Ahura Mazda

Ahura Mazda is the Avestan name for an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian origin. It was Ahura Mazda (or Ormazd, in its shortened Pahlavi transliteration) that was declared by Zarathustra (Zoroaster), the central prophet of Zoroastrianism, to be the one uncreated creator of all. Subsequently, this deity became the supreme divinity of the Zoroastrian faith. Because of Ahura Mazda's significance, Zoroastrianism is classified by its adherents as Mazdayasna, the worship of Mazda. In Zoroastrianism, to worship a lesser divinity is to worship Ahura Mazda, since all the divinities are but a manifestation of the Creator.

Origins

Etymology and Forms

Mazda, or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, (nominative Mazdå), derives from the Proto-Iranian word *Mazdāh. It is generally taken to be the proper name of the deity, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, Mazda means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect the Proto-Indo-Iranian language *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European *mn̩sdʰeh₁, literally meaning "placing one's mind (mn̩-s)", or "wise". Ahura, meanwhile, denotes the class of the 'right' divinities, which exist in relation to the devass, who are considered evil in Persian mythology. Thus, the theonym Ahura Mazda denotes the "Wise Lord", a moniker by which he is often referred in Zoroastrian texts even at present day.

In the Gathas (Gāθās), the Avestan hymns thought to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the two halves of the name are not necessarily used together. Alternately, they are used interchangeably, and occassionally they are used in reverse order. However, in later texts of the Avesta, both Ahura and Mazda are integral parts of the name Ahura Mazda, which were conjoined as Ahuramazda in western Iran. In Old Persian the name had the form Auramazdāh.

Roots

Although Ahura Mazda is accepted to be the conceptual equivalent of a proto-Indo-Iranian divinity, the details are a matter of speculation and debate. Scholarly consensus identifies a connection to the prototypical *vouruna and *mitra, cognates of the partnered Vedic gods Varuna and Mitra. For instance, Kuiper puts forth the view that the proto-Indo-Iranian divinity is the nameless "Father Ahura", that is, Varuna of the Rigveda. In this view, Zoroastrian mazda is the equivalent of the Vedic medhira, described in Rigveda 8.6.10 as the "(revealed) insight into the cosmic order" that Varuna grants his devotees. Just as Ahura Mazda maintains asha, Varuna keeps rta. Kuiper also suggested that Ahura Mazda could also be an Iranian development of the dvandvah expression *mitra-*vouruna, with *mitra being the otherwise nameless 'Lord' (Ahura) and *vouruna being mazda/medhira. Just as the Vedic Mitra is virtually inseperable from Varuna, Mithra is closely linked with Ahura Mazda in the Avesta. In this constellation, Ahura Mazda is then a compound divinity in which the favorable characteristics of *mitra negate the unfavorable qualities of *vouruna.

Another view propounded by Boyce and Schlerath, among others, conceives Ahura Mazda to be the Ahura par excellence, superior to both *vouruna and *mitra. In a development of this view, the dvandvah expression *mitra-*vouruna is none other than the archaic 'Mithra-Baga' of the Avesta. But while in the Vedas Bhaga is a minor divinity in its own right, in proto-Indo-Iranian times this was but one aspect of *vourunas concept and in Greater Iran continued to be a cult title for *vouruna and eventually replaced it. Boyce also notes that on Persepolis fortification tablet #337, Ahura Mazda is distinct from both Mithra and the Baga.

In Zoroaster's revelation

In both the ancient religions as well as in Zoroaster's doctrine, the deity Ahura Mazda is recognized as the Creator of the universe (Avestan: Dadvāh or Dātār, middle Persian: Dādār). However, Zoroaster gave Ahura Mazda new layers of dimension, mainly by characterizing the traditional Creator as the one uncreated God (Yasna 30.3, 45.2). No evidence has suggested that the concept of a supreme god existed among the Iranians before Zoroaster, or that any Iranian divinity ever enjoyed an exclusive cult of his or her own outside either the ancient pantheons. As such, Ahura Mazda represents the amalgamation of various Indo-Iranian deities into one all-encompassing deity. Zoroaster's notion of god as one rather than a multiplicity was an intentional theological assertion in order to differentiate his movement from the polytheistic cults in the surrounding area.

Central to Zoroaster's perception of Ahura Mazda is the concept of asha (the Persian equivalent of the Vedic rta), literally, "truth". In the extended sense, asha refers to the equitable law of the universe, which governed the life of Zoroaster's people, the nomadic herdsmen of the Central Asian steppes. Asha was the course of everything observable, the motion of the planets and astral bodies, the progression of the seasons, the pattern of daily nomadic herdsman life, and governer of metronomic events such as sunrise and sunset. All physical creation (geti) was created and maintained according to a larger divine plan, attributed to Ahura Mazda, and violations of the order (druj) were violations against creation, and thus violations against Ahura Mazda. In Zoroaster's original teachings, Ahura Mazda was the transcendent entity which actually existed above the opposed forces of asha and druj; in Zoroaster's formulation these antipodes were personified by two spirits who represented good (Spenta Mainyu) and evil (Angra Mainyu).

This concept of asha versus the druj should not be confused with the good-versus-evil battle evident in western religions, for although both forms of opposition express moral conflict, the asha versus druj concept is more subtle and nuanced, representing, for instance, chaos (that opposes order); or 'uncreation', evident as natural decay (Avestan: nasu) that opposes creation; or more literally 'the Lie' of Yasna 31.1 (that opposes truth, righteousness). Thus, in Zoroaster's perception of Ahura Mazda's role as the one uncreated Creator of all (Yasna 44.7), the Creator is not also the creator of 'druj', for as anti-creation, the druj are not created (or not creatable, and thus - like Ahura Mazda - uncreated). "All" is therefore the "supreme benevolent providence" (Yasna 43.11), and Ahura Mazda as the benevolent Creator of all is consequently the Creator of only the good (Yasna 31.4). In Zoroaster's revelation, Ahura Mazda will ultimately triumph (Yasna 48.1), but cannot (or will not) control the druj in the here and now. As such, Zoroaster did not perceive Ahura Mazda to be wholly omnipotent.

Throughout the Gathas Zoroaster emphasizes deeds and actions, for it is only through "good thoughts, good words, good deeds" that order can be maintained, and in Zoroaster's revelation it is indeed the paramount purpose of mankind to assist in maintaining the order Ahura Mazda has created. In Yasna 45.9, Ahura Mazda "has left to men's wills" to choose between doing good (that is, living under a regimen of good thoughts, good words and good deeds) and doing evil (bad thoughts, bad words and bad deeds). This concept of a free will is perhaps Zoroaster's greatest contribution to religious philosophy.

Ahura Mazda's Emanations

Although Ahura Mazda is said to be essentially one, Zoroastrian tradition eventually inherited some ideas from the polytheistic traditions they once attempted to differentiate themselves from. Thus, Ahura Mazda has been accredited with a number of emanations which are referred to as Amesha Spentas (or "Holy Immortals"). These six primeval creations mentioned in Yasna 47.1 of the Gathas are: Vohu Manah (Good Mind), Asha Vahistah (Truth), Khshatra Vairya (Good Dominion), Spenta Armaiti (Devotion), Haurvatat (Wholeness and Health), Ameretat (Immortality). These Amesha Spentas exist as a function of Ahura Mazda's divine will, personifying attributes of his character and putting them in place in the physical world. Amesha Spentas are considered to be divine, although they are ultimately subordinate to Ahura Mazda. Ahura Mazda dwells within each of these deities since they are part of his creation, though he cannot be said to be any one of the members at a given time. In some ways, they resemble the Holy Trinity of Christianity, as personifications of the supreme god's qualities, separate while remaining one. They may also represent attributes of some of the polytheistic gods from other Persian religions which Ahura Mazda subsumed.

In Zurvanite Zoroastrianism

The dualism which is evident in Zoroaster's original writings became even more explicitly developed within the movement known as Zurvanism, a cult which arose to popularity out of the greater Zoroastrian establishment during the Achaemenid period (approximately between the sixth and fourth centuries B.C.E.). Here, Ahura Mazda was not the transcendental God, taking a subordinate position to Zurvan, a deification of time. Instead, Ahura Mazda was one of two equal-but-opposite divinities under Zurvan's supremacy along with Angra Mainyu (Ahriman). According to Zurvan mythology, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu are twin sons of Zurvan who have co-existed since the genesis of the universe. The antipodes of good and evil were no longer considered to be spirits but were the creator god Ahura Mazda himself and his archenemy Angra Mainyu. Due to the fact that Ahura Mazda had been reduced to a role as the opponent of evil, he became identified with Spenta Mainyu. This interpretation rests in large part on an interpretation of Yasna 30.3, that refers to Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu as twin brothers that have co-existed for all Time.

From the viewpoint of mainstream Zoroastrianism, such beliefs as these are considered to be an apostasy. Although Zurvanism was officially supported during the Sassanid era (226–651), no traces of it remain beyond the 10th century CE. Thus, this belief system is hardly representative of the greater Zoroastrian tradition. However, it was this Zurvanite dualism which was recorded in the Greek and Christian sources concerning Zoroastrianism, such as those by Aristotle and Eznik of Kolb, among others, as well as Pahlavi literature from the ninth and tenth centuries CE. It was these accounts of typically Zurvanite beliefs which were the first traces of Zoroastrianism to reach the west, which misled European scholars to conclude that Zoroastrianism was primarily a monist faith, and Ahura Mazda was merely an emanation of the oneness of the greater divine essence.

In present-day Zoroastrianism

In 1884, Martin Haug proposed a new interpretation of Yasna 30.3 that provided an escape from (what was considered to be) the dualism implicit in the Gathas. According to Haug's interpretation, the "Twin spirits" of 30.3 were Angra Mainyu and Spenta Mainyu, the former being the 'Destructive Emanation' of Ahura Mazda and the latter being His 'Creative Emanation'. In effect, this new dualism of Angra Mainyu and Spenta Mainyu theory was simply a rediscovery of the precepts of Zurvanism, with the difference that Angra Mainyu was no longer Ahura Mazda's equal, but rather one of his many emanations. Haug developed the idea even further, interpreting the concept of a free will discussed in Yasna 45.9 as an accomodation to explain where Angra Mainyu chose to succeed from Ahura Mazda, since the supreme deity Ahura Mazda created only good. The free will, Haug claimed, made it possible for Angra Mainyu to choose to be evil.

Although there is no trace of such a philosophy in the previous Zoroastrian texts or tradition, Haug's interpretation was gratefully accepted by some Parsis since it provided a defence against Christian missionaries who attacked Zoroastrians doctrine. These missionaries claimed that the idea of substantiated evil that was as uncreated as god created an unsatisfying dualism. Notwithstanding the oversight that Zoroastrianism did not hypostatize evil as the Abrahamic religions did, Haug's ideas were subsequently disseminated as a Parsi interpretation, thus corroborating the theories. Haug's ideas were so popular that they are now almost universally accepted by Zoroastrians as doctrine.

In West-Iranian Iconography

Herodotus reported that Persians did not use statues, temples, or altars as a part of thier religious activities. This statement has been confirmed by archaelogical records, and no doubt explains why there are so few known images of Ahura Mazda. The earliest reference to the use of an image to accompany devotion to Ahura Mazda is from the 39th year of the reign of Artaxerxes Mnemon (c. 365 B.C.E.) in which a Satrap of Lydia raised a statue (according to the Greek commentator) to "Zeus" the Lawgiver. From the reign of Cyrus the Great (6th century B.C.E.) down to Darius III (4th century B.C.E.), it was apparently customary for an empty chariot drawn by white horses to accompany the Persian army. According to Herodotus, who first described the practice, this chariot was sacred to a supreme god also referred to as "Zeus" who was presumably believed to position himself at the head of the army. This supreme deity referred to in these examples is most likely Ahura Mazda, as Greek authors frequently used the term for their supreme deity Zeus in order to refer to gods who served a similar function in other cultures.

The worship of Ahura Mazda with accompanying images is also known to have occurred during the Parthian era (250 B.C.E.–226 C.E.), but by the beginning of the Sassanid period (226–651), the custom appears to have fallen out of favor. Several images from Sassanid times do exist however. Some torsos depict Ahura Mazda emerging from a disk or a winged ring accompanied by paws and a bird's tail. Although there are various opinions as to the meaning of such images, most scholars agree that the winged disk represents Ahura Mazda himself. Other images depicting "Ohrmazd" reveal a male figure wearing a high crown. However, rejection of anthropomorphic images of divine entities including Ahura Mazda is most common of later Zoroastrianism, which is largely aniconic.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• "Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu." Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Mercia Eliade. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1987. 157-158.
• Boyce, Mary. History of Zoroastrianism: Vol. I, The early period. Leiden: Brill, 1975.
• Boyce, Mary. History of Zoroastrianism: Vol. II, Under the Achamenians. Leiden: Brill, 1982. ISBN 9004065067
• Boyce, Mary. "Ahura Mazda." In Encyclopaedia Iranica (volume 1). Cosa Mesa: Mazda Publishing, 1983. 684–687.
• Boyce, Mary. "Mithra the King and Varuna the Master." In Festschrift für Helmut Humbach zum 80. Trier: WWT, 2001. 239–257.
• Clark, Peter. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient Faith. Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 1998. ISBN 1898723788
• Humbach, Helmut. The Gathas of Zarathushtra and the other Old Avestan texts Heidelberg: Winter, 1991.
• Kuiper, Bernardus Franciscus Jacobus. "Ahura." In Encyclopaedia Iranica (volume 1). Cosa Mesa: Mazda Publishing, 1983. 682–683.
• Schlerath, Bernfried. "Ahurani." In Encyclopaedia Iranica (volume 1). Cosa Mesa: Mazda Publishing, 1983. 683–684.
• "Zoroastrianism." Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Mercia Eliade. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1987. 579-591.

See also

• The Gathas, the most sacred texts of the Avesta
• Zoroastrianism, the religion founded by Zoroaster
• Yazatas, the divinities of Zoroastrianism

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