Menok-i Khrat

Pahlavi religious text

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June 30, 2026

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The Menok-i Khrat is a Pahlavi religious text that offers a summary of Zoroastrian doctrine based on reason. It is one of several Pahlavi works, which were written in the language of the Sasanians.1

This text touches upon the concept of fate, stating that even wisdom and knowledge cannot overcome destiny. This idea is sometimes associated with fatalism and Zurvanism.2

Zoroastrianism itself centers on the belief in the creator god, Ahura Mazda, who is in conflict with Angra Mainyu, the Destructive Spirit. Believers anticipate Ahura Mazda's eventual triumph, leading to eternal bliss for all humanity.3

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Zoroastrianism
Sources
…books are anonymous, such as Mēnōk-i Khrat (“Spirit of Wisdom”), a lucid summary of a doctrine based on reason, and the Book of Artāy Virāf, which describes Virāf’s descent into the netherworld as well as heaven and hell and the pleasures and pains awaiting the virtuous and the wicked. There…
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…books are anonymous, such as Mēnōk-i Khrat (“Spirit of Wisdom”), a lucid summary of a doctrine based on reason, and the Book of Artāy Virāf, which describes Virāf’s descent into the netherworld as well as heaven and hell and the pleasures and pains awaiting the virtuous and the wicked. There…
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Zoroastrianism
Conclusion
In the Mēnōk-i Khrat it is stated that “though one be armed with the valour and strength of wisdom and knowledge, yet it is not possible to strive against fate.” On the whole, however, as the eminent historian of religions R.C. Zaehner notes, “the theological premises” of…
Read More
In the Mēnōk-i Khrat it is stated that “though one be armed with the valour and strength of wisdom and knowledge, yet it is not possible to strive against fate.” On the whole, however, as the eminent historian of religions R.C. Zaehner notes, “the theological premises” of…
Read More