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SOME OPINIONS ON THE DIVINE SONGS OF ZARATHUSHTRA
I got acquainted with this great man of spirit and a great Zoroastrian through his unique voluminous book The Divine Songs of Zarathushtra. It helped me immensely to comprehend the profound thoughts embodied in those divine songs.

It is not such an easy task to unravel the spiritual teachings and message of the Gathas. Firstly, because the language of the Gathas is a dead language, and secondly, because the message is expressed in the form of poetry, and regular rhyme and rhythm, each verse presenting a sublime thought. A scholar of the Gathas should be really in love with ZARATHUSHTRA ‘s teachings and have complete faith that here is the hidden Divine Treasury and go after it. I think that Dr. Irach Taraporewala was such a man. He was in love and had complete faith in the TRUTH of the religion into which he was born. Whole-heartedly and tirelessly he went after it and was able to produce such a masterpiece and scholarly work in 1166 pages.

The excellence of his work lies in the fact that in his translation and interpretation, he is not dogmatic. He picks
up the essential words and phrases of the Gathas and describes the meaning and interpretations by different European and Parsee scholars, and at the end he expresses his own opinion, in this way allowing you to think and choose for yourself.

– Dn Rostam Sorfeh (La Jolla. California, U.S.A.)

Few men have the love of scholarship and the love of their religion in as strong a measure as Dr. Irach Taraporewala. He had the unique distinction of being a scholar both of Sanskrit as well as of Avesta. He obtained a Tripos in Sanskrit at Cambridge and studied Avesta under Dr. Bartholomae.
I was greatly impressed by his innate modesty and his quiet but deep love of scholarship which shunned
publicity. He spent twenty years translating the Gathas and his translations, both literal as well as free, are
inspiring masterpieces.

– Mt: Justice Jal R. Vimadalal (Bombay)

THE RELIGION OF ZARATHUSHTRA

Third Revised and Enlarged Edition
by Dr. IrachJ.S. Taraporewala

This is an excellent introductory book, lucidly written and authoritative, having been written by a scholar of world reputation. The present edition gives a representative selection of Dr. Taraporewala’s writings. It is in three parts. The first part provides a basic knowledge of the ethics, philosophy and morals of the faith of Zarathushtra. Ih Taraporewala had spent twenty years in translating the Gathas of Zarathushtra, which from the second part and the heart of the book. The third part presents a historical perspective in the form of essays on three forgotten religions of Iran -Mithraism, Manichaeism and Mazdakism.