دریجان

Having dealt with the time, the place, and the language of Zoroaster, we turn now to his religion. If one asks in what points his religion differs from the other religions of antiquity, the answer is: in his dualism and in his noble view of Man as the arbiter between Good and Evil. These two matters are closely bound up with each other. Zoroaster saw that world as the battlefield of two eternal abstract Powers, Good and Evil, both of which manifested themselves not only in mental and spiritual phenomena, but also in the material things of this world; this dualism, accordingly, has been well described as an ethical dualism, in contradistinction to the dualisms of a later age in which the two hostile powers were Mind and Matter, or Soul and Matter.

The battle between Good and Evil has been in process since Time began and will go on till the end of the world: but as the two powers are evenly matched, its outcome is uncertain. The decisive factor will be the collective action of humanity. Every man or woman is free to choose which side to join; his or her support will add permanent strength to the side chosen, and so in the long run, the acts of Man will weigh the scales in favour of the one side or the other. Thus, Zoroaster beside his principal two powers recognizes a third, which, though not of equal rank, holds the balance.