JAMASPI The Zoroastrian Book of Revelation
JAMASPI – The Zoroastrian Book of Revelation
By Noshir H. Dadrawala
Of all the Pahlavi books known today, no book has been so well known by name among the Parsis as the ‘Jamaspi’. Even up to the middle of the last century, the ‘Jamaspi’ was held in great esteem by orthodox Parsis. It was often consulted in times of difficulty and with a view to foretell events. Even Gujarati renderings of the book were guarded as rich articles of possession in treasury boxes.
The Gujarati ‘Jamaspi’, however, has far outgrown its original limit by the addition of forebodings, rightly or wrongly connected with the name of Jamasp. In fact, it is on the records of the Parsi Punchayet that more than a century and a half ago, a Parsi author published for the first time, a Gujarati ‘Jamaspi’. It was so replete with nonsense that the then trustees of the Parsi Punchayet thought it would disgrace the name of the community. The author was paid a small sum of money and his book revoked.