Ahura

:"For the fictional character in the Marvel Universe series, see Ahura (comics); for the river, see Akhurian River."Ahura is an Avestan language designation for a particular class of Zoroastrian divinities.

Etymology

Avestan "ahura" derives from Indo-Iranian "*asura", also attested in an Indian context as RigVedic "asura". As suggested by the similarity to the Old Norse "æsir", Indo-Iranian "*asura" may have an even earlier Indo-European root.

It is commonly supposed (Thieme 1960:308; Gershevitch 1964:23; Kuiper 1983:682) that Indo-Iranian "*Asura" was the proper name of a specific divinity, with whom other divinities were then identified. In this sense, "ahura" is not a noun but an adjective meaning "ahuric".

For not altogether obvious reasons, the Oxford English Dictionary lists "asura", rather than "ahura", as a Zoroastrian term.

In scripture

In the Gathas

In the Gathas, the oldest hymns of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the poet exhorts his followers to pay reverence to only the "ahura"s, and to rebuff the "daeva"s and others who act "at Lie's command". This should not however be construed to reflect a view of a primordial opposition: Although the "daeva"s would in later Zoroastrian tradition appear as malign creatures, in the Gathas the "daeva"s are (collectively) gods that are to be rejected. (see "daeva" for details)

In the Gathas, the poet does not specify which of the divinities aside from Ahura Mazda he considers to be "ahura"s. While Ahura Mazda is unambiguously "the mightiest Ahura" ("Yasna" 33.11), in the only two occurrences of the term where the word does not refer to Ahura Mazda, the poet uses the expression "mazdasca ahurano" ("Yasna" 30.9, 31.4). This phrase, generally understood to mean "the Wise [Mazda] One and the (other) Ahuras", it is in "common opinion" (Boyce 1975:159) recognized as being archaic with the "other Ahuras" being Indo-Iranian "*mitra", "*varouna" and the predecessors of the other RigVedic "Aditya"s.

In the Younger Avesta

In the "Fravaraneh", the Zoroastrian credo summarized in "Yasna" 12.1, the adherent declares: "I profess myself a Mazda worshiper, a follower of the teachings of Zoroaster, rejecting the "daevas", ... " This effectively defines "ahura" by defining what "ahura" is not.

In the Younger Avesta, three divinities of the Zoroastrian pantheon are repeatedly identified as ahuric. These three are Ahura Mazda, Mithra and Apam Napat, and hence known as the "Ahuric triad". Other divinities with whom the term "Ahuric" is associated include the six Amesha Spentas and (notable among the lesser "yazata"s) Aredvi Sura of The Waters and Ashi of Reward and Recompense.

ee also

* "asura", the Vedic equivalent of "ahura".
* Zoroastrian divinities: Yazatas and Amesha Spentas

Bibliography

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*: 684–687
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*: 682–683
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