As time passed under the auspicious star of King Goshtasp, the venerable Zarathustra bestowed holy counsel upon the Kianian court. He urged the king of Iran that, under the sacred faith, it was unfitting for the Iranian monarch to pay tribute and toll to the lord of Turan and Chin, for none of the ancient kings of yore had ever humbled themselves to pay tribute to the Turks. Goshtasp accepted the prophet's divine wisdom and vowed never again to send tribute to the realm of Turan.
Soon, a malignant demon learned of this defiance and flew upon the wind to the court of Arjasp, King of Chin and Turan. The demon addressed the Turanian ruler, proclaiming that while the entire world obeyed Arjasp's command, Goshtasp, son of Lohrasp, had cast off his allegiance and raised an army against Turan. Hearing this, Arjasp descended from his throne in anguish, stricken with grief and fury. He summoned the mighty commanders of his host and revealed that glory and wisdom had departed from Iran, for a sorcerer claiming prophethood had emerged, alleging he had descended from the heavens bearing the scriptures of Zand and Avesta from God.
Arjasp recounted how Goshtasp and his valiant brother Zarir, along with the nobles of Iran, had bound the sacred girdle about their waists and embraced the new creed. Resolving to crush this apostasy, Arjasp decided to dispatch a letter filled with stern warnings alongside lavish treasures, demanding that Goshtasp abandon this path, banish the holy prophet, and return to their ancestral rites. Should Goshtasp refuse, Arjasp vowed to assemble a vast, scattered army, march into Iran, humiliate the Kianian king, and hang him alive upon a gallows.