This thesis presents a comparative study between two reforming movements emanating from the Aryan (Indo-Iranian) tradition: Early Zarathushtrianism and Early Buddhism. Although this thesis establishes the common origin of Zarathushtrianism and Buddhism, the principal purpose of this research is to demonstrate the social commitment of the two movements. / Zarathyshtra and the Buddha are discerned in this discussion as reformers struggling against the religious institutions (worshipped gods and observed rites) and the social system of their time as the latter represented exclusively the aspirations of the dominating knightly or priestly classes. / This treatise is primarily interested in the social message conveyed by Zarathushtra's and the Buddha's "religious" discourses. It aims to establish their statements as one supporting the emancipation of the classes who secured the economic prosperity of their society. / Finally, as regards the outline of this thesis, the first two sections are preliminary chapters dedicated to separate studies of Zarathushtrianism and Buddhism. They pave the way for the comparative study between the two Aryan movements recorded in the last chapter.

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