Book of Arda Viraf
Also known as: Arda Viraf Nameh, Book of Arda Viraf, Arda Viraf's Book, Arda Viraz Namag, Arda Wiraz Namag
A Zoroastrian priest, Arda Viraf, undertakes a visionary descent and ascent through hells and heavens to witness divine justice and affirm orthodox faith, returning to report what he saw.
Description
The Arda Viraf Namag is a Middle Persian visionary text in which a chosen priest drinks consecrated wine mixed with narcotic and sleeps for seven days. Guided by Sraosha and the holy Fire (Adar), he crosses the Chinvat Bridge, observes the weighing of deeds by Rashnu with Mihr as witness, and tours the punishments of the wicked and the delights of the righteous. He ascends through the star, moon, and sun stations to the House of Song, beholds Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas, and encounters his Daena, the personified form of his own good conscience. Upon awakening, Viraf dictates a detailed account to strengthen the community’s adherence to Asha (Truth) against error and doubt.
Historiography
Transmitted in Middle Persian (Pahlavi) with a late manuscript tradition; principal codices date to the 13th century and later, reflecting earlier Sasanian redaction. The work was edited and translated in the 19th–20th centuries (notably by E. W. West and D. M. Madan), with subsequent philological refinements by Pahlavi scholars. It circulated widely in Zoroastrian communities as a didactic vision narrative and has been compared to other afterlife tours in late antique and medieval literature.
Date Notes
Composition generally placed in Sasanian era; extant manuscripts are much later (chiefly 13th century and after).
Symbols
Major Characters
- Arda Viraf
- Ahura Mazda
- Ahriman
- Sraosha
- Atar
- Mithra
Myths
- Arda Viraf’s Visionary Journey
- Survey of Heaven and the Blessed
- Tour of Hell and Punishments
- Affirmation of Zoroastrian Doctrine
Facts
- Composed in Middle Persian (Pahlavi) prose with a late manuscript tradition.
- Centers on a visionary tour of hells and heavens to confirm Zoroastrian orthodoxy.
- Viraf’s trance lasts seven days after ingesting consecrated wine mixed with a narcotic.
- Guides are Sraosha (holy obedience) and Adar, the personified sacred Fire.
- Judgment scenes emphasize Rashnu’s scales with Mihr as witness of oaths.
- The afterlife is structured by the Chinvat Bridge and graded heavens (star, moon, sun).
- The Daena appears as a maiden embodying the visionary’s accumulated good deeds.
- Intended as pastoral instruction against doubt and heresy in the community.
- Later Persian and Gujarati versions circulated among Zoroastrians in India and Iran.
- Frequently compared to other ‘tours of the otherworld’ in late antique and medieval literature.