Ashem Vohu (,
Avestan
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 scrip ...
: 𐬀𐬴𐬆𐬨 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬏 aṣ̌əm vohū) is a very important prayer in
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
. The Ashem Vohu, after the
Ahunavar is considered one of the most basic, yet meaningful and powerful
mantras
A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...
in the religion. It is considered a lesson and praise of those who embrace
Asha
Asha (; also arta ; ae, 𐬀𐬴𐬀, translit=aṣ̌a/arta) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right(eousness)', 'ord ...
, along with being a sacred blessing for the aforementioned. It is also at the end of most of the prayers in the
Khordeh Avesta
Khordeh Avesta, meaning 'little, or lesser, or small Avesta', is the name given to two different collections of Zoroastrian religious texts. One of the two collections includes the other and takes its name from it.
* In a narrow sense, the term ...
, except a certain few, most notably the
Fravarane.
''Ashem vohu,
Ahunavar,'' ''
Yenghe hatam'', and ''
Airyaman ishya'' form four pillars of the Gathic canon, part of the group of Zoroastrian texts composed in the archaic dialect of the Avestan language.
Prayer
There are many translations that all differ significantly due to the complexity of Avestan and the concepts involved. For example:
or:
or:
or:
or:
There is also a
Sogdian version of the prayer:
.
See also
*
Zoroastrian prayer
Zoroastrian prayer is performed for the worship of Ahura Mazda. The Zoroastrian place of worship is known as a fire temple.
See also
* Ashem Vohu
* Ahuna Vairya
Ahuna Vairya (Avestan: 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬥𐬀 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀) is the fi ...
References
The main point to be noted in the translation is that the word "Holiness", can also be replaced with Righteousness and its main origin term "Asha".
Bibliography
*
Zoroastrian prayer
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