Bashtwar and waged war, the last war against Arjasp. In a fierce battle, Arjasp was defeated at the strong hands of Asfandiar and fled from the battlefield. But this time, Asfandiar was determined to destroy him and with a feeling of vengeance he pursued Arjasp and fought him again in Turan and killed him. He then captured Turan and hoisted the flag of Iran.

Successors to Spitama Zarathustra as the religious head were also known as Zarathustra or Zarathustro- temo; and the Holy Prophet, to be distinguished from His successors, has been known as Spitama Zarathustra — Zarathustra or Spitama descent. In later books the name Spitama at times was missing and this, with the loss of ancient books, has led to confusion and at times, facts or legends in connection with one or other Zarathustra have mistakenly been connected with the Holy Prophet.

As regards the death of Zarathustra, it is believed by a section that the one who was stabbed to death by the fanatics of Arjasp's army was not the Holy Prophet but one of His successors, while Spitama Zarathustra on the Divine call went to the mountains and left the mortal coil of His own will.

Though no more in mortal coil, He however lived in the hearts of all Iran for thousands of years. According to Zad-Sparam, Spitama Zarathustra died on the eleventh day of the second Zoroastrian calendar month and he lived for 77 years and forty days.

CHAPTER IX

Zarathustra — A Divine Medium

Let the end of this small book conclude that the Divine personality of Zarathustra is as enlightening, if not more, as His teachings, if only we know the right approach. To be a true Jnani, to be on the spiritual path leading to Divinity, one must imbibe both the cult and the culture and this one can, when devoted equally both to the life and to the teachings. Both are inseparable instruments of progress.

Sitting in meditation and while contemplating on Spitama Zarathustra, one has not to look upon him as a man but penetrating through His name and form, he should try to perceive the Master in His Divine Existence as a divine current connecting one with God. Ours is a human consciousness — the consciousness of separated individuality and remaining embedded in this consciousness, we remain far apart from Ahura Mazda. The goal of every man is to be merged in Divine Unity, into the Divine Existence of Ahura Mazda and of all creations. The goal can only be reached when through the Divine Grace we are able to throw off the cloak of this human consciousness and be firmly seated in God-Consciousness — the Divine Consciousness.

To get this seat, we cannot jump from one to the other, for both the human consciousness and the divine consciousness exist wide apart and we have got to get from one to the other through a connecting link and that connecting link is the Divine Personality who descends from His state of Divinity down to the human level. This Divine Personality, this Divine Man is like a switch connecting the negative existence of human consciousness (the individualized consciousness), with the positive Existence of the Divine consciousness (the God-consciousness) to allow the Divine Current to flow into the individual man. Just as the bulb on receiving the electric current gets lighted, so is the man on receiving the Divine current through such a Divine Personality, becomes Divinely enlightened and rises on the Divine Plane to be ONE with God-Consciousness.

Spitama Zarathustra was and is such a Divine Personality through whom we can receive the Divine current ever to rise to Divinity. Zarathustra, the man, lived and left His physical existence about eight thousand years ago after a short span of human life in mortal coil, but the Divinity manifesting through His Divine Personality, His Spirituality, is still with us as the Divine current. He is still to us the live-switch and now it depends upon us, the individuals, to get ourselves connected with this switch with a live-wire of devotion and love, so that imbibing the Divine current we may rise spiritually till we reach our goal — UNITY IN AHURA MAZDA.