Avesta
Also known as: Zend Avesta, Avesta and Zand, Zoroastrian Avesta
The Avesta is the primary scripture of Zoroastrianism: a layered corpus of liturgy, hymns, laws, and praise songs centered on Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas, and allied divinities. Preserving archaic Indo-Iranian hymnody and later ritual prose, it transmits doctrines of truth versus the Lie, ethical choice, judgment, and cosmic renewal.
Description
Comprising the Yasna (including the Gathas), Visperad, Yashts, Vendidad, and later devotional selections known as the Khorde Avesta, the Avesta preserves Zoroastrian theology and cult in Avestan language. Its oldest stratum, the Gathas, is a cluster of archaic hymns attributed to Zarathustra, while later layers expand praise to specific divinities (yazatas), codify purity and legal norms, and structure priestly liturgy. Throughout the corpus, moral dualism opposes aša (Truth/Right Order) to druj (the Lie), framing ritual, ethics, and eschatology: judgment at the Chinvat Bridge, the weighing of deeds, and a final renovation (frashokereti) led by future saviors (saoshyants). Mythic episodes embedded in hymns and praise-songs recount divine combats, culture-hero deeds, and cosmological guardianship of waters, fire, stars, and harvests, anchoring communal worship and daily devotion.
Historiography
Transmitted orally for centuries, the Avesta was organized and redacted under the Sasanians, who also developed the Avestan script. A lost grand recension allegedly comprised 21 nasks later summarized in Pahlavi works like the Dēnkard. Extant manuscripts are late (often 13th–18th c.), typically accompanied by Middle Persian zand (commentary/translation). Foundational modern editions include Geldner’s critical Avesta (1889–1896), with standard translations by Darmesteter, Mills, and later scholars; much text survives only in partial or ritual contexts.
Date Notes
Core hymns (Gathas) likely formed orally in the late Bronze to early Iron Age; the corpus was standardized and written down in the Sasanian period, with later manuscript copies mostly medieval/early modern.
Themes
Archetypes
Symbols
Major Characters
- Zarathustra
- Ahura Mazda
- Angra Mainyu
- Mithra
- Anahita
- Vohu Manah
- Tishtrya
Myths
- Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu
- Creation of the Seven Creations
- Life and Revelations of Zarathustra
- Yasna and the Haoma Rite
- Frashokereti—the Final Renovation
Facts
- The Avesta is written in Avestan, an Indo-Iranian language preserved mainly in liturgical contexts.
- The oldest stratum, the Gathas, is traditionally ascribed to Zarathustra and exhibits archaic Indo-Iranian diction.
- Sasanian scholars produced the main redaction and an Avestan script; earlier versions are largely lost.
- Pahlavi zand (commentary/translation) accompanies many manuscripts and shaped reception.
- The canonical 21 nasks are known chiefly from summaries in the Pahlavi Dēnkard.
- Core divisions include Yasna (with Gathas), Visperad, Vendidad, Yashts, and the later Khorde Avesta.
- Doctrines center on aša (Truth) versus druj (Lie), ethical choice, ritual purity, and eschatological renewal.
- Judgment concepts include the Chinvat Bridge, Rashnu’s scales, and Sraosha’s guardianship.
- Many extant manuscripts are from Gujarat and Iran, copied between the 13th and 18th centuries.
- Standard modern editions/translations include Geldner’s Avesta and the SBE volumes by Darmesteter and Mills.