A Study on the Concept of True driyōš in Middle Persian Texts

In the corpus of Persian texts, the word “dervish” generally represents a person who is satisfied with having few belongings and properties. In the Islamic period, this word exactly corresponds to “Sufi”. Most of the lexicographers and researchers have mentioned two distinct equivalents for “dervish” in different Persian texts. On the one hand, dervish means “beggar”. In this regard, “dervish” should be considered together with some other words such as pauper, indigent, underprivileged and poor. On the other hand, it denotes Sufis and ascetics who are known as the seekers of the mystic paths or, i. e. seekers of the “Tariqah”. Therefore, most of the researchers, who use some expressions such as “true dervish” and “ascetic” against “false dervish” and “beggar”, differentiate these two meanings from each other. It should be noted that the latter group just pretends to be “dervish”.
In addition, this very same subject and the two aforementioned meanings of dervish can be noticed in the Middle Persian texts. In these writings, dervish has two distinct meanings: first, a poor person who thinks of himself as a miserable one and looks down on wealthy people, and second, a person who is content with what he has and therefore lives happily.
Regarding “dervish” and its role in ancient Iran, only a few research works has been done, and most of these researches have raised doubts about the existence of such a life in ancient Iran. One of the most important articles about this subject, written by Katayun Mazdapour and entitled “The Beginning of Ethics of Dervishes in Iran”, is about the background of driyōšīh in ancient Iran. Another noteworthy paper is “Dervīš, in the Pre-Islamic Period” by Mansour Shaki, which provides useful information about driyōš, particularly from the 6th book of the Dinkard.
In this paper, the concept of true dervish or “driyoš ī rāst” as appears in the Middle Persian texts, is discussed. It is also tried to answer the following questions: who is “driyoš ī rāst” in the Middle Persian texts? What specific traits separate the “driyoš ī rāst” from a poor beggar? Which customs of true driyošīh can be found in the corpora of Middle Persian texts?
The term “driyōš ī rāst”, in the strictest sense of the word, conveys a humble poor person who is satisfied with what he has, does not look down on wealthy people, and is kind to them. Therefore, the foremost trait of a driyōš in the Middle Persian texts, is satisfaction. The second trait is to respect the affluent persons. A driyōš is self-effacing and right-minded (MP: bowandag-menišn), but the poor and needy ones may abase the rich and behave in an offensive manner (MP: tar-menišnīh).
These two traits, satisfaction (MP: hunsandīh) and self-effacement (MP: bowandag-menišnīh), are the necessary characteristics of a driyōš. In the 6th book of the Dinkard, four traits are enumerated for a driyōš, two of which are apt (MP: cār), namely diligence and moderation (MP: tuxšāgīh ud paymānīgīh), whereas the other two, satisfaction and self-effacement (MP: hunsandīh ud bowandag-menišnīh), are considered necessary (MP: a-cār).
All of these features together help us define a special kind of driyōšīh, i. e. “driyōš ī rāst”, in the Middle Persian texts. It stands against the general meaning of “poor, needy” (MP: škōh) who is unsatisfied with his poverty and indigence and craves more wealth and property. “Driyōš ī rāst” or satisfied and humble dervish is the specific meaning of driyōš in the Middle Persian texts, which, moreover, found its way into the Persian literature.
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The sole beneficiary in this market is the content dervish
O Lord! Make me so rich to be a satisfied dervish
According to the Middle Persian texts, the true driyōšīh is a useful element in the society, and a “driyōš ī rāst” has a dignified and respectable position. The benefit of this kind of life is for both the body and the soul. The driyōšīh brings peace and serenity to the body, and it brings freedom from apprehension of the day of reckoning for the soul.
In the Middle Persian texts, the driyōš is depicted as a mighty person who destroys Devil. A person who has willingly chosen the customs of the driyōšīh only for the sake of “goodness and acclamation” (MP: wehīh ud burzišn), has the power to push Ahriman and all other dēws out of the good creation; such a person will never go to Hell. If we consider the world as the greater cosmos and the man as the minor cosmos, then we can understand that the driyōš’s attempts to get rid of greed (MP: āz) and need (MP: niyāz) is a try to reduce the power of evil in the universe, and it is one of the main reasons why he enjoys such a dignified position in the society. Āz, who is the most powerful and dreadful dēw after Ahriman, is the evil power of greed, avarice, lust and gluttony. The primary aim of Āz is satisfaction (MP: hunsandīh) which is a trait of the driyōš. Pushing Āz dēw out of the world is obligatory for all the human beings who are created to fight against Devil.
In the Middle Persian texts, we can find some tales from the lives of Zoroastrian disciples (MP: hērbed) which are narratives of the ascetic lives of driyōšes in the past. These hermits had very simple lives; they collected firewood themselves and carried them on their back, drew water from the well, worked on the farm and ate only from their own wage. They were sometimes educated hērbeds and priests (MP: kard-hērbedstān hērbed) who knew the Avesta and Zand, and performed religious ceremonies; but we should bear in mind that not all the driyōšes were necessarily hērbeds, and not all the hērbeds lived ascetic lives.
However the driyōšes were skilled men (MP: kardagār ud abzārōmand), but curiously there is barely any traces of their names and reputation in the Middle Persian texts. Some instances of their lives can be found in the Middle Persian texts, which show an old rite of the driyōšīh in this country. These stories belong to the ascetic hērbeds who have chosen this type of life and believe in the Zoroastrian faith. Their doctrines and beliefs have been repeated in the Zoroastrian texts: to fight against greed and try to reduce the power of Ahriman.