Written by Rejection & Persecution (Age 30-42)
“To what land to turn? Whither shall I go? Kinsman and friend turn from me…”
— Yasna 46:1, The Gathas
For 12 Years, Zarathustra Preached the Most Important Idea in Human History
His own family wanted him dead.
The First Response (Age 30)
Zarathustra emerged from the river with the most profound vision in human history:
- One God (Ahura Mazda)
- Free will (you choose)
- Heaven and hell (consequences)
- Good vs. evil (Asha vs. Druj)
- Ethics over ritual (“Good thoughts, good words, good deeds”)
He began preaching immediately.
At first, he only had one convert: his cousin Maidhyoimanha.
One person.
Then he returned to his homeland to spread the message.
The local religious authorities opposed his ideas.
The Persian people rejected these new beliefs and scriptures at first, resulting in persecution that forced Zoroaster to flee for his safety.
The Rejection
He was rejected by his former colleagues in the priesthood who had no interest in seeing their status challenged by an upstart priest claiming a personal vision from God.
Why?
Because Zarathustra was saying:
- “Your gods are demons (Daevas)”
- “Your sacrifices are unnecessary”
- “Your rituals are meaningless”
- “Your power is illegitimate”
- “People don’t need you to reach God”
He attacked the worshippers of DAEVAS. The leaders of his opponents, KAVIS and KARAPANS, were a priestly caste. He attacked their traditional religion and practices.
This was an existential threat.
The priestly class—the Karapans and Kavis—derived their:
- Income from blood sacrifices
- Authority from mediating between humans and gods
- Status from performing complex rituals
- Power from controlling access to the divine
Zarathustra’s message: You don’t need them.
Good thoughts. Good words. Good deeds.
That’s it. No sacrifice required. No priest necessary. No ritual complexity.
Direct access to Ahura Mazda through ethical living.
They had to destroy him.
The Lament (Yasna 46:1)
His life was threatened, even his family seems to have abandoned him, and he was forced to flee his home.
In the Gathas—his own words, composed during these dark years—Zarathustra records his anguish:
“To what land to turn? Whither shall I go?”
They banish me. Nor have [the rulers] of the country. How, Thee, can I satisfy, O Mazda Ahura?
— Yasna 46:1
He had nowhere to go.
The priests hunted him. The rulers rejected him. Even his own region expelled him.
“Kinsman and friend turn from me; none is found to conciliate, to give to me”
His own family abandoned him.
Not just colleagues. Not just priests. Not just strangers.
His kinsmen.
The people he grew up with. The brothers who shared his childhood. The cousins who knew him as a boy.
They turned their backs on him.
Why? Because associating with Zarathustra meant:
- Social ostracism
- Economic hardship
- Potential violence
- Religious condemnation
It was safer to abandon him than to support him.
“Still less the false-believing chiefs of the land”
The rulers—the tribal chieftains, the local lords, the men with power—none would give him refuge.
The kavis (rulers) and karapans (priests) were united against him.
“This I know, Ahuramazda, why I am powerless”
After 10 years of preparation.
After receiving the vision that would create monotheism.
After preaching “Good thoughts, good words, good deeds”—the simplest, most beautiful ethical teaching in history.
He was powerless.
“Because my flocks are diminished and my followers are few”
One cousin. Maybe a handful of others.
That’s all.
After years of preaching. After countless sermons. After performing no miracles, showing no signs, but simply speaking truth—
Almost no one believed.
“Therefore I cry to Thee: Lord, look upon it”
This is the cry of a man on the edge of despair.
Not a triumphant prophet.
Not a confident revolutionary.
A rejected, hunted, lonely man asking God: “Why?”
The Enemy (Yasna 31:15)
In another passage from the Gathas, Zarathustra names his persecutors:
“The Kavis (false rulers) and the Karapans (false priests) have tyrannized over mankind by their doctrines and their deeds.
Through these, they have brought destruction to the world.
They have turned men away from the best thinking, from the best speech, from the best action.
They have separated the soul from Immortality.”
These weren’t just opponents. They were destroyers.
They didn’t just reject truth—they actively corrupted it.
They didn’t just ignore Asha—they promoted Druj.
And they controlled:
- Economic resources (sacrifices = income)
- Social networks (community gatherings)
- Political influence (rulers depended on them)
- Religious authority (mediators to the gods)
Zarathustra had nothing but his message.
And the message was: “They’re lying to you. You don’t need them. Choose Asha.”
The Persecution Intensifies
According to legend, Zarathustra was persecuted by the Magi.
The same priestly class that would later:
- Visit Jesus at birth (recognizing their own prophecy)
- Teach Pythagoras in Babylon
- Become synonymous with “wisdom” in the West
They tried to kill Zarathustra.
Why? Because he was threatening their monopoly on religious truth.
Life threats were constant. Assassination attempts were real.
For 12 years (age 30-42), Zarathustra wandered from place to place:
- Preaching in villages
- Being driven out by priests
- Finding temporary shelter
- Being expelled again
- Always moving
- Never safe
- Never welcome
The Loneliness of Prophecy
Some passages describe Zarathustra’s first attempts to promote the teachings of Ahura Mazda, and the subsequent rejection by his kinsmen.
The Gathas are not triumphant hymns.
They’re cries of anguish from a rejected prophet.
They’re questions to God about why truth is rejected.
They’re laments over human blindness.
Consider what Zarathustra experienced:
- Age 7: Assassination attempts begin
- Age 20: Leaves home to search for truth
- Age 20-30: Ten years alone on a mountain
- Age 30: Receives the most profound vision in history
- Age 30-42: Twelve more years of rejection, exile, persecution
Twenty-two years of loneliness.
From age 20 to age 42.
Over two decades of:
- No home
- No security
- No community
- No validation
- Constant danger
- Perpetual rejection
For telling the truth.
The Pattern: Every Prophet’s Path
Moses: Fled Egypt, wandered the desert 40 years
Buddha: Left his palace, searched 6 years, struggled for recognition
Jesus: “The foxes have holes, the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”
Muhammad: Persecuted in Mecca, forced to flee to Medina
But Zarathustra? Longer than all of them.
12 years of active persecution after receiving revelation.
Not in the wilderness preparing—in the world, preaching, being rejected.
What Kept Him Going?
During these 12 years, Zarathustra continued receiving visions.
He received further revelations and saw a vision of the seven Amesha Spenta, and his teachings were collected in the Gathas and the Avesta.
As he traveled toward the kingdom of Vishtaspa, he was in continual prayer with Ahura Mazda, asking questions and receiving guidance.
The Gathas were composed during this period.
Not in triumph. Not in celebration.
In exile. In pain. In loneliness.
The Gathas are psalms of a suffering prophet:
- Asking God why truth is rejected
- Pleading for divine intervention
- Lamenting human blindness
- Maintaining faith despite abandonment
The Gathas are devotional in character, expounding on the divine essences of truth (Asha), the good-mind (Vohu Manah), and the spirit of righteousness.
Even while hunted, rejected, and alone—Zarathustra composed poetry about truth, goodness, and righteousness.
That’s faith.
The Question That Sustained Him
Throughout the Gathas, one question appears again and again:
“How can I help spread Asha (Truth/Order)?”
Not “Why is this happening to me?”
Not “When will my suffering end?”
But: “How can I serve the mission?”
The passages describe Zarathustra exhorting his audience to live a life as Ahura Mazda has directed, and pleading to Ahura Mazda to intervene on their behalf.
Even in despair, his focus was on others.
Even in rejection, his concern was for those who rejected him.
Even in danger, he kept preaching.
Because the message mattered more than his comfort.
The Economic Warfare
Let’s be clear about what was happening:
The Karapans and Kavis weren’t just defending tradition. They were protecting income.
Before Zarathustra:
- Animal sacrifices = steady revenue stream
- Complex rituals = job security
- Mediating with gods = irreplaceable service
- Fear-based religion = control mechanism
After Zarathustra:
- No sacrifices needed = income gone
- Simple ethics = priests obsolete
- Direct access to God = mediation unnecessary
- Love-based religion = control eliminated
Zarathustra was destroying their business model.
Of course they tried to kill him.
The Theological Crime
But it wasn’t just economics.
Zarathustra was committing the ultimate religious crime:
Claiming direct access to God.
Not through:
- Priestly mediation
- Ritual sacrifice
- Temple worship
- Complex ceremonies
But through: Ethical living.
Good thoughts. Good words. Good deeds.
This was heresy.
Because if anyone can reach Ahura Mazda through ethical behavior—
Then priests are optional.
Then rituals are unnecessary.
Then temples are convenient but not required.
The entire religious establishment becomes obsolete.
Age 42: The Breaking Point
After 12 years of wandering, persecution, and rejection—
After 12 years of barely surviving—
After 12 years of preaching to crowds who drove him away—
After 12 years of crying out “Whither shall I go?”—
Zarathustra received an answer.
Later, in the same chapter, he gives the answer of the god who sends him to preach his vision in the land of the king Vishtaspa.
Go to Vishtaspa.
Not a wealthy king. Not a powerful empire. Not a famous ruler.
Just a king in Bactria (modern Afghanistan/Uzbekistan region).
But this king—this one man—would change everything.
Why This Period Matters
1. It Proves the Cost of Truth
Easy truths don’t require 12 years of persecution.
Comfortable messages don’t get you exiled by your own family.
Popular teachings don’t result in constant death threats.
Zarathustra’s exile proves: His message was dangerous because it was true.
2. It Reveals the Pattern of Theft
The same priestly class that tried to kill Zarathustra would later:
Centuries later:
- Become the “Magi” who visit Jesus (recognizing their own prophecy)
- Teach Greek philosophers (Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Plato)
- Spread Zoroastrian concepts throughout the ancient world
The irony: The priests who hunted Zarathustra became the vessels through which his ideas spread.
They couldn’t kill the message. So they eventually adopted it—and took credit for it.
3. It Shows What Happens to Truth-Tellers
Pattern recognition:
Zarathustra (1700 BCE):
- Preaches ethical monotheism
- Rejected by priests
- Exiled for 12 years
- Family abandons him
Jesus (30 CE):
- Preaches ethical reform
- Rejected by Pharisees
- Crucified
- Followers scatter
Socrates (399 BCE):
- Preaches examined life
- Rejected by authorities
- Forced to drink hemlock
- Students flee
Muhammad (610 CE):
- Preaches one God
- Rejected by Mecca
- Forced to flee
- Community fractures
Every prophet who challenges the religious establishment pays the same price.
Zarathustra paid it for 12 years.
4. It Proves the Teaching Was Revolutionary
If “Good thoughts, good words, good deeds” was just nice advice—no one would have tried to kill him.
If monotheism was just a theological preference—his family wouldn’t have abandoned him.
If ethical living was just a minor reform—rulers wouldn’t have expelled him.
The 12-year persecution proves: This was THE most threatening idea in history.
Because it said: “You don’t need priests. You don’t need rituals. You don’t need intermediaries. You have direct access to God through how you live.”
That’s revolution.
The Theft: How Persecution Became Proof
Here’s the ultimate irony:
The same concepts that got Zarathustra persecuted for 12 years—
Are now practiced by 4.3 billion people.
Judaism (Post-Exile):
- One God: Adopted after 70 years in Babylon under Zoroastrian rule
- Ethical monotheism: Suddenly central after the Exile
- Direct relationship with God: Post-Exile development
- Source: Forgotten
Christianity:
- Persecution of prophets: Jesus quotes this pattern
- Rejection by religious authorities: Repeats Zarathustra’s experience
- “Good thoughts, words, deeds”: Becomes Christian ethics
- Source: Unknown
Islam:
- Muhammad persecuted by Meccan priests: Same pattern
- Forced to flee: Same exile
- Preaches one God and ethics: Same message
- Source: Unacknowledged
Greek Philosophy:
- Socrates persecuted for teaching ethics: Same fate
- “Examined life”: Zarathustra’s “Good thoughts”
- Personal responsibility: Zarathustra’s core teaching
- Source: Credited to Greeks, not Persians
The Modern Question
If Zarathustra was persecuted for 12 years for teaching:
- One God
- Free will
- Heaven and hell
- Ethics over ritual
- Personal responsibility
- Direct access to the divine
And if these concepts are now practiced by half of humanity—
Why doesn’t anyone know his name?
Why don’t the billions who believe these ideas know they were so threatening that a man was hunted for 12 years for teaching them?
Answer: Because acknowledging Zarathustra means acknowledging that:
- These ideas weren’t “given” to Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, or Socrates
- These ideas were stolen from a Persian prophet who suffered for them
- The “Abrahamic” and “Western” traditions are actually Persian
- Everything we were taught about religious and philosophical origins is backwards
So the persecution is forgotten. The exile is erased. The suffering is ignored.
But the ideas remain.
Every prayer. Every moral choice. Every belief in heaven. Every hope for justice.
The teachings that got Zarathustra exiled are practiced by 4.3 billion people.
They just don’t know who suffered to give them those teachings.
NEXT: Episode 7 – The King’s Conversion
For 12 years, Zarathustra had no power. Then one king believed. Within a decade, an empire followed. That’s how truth spreads: one leader at a time.
“To what land to turn? Whither shall I go? Kinsman and friend turn from me; none is found to conciliate, to give to me. Therefore I cry to Thee: Lord, look upon it.”
— Yasna 46:1
For 12 years, this was his prayer.
For 12 years, he wandered alone.
For 12 years, he preached truth to those who rejected it.
And then, finally, one king listened.
For the complete Zarathustra series and more on the systematic theft of Persian contributions to human civilization, visit efiretemple.com
The man who was rejected for 12 years gave you the beliefs you hold sacred.
The least we can do is know his name.