Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

, the Amesha Spenta ( ae, , Aməša Spəṇta—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

variations of the term include the contraction 'Ameshaspand' as well as the specifically Zoroastrian 'Mahraspand' and 'Amahraspand'.

As divine entities

Significantly more common than the non-specific meaning of ''Amesha Spenta'' (see below) is a restrictive use of the term to refer to the great seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrian tradition, these are the first seven emanations of the uncreated creator, through whom all subsequent creation was accomplished. This fundamental doctrine is only alluded to in the

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the lit ...

, but is systematically described in later Middle Persian language texts, in particular in the ''

Bundahishn ''Bundahishn'' (Avestan: , "Primal Creation") is the name traditionally given to an encyclopedic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known. Although the ''Bundahishn'' ...

'', an 11th or 12th century work that recounts Zoroastrian cosmology. The expression ''Amesha Spenta'' does not occur in the Gathas, but "it was probably coined by

Zoroaster Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label= Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. He is ...

himself. ''Spenta'' is a characteristic word of his revelation, meaning ''furthering, strengthening, bounteous, holy''." The oldest attested use of the term is in part of the ''

Yasna Haptanghaiti The ''Yasna Haptanghaiti'' (), Avestan for "Worship in Seven Chapters," is a set of seven hymns within the greater ''Yasna'' collection, that is, within the primary liturgical texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Chapter and verse pointers are to ''Yas ...

'' and in which the two elements of the name occur in reverse order, that is, as ''Spenta Amesha''. Like all other verses of the ''Yasna Haptanghaiti'', ''

Yasna Yasna (;"Yasna"
'' Gathic Avestan and is approximately as old as the hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself. The attributes ''vohu'' "good", ''vahišta'' "best", ''vairya'' "desirable" and ''spenta'' "holy" are not always present in the oldest texts. If they appear at all, they do not necessarily appear immediately adjacent to the noun. But in later tradition, these adjectives are integral to the names themselves. While ''Vohu Manah'', ''Aša Vahišta'', and ''Xšaθra Vairya'' are consistently of neuter gender in Avestan grammar; in tradition they are considered masculine. ''Armaiti'', ''Haurvatāt'', and ''Amərətāt'' are invariably feminine. In the Gathas, each Amesha Spenta represents a good moral quality that mortals should strive to obtain. Thus, the doctrine of the great seven is that through good thoughts, words, and deeds, each individual should endeavor to assimilate the qualities of an Amesha Spenta into oneself. Each of the seven has an antithetical counterpart, and five of the seven are already assigned one in the Gathas:. ''aša/arta-'' (truth) is opposed to the ''druj-'' (deceit, lies), spəṇta-mainyu to angra-mainyu, ''vohu-manah'' is opposed to ''aka-manah-'', ''xšaθra-'' to ''dušae-xšaθra-'', and ''armaiti-'' to ''taraemaiti-''. Not evident in the Gathas and first appearing in the Younger Avesta are the oppositions of ''haurvatāt-'' (wholeness) to ''taršna-'' (thirst), and ''amərətāt-'' (life) to ''šud-'' (hunger). These latter assignments reflect Haurvatat's identification with water and Ameretat's identification with plants. In the Gathas, ''aša/arta'' is the most evident of the seven, and also the most commonly associated with wisdom (''mazda-''). In the 238 verses of these hymns, ''aša-/arta-'' appears 157 times. Of the other concepts, only '' vohumanah-'' appears nearly as often (136 occurrences). In comparison, the remaining four of the great sextet appear only 121 times altogether: ''xšaθra-'': 56 times; ''armaiti-'': 40; ''amərətāt-'': 14; ''haurvatāt-'': 11 times. In the context of Zoroastrian cosmology, the group of the Amesha Spenta is extended to include Ahura Mazda, represented by (or together with) ''Spenta Mainyu'', who is the instrument or "active principle" of the act of creation. It is also through this "Bounteous Force", "Creative Emanation", or "Holy Spirit" that Ahura Mazda is immanent in humankind, and how the Creator interacts with the world. The doctrine also has a physical dimension, in that each of the heptad is linked to one of the seven creations, which in ancient philosophy were the foundation of the universe. A systematic association is only present in later Middle Persian texts, where each of the seven is listed with its "special domain": In the Gathas, ''Xšaθra'' 'Vairya''does not have an association with a specific creation, and it is only in later texts that this Amesha Spenta is considered the guardian of metals. This anomaly is explained in modern scholarship by the fact that, in Stone Age cosmogony, the sky was considered to be the first of the creations (and thought to be of stone), but metal has no place among the creations (the Bronze and

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

s were yet to come). This is also reflected in Zoroaster's revelation, where the sky is "of the hardest stone". Later, with the event of bronze and then iron tools, this sky evolved to being of crystal, which was seen as both of stone and of metal. In due course, ''Xšaθra's'' association with a stony firmament was eclipsed by the association with a metallic sky, and thence to metals in general.

In non-specific usage

In non-specific usage, the term ''Amesha Spenta'' denotes all the divinities that furthered or strengthened creation and all that are bounteous and holy. It not only includes the ''Ahura''s (a term that in the Gathas is also used in the plural but only includes Ahura Mazda by name), but also all the other divinities that are alluded to in these texts. In this non-specific sense of the term, ''Amesha Spenta'' is then equivalent to the term ''

yazata Yazata ( ae, 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀) is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying (or used as an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration",.. and i ...

''. Non-specific usage is significantly less common than the use of the term to specifically denote the great divine entities (see above). The non-specific usage is particularly evident in the 9th-14th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, but there are also instances in the Avesta proper where it is used this way. In ''Yasna'' 1.2 for instance, the ''

Atar Atar, Atash, or Azar ( ae, 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, translit=ātar) is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to ...

is declared to be "the most active of the Amesha Spentas." Even in present-day Zoroastrianism, the term is frequently used to refer to the thirty-three divinities that have either a day-name dedication in the

Zoroastrian calendar Adherents of Zoroastrianism use three distinct versions of traditional calendars for liturgical purposes, all derived from medieval Iranian calendars and ultimately based on the Babylonian calendar as used in the Achaemenid empire. ''Qadimi'' ...

or that have a ''

Yasht The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in the Younger Avestan language. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. ''Yasht'' chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as ''Yt.'' Overview The wor ...

'' dedicated to them (or both). This general, non-specific, meaning of the term ''Amesha Spenta'' also has an equivalent in the

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''Vishve Amrtas'', which is the collective term for all supernatural beings (lit: 'all immortals').

Doctrine

The doctrine of the Amesha Spenta, through their connection with creation, unites ethereal and spiritual concepts with material and manifest objects in a "uniquely Zoroastrian" way: not only as abstract "aspects" of Ahura Mazda but also worthy of reverence themselves and personified or represented in all material things. The relationship between Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spenta is an altogether subtle one. In ''Yasna'' 31.11 of the Gathas, Ahura Mazda is said to have created the universe with his "thought". In other passages, such as ''Yasna'' 45.4, he is described as the metaphorical "father" of the individual Amesha Spenta, which, even though it is figurative, suggests a familial closeness. In particular, the relationship between Ahura Mazda and ''Spenta Mainyu'' is multifaceted and complex and "as hard to define as that of

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...

and the Holy Spirit in Judaism and Christianity.". A veneration for the Amesha Spenta through the living world is still present in modern Zoroastrian tradition and is evident in every religious ceremony, when each of the Amesha Spenta is visibly represented by objects of which they are the guardians. In addition, the first seven days of the month of the

are dedicated to the great heptad and to creation, acknowledging the preeminence of the Amesha Spenta and so ensuring the inculcation of their doctrine. Ethical and ontological dualism in the same entity "accounts for the difficulty which some aspects of the doctrine have presented for Western scholars". The reverence of the Amesha Spenta and the

Yazata Yazata ( ae, 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀) is the Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying (or used as an epithet of) a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration",.. and i ...

s has been frequently attacked by non-Zoroastrian sources for its polytheist nature, not only in modern times but also the

Sassanid era The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

. While the "worship of the elements" was a repeated accusation during the 4th and 5th centuries, ⁣ Christian missionaries (such as John Wilson) in 19th-century India specifically targeted the immanence of the Amesha Spenta as indicative of (in their view) a Zoroastrian polytheistic tradition worthy of attack. pp. 182ff. A frequent target for criticism was the Zoroastrian credo in which the adherent declares, "I profess to be a worshiper of Mazda, follower of the teachings of Zoroaster, ... one who praises and reveres the Amesha Spenta" (the ''Fravaraneh'', ''Yasna'' 12.1). Some modern Zoroastrian theologians, especially those identifying with the Reformist school of thought, believe that ethereal spirit and physical manifestation are not separable in any sense and that a reverence of Ahura Mazda's creations is ultimately a worship of the Creator. In the second half of the 19th century,

Martin Haug Martin Haug (30 January 1827 – 3 June 1876) was a German orientalist. Biography Haug was born at Ostdorf (today a part of Balingen), Württemberg. He became a pupil in the gymnasium at Stuttgart at a comparatively late age, and in 1848 he en ...

proposed that Zoroaster himself had viewed the Amesha Spenta as merely philosophical abstractions and that a personification of the heptad was really a later corruption. The

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

s of Bombay gratefully accepted Haug's premise as a defense against the Christian missionaries and subsequently disseminated the idea as a Parsi interpretation, which corroborated Haug's theory. The "continuing monotheism" principle eventually became so popular that it is now almost universally accepted as doctrine.

As divine entities

In non-specific usage

Doctrine

Notes

References

Further reading