Dictionary of all Scriptures & Myths

CLASSES, FOUR, OF MANKIND, IN THE SCRIPTURES OF ZOROASTER

Symbolic of the four soul-vehicles and their activities on the four lower planes.

"Auharmazd created the religion of omniscience like an immense Tree, of which there are one stein, two branches, three boughs, four twigs, and five shoots. The four twigs are the four classes of the religion, by whom the religion and world are prepared; which are Priesthood, Warriorship, Husbandry, and Artisan- ship." - Sikand-Gumanik Vigar, S. B. of E., Vol. XXIV. p. 118.

The Supreme emanated the Divine Life as a process of growth from unity to diversity. The one stem" is a symbol for the Absolute Source of all. The two branches " signify Spirit and Matter, and the "three boughs are the three higher planes,—Atma, Buddhi, and Manas. The "four classes of the religion" signify the four vehicles or bodies, on the four lower planes, concerned with the growth of the spiritual life in the human soul.

"Priesthood” signifies the causal-body with higher mental activities. "Warriorship," the mental-body with lower mental activities. Husbandry," the desire-body with astral activities. "Artisanship," the flesh-body with physical activities.

The first and highest vehicle is the causal-body (Priesthood) which is the seat of the spiritual emotions in the higher mind. The second is the mental-body (Warriorship) in the lower mind, the arena of conflict between the higher and the lower motives. The third is the desire body (Husbandry) on the astral plane, the plane of cultivation and growth. The fourth is the physical body (Artisanship), on the physical plane, the plane of work, contrivance and adaptation.

"I want to remind you that the body is not the self; it is the instrument of the self. Our passional instincts are not the self; they are the instrument of the self. Even the mind is not the self; it is the instrument of the self. The self is something greater than the body, greater than the feelings, greater than the intellect. The self is the reality at the back of all these, partly hedged in by them, and partly making use of them to utter itself. Consciousness has to rise through them all before it can attain to its own highest, the level of perfect self-realisation, which is perfect love." - R. J. CAMPBELL, Serm., Evolution of the Spiritual Man.

See Also

ARTIFICER
CASTES
GATHA DAYS
HOUSE (clan)
KSHATRIYA
PRIEST
RULERS (world)
SUDRA
TREE OF LIFE
VAISYA