The establishing of Mazda worship

the fravashis of the just, who had 'conquered for righteousness'.

The seventh creation, fire, remains always apart from the others,
being their pervasive life-force; and the seventh feast likewise is
separated a little from the rest. It is called in Persian No Ruz, 'New
Day' (the Avestan form of the name does not survive); and it appears
that Zoroaster established it at the spring equinox, re-dedicating what
was probably an ancient celebration of spring to Asha Vahishta and
fire. As the last of the seven feasts it looks forward to the Last Day,
with the ultimate triumph of righteousness, which will also be the
New Day of eternal life. Since the festival ushers in the Ahuric season
of summer, it marks a yearly defeat for the Hostile Spirit, and in
Zoroastrian usage (attested from early medieval times) Rapithwina is
welcomed back above ground at noon on the 'New Day', to bring in
the season of warmth and light. Thereafter he is honoured daily in the
prayers of his own noontime watch, which is now called Rapithwa
again, instead of Second Havani, and Asha Vahishta is then invoked
throughout the summer months.
In imposing on his followers these two obligations - the individual
one of praying five times daily, and the communal one of celebrating
the seven feasts - Zoroaster created a devotional system which gave
his religion enormous strength and ensured its survival over millen­
nia; for these religious exercises reminded Zoroastrians constantly of
the essential doctrines of their faith, fixing them in the minds of
simple as well as learned ; and they made the community moreover
disciplined and self-reliant, while developing in it a strong corporate
sense.

The oldest prayers

Zoroaster also composed for his followers a short prayer, which is for
the Zoroastrian what the Lord's Prayer is for the Christian. This is the
' Ahuna Vairya' (later called the 'Ahunvar'). It is the first prayer
taught to every Zoroastrian child, and it may be uttered, at need, in
place of all other forms of worship or supplication. It is, naturally, in
the ancient Gathic dialect spoken by the prophet, and there has been
much discussion among scholars about the exact meaning of its
venerable lines. The following version represents a conflation of
recent renderings : 'He (Ahura Mazda) is as much the desired Master
as the Judge according to asha. (He is) the doer of the acts of good
purpose, of life. To Mazda Ahura (is) the kingdom, whom they have

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established as pastor for the poor.' The word translated as 'poor',

'drigu', a forerunner of Persian 'darvish', had a special sense, that of a
devout and humble person, a true adherent of the faith.
There is one other short Gathic prayer, which was perhaps com­
posed by one of the prophet's earliest disciples, since (unlike the
Ahunvar) it is not attributed traditionally to him himself. This is
called the 'Airyema ishyo', and it invokes Airyaman, who, with Fire,
will cleanse the world at Frasho-kereti. It runs : 'May longed-for
Airyarnan come to the help of the men and women of Zoroaster, to
the help of their good intention. The conscience which deserves the
desirable recompense, for it I ask the longed-for reward for
righteousness, which Ahura Mazda will measure out . ' This prayer is
still uttered daily in Zoroastrian acts of worship, and at every funeral
ceremony.

The creed
Zoroaster created a community which was united by clearly defined
doctrines, shared moral endeavour, and common observances. This
unity, and the conviction of his followers that all who would not
accept his revelation were likely to be damned, must have been a
provocation to the unconverted; and according to the tradi tion
Zoroaster himself met a violent end in old age from the dagger of a •

pagan priest. Some disaster also overwhelmed Vishtaspa's kingdom,

and it seems that for a time the young faith had to struggle to survive.
It evidently found the strength not only to do so, but gradually to
spread among the Iranian peoples. The Zoroastrian creed, the
'Fravarane', uttered daily, appears to have taken form during those
early, difficult times, and represents, it has been suggested, the
declaration of faith required then of each new convert. The ancient
text begins (Y 1 2 . r ) : 'I profess myself a worshipper of Mazda, a
follower of Zoroaster, rejecting the Daevas, accepting the Ahuric
doctrine; one who praises the Amesha Spentas, who worships the
Amesha Spentas. To Ahura Mazda, the good, rich in treasures, I
ascribe all things good.' It is noteworthy that the word chosen before
all others to define a believer is 'Mazdayasna', a worshipper of
Mazda. This occurs eight times in the longer version of the creed
(preserved as Y 1 2 ), and only four times is it further qualified by
'Zarathushtri', that is, a follower of Zoroaster. Plainly it was by
exalting Ahura Mazda as God, and devoting to him, ultimately, all

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worship, that the Zoroastrian distinguished himself essentially from

adherents of the pagan faith.
Dualism is also avowed in the opening lines of the Fravarane, with
rejection of the Daevas. (Angra Mainyu himself appears to belong
solely to Zoroaster's own revelation, and so no denial of him was
needed explicitly from a convert.) Only what is good is ascribed to
Ahura Mazda. The text continues (after Gathic citations) : 'Holy
Armaiti, the good, 1 choose for myself. Let her be mine ! 1 renounce
the theft and carrying off of cattle, and harm and destruction for
Mazda-worshipping homes' - words which suggest the sufferings
and harassment of the early community . Thereafter comes a more
detailed, emphatic rejection of the evil powers : 'I for­
swear . . . the company of Daevas and of the followers of Daevas, of
demons, and the followers of demons, of those who do harm to any
being by thoughts, words, deeds or outward signs. Truly 1 forswear
the company of all this as belonging to the Drug, as defiant (of the
good) . . . . Even as Zoroaster forswore the company of Daevas . . .
at all encounterings at which Mazda and Zoroaster spoke together, so
1 forswear, as Mazda-worshipper and Zoroastrian, the company of
•
Daevas . . . . As was the choice of the Waters, the choice of the Plants,
the choice of the beneficent Cow, the choice of Ahura Mazda, who
created the cow, who (created) the just Man, as (was) the choice of
Zoroaster, the choice of Kavi Vishtaspa, the choice of Frashaostra and
J am asp a . . . by that choice and by that doctrine am 1 a Mazda-
worshipper . . . '. These last lines emphasize the characteristic
Zoroastrian doctrine that by choosing the good each individual is
allying himself as a humble fellow-worker with God and the whole
spenta cosmos. Ahura Mazda is honoured here as the Creator. There
is no reason to suppose that he was thus regarded by the pagan
Iranians, for in so far as they assigned creative activity to any one
divinity it seems �ather to have been to the lesser Ahura, Varuna
(perhaps as carrying out the behests of the remote Lord Wisdom). So
this was probably another distinctively Zoroastrian doctrine.
The Fravarane ends with the believer engaging himself to uphold
the threefold Zoroastrian ethic, and the faith in general: 'I pledge
myself to the well-thought thought, 1 pledge myself to the well­
spoken word, 1 pledge myself to the well-performed act. 1 pledge
myself to the Mazda-worshipping religion, which . . . is righteous,
which of all (faiths) which are and shall be is the greatest, the best, the
most beautiful, which is Ahuric, Zoroastrian.'
 The establishing of Mazdq worship

The liturgy and Yenhe hatqm

Apart from verses from his Gathas, which are the supreme Zoro­
astrian manthras, and the Ahuna Vairya for daily use, Zoroaster does
not seem to have established any fixed devotional utterances for his
disciples, being content, presumably, that otherwise they should
worship and pray with words of their own choice. But at some stage
his followers must have decided to create a fixed liturgy to accompany
the daily act of worship, the yasna. This seems to have been done at a
time when the Gathic dialect was fading away - a development which
may, indeed, have prompted their action, with the desire that for this
service, which embodied so much that was central to the prophet's
thought, his community should continue to use words as close as
possible to those with which. he himself had prayed. The result was
the putting together of the 'worship of the seven chapters', Yasna
Haptanhaiti (Y 3 5-4 I ) . This is a liturgy in seven short sections (one in
verse), which perhaps represents a collection of what old priests still
remembered then of ancient manthras in the Gathic dialect, such as
were used at the daily offerings to fire and water. These manthras even
contain what appear to be pre-Zoroastrian elements ; but in its
existing form the liturgy is devoted naturally to Ahura Mazda, and it
is here (Y 3 9 . 3 ) that the term Amesha Spenta first appears. Another
little text in Younger Avestan was appended to the seven chapters, as
Y 42; and then this and the Yasna Haptanhaiti were enclosed by the
Gathas themselves, arranged according to metre in five groups.
Zoroaster's own words, mighty in spiritual power, were thus set like
protective walls on either side of the rituals and the liturgy which
accompanied them, so that they could shield the whole act of worship
from malign influences.
One group of the Gathas, known as 'Gatha Ahunavaiti', is by far
the longest, and it was placed before the seven chapters, as Y 28-34;
and the four other groups follow them, as Y 43- 5 3 . The Gatha
Ahunavaiti was accompanied by the Ahuna Vairya (from which it
takes its name), together with two other short and very sacred
prayers. One of these, the Yenhe hat�, consists of a remodelling of
the Gathic verse Y 5 1 . 22 , which runs as follows : 'At whose sacrifice
Ahura Mazda knows the best for me according to righteousness.
Those who were and are, those I shall worship by their names and
shall approach with praise. ' Zoroaster's first words here presumably
referred to a particular divinity to whom an act of worship had just

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been offered; but the whole verse was altered rather awkwardly to
create a prayer of general application, which may be rendered thus :
'Those of the Beings, male and female, whom Ahura Mazda knows to
be best for worship according to righteousness, those we shall
worship .' The intention was evidently to offer veneration with these
words to all divinities of the spenta creation, omitting none through
inadvertence, and so this prayer forms a regular part of the litanies of
the faith.

The Ashem vohu

The other very sacred prayer is the Ashem vohu, with which most
Zoroastrian devotions end. This seems to be a brief manthra designed
to concentrate the mind upon asha, and to invoke the aid of Asha
Vahishta, the word or name occurring thrice within the twelve words
of the prayer. The following translation is perhaps the least forced :
'Asha (is) good, it is best. According to wish it is, according to wish it
shall be for us . Asha belongs to Asha Vahishta.' This prayer, together
with the Ahuna Vairya and Yenhe hat�, precedes the Gatha
Ahunavaiti, while the second great Gathic prayer, the Airyema ishyo,
is set protectively after the last Gatha, as Y 54. The whole liturgy,
from the Ahuna Vairya to the Airyema ishyo, was called the Staota
Y esnya, '(Words) of praise and worship', and once it had been
accepted as the standard form of words to accompany the -yasna, it
must have become obligatory for every practising priest to know it by
heart. The safe-keeping of the Gathas themselves was thus assured,
the prophet's great hymns being reverently transmitted in this way,
by word of mouth, from generation to generation.

The hymns
The other religious texts, notably the yashts, the hymns to individual
yazatas, continued much longer in fluid oral transmission, partly
learnt by heart, partly extemporized. Some of the oldest portions,
coming down from pagan times, were recast in the light of Zoroaster's
teachings, with Ahura Mazda exalted, and all revelation put in the
mouth of his prophet; but many of the verses, being concerned with
beneficent divinities, needed no particular revision; and others of a
strikingly pagan cast survived unaltered, and are as incongruous to
Zoroaster's message as are parts of the 0 Id Testament to Christianity.