Foundations of Iranian Religion, by Louis GrayThe K.R. CAMA ORIENTAL INSTITUTE[62]Section B.
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In the Gathas, Ashi ('Lot, Reward, Recompense’) is mentioned together with Asha, Armaiti, and the Ahura Mazdas (Ys. xxxi, 4); she will give recompense (xxxiv, 12); and with her Sraosha will come to apportion reward and punishment (xliii, 12). Zarathushtra longs for her (xlviii, 8), and through her might the righteous will increase his neighbour’s house (xlix, 3; cf. 1, 3).1 |
1. See further above, pp. 20, 29, 30. |
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The chief text concerning Ashi is the seventeenth Yasht. From this we learn that she is associated with Chisti, Ereti, Rasastat, Khwarenah, and Savah (§§ O, 62; Ys. i, 14; Sir. i, 25); that she is the daughter of Ahura Mazda and Armaiti, and the sister of the Amesha Spentas, as well as of Sraosha, Rashnu, Mithra, and Daena (Yt. xvii, 2, 16); that she grants both wisdom and material blessings, and that an oblation to her is as one to Mithra (§§ 2, 6-14; cf. Ys. lx, 7; Yt. xviii, 3-4); that she rides in a chariot (Yt. xvii, 1, 17, 21); that the sterile and the immature may not share in her oblations (§ 54; cf. § 57); that she guards chastity (§§ 58-9); and that sacrifice was offered to her by Haoshvaogha, Yima, Thraetaona, Haoma, Haosravah, Zarathushtra, and Vishtaspa (§§ 24-52). Furthermore she assumes the form of a noble maiden and is invincible in battle (Yt. xiii, 107), granting victory (Yt. xix, 54); together with Parendi, Ham-vareti, Khwarenah, Thwasa, Damoish Upamana, and the Fravashis she accompanies Mithra and guides his chariot (Yt. x, 66, 68). She possesses healing for waters, animals, and plants, and overcomes both demonic and human enmity (Ys. lii, 2); and the Fravashis share in these remedial agencies (Ys. lx, 4; Yt. xiii, 32; cf. Vsp. ix, 1). She is mentioned in association with Sraosha (Ys. x, 1; Vsp. xii, 1); with Sraosha and Nairyosangha (Ys. lvii, 3 Yt. xi, 8); with Sraosha, Nairyosangha, Axshti, and Atar (Vsp. xi, 16; cf. vii, 1); with Ada (Ys. lxviii, 21); with Ada, Chisti, and Drvatat (Vsp. iv, 1); with Ama, Verethraghna, Ereti, Chisti, Paurvatat, Uparatat, and the Yazatas (Vsp. ix, 4); with Daena and Parendi (Ys. xiii, 1); with Rata and Parendi (VYt. 8-9); with Sraosha, Rashnu, Mithra, Vata, Daena, Arshtat, Chisti, Chista, and other divine beings (Yt. xi, [63] 16); and with Khwarenah, Savah, and Parenidi (Sir. ii, 25). She presides over the twenty-fifth day of the month (Sir. i, 25; ii, 25; SlS xxii, 25; xxiii, 4; cf, Bd. xxvii, 24). In the Pahlavi texts Aharishvang (Ashi Vanguhi) is the spirit of the wisdom of sovereignty, liberality, and truth who aids the righteous on their way to the best existence (Dk. IX, xliii, 6); and as an auxiliary of Spendaramat she is the genius of the paradisal house, increasing the glory of the home and guarding the treasure of the Just (Gd. Bd. xxvi, 29). She is synonymous with wealth (Bd. xxii, 4) and is associated with Ratih (Dk. IX, xxx, 14). Her demonic opponent is Anahar (Dk. VIII, ix, 3) or Varen (DD xciv, 2). The chest and back of Zaratusht are like hers (Dk. IX, xxiv, 3); she is 'the resplendent glory of the Kayans' and is distinguished by beauty (SlS xxii, 25; xxiii, 4). Ashi's chief exclusive epithets in the Avesta are âfrasâhvan- ('possessing her wish'), daregho-varethman- ('long-protecting'), perethu-vîra- ('possessing broad vision’), bânumant- ('shining’), mazâ-rayi- (‘possessing great riches’), and hvô-aiwishak- ('well-attending'). With 'Aredvi’ and Ushah she shares the epithet xshôithwa- ('shining’); with Mithra dâto-saoka- (‘possessing granted [or, created] advantage’); with Ahura Mazda and Raman pouru(sh)-xwâthra- ('possessing much bliss [or, many blessed abodes]’); with Tishtrya vyâvant- (‘beaming’); with Drvâspa xvanat-chaxra- (‘possessing resounding wheels’); and with the Fravashis xvapâra- (‘bringing welfare’). | |
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On Indo-Scythian coins Ashi, under the name (AR)DOXthO, appears as a female figure with a nimbus and modius, wearing a chiton and himation, and holding a cornucopia; or as seated en face on a throne with a stool beneath her feet, and holding a garland and cornucopia; or as facing right, wearing Greek costume, and with a cornucopia in each hand.2 In Mithraism she was identified with Tyche-Fortuna.3 |
2. Stein, Coins, p. 11 and figs. xv, xvi; von Sallet, Nachfolger, pp. 189, 200,
208, 210, 230-1; Hoffmann, Auszüge, p, 147. 3. Cumont, i, 151-2. |
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Ashi was a Persian as well as an Avestan deity, her name appearing in the theophorous appellations 'Artibarsanes ('Protege of Arti’), 'Artiboles, and 'Artimas, the latter designation probably recurring in the -ארתימ of an Aramaic inscription and seemingly abbreviated from [64] *Arti-manah- ('Possessing the Mind of Arti’).4 She may also have been honoured in the city-name 'Alisdaka (Ptolemy, VI, ii, 12), which is variously explained as standing for *Arti-yazdaka- (‘[Place] belonging to Arti’), *Arti-stâka- (‘Place of Arti’), or as *Arta-yazdaka, *Arta-stâka- ('[Place] belonging to Arta’).5 |
4. Justi, Namenbuch, p. 39; CIS II, i, 109; for the abbreviation cf.
'Artames for *Arta-m(enes) and Spitamas, Spithames, Spitama
beside Spitameges, Justi, op. cit., pp. 37, 309- 10. 5. F. Andreas, in PW i, 1496. |
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It is quite evident that Asi was much more important than the extant texts imply. The insistence on her giving of boons and her Indo-Scythian and Mithraic characteristics suggest that she was originally a goddess of fortune, while the ‘shining’ epithets applied to her hint at a celestial abode. She would seem to have been the goddess of the lucky star and so of good fortune generally.6 |
6. According to Dhalla, however (Theology, p. 122), ‘physically she • stands for plenty, morally for piety'. Tiele, Religion, ii, 231-4, interprets her as the ‘goddess of blessing and abundance, a sort of Fors Fortuna, and then also, like that deity, a divinity of fertility’. Darmesteter, Ormazd, pp. 225, note 1; 252, note 1, regarded her as the feminine counterpart of Asha and as an incarnation of prayer; and Reichelt, Reader, pp. 96, 124, 128, 163, considers her to be ‘the goddess who distributes the lots, especially the good ones’, the protectress of matrimony, and the deity of wealth earned by piety. |
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[75]
.... Fravashis |
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The guardian spirits termed Fravashis ('Forefathers'), developed from the cult of ancestors, have repeatedly been discussed with great thoroughness;1 and the thirteenth Yast is explicitly devoted to their honour. Through them sky, 'Aredvi', and earth are sustained, children are preserved in the womb, and all processes of nature have their, course (§§ 2-16, 22, 28, 53-8); they grant victory (§§ 17-9, 23-4, 31-40, 45-8, 66-72) and cause rain by the agency of Satavaesa (§§ 43-4), giving blessings to their worshippers (§§ 49-52); 99,099 of them watch over the sea Vouru-kasha, Hapto-iringa, the body of Keresaspa, and the seed of Zarathushtra (§§ 50-62), for they are numbered by many hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands (§ 65); Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas, and countless other sacred beings possess them (§§ 80-7); and the individual Fravashi attending on each of many heroes is invoked (§§ 95-142), as are those of the collective righteous in other lands (§§ 143-9). They preside over the nineteenth day of each month of the Avestan calendar [76] (Sir. i, 19; ii, 19; SlS xxii, 19; xxiii, 3' cf. Bd. xxvii, 24) as well as over the first month (Bd. xxv, 20), which recurs in Cappadocian as Artaisthn, Artana and several other variants.2 |
1. N. Söderblom, Les Fravashis, Paris, 1899 (=RHR xxxix, 229-60,
373-418); de Harlez, Avesta, pp. cxix-cxxv; Tiele, Religion, ii, 258-64;
Bartholomae, AirWb. coll. 992-5; Dhalla, Theology, pp. 143-50, 243-6;
Moulton, EZ pp. 254-85, and in ERE vi, 116-8; cf. also E. Lehmann,
'Ancestor-Worship and Cult of the Dead (Iranian)’, in ERE i, 454-5.
2. J. Marquart, in Philologus, lv (1896), 231, note 54, derives Artana . from Old Persian "vartana(m) for *vartinam, the preverb fra seeming not to have been used with var- in Old Persian. |
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In the Pahlavi texts the Fravashis stand in the presence of Auharmazd and battle against the Druj, (Gd. Bd. xxvi, 35). Together with Tishtar, Satves, Vohuman, Aredvivsur, Hom, Din, Vat, and Burj they execute the commands of Auharmazd concerning rain, which they and Burj distribute (Dk. III. cxii, 5), besides helping Tishtar to obtain water (Gd. Bd. xxvi, 35). They are associated with Srosh, Rashn, Ashtat, and Vai in the cult of the dead (SlS xvii, 4); and their collective representative, Artai-Fravart, is sent by Auharmazd, together with Spendarmat and Aredvivsur, to aid the infant • Zaratusht (ZS xvi, 3). They receive the entrail fat as their portion of the sacrificial victim (SlS xi, 4); their gift is offspring, and they are distinguished for power (ib. xxii, 19; xxiii, 3). The chief exclusive epithets of the Fravashis in the Avesta are ana-mathwa- ('unwaylayable’), ayo-xaodha- ('possessing metal helmets'), ayo-verethra- ('possessing metal shields’), ayo-zaya- ('possessing metal weapons’), airime-anghadh- ('sitting quietly'), arezayant- ('battling’), avi-ama- ('exceeding strong’), ash-beret- ('much-bringing’), asno-urvan- ('possessing successful souls'), ughra-zaosha- ('strong-willed'), urvinyant- ('crushing’), uzgerepto-drafsha- ('possessing banners lifted high’), xrvishyant- ('terrible'), tushnishadh- ('sitting quietly’), daregho-raroman- ('long tranquillising'), dasathavant- ('rich in possessions’), perethu-yaona- ('possessing broad places’), pouru-spadha- ('possessing many armies’), fraschandayant- ('destroying’), bamya- (‘radiant’), yaskeret- ('making the consummation [of the world]’), yasto-zayah- ('having weapons girded on’), rarema- ('calming’), renjishta- ('most swift’), vanat-peshana- ('winning in battle’), vaso-yaona- ('possessing abodes at pleasure’), varethraghna- ('victorious'), vichira- ('deciding’), vivayant- ('driving hence’), verezi-chashman- ('possessing energetic eyes’), sraotanu- ('sturdy-bodied'), sraotha- ('hearing’), zaoyaret- ('summons-hearing'), hudoithra- ('possessing good eyes’), and huyaona- ('possessing good places’). They share with Mithra the epithets aiwithura- ('victorious round about’), aredhra- ('true’), gufra- ('deep, mysterious’), and berezyasta- ('high-girdled’); with Mithra and Chista frasruta- ('famous’); with Tishtrya ravo-fraothman- ('possessing swift flight’); with Tishtrya and Ahura Mazda durae-suka- [77] ('far-glancing'); with Tishtrya, Vayu, and Xvarenah uparo-kairya- ('possessing activity on high'); with Ahura Mazda, Vata, Sraosha, and Haoma verethrajan- ('victorious’); with Haoma tanchishta- ('most sturdy'); with Sraosha hamvareitivant- ('capable of defending’); with Ashi xvapara- ('bringing welfare'); and with Ushah and Parendi raghu- ('swift, light'). | |
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Antiochus of Commagene probably refers to his Fravashi when, in his inscription at Nimrud Dagh, he 'preserves a just counterfeit (mimema dikaion) of the immortal thought (frontis) which ofttimes stood visibly by me as a kindly helper in my kingly endeavours’.3 Whether, on the other hand, they are the theoi toi Persidha ghen lelogxasi of Herodotus (vii, 53) or the theoi kai eroes oi Persidha gen exontes of Xenophon (Cyropaedia, II, i, 1; cf. eroes ges Medhias oketores kai kedhemones ib. III, iii, 22; eroes oi Surian exontes in. VIII, iii, 24), as Clemen supposes4 is less certain. They were clearly known in Media, as is evident from the name Fraortes borne by the father and the son of Dioces, as well as by the Faravartis who unsuccessfully rebelled against Darius I.5 |
3. Moulton, EZ pp. 107-8. 4. Nachrichten, p. 81. 5. Justi, Namenbuch, p. 105; for the form of the Old Persian name cf. Meillet, Perse, pp. 48, 163. |
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The solution of the etymology of the word Fravashi is far from easy. It is evidently composed of fra ("before’) and vashi-, but the latter component may represent an original *vrt-i-, *vr-ti-, *vlt-i, or *vl-ti.6 Each of these forms may be derived from any one of a number of bases: (1) *uere-, *uare-, 'to cover’, in Sanskrit var-, 'to cover', Avestan var-, 'to cover’ (also 'impregnate'), Old Church Slavic vreti, ‘to shut’, etc.;7 (2) *uare- 'to see', in Greek orao, 'to see’;8 (3) *uere- ‘to speak', in Sanskrit vrata-, ‘command’, Avestan urvata-, 'ordinance', Greek eiro, ‘to say', etc.;9 (4) *uale-, 'to choose’, in Sanskrit and Avestan var-, 'to choose', Latin volo, 'to wish’, etc.;10 (5) *uele-, 'to be hot’, in Gothic wulan, 'to boil’, etc.;11 (6) *uele- [78] 'to breaks', in Latin vello, 'to pluck', etc.,12 identical with (7) *uele-, 'to deceive’, in Anglo-Saxon wil, 'wile', Lithuanian vylius, ' deceit’, etc.; (8) *uele-, 'to turn', in Sanskrit val-, Greek eiluo, Latin volvo, 'to turn', etc.;14 (9) *uale-, 'to be strong', in Latin valeo, 'to be strong', etc.;15 (10) *uerte-, 'to turn', in Sanskrit vart-,'to turn, exist’, Avestan varet-, Latin verto, 'to turn', Gothic' wairpan, 'to become', Old Church Slavic vruteti, Lithuanian virsti, 'to turn', etc.; and (11) *ualte- 'to rule’ (a t-extension of *uale-, 'to be strong’), in Tocharian lant (for *ulant), 'ruler', Old. Irish flaith, 'kingdom’, Old Church Slavic vlatu, ‘giant', Lettish valit, Old Icelandic valda Old High German waltan, 'to rule'.16 |
6. See Brugmann, Grundriss II, i, 168-75, 428-40; Waldo-Pokorny,
Wöterbuch, i, 263-88, 293-305. 7. For further cognates see Walde, Wöterbuch, p. 50; Muller, Wöterbuch p. 536. 8. See Boisacq, Dictionnaire, pp. 709-10; cf. also Albanian urte ‘prudent’ (N, Jokl, Studien zur albanesischen Etymologie und Wortbildung, Vienna, 19ll, p. 93). 9. Walde, p. 820; Boisacq, pp. 229-30; Muller, pp. 538-9. 10. Walde, Wöterbuch, p. 855; Muller, Wöterbuch, p. 529. 11. Feist, Wöterbuch, p. 439. 12. Walde, Wöterbuch, pp. 813-1; Muller, Wöterbuch, p. 530. 13. Falk-Torp, Wöterbuch, p. 1406; Trautmann, Sprachdenhmäler, p. 409; id. Wöterbuch, p. 354. 14. Boisacq, pp. 224-5; Walde, pp. 856-7; Muller, pp, 520-30. 15. Walde, Wöterbuch, p. 804; Muller, Wöterbuchp, 518. 16. Walde, Wöterbuch, pp. 824-5; Feist, Wöterbuch, pp. 417-8. |
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Of the numerous possibilities thus afforded Moulton17 preferred var-, ‘to impregnate’; Söderblom18 would choose either var-, 'to protect’, or 'vart-, ‘to turn’, inclining toward the latter in the sense of ‘ce qui s’en va’; Bartholomae19 advanced no solution; Justi20 held that vart-, ‘to be,’ was the most probable cognate. |
17. EZ pp. 270-1. 18. Les Fravashis, pp. 56-8. 19. AirWb. col. 995. 20. Zendsprache, p. 199; in Namenbuch, p. 105 (so also in GirP ii, 411; cf. A. V. W. Jackson, Avesta Reader, Stuttgart, 1893, p. 80), he prefers var-, ‘to choose’ (cf. Jackson, Zoroastrianism, p. 59). |
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It would appear that the choice must lie between *pra-var-ti or *pra-vart-i-, each of which may be either a verbal abstract or an agent.21 In Sanskrit pra-vart means, inter alia, 'to come forth, arise, happen, continue, exist’; and Pahlavi vashtan, like its Modern Persian equivalent gashtan, signifies ‘to become’ as well as 'to turn’ (cf. also Sanskrit pravartaka-, ‘making manifest, causing’, pravrtti-, 'manifestation, origin, activity).’22 Comparison may further be made with Latin vertor, ‘to be engaged in, to be’, Lithuanian parvirsti, 'to become something, to transform oneself into something’, and espacially Gothic [79] frawair tan, 'kataftheiromai' {2 Tim. iii, 8), fawardjan, 'afaniso' (Matt. vi, 16, 19), 'ftheiro' (2 Cor. vii, 2), frawardeins, 'olethros’ (1 Tim, vi, 9), as well as Old Icelanidic fyrir-verpa, ‘to vanish’, Old Saxon far-werfan, Anglo-Saxon for-weorpan, Old High German far-werdan, 'to perish'. |
21. Brugmann, Grundriss, II, i, 167, 428; cf. also 'hmAaer, Nominah
bildung, pp. 55-7, 76-9; Bartholomae, in QirP i, 102-3; Hut, Handbuch,
pp. 398-9; Lindsay, Latin, pp, ’338-9 ,, 340-2; Leskien, Bildung, pp,
84-9, 395-406; Aiiklosicb, Grammatik, ii, 53-9, 165-9. 22. The word pravrtti- cannot be compared directly with fravashi-, since the Sanskrit term would give *fravereshti- in Avestan (cf. Sanskrit krtti-, ‘a cutting', from kart-: Avestan kereshti-). |
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To summarise the argument here set forth, the Fravashis were originally *pra-vrt-a -as (Indo-European *pro-urte-i-es), 'those who existed before’, i.e. the ancestors. Later they became guardian spirits, either because beneficent ancestors were naturally regarded as protective, or because the term was combined with a homonymous *pro-ur-te-i-es, 'protectors’, from the base *uere-, 'to cover’, which would likewise give the Avestan form fravashayah (cf. Sanskrit pra-var- 'to ward off’).23 The theory of a contamination of two homonyms seems best to fit all the requirements.24 |
23. Cf. e.g. Sanskrit varutar-, vâraka-, ‘defender’, Avestan pairi-vâra-
(Sanskrit parivâra-), ‘protection, wall', sâra-vâra-, ‘ helmet', and
especially fra-vâra- (Sanskrit pravâra-), ‘bastion', Greek eruo,
‘to protect', eranos, 'protector, chief, king,’ Welsh gwawr, ‘hero,’
Gothic warjan, 'to defend’, etc. (Boisacq, Dictionnaire, pp. 285-6, 328). 24. Tiele (Religion, ii, 260, note 2, 262) also suspected a confusion between two classes of spirits who derived their names respectively from *uere-, ‘to cover, protect’, and *uele-, ‘to turn, roll’. |
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Whatever etymological explanation be accepted, the Fravashis
obviously belonged primarily only to human beings, their
extension to the divine world being due to that analogy which
has ever led man to shape the gods in his owm image. They
find at least partial comiterparts in the Indian pitâras ('fathers’)
and the Roman manes, as well as in the Lithuanian Gulbi
Dewos, the guardian spirit of each individual.25
| 25. s Cf. W. Caland, Altindischer Ahnencult, Leyden, 1893; Bergaigne, Religion, i, 92-100, 133-5; Hillebrandt, Mythologie iii, 413-23; Keith, Religion, pp. 425-32; A. C. Pearson, ‘Heroes and Hero-Gods (Greek and Roman)’, in ERE vi, 652-6; J. B. Carter, ‘Ancestor-Worship and Cult of the Dead (Roman)', ib. i, 461-6; L. R. Farnell, Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality, Oxford, 1921; Mogk, Mythologie, pp. 20-34; MacCulloch, Religion, pp. 165-70; Máchal, Mythology, pp. 233-9; Usener, Götternamen, p. 91; Schrader, ‘Ahnenkultus', in RL 2d ed., i, 18-38, and in ERE ii, 16-31. For traces of Armenian ancestor-cults see Aharonian, Croyances, pp, 60-8. |
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[136] 12. ARSHTAT [Ashtad]. | |
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Once mentioned in association with Sraosha (Ys. lvii, 33), the goddess Arshtat, or Arshti ('Rectitude’), is usually invoked with him and Rashnu (Ys. i, 7; ii, 7; iii, 9; iv, 12; vi, 6; vii, 9; xvii, 6; xxii, 9); or with Mithra, Data, and Rashnu (Yt. x, 139); or with Rashnu and Mathra Spenta (Yt. xii, 40; Sir. i, 18; ii, 18); or with Mount Ushi-darena (Sir. i, 26; ii, 26). She is once identified [137] with Daena (Vsp. vii, 2), and she presides over the twenty-sixth day of each month (Sir. i, 26; ii, 26; SlS xxii, 20; xxiii, 4; cf. Bd. xxvii, 24), In the Old Persian inscriptions Darius declares that he walked according to Arshta.1 |
1. For the establishment of the text see Jackson, PPP pp. 203-5; for the deity generally cf. Dhalla, Theology, p. 1 i.2; Reichelt, Reader, p. 116. |
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In the Pahlavi texts Ashtat is an auxiliary of Amerodat, guiding celestial and terrestrial beings, and with Zamyat she weighs the soul at the Chinvat Bridge (Gd. Bd. xxvi, 38). She is associated with. Mitro (Dk. IX, xx, 4) with Rashn (SD lxxxvii, 2; Dk. IX, ix, 6); with these two and Vai, Vahram, and Din (AVX v, 3): with Mitro, Rashn, Vahram, and Daenaya Khwarenah (BYt. iii, 32) : and — in the cult of the dead — with Rashn, Yai, and the Fravashis (SlS xvii, 4). She aids champions and is distinguished for purity (SlS xxii, 26; xxiii, 4). | |
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The exclusive Avestan epithets of Arshtat are varedat-agetha- ('increasing creatures‘) and savô-gaetha- (‘possessing advantage for creatures'). Arshtat occurs as a name in the Avramun Papyrus, and Ashtat as the name of Persians.2 |
2. Herzfeld, Paikuli, i, 83; Hübschmann, Grammatik, i, 20; Justi, Namenbuch, p. 47. |
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She appears to be an abstract special goddess of uprightness and justice like the Greek Dike or the Roman Iustitia,3 though the parallel must not be pressed too far since the Hellenic divinity may have been primarily a deity of light,4 while the Roman goddess is first known only in the Imperial period.5 |
3. Gruppe, Mythologie, p. 1080; L. von Sybel, in Roscher, i, ,1018-20. 4. Usener, Götternamen, pp. 180-1, 197. 5. Wissowa, Religion, p. 333; H. W. Stoll, in Roscher, ii, 702; Waser, in PW v, 574-8; Lathe, ib, x, 1339. |
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30. FRADAT-FSHU (FRĀDAT-FŠU). | |
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The special god Fradat-fshu ('Furthering Small Cattle'), presiding over the increase of small cattle, is named between Rapithwina and Zantuma, who are followed by Asha and Atar, in Ys. i, 4; ii, 4; iii, 6; iv, 9; vi, 3; vii, 6; xvii, 3; xxii, 6; and the Pahlavi gloss on Ys. i, 4, describes him as 'a spirit co-operating with Rapithwin and increasing the herd of small cattle. He finds a counterpart in the Lithuanian Gotha, the divinity of the increase of cattle (cf. Lithuanian guótas, 'herd’),4 as well as in the Slavic Volosu, the god of flocks.5 |
4. Usener, Götternamen, p. 91. 5. Leger, Mythologie, pp. 111-5; Brückner, Mitologia, pp. 119-40. |
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31. FRADAT-VIRA (FRĀDAT-VĪRA).The special god Fradat-vira ('Furthering Man’), ruling over the increase of the human race, is named between Uzayeirina [Uzerin] and Dahyuma, who are followed by Apam Napat and Apah, in Ys. i, 5; ii, 5; iii, 7; iv, 10; vi, 4; vii, 7; xvii, 4; xxvii, 7; and the Pahlavi gloss on Ys. i, 5 states that 'he will increase the herds of me.'
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60. RAMAN (RÂMAN).The divinity Raman ('Rest') is closely associated with Mithra (Ys. i, 3; ii, 3; iii, 5; iv, 8; vi, 2; vii, 5; xvii, 2; xxii, 5, 23; Vsp. i, 7; ii, 9; G. i, 7; Yt, x, 0, 146; Sir. i, 7; ii, 7; Vd. iii, 1) and is also mentioned in company with Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas, Mithra, and Hvare (Ys. xxv, 5); with Ahura Mazda, Mithra, Sraosha, Rashnu, the Fravashis, Verethagna, and Vata (Ys. xvi, 5); and with Vayu, Thwasha, and Zrvan (Ys. lxxii, 10; Sir. i, 21; ii, 21). Zarathushtra prays that Vistaspa may be as abundant in bliss as Raman (AZ 7). He presides over the twenty-first day of each month (Sir. 1, 21; ii, 21; SlS xxii, 21; xxiii, 3; cf Bd. xxvii, 24). | |
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In the Pahlavi texts Ram is an auxiliary of Vohuman (Gd. Bd. xxvi, 9) and protects warriors, besides guiding souls over the Chinvat Bridge (ib. § 12), so that on the fourth night after a death a sacred cake must be dedicated to him, another being for Rashn and Astat, and a third for the Fravashi of the deceased (SD lxxxvii, 2). He is associated with Mitro (Dk. IX, ix, 7) and identified with Vai (Gd. Bd. xxvi, 12; Pahlavi version of Ny. i, 1), whence the Yasht in honour of Vayu (Yt. xv) is called [157] the Ram Yasht. He grants long life and is especially pleasing in character (SlS. xxii, 21; xxiii, 3); and he is said to give taste to food (Pahlavl version of Ys. i. 3).1 With Ahura Mazda and Ashi he shares the Avestan epithets pouru(sh)-xvathra- ('possessing much bliss' [or, 'many blessed abodes']) and has as his exclusive descriptive xvâstra- (‘possessing good pastures'). His name occasionally occurs as a component of proper names in the Sasanian period.2 |
1. Usener, Götternamen, p. 98; cf. also Trautmann, Wörterbuch, p. 218.
2. R. Peter, in Roscher, ii, 217; Wissowa, Religion, p. 273, note 3. |
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Raman seems to have presided over material welfare, especially as represented by ownership of excellent pastures.3 The Mithraic epithet vouru-gaoyaoiti- (‘possessing broad pastures') apparently brought Raman into connexion with Mithra, and so with the celestial divinities generally. His identification with Vayu was due, according to Darmesteter,4 to the latter's association with kine as shown by the Vedas (RV I, cxxxiv, 46; cxxxv, 8; AV II; xxvi, 1). |
3. Cf. Darmesteter, Etudes, ii, 188-94; Dhalla, Theology, p. 114; Reichelt, Reader, p. 162. The â renders connexion with Pahlavi ramak, Modern Persian rama{h), ‘herd', etc. (see Horn, Etymologie, no. 620), highly improbable. Spiegel (EA ii, 102) identified Raman with Vayu, and de Harlez (Avesta, p. ciii) also regarded him as a deity of air. 4. Etudes, ii, 194. |
61. RAPITHWINA (RAPIΘWINA).
Rapithwina (‘Relating to Meal-Time'), the special deity of
the second of the five divisions of the day (from noon to mid-afternoon;
Bd. XXV, 9; Nir. 49), is mentioned in association with
Fradat-fshu and Zantuma in
Ys. i,4, 20; ii, 4; iii, 6; iv, 9; vi, 3;
vii, 6; xvii, 3; xxii, 6; G. ii, 1, 5; Afr. iv, 1, 3, 5-8, but no details
are recorded concerning him.
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80. VATA (VÂTA.) |
[Aka Gowad, i.e. the Good Wind. Associated with, and sometimes considered identical with Vayu (qv). -JHP] |
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The god Vata ('wind') is associated with Earth, Sky, Stars. Moon, Sun, and Anaghra Raochah (Ys. i, 16; iii, 18; iv, 21; vii, 18; xxii, 18); with Verethraghna and Raman (Ys. xvi, 5); with Sraosa, Rashnu, Daena, and Afriti (Ys, lxx, 3); with Tishtrya, Vanant, Thwasa, Zrvan, Chista, and Daena (Ny, i, 8); with the Fravashis, Mithra, Rashnu, and Damoish Upamana (Yt. xiii, 47); with Mithra and Damoish Upamana (Yt. x, 9); with Armaiti (Vd. xix, 13); and with Ahura Mazda, Thwasha, Zrvan, and Vayu (VYt. 24). Like many other deities he has Axshti and Ham-vainti as his two companions (Yt. xi, 16). He comes to the sacrifice with Ahura Mazda (or with Rashnu), Damoish Upamana, Khwarenah, and Savah (Yt. xii, 4, 6); and his form is assumed by Verethraghna (Yt. xiv, 2). He presides over the twenty-second day of each month (Sir. i, 22; ii, 22; SlS xxii, 22; xxiii, 3; cf. Bd. xxvii, 24). Of his Avestan epithets in common with other deities the most important is hudhâ- ('possessing good insight'), which he shares with the Amesha Spentas, Ahura Mazda, and Atar; and he alone is termed darshi- ('hardy’). In the Pahlavi texts Vat is an auxiliary of Horvadat and the source of wind (Gd. Bd. xxvi, 32, 34). He co-operates with Tishtar, Satves, Vohuman, Aredwisur, Hom, Din, Burj, and the Fravashis in executing the commands of Auharmazd concerning rain, his special duties being to aid Tishtar and Satves in drawing up the water, to assist Tishtar and Vohuman in moving the clouds, and to collaborate in routing the demons (Dk. III, cxii, 5). The tail of the sacrificial sheep is his portion (SlS xi, 4); his gift is 'peace from the resplendent heaven', and he is distinguished for fragrance (ib. xxii, 22; xxiii, 3). | |
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The winds formed one of the seven chief objects of worship among the ancient Persians (Herodotus, i, 131; Strabo, p. 732; cf. Aristides, Apologia, v, 4), and Herodotus (vii, 191) records a special ceremony in their honour, while St. Qardag was required to adore air as one of the deities.1 Under the name OADO the wind-deity is represented on coins of the Indo-Scythian Kaniska as a bearded god with flowing hair, holding in his hands the ends [168] of his floating garments.2 He likewise appears in Turkish Manichaean fragments under the designation Wadzhiwanta (Vâd Zhivandag, 'Living Wind’), the Zun Pneuma, or Spiritus Vivens', of the entire system.3 The deity’s name forms one of the components of the proper name Autofradates, Vâtfradât ('Created by Vata').4 |
1. Acta Mar Kadaghi Martyris, ed. and tr. J. B. Abbeloos, in Analecta
Bollandiana, ix (1890), 24. 2. Stein, Coins, p. 4 and fig. v; cf. von Sallet, Nachfolger, p. 197. 3. Le Coq, Manichaica, i, 14, 24, 40; iii, 8-9; Cumont, Cosmogonie, pp. 21 sqq.; for the etymology see A. V. W. Jackson, in JRAS 1924, pp. 153-4, and his forthcoming Mani. 4. Hübschmann, Grammatik, i, 48 (Justi, Namenbuch, pp. 52-3, is incorrect); de Morgan, Numismatique, pp. 279, 281, 205; Herzfeld, Paikuli, i, 69, 179. |
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The function of Vata is clear from his name: he is a windgod, possibly of the south.5 He finds analogues in the Vedic Vata, the wind-element (cf, especially RV X, clxviii, clxxxvi),6 and in the Ossete 'Lady of the Winds'.7 The Romans likewise worshipped the winds,8 and the Teutonic Wodan, whose name seems best regarded as cognate with Vata, and who was originally a wind-deity, rose to be one of the chief divinities of the pantheon.9 To the same category belong the Lithuanian Vejopatis ('Wind-Lord’) and the Lettish Veja Mate ('Wind-Mother')10 as well as the Gaulish Circius, the North-West Wind (cf. Old French cierce, Provençal and Catalan cers, Spanish cierzo), to whom Augustus erected an altar (Seneca, Quaestioms Naturales, V, xvii, 5).11 |
5. Bartholomae, AirWb. col. 1409; de Harlez, Avesta, p. ciii, regarded
him as the deity of the lower air. 6. Macdonell, Mythology, pp. 81-2; Keith, Religion, pp. 139-40; cf. Spiegel, Periode, pp. 157-8. 7. H. Hübschmann, in ZdmG xli (1887), 536. 8. Wissowa, Religion, p. 228; for Greek wind-deities see Gruppe, Mythologie, pp. 834-48. 9. P. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, The Religion of the Teutons, Boston, 1902, pp. 221-34. 10. Usener, Gölttrnamen, pp. 104, 108; K, Mühlenbach, Lettisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, ed. J. Endzelin, Riga, 1923 sqq., ii, 588. 11. Dottin, Manuel, p. 328; Renel, Religions, p. 396; Holder, Sprachschatz, i, 1026; Meyer-Lübke, Wörterbuch, p. 155. The Gaulisli Vintius was scarcely a wind-god (so MacCulloch, Religion, p. 180), being rather a local divinity of Vence (Alpes-Maritimes) and Vens (Haute-Savoie) (Dottin, pp. 305, 309; Renel, p. 406; Holder, iii, 355-6). |
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81. VAYAH.Vayah ('Aether'); the deity of aerial space, is mentioned only once (Ny. i, 1), sharing the epithet darego-khwadata- ('long-autonomous') with Zrvan. No details are recorded concerning him except that the Pahlavi commentary on Ny. i, 1, identifies him with Ram.1 |
1. See, further Bartholomae, AirWb. col. 1359. |