Drvaspa (''druuāspā'', ''drvāspā'', ''drwāspā'') is the

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 scrip ...

name of an "enigmatic" and "strangely discreet".

Zoroastrian 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 ...

divinity, whose name literally means "with solid horses" and which she is then nominally the hypostasis of. The word ''drvaspa'' is grammatically feminine. Proceeding from an observation in James Darmesteter's ''Avesta'' (1875), "it has been customary to compare her to the Celtic

Epona In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain and the presence of foals in some sculptures ...

In scripture

Despite the meaning of her name "with solid horses," Drvaspa does not appear in any context referring to horses, and is instead invoked in the company of ''Geush Tashan'' and ''Geush Urvan'', respectively representing the body and soul of cattle. This association occurs in the ''Siroza'', the 30 verses of the 30 days of the

Zoroastrian calendar Adherents of Zoroastrianism use three distinct versions of traditional calendars for liturgical purposes, all derived from medieval Iranian calendars and ultimately based on the Babylonian calendar as used in the Achaemenid empire. ''Qadim ...

month: the 14th day of the month is dedicated to Geush Urvan ("soul of the

kine Kine or KINE may refer to: Radio and TV stations * KINE-FM, a radio station (105.1 FM) licensed to Honolulu, Hawaii, United States * KINE (AM), a radio station (1330 AM) licensed to Kingsville, Texas, United States * KINE-LP, a defunct low-pow ...

"), but in the ''Siroza'' verse recited on that day, the three divinities are invoked together and they are together described as patrons of the animal world. The 33 verses of ''

Yasht The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in the Younger Avestan language. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. ''Yasht'' chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as ''Yt.'' Overview The wor ...

9'', the hymn to Drvaspa, are—appropriately adjusted—copies of verses 27–52 of Yasht 17, which is dedicated to

Ashi Ashi (Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬌 ''aṣ̌i/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 Zoroastria ...

. This has in turn prompted a suggestion that Drvaspa was once an epithet of Ashi, and as is common in Indo-Iranian religious tradition, the epithet developed into a name of an independent divinity.. Because the hymn to Drvaspa is a copy of a section of the hymn to Ashi, and a part of this section also appears in the hymn to

Aredvi Sura 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 associate ...

, these three divinities share several characteristics.''cf.'' . For example, in ''Yasht'' 17.45-47, 9.25-27 and 5.106-108, Ashi, Drvaspa and Aredvi Sura are respectively invoked by

Zoroaster Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label= Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. He is ...

for a boon so that the prophet might succeed in convincing the same figure to follow him. The wish is granted each time, and Zoroaster succeeds in his mission.

In tradition

Drvaspa only appears once in the medieval texts of Zoroastrian tradition. In this instance, in (Greater)

Bundahishn ''Bundahishn'' (Avestan: , "Primal Creation") is the name traditionally given to an encyclopedic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known. Although the ''Bundahishn'' ...

XXVI.65, the steeds of Drvaspa are compared to those of

Hvare-khshaeta Hvare-khshaeta (', ') is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian ''yazata'' (divinity) of the "Radiant Sun." Avestan ''Hvarə-xšaēta'' is a compound in which ''hvar'' "sun" has ''xšaēta'' "radiant" as a stock epithet. Avestan ''hvar'' de ...

.. The

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

name given to the Avestan hymn to Drvaspa (''Yasht'' 9, see above) was ''Gosh Yasht'', that is, "hymn to the

." This discrepancy has prompted a suggestion that Drvaspa was functionally a cattle guardian of horses..

In iconography

Drvaspa appears on

Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...

coins as 'Drooaspo' (ΛΡΟΟΑΣΠΟ), which is however a masculine form of the name, and Drvaspa is depicted as a male figure. "This form is to be identified with the Middle Persian name Lwhl'sp/Lohrāsp of the father of Vištāspa, though the identification is somewhat problematic as, in the Avestan tradition, the latter is called Auruuataspa- 'of the rapid horses'.".

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend Yazatas