Ahura Mazda


Ahura Mazda is the creator and highest deity of Zoroastrianism. Ahura Mazda is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the Yasna. The literal meaning of the word ' is "lord", and that of ' is "wisdom".
Ahura Mazda first appeared in the Achaemenid period under Darius I's Behistun Inscription. Until Artaxerxes II of Persia, Ahura Mazda was worshipped and invoked alone in all extant royal inscriptions. With Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was invoked in a triad, with Mithra and Anahita. In the Achaemenid period, there are no known representations of Ahura Mazda at the royal court other than the custom for every emperor to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses, to invite Ahura Mazda to accompany the Persian army on battles. Images of Ahura Mazda, however, were present from the 5th century BCE, but were stopped and replaced with stone carved figures in the Sassanid period and later removed altogether through an iconoclastic movement supported by the Sassanid dynasty.

Nomenclature

"Ahura" is synonymous with the Vedic word "Asura" which means "lord". Finnish Indologist, Asko Parpola, traces the etymological root of Asura to *asera- of Uralic languages, where it means "lord, prince".
"Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *mazdáH. It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Vedic cognate medhā́, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian, from Proto-Indo-European , literally meaning "placing one's mind ", hence "wise".
The name was rendered as Ahuramazda during the Achaemenid era, Hormazd during the Parthian era, and Ohrmazd was used during the Sassanian era.
The name may be attested on cuneiform tablets of Assyrian Assurbanipal, in the form Assara Mazaš'', though this interpretation is very controversial.

Characteristics

Even though it is speculated that Ahura Mazda was a spirit in the Indo-Iranian religion, he had not yet been given the title of "uncreated spirit". This title was given by Zoroaster, who proclaimed Ahura Mazda as the uncreated spirit, wholly wise, benevolent and good, as well as the creator and upholder of Asha.

Zoroaster's revelation

According to Zoroastrian tradition, at the age of 30, Zoroaster received a revelation: while fetching water at dawn for a sacred ritual, he saw the shining figure of the Amesha Spenta, Vohu Manah, who led Zoroaster to the presence of Ahura Mazda, where he was taught the cardinal principles of the "Good Religion" later known as Zoroastrianism. As a result of this vision, Zoroaster felt that he was chosen to spread and preach the religion. He stated that this source of all goodness was the Ahura worthy of the highest worship. He further stated that Ahura Mazda created spirits known as yazatas to aid him, who also merited worship. Zoroaster proclaimed that some of the Iranian gods were daevas who deserved no worship. These "bad" deities were created by Angra Mainyu, the destructive spirit. The existence of Angra Mainyu was the source of all sin and misery in the universe. Zoroaster claimed that Ahura Mazda was not an omnipotent God, but used the aid of humans in the cosmic struggle against Angra Mainyu. Nonetheless, Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyu's superior, not his equal. Angra Mainyu and his daevas, which attempt to attract humans away from the Path of Asha, would eventually be defeated.

History

Achaemenid Empire

Whether the Achaemenids were Zoroastrians is a matter of much debate. However, it is known that the Achaemenids were worshipers of Ahura Mazda. The representation and invocation of Ahura Mazda can be seen on royal inscriptions written by Achaemenid kings. The most notable of all the inscriptions is the Behistun Inscription written by Darius I which contains many references to Ahura Mazda. An inscription written in Greek was found in a late Achaemenid temple at Persepolis which invoked Ahura Mazda and two other deities, Mithra and Anahita.
Amongst the earliest surviving inscription, on the Elamite Persepolis Fortification Tablet 377, Ahura Mazda is invoked along with Mithra and Apam Napat, Vedic Varuna. Artaxerxes III makes this invocation to the three deities again in his reign. In Vedic texts which predate these inscriptions by thousands of years, the Vedic gods Mithra and Varuna are frequently mentioned together. In the earliest layer of the Rigveda, Varuna is the guardian of moral law, the ruler over Asuras, one who punishes those who sin without remorse, and who forgives those who err with remorse. He is the Guardian deity of the West, meaning regions west of India. He is mentioned in many Rigvedic hymns, such as 7.86–88, 1.25, 2.27–30, 8.8, 9.73 and others. His relationship with waters, rivers and oceans is mentioned in the Vedas. Vedic poets describe him as an aspect and one of the plural perspectives of the Agni, one of the Primary deities. Further, both have wrathful-gracious aspects in Indian mythology.
The early Achaemenid period contained no representation of Ahura Mazda. The winged symbol with a male figure who was formerly regarded by European scholars as Ahura Mazda has been now speculated to represent the royal xvarənah, the personification of divine power and royal glory. However, it was customary for every emperor from Cyrus until Darius III to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses as a place for Ahura Mazda to accompany the Persian army on battles. The use of images of Ahura Mazda began in the western satraps of the Achaemenid Empire in the late 5th century BCE. Under Artaxerxes II, the first literary reference as well as a statue of Ahura Mazda was built by a Persian governor of Lydia in 365 BCE.

Parthian Empire

It is known that the reverence for Ahura Mazda, as well as Anahita and Mithra continued with the same traditions during this period. The worship of Ahura Mazda with symbolic images is noticed, but it stopped within the Sassanid period. Zoroastrian iconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of the Parthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura Mazda remained symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.

Sassanid Empire

During the Sassanid Empire, a heretical and divergent form of Zoroastrianism, termed Zurvanism, emerged. It gained adherents throughout the Sassanid Empire, most notably the royal lineage of Sassanian emperors. Under the reign of Shapur I, Zurvanism spread and became a widespread cult. Zurvanism revokes Zoroaster's original message of Ahura Mazda as the uncreated spirit, and the "uncreated creator" of all, and reduces him to a created spirit, one of two twin sons of Zurvan, their father and the primary spirit. Zurvanism also makes Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu of equal strength and only contrasting spirits.
Other than Zurvanism, the Sassanian kings demonstrated their devotion to Ahura Mazda in other fashions. Five kings took the name Hormizd and Bahram II created the title of "Ohrmazd-mowbad" which was continued after the fall of the Sassanid Empire and through the Islamic times. All devotional acts in Zoroastrianism originating from the Sassanian period begin with homage to Ahura Mazda. The five Gāhs begin with the declaration in Middle Persian, that "Ohrmazd is Lord" and incorporate the Gathic verse "Whom, Mazda hast thou appointed my protector". Zoroastrian prayers are to be said in the presence of light, either in the form of fire or the sun. In the Iranian dialects of Yidḡa and Munǰī, the sun is still called "ormozd".

Present-day Zoroastrianism

In 1884, Martin Haug proposed a new interpretation of Yasna 30.3 that subsequently influenced Zoroastrian doctrine to a significant extent. According to Haug's interpretation, the "twin spirits" of 30.3 were Angra Mainyu and Spenta Mainyu, the former being literally the "Destructive Spirit" and the latter being the "Bounteous Spirit". Further, in Haug's scheme, Angra Mainyu was now not Ahura Mazda's binary opposite, but—like Spenta Mainyu—an emanation of Him. Haug also interpreted the concept of a free will of Yasna 45.9 as an accommodation to explain where Angra Mainyu came from since Ahura Mazda created only good. The free will made it possible for Angra Mainyu to choose to be evil. Although these latter conclusions were not substantiated by Zoroastrian tradition, at the time Haug's interpretation was gratefully accepted by the Parsis of Bombay since it provided a defense against Christian missionary rhetoric, particularly the attacks on the Zoroastrian idea of an uncreated Evil that was as uncreated as God was. Following Haug, the Bombay Parsis began to defend themselves in the English-language press, the argument being that Angra Mainyu was not Mazda's binary opposite, but his subordinate, who—as in Zurvanism also—chose to be evil. Consequently, Haug's theories were disseminated as a Parsi interpretation, also in the West, where they appeared to be corroborating Haug. Reinforcing themselves, Haug's ideas came to be iterated so often that they are today almost universally accepted as doctrine.

In other religions

Some scholars believe that Ahura Mazda originates from *vouruna-mitra, or Vedic Varuna. According to William W Malandra both Varuna and Ahura Mazda represented same Indo-Iranian concept of a supreme "wise, all-knowing lord".
In Manichaeism, the name Ohrmazd Bay was used for the primal figure Nāšā Qaḏmāyā, the "original man" and emanation of the Father of Greatness through whom after he sacrificed himself to defend the world of light was consumed by the forces of darkness. Although Ormuzd is freed from the world of darkness his "sons", often called his garments or weapons, remain. His sons, later known as the World Soul after a series of events will for the most part escape from matter and return again to the world of light where they came from. Manicheans often identified many of Mani's cosmological figures with Zoroastrian ones. This may be in part because Mani was born in the greatly Zoroastrian Parthian Empire.
In Sogdian Buddhism, Xwrmztʼ was the name used in place of Ahura Mazda. Via contacts with Turkic peoples like the Uyghurs, this Sogdian name came to the Mongols, who still name this deity Qormusta Tengri is now a popular enough deity to appear in many contexts that are not explicitly Buddhist.
The pre-Christian Armenians had Aramazd as an important deity in their pantheon of gods. He is thought to be a syncretic deity, a combination of the autochthonous Armenian figures Aram and his son Ara and the Iranian Ahura Mazda. In modern-day Armenia, Aramazd is a male first name.

101 Names

  1. yazat
  2. harvasp-tavãn
  3. harvasp-âgâh
  4. harvasp-h'udhâ
  5. abadah
  6. awî-añjâm
  7. bûnastah
  8. frâxtañtah
  9. jamakh
  10. parjahtarah
  11. tum-afayah
  12. abravañt
  13. parvañdah
  14. an-ayâfah
  15. ham-ayâfah
  16. âdharô
  17. gîrâ
  18. acim
  19. cimnâ
  20. safinâ
  21. âwzâ
  22. nâshâ
  23. parvarâ
  24. âyânah
  25. âyaîn-âyânah
  26. an-âyanah
  27. xraoshît-tum
  28. mînôtum
  29. vâsnâ
  30. harvastum
  31. husipâs
  32. har-hemît
  33. harnekfareh
  34. beshtarnâ
  35. tarônîs
  36. anaoshak
  37. farashak
  38. pazohadhad
  39. xavâpar
  40. awaxshâyâ
  41. awarzâ
  42. â-sitôh
  43. raxôh
  44. varûn
  45. a-frîpah
  46. awe-frîftah
  47. adhvaî
  48. kãme-rat
  49. framãn-kãm
  50. âyextan
  51. â-framôsh
  52. hamârnâ
  53. snâyâ
  54. a-tars
  55. a-bîsh
  56. a-frâzdum
  57. hamcûn
  58. mînô-stîgar
  59. a-mînôgar
  60. mînô-nahab
  61. âdhar-bâtgar
  62. âdhar-namgar
  63. bât-âdhargar
  64. bât-namgar
  65. bât-gelgar
  66. bât-girdtum
  67. âdhar-kîbarît-tum
  68. bâtgarjâi
  69. âwtum
  70. gel-âdhargar
  71. gel-vâdhgar
  72. gel-namgar
  73. gargar
  74. garôgar
  75. garâgar
  76. garâgargar
  77. a-garâgar "
  78. a-garâgargar
  79. a-gûmãn
  80. a-jamãn
  81. a-h'uãn
  82. âmushthushyâr
  83. frashûtanâ
  84. padhamãnî
  85. pîrôzgar
  86. h'udhâvañd
  87. ahuramazda
  88. abarînkuhantavãn
  89. abarîn-nô-tavã
  90. vaspãn
  91. vaspâr
  92. h'âwar
  93. ahû
  94. âwaxsîdâr
  95. dâdhâr
  96. rayomañd
  97. h'arehmand
  98. dâwar
  99. kerfagar
  100. buxtâr
  101. frashôgar

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