman will have desire for one another, and they
will enjoy it and consummate it but there will be no birth from
them.
107. And the principal kinds of plants will be restored, and there
will be no diminution of them, but every place (will be) like
the spring, resembling a garden in which (there are) all (kinds
of) plants and flowers; and with the wisdom of this world it is
not possible to comprehend and know its wondrousness and worthiness
and pleasantness and purity.
(From Pahlavi Rivayat, ch 48. based on tr. of A.V. Williams, 1990.)
