A Comparative Study of the Charisma (Farr-e Izadi) in the Shāhnāma and Mahābhārata

There are many similar stories, characters and moral or social common concepts in the Mahābhārata and Shāhnāma. The concepts that underliethe myths of these two booksare vestiges of the common Indo-Iranian legacy. The Charisma (farr-eizadi) is one of these concepts that appears in the Mahābhārata and Shāhnāma many times. The authors of this study tryto answer the question that which similarities and differences are in these books, and how the charisma is affected by these two nation's mode of thinking. In the Hindu literature, including Mahābhārata, there is no precise equivalent tofarr, but there are various forces that, in some respects, equal the charisma. In general, the charisma in the Mahābhārata, like Shāhnāma, appears in the extraordinary events and special objects like royal scepter, which is known in Sanskrit as “daṇḍa”. The force of charisma, in addition to protection of king’s life, endows him with the ability to charm, divination and courage in battle-field. Misdeeds such as ingratitude to God, cruelty and foolishness cause this forceto be removed from the king. The force of charisma in Mahābhārata has more tangiblefeatures than Shāhnāma and has close connections withking’s nature and body, because Mahābhārataisa product of a period in which society was under influence of mythological thinking, while the charisma in Shāhnāma israther an internal force and hasimmaterial and non-tangible characteristics, asShāhnāmaitself isa product of a rationalistand civilized age.