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Ahura Mazda On Vādfradād (Autophradates) I
Ahura (Avestan: š¬€š¬µš¬Žš¬­š¬€) is an Avestan language designation for a particular class of Zoroastrian divinities. The term is assumed to be linguistically related to the Asuras of Indian Vedic era. Etymology Avestan ''ahura'' "lord" derives from Proto-Indo-Iranian language ''*HĆ”suras'', also attested in an Indian context as Rigvedic ''asura''. As suggested by the similarity to the Old Norse ''Ʀsir'', Indo-Iranian ''*HĆ”suras'' may have an even earlier Proto-Indo-European language root. It is commonly supposed that Indo-Iranian ''*HĆ”suras'' was the proper name of a specific divinity with whom other divinities were later identified. In scripture Gathas In the Gathas, the oldest hymns of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by Zoroaster, followers are exhorted to pay reverence to only the ''ahura''s and to rebuff the ''daeva''s and others who act "at Lie's command". That should not, however, be construed to reflect a view of a primordial opposition. Althoug ...
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Avestan Language
Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scriptural language of Zoroastrianism, and the Avesta likewise serves as their namesake. Both are early Eastern Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian language branch of the Indo-European language family. Its immediate ancestor was the Proto-Iranian language, a sister language to the Proto-Indo-Aryan language, with both having developed from the earlier Proto-Indo-Iranian language; as such, Old Avestan is quite close in both grammar and lexicon to Vedic Sanskrit, the oldest preserved Indo-Aryan language. The Avestan text corpus was composed in the ancient Iranian satrapies of Arachosia, Aria, Bactria, and Margiana, corresponding to the entirety of present-day Afghanistan as well as parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Y ...
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Daeva
A daeva (Avestan: š¬›š¬€š¬‰š¬Žš¬Žš¬€ ''daēuua'') is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the ''daeva''s are "gods that are (to be) rejected". This meaning is ā€“ subject to interpretation ā€“ perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "''daiva'' inscription" of the 5th century BCE. In the ''Younger Avesta'', the ''daeva''s are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the ''dēw''s (Zoroastrian Middle Persian; New Persian ''div''s) are personifications of every imaginable evil. Over time, the Daeva myth as Div became integrated to Islam. ''Daeva'', the Iranian language term, shares the same origin of "Deva" of Hinduism. While the word for the Vedic spirits and the word for the Zoroastrian entities are etymologically related, their function and thematic development is altogether different. Originally, the term was used to denote beings of cultural fol ...
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopƦdia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by article name or by thematic categories, or else are hyperlinked and searchable. Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries. Generally speaking, encyclopedia articles focus on ''factual information'' concerning the subject named in the article's title; this is unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, such as their etymology, meaning, pronunciation, use, and grammatical forms.BĆ©joint, Henri (2000)''Modern Lexicography'', pp. 30ā€“31. Oxford University Press. Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years and have evolved considerably during that time as regards language (written in a major international or a vernacu ...
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Ashi
Ashi (Avestan: š¬€š¬“š¬Œ ''aį¹£ĢŒi/arti'') is the Avestan language word for the Zoroastrian concept of "that which is attained." As the hypostasis of "reward," "recompense," or "capricious luck," ''Ashi'' is also a divinity in the Zoroastrian hierarchy of ''yazata''s. Nomenclature Avestan 'ashi' is a feminine abstract noun, deriving from the root ''ar-'', "to allot," with a substantivizing ''-ta'' suffix, hence ''aį¹£ĢŒi/arti'' "that which is granted." In the Avesta, the term implies both material and spiritual recompense. Although conceptually older than Zoroastrianism, Ashi has no attested equivalent in Vedic Sanskrit. The late Middle Persian equivalent as attested in the Zoroastrian texts of the 9th-12th century is ''ard-'', which is subject to confusion with another ''ard'' for '' aį¹£ĢŒa/arta-'' "truth". In the younger Avesta, divinified ''Ashi'' is also referred to Ashi Vanuhi or Ashi Vanghuhi (''AÅ”i vaĪ·uhÄ«'', nominative ''AÅ”iÅ” vaĪ·uhÄ«'' "Good Reward"), the Midd ...
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Anahita
Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. There is also a temple named Anahita in Iran. Aredvi Sura Anahita is ''Ardwisur Anahid'' (Ų§Ų±ŲÆŁˆŪŒŲ³ŁˆŲ± Ų¢Ł†Ų§Ł‡ŪŒŲÆ ) or ''Nahid'' (Ł†Ų§Ł‡ŪŒŲÆ) in Middle and Modern Persian, and ''Anahit'' in Armenian. An iconic shrine cult of Aredvi Sura Anahita was ā€“ together with other shrine cults ā€“ "introduced apparently in the 4th century BCE and lasted until it was suppressed in the wake of an iconoclastic movement under the Sassanids.". The symbol of goddess Anahita is the Lotus flower. Lotus Festival (Persian: Jashn-e Nilupar) is an Iranian festival that is held on the sixth day of July. Holding this festival at this time was probably based on the blooming of lotus flowers at the beginning of summer. ...
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Yazata
Yazata ( ae, š¬«š¬€š¬°š¬€š¬™š¬€) is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying (or used as an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration",.. and is thus, in this more general sense, also applied to certain healing plants, primordial creatures, the ''fravashis'' of the dead, and to certain prayers that are themselves considered holy. The ''yazata''s collectively are "the good powers under Ahura Mazda", who is "the greatest of the ''yazata''s".. Etymology ''Yazata'' is an Avestan-language passive adjectival participle derived from ''yaz-''; "to worship, to honor, to venerate", from Proto-Indo-European ''*yehā‚‚Ēµ-'' (ā€œto worship, revere, sacrificeā€). The word ''yasna'' or yagnaā€“ "worship, sacrifice, oblation, prayer" ā€“ comes from the same root. A ''yaza+ ta'' is accordingly "a being worthy of worship", "an object of worship" or "a holy being". As the stem form, ''yazata ...
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Amesha Spenta
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta ( ae, , AməŔa Spəį¹‡taā€”literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the term include the contraction 'Ameshaspand' as well as the specifically Zoroastrian 'Mahraspand' and 'Amahraspand'. As divine entities Significantly more common than the non-specific meaning of ''Amesha Spenta'' (see below) is a restrictive use of the term to refer to the great seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrian tradition, these are the first seven emanations of the uncreated creator, through whom all subsequent creation was accomplished. This fundamental doctrine is only alluded to in the Avesta, but is systematically described in later Middle Persian language texts, in particular in the ''Bundahishn'', an 11th or 12th century work that recounts Zoroastrian cosmology. The expression ''A ...
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Apam Napat
Apam Napat is a deity in the Proto-Indo-Iranian religion, Indo-Iranian Pantheon (gods), pantheon associated with water. His names in the Vedas, ''Apām Napāt'', and in Zoroastrianism, ''Apąm Napāt'', mean "child of the Ap (water), waters" in Sanskrit and Avestan language, Avestan respectively. ''wikt:ą¤Øą¤Ŗą¤¾ą¤¤ą„, Napāt'' ("grandson", "progeny") is cognate with Latin ''nepos'' and English ''nephew''. In the Rig Veda, he is described as the creator of all things. In the Vedas it is often apparent that ''Apām Napāt'' is being used as a title, not a proper name. This is most commonly applied to Agni, god of fire, and occasionally to Savitr, god of the sun. A correspondence has also been posited by Mary Boyce, Boyce between both the Vedic and Avestic traditions of Apam Napat, and Varuna, who is also addressed as "Child of the Waters", and is considered a god of the sea. In the Iranian tradition, he is also called ''Burz'' ("high one," fa, wikt:ŲØŲ±Ų²#Persian, ŲØŲ±Ų²}) and is a ...
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Mithra
Mithra ( ae, ''MiĪøra'', peo, šŽ·šŽ°šŽ¼ ''MiƧa'') commonly known as Mehr, is the Iranian deity of covenant, light, oath, justice and the sun. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth, and the guardian of cattle, the harvest, and of the Waters. The Romans attributed their Mithraic mysteries to Zoroastrian Persian sources relating to Mithra. Since the early 1970s, the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities between the Persian and Roman traditions, making it, at most, the result of Roman ''perceptions'' of Zoroastrian ideas. Etymology Together with the Vedic common noun '' mitra'', the Avestan common noun ''miĪøra'' derives from Proto-Indo-Iranian '' *mitrĆ”m'' (Mitra), from the root ''*mi-'' "to bind", with the "tool suffix" ''-tra-'' "causing to". Thus, etymologically ''mitra''/''miĪøra'' means "that which causes binding", preserved in the Avestan word for "Covenant, Contract, Oath". In M ...
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Avesta
The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the liturgical group is the ''Yasna'', which takes its name from the Yasna ceremony, Zoroastrianism's primary act of worship, and at which the ''Yasna'' text is recited. The most important portion of the ''Yasna'' texts are the five Gathas, consisting of seventeen hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself. These hymns, together with five other short Old Avestan texts that are also part of the ''Yasna'', are in the Old (or 'Gathic') Avestan language. The remainder of the ''Yasna'''s texts are in Younger Avestan, which is not only from a later stage of the language, but also from a different geographic region. Extensions to the Yasna ceremony include the texts of the ''Vendidad'' and the ''Visperad''. The ''Visperad'' extensions consist mainly of addit ...
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Yasna
Yasna (;"Yasna"
''''. ae, ,) is the name of 's principal act of worship. It is also the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts, recited during that ''yasna'' ceremony.


Overview

The function of the ''yasna'' ceremony is, very roughly des ...
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Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda (; ae, , translit=Ahura Mazdā; ), also known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hoormazd, Hormazd, Hormaz and Hurmuz, is the creator deity in Zoroastrianism. He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the ''Yasna''. The literal meaning of the word ''Ahura'' is "lord", and that of ''Mazda'' is "wisdom". The first notable invocation of Ahura Mazda occurred during the Achaemenid period () with the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great. Until the reign of Artaxerxes II (), Ahura Mazda was worshipped and invoked alone in all extant royal inscriptions. With Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was gathered in a triad with Mithra and Anahita. In the Achaemenid period, there are no known representations of Ahura Mazda at the royal court other than the custom for every emperor to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses to invite Ahura Mazda to accompany the Military history of Iran#Achaemenid Era, Persian army on battles. Images of Ahura Mazda, however, were pre ...
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