Picture of Zoroaster

Written by London Swaminathan 

Date: 30 May 2018

Time uploaded in London – 15-27

Post No. 5060

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I have already given the stories of walking on the water and flying through the air from Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sources. There is one more story from the Parsi religion. When we talk about religion, we believe in the miracles done by great saints. But the strange thing about the Greek writers is that they wrote fanciful stories and  interesting stories about Alexander the Great. The stories range from Alexander falling in love with Hindu and other women to walking on the water etc.

Purana= mythology

Here is the story about Z of Persian/Parsi religion (Persia= Modern Iran)

ZARATHUSHTRA , appearing in the Zerdsht Nama, dated 1278 CE has the following anecdote:

ZARATHUSHTRA  having arrived at the banks of River Araxes, found no boat. He worried about his wife and himself exposing themselves semi naked just to cross the river.  There were lot of people watching them. He prayed to the Lord and then they all walked safely on the surface of the water and crossed the river. Since Muslim invaders destroyed most of the Parsi scriptures, we wouldn’t know whether this story is from any ancient book or a later one. The fact that ZARATHUSHTRA  and his family walked on the surface of the water may be due to Indian influence. From Rig Vedic seers to Vasudeva (father of Krishna) we have many stories in Hindu religion about walking on water or rivers obeying the commands of the saints.

Alexander ‘Mahatmyam’ (Great Holy  Story)

Alexander, the hero of much fairy tale, figures in some marvellous affairs with the waters, of which one is the passage of the sea at Pamphylia. Greek Historian Arrian (First century CE) in his Anabasis of Alexander 1-26 says that there is no passage along beach except when the north wind blows; “at that time after strong South wind, rendered his passage easy and quick, not without divine intervention, as he and his men interpreted.”

Greek biographer Plutarch (46-120 CE) in his life of   Alexander refers to the same legend and quotes Menander in connection with it, but Alexander himself made no claim of anything miraculous in the passage.

Greek historian Appian (First century CE) also knew the legend and in his Civil Wars mentioned it in connection with an adventure of Caesar’s in the Ionian Sea.

Greek geographer Strabo (First century CE) said the army passed in the water for a whole day and the water was up to navel.

Greek historian Callisthenes, however, said that sea not only opened for him but even rose and fell in homage. He quoted Eusthatius for his statement. But this statement should not be taken literally but may be looked upon as a rhetorical embellishment to something which was understood more prosaically.

Roman historian and hagiographer Josephus (First century CE) gives the event an undeniably miraculous touch. In the Antiquities, he described the Hebrew crossing of the Red Sea (under Moses), he cites this legend in confirmation of that in Exodus, and the sea divided for Alexander, in an offhand way referring to the other historians as his authority.

There is another story about in the Pseudo Callisthenes. When Alexander arrived in Babylon, he himself went in disguise as an ambassador to Darius. He received and entertained him, with a banquet in the evening. During the course of the banquet a Persian Lord recognised Alexander, and informed Darius, Persian King.  Alexander, finding himself discovered, fled from the hall, snatching a torch to light him through darkness. Fortunately, he chanced upon a horse at the door. Now by the might of the gods, Alexander crossed the river, but when he had reached the other side and the fore feet of the horse rested on dry land, the water which had been frozen over suddenly melted, and the hind legs of the horse went down into the river. Alexander however leaped from the horse to land, and the horse was drowned in the river.

So all cultures have similar stories, which in course of time, changed into mythology.  When religions had such stories, they were all attributed to help from the gods.  When historical figures appear in such stories some find heroic adventures there and some others say they are nothing but lucky coincidences. These stories make the history interesting to read.

Source: The Indian and Christian Miracles of Walking on the Water, William Norman Brown, 1928

–Subham–