Category Archives: Reference

“Since the Islamic suppression of Zoroastrianism in its homeland of Iran, just nine temples were left to maintain the Atash Behram—the Fire of Victory that must be continuously tended. The Atash Behram is the third and highest grade of fire, above the Atash Dadgah and the Atash Adaran, and can only be created by merging sixteen different sources of fire (including that incubated by a lightning bolt) in a long ceremony that requires the participation of thirty-two priests. Eight of the nine altars are now located in India, though one remains in the Iranian homeland, at Yazd, where it was inaugurated by a Sassanian Shah in 470 AD.

The symbolism of the number 9 embedded in the number of Atash Behram evolved over the last couple of hundred years but seems well established. The number is also manifest in the nine priestly families of Sanjan who collectively form a high priesthood, as well as the Zoroastrian belief in the ninth day of the ninth month as propitious.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

“Akbar: (1542-1605) Generally considered the greatest of the Muslim emperors of India, of the Mogul Empire. Akbar unified vast areas of the subcontinent, introduced a variety of administrative and social reforms, and eventually declared a state religion, the Din Illahi (Divine Faith), which focused on himself personally. He was highly praised in historical literature, even by the Hindus, for the active propagation of communal harmony.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

“Ashrama: The Sanskrit name for the four stages of life in Hinduism: (1) brahmacharin, the austere life of a student of sacred lore; (2) grhasthya, the life of a householder with wife and family; 93) vanaprastha, the life of a hermit, involving increasing separation from worldly affairs after birth of grandchildren; (4) sannyasin, the life of homeless wanderer, with all earthly ties broken. Combined with varna (‘caste’) and dharma, ashrama is integral to the basic Hindu doctrine of varnashramadharma, or sacred duty appropriate to one’s rank and stage of life.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.