Considerations about the nature of Fereydoun's sin

دانش و خرد حماسی

Article 5, Volume 1, Issue 1, May 2024, Pages 71-98   

Document Type: Original Article

DOI: 10.22067/jmels.2024.83656.1007

Author

mahmoud rezaei dasht arzhaneh^*

prof of Persian language and literature. Shiraz university

Abstract

The guilt of Fereydun, one of the greatest Pishdadi kings, is mentioned in Mainyō-ī Khard and the Pahlavi narrative alongside Jamshid and Keykavus, although there is no indication of his guilt in the Shahnameh. In this essay, after criticizing the previous views on this matter, two hypotheses about Fereydun's sin have been proposed: one is considering that the Vedic counterpart of Zahhak, Vishurupa, a three-headed, three-faced and six-eyed dragon, in the Mahabharata, is a devout and religious Brahman who continuously recites the Vedas with one head, and Indra, fearing that he might take his place among the gods, kills him and because of this sin, loses the dominion of the sky and his strength decreases, it could be that Fereydon's sin is also connected with killing Zahhak; who is also a worshiper in disguise of Mardas and also vowed and sacrificed to Anahita and Wayo, still has signs of his Brahminism and religion in the Shahnameh. On the other hand, considering that Indra's other sin, is the seduction of Ilya/Ahlia, a Brahmin woman named Gautmahnam, and as a result of this sin, Indra loses all his beauty and it is transferred to two Nasitiyas, it is not unlikely that Feridun's other sin was kidnapping two Brahmin women. A matter that has been elegantly depicted following the fundamental Post- Zoroastrian transformations.

Keywords

Faridun's sin; Indra; Trite; Vishwoourupa; Zahak

References