by Roshen Dalal
Ratha ratha chariot
Yajna yasna sacrificial ritual
Yatha yatha as
Asti asti is
hiranya zaranya gold
Sukta hukta well said/good words
NAMES
There are also similarities in the names of people. Some examples of prominent names are given here. An intensive study of Younger Avestan and Later Vedic texts would reveal many more.
Table 5.2
Vedic Avestan
Similar/identical names Kavya Ushana Kavi Ushana
Names ending in tama Dirghatama Spitama, Haechastama
Names ending in rava Pururava Frahimrava
Names ending in gva Atithigva Hvogva
Dasagva
Navagva
RELIGION
Religion is another aspect used for locating the early Avestans. We have seen that the religion of Zarathushtra as depicted in the Gathas was unique, and different from that in the Rig Veda. Scholars, however, presume that an earlier substratum of the religion is revealed in what are actually later texts, those of Younger Avestan. These suggest a religion similar to the Vedas, with sacrificial rituals; reverence for fire, nature, and other deities; and the use of haoma (soma). There are also some common deities.
That Younger Avestan texts contain some material of a pre-Gathic date is an assumption based on an analysis of the texts. But, if we attempt to integrate these assumptions into a chronological sequence, difficulties arise. The sequence would be something like this:
Indo-Iranian religion, with multiple deities and a sacrificial ritual
Composition of the Gathas, rejecting the old religion (because, based on language and metre, the Gathas are thought to predate the Rig Veda)
Composition of the Rig Veda, reflecting a continuity with the old religion
Composition of Younger Avestan texts with multiple deities and developed sacrificial ritual, refecting a continuity of the old religion (deities mentioned have similarities with those in the Rig Veda)
Composition of the Later Vedic Samhitas, in which sacrificial ritual is fully developed.
The problem here is that the Gathas briefly mention and reject some sacrificial ritual but without any details. As Jean Kellen, the Belgian Iranologist, pointed out, actually there is no information on Old Avestan rituals. The Rig Veda refers to several rituals but does not have the fully developed rituals of the Yajur Veda or the Sama Veda. Hence, while the early joint Indo-Iranian religion (if it existed) must have had deities and rituals, the latter could not have been in the fully developed form of the yashts, Yasna, and Later Vedic Samhitas. (We are ignoring texts such as the Vendidad, which clearly refer to a much later stage of the religion.)
It is therefore possible that the early Indo-Iranian religion, including its deities and its rituals, is still largely unknown, and that the similarities between the Rig Veda, the Yasna and the yashts are the results of later influences and interaction. While keeping this possibility in mind, we will look at some of the similarities.
DEITIES
There are several divine beings in the yashts and in later texts. According to the noted scholar Mary Boyce these probably represent the original pantheon dating to the nomadic days of the joint Indo-Iranians. Others support her view but as most of the deities are not mentioned in the Gathas, there is no clear evidence for this (for deities in the Gathas, see Chapter 4). Some deity names are found on tablets and in inscriptions of later times while some are similar to those of Vedic deities. In 1938, Nyberg theorized that in Iran, the ancient Indo-Iranian pantheon was for a time broken up, with different Iranian peoples worshipping their own gods, but they came together again, subordinated by one God, in Zoroastrianism. However, Boyce and others feel that this is not correct.
In the Rig Veda, asura (ahura in Avestan) indicates a divine being, and only in some late passages does it acquire a ‘demonic’ character as in later Indian texts. Several Vedic gods are known as asura but only three Iranian deities are termed ahura: Ahura Mazda himself, Mithra, and Apam Napat. The Rig Vedic gods called asura include Agni, Brihaspati, Dyaus, Pushan, Savitr, and Varuna.
Mithra and Mitra
Mithra has a long yasht dedicated to him, and the Vedic Mitra is considered his counterpart. The Avestan noun mithra equals ‘pact’, ‘contract’, or ‘covenant’. In the yasht, he oversees all covenants and judges. But, in Sanskrit, mitra equals ‘friend’, hence some feel that mithra too must have that meaning.
Ahura Mazda and Varuna?
In the Rig Veda, Mitra is closely associated with the god Varuna. Some Western scholars see Varuna as one of the two main gods of the Rig Veda but, based on the number of hymns addressed to him, he is not a major deity in this text. Their identification of him as such reflects their idea of what characteristics a major deity should have. Varuna, an ethical god who punishes misdeeds and who is prayed to for the removal of sins, corresponds with Western concepts of god. Western scholars also see him as the guardian of rita, along with Mitra. This is only partially correct, as several other deities were associated with or termed guardians of rita.
Rita is a complex concept. It has three aspects when used in different contexts: it usually means the ‘course of nature’ or order in the cosmos; in the context of sacrifice, it refers to the correct performance of it; and it also means moral conduct. Soma and Agni are also protectors of rita, and the Adityas are closely connected with it. The Vishvedevas’ thoughts are fixed on rita; Vishnu is also associated with it in the Rig Veda. In some passages, rita seems personified as a deity. Anrita is the opposite of both satya (truth) and rita. As for forgiveness, or removal, of sins, not only Varuna but several gods are also invoked, including Indra, Agni, and Aditi.
There is no god called Varuna or Vouruna in the Iranian pantheon. One theory is that though his original name was forgotten, he was transformed into the supreme deity Ahura Mazda. But there is really little evidence to support this, except for Western concepts of Varuna being a great god.
Ahura Mazda and the Nameless Asura?
Another theory connects Ahura Mazda with a nameless asura that appears in the Rig Veda in a few passages as a higher being than Mitra-Varuna. The origin of the word mazda is not clear. Several feel it is similar to the Vedic medha, a feminine noun meaning ‘mental vigour, perceptive power, wisdom’. Mazda is also considered to be related to a verb and noun meaning ‘remember’ in Avestan. The nature of Ahura Mazda in the Gathas (see Chapter 4) with the six Amesha Spentas, the powers inherent within him, actually has no counterpart in the Vedas. Despite the use of the term ahura/asura, it should be seen as an independent and separate development.
One view is that Ahura Mazda was a higher god even before Zarathushtra, recognized as such by Persians and Avestan peoples. This may be so but, overall, one can conclude that the origins of this supreme deity are unknown and unrelated to any other known deity.
Apam Napat and Varuna
Another theory is that the concept of the god Varuna was absorbed into that of Apam Napat in the Avesta. This is again unlikely as Apam Napat was the name of a deity in the Rig Veda, and should rather be related to this deity with the same name.
Several deities mentioned in Younger Avestan have Vedic counterparts, though there are many others who do not. Similar deities are listed here:
Vedic Avestan
Apam Napat Apam Napat
Aramati Armaiti
Aryaman Airyaman
Bhaga Baga (in old Persian, not Avestan)
Vritrahan, a name of Indra Verethraghna, later the important deity, Behram
Mitra Mithra
Puramdhi Parendi
Soma Haoma, later Hom
Surya (from root svar) Hvare
Trita Aptya Thrita or Thraetona
Vayu Vayu
Vivasvat Vivanhvant
Yama Yima
Yami Yimak
Narashamsa Nairyosangha
In the Vendidad
Nasatya Nanhaitya
Indra
Indra
Sharva Saurva
The rituals too had similarities. Agni, the sacred fire in the Vedas, had its counterpart in Atar or Atash in the Younger Avesta. Like the Apah, the Vedic water deities, there were feminine deities connected with water in the Avesta. Haoma, the counterpart of the Vedic Soma, was used in Younger Avestan rituals, and was even praised as a deity.
As seen earlier, in the Gathas, Zarathushtra was referred to as a zaotar (hotr), erishi (rishi), and manthran (teacher of mantras, or the sacred word). All these words are familiar from the Vedas. The Younger Avestan text Visperad lists eight priests who conducted rituals. Eight priests are also listed in the Rig Veda, though the names are different there. Athravans, descendants of Athravan (Vedic Atharvan), are mentioned several times in the yashts and later texts. Athravans are said to have travelled to preach the religion. In the Vedas, Atharvans are connected with the composition of the Atharva Veda.
Devas and Asuras
Devas (Avestan daeva) and asuras (Avestan ahura) are mentioned in both the Vedas and the Avestan texts. In the Yasna and yashts, the daevas are unequivocally condemned. The same is not true for the asuras in Vedic texts.
COSMOGRAPHY
Similarities between Indian and Iranian cosmography have also been pointed out, such as of the Iranian Mt Hara, or Haraiti, with the Indian Mt Meru. Texts of both countries also have mythical concepts of seven lands of the world. However, these concepts appear in texts of varying dates and may be the result of later interaction. Such interaction is well known at least from Achaemenian times, if not earlier.
COMMON MYTHS
Avestan and both Vedic and later Hindu texts contain certain common or similar myths.
Gaush Urva and Bhu Devi
In Zoroastrianism, Gaush Urva is a symbol of the suffering earth. Literally, it means ‘the soul of the cow’ but the cow represents the entire earth. In the Gathas, Gaush Urva’s appeal is described thus:
To you (the Divine), Gaush Urva (soul of the earth) cried out in anguish
‘Why did you create me?
Who made me?
Anger and passion are everywhere,
All around me are agression and violence,
You are my only protector
Therefore reveal to me, a saviour.’
(Y. 29.1; translated by Piloo Nanavutty in The Gathas)
Ahura Mazda then sends Zarathushtra to protect the earth.
In the Puranas, a group of later Hindu texts, the goddess of the earth, Bhu Devi, appears to Varaha in the form of a cow and pleads for help for the oppressed earth. In the Bhagavata Purana, she appears to Indra, who sends Krishna to save the earth.
Similar myths of the cow representing the earth, attacked and oppressed in various ways and then provided with a saviour, occur in Georgia and in a Slavonic version of the Book of Enoch.
Manu and Yima: The flood and the vara
In the Shatapatha Brahmana and later texts, Manu, son of Vivasvat, saves the creatures of the earth from a great flood (see Chapter 6). In the Vendidad, Yima, son of Vivanhvant, saves the creatures of the earth from a fatal winter and fierce frost. He builds a vara (enclosure) where the seeds of two of every kind of living being and plant are preserved. People too lived there. The bird Karshipta brought the law of Mazda there.
Vritra and Azi Dahaka
In the Rig Veda, Vritra is an asura killed by Indra. This can be compared with the myth of Azi Dahaka in Avestan texts, where azi is the same as the Sanskrit ahi, a term used for Vritra.
It should be noted that these similarities are not unique. There are similar myths not only among other Indo-European groups, but also from Mesopotamia and other regions.
THE SACRED THREAD
Being initiated with a sacred thread is referred to in Younger Avestan texts and is similar to the upanayana of Hinduism. There is a conjecture that this dates to pre-Zoroastrian times but this is pure speculation. The upanayana is not mentioned in either the Rig Veda or the Later Vedic Samhitas, and the sacred thread is not referred to in the Gathas, hence similarities may be the result of later interaction. This inititiation ceremony, known in Zoroastrianism as the Navjote, still takes place today, and signifies an individual’s formal acceptance of the religion.
THE FRAVASHI AND THE PITRIS
The Avestan people attached immense reverence to the souls (fravashis) of their ancestors while the Vedic people also worshipped their ancestors (pitris), though there is a difference in the concept of the fravashi and the pitri. The former is actually the perfect soul, closer to the concept of the atman, which in the Upanishads is identical to Brahman, the absolute.
SIMILARITIES IN RITUALS TODAY
Even today, there are striking similarities in the rituals performed in Zoroastrian temples in India and those of the Arya Samaj, which are based on the Vedic Samhitas.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC SIMILARITIES
As seen earlier, very little can be deduced about society and economy from the Gathas. Scholars have used Younger Avestan and Later Vedic sources to arrive at conclusions about the society and economy of the joint Indo-Iranians. This is not a valid method. Even by conservative estimates, the joint Indo-Iranians existed between 2000 and1500 BCE. Younger Avestan texts have interpolations as late as the Parthian period. Later Vedic Samhitas were composed in the Gangetic plains and, whatever their date, were far removed in time and space from the supposed Indo-Iranians.
All early agrarian/pastoral societies would have certain similarities. The use of horses and chariots is thought to be a distinguising feature of the Indo-Iranians but there were many other groups, which also used horses and chariots.
THE REGION OF INTERACTION
Based on these and other similarities, archaeologists and linguists have attempted to identify a common Indo-Iranian homeland. Their origin is generally looked for in Western Asia and Central Asia, or alternatively within India. From ancient days, Western, Central and South Asia have been linked by sea and land routes. Boundaries in those days were more fluid and did not reflect the political concerns of today.
Western and Central Asia are variously defined. For instance, Afghanistan and Iran can be assigned to either region. The United Nations subregion of Western Asia lists the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. Of these, Armenia and Georgia are located adjacent to each other, west of the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan, to the south of these, is historically linked with Iran. Turkey, Iraq, and Syria are in the region of ancient Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The Arab peninsula includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. Bahrain is an archipelago located in the Persian Gulf. Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon are termed the Levant, or countries of the eastern Mediterranean. The island of Cyprus has some of the earliest towns of the world.
This region lies to the south of east Europe, and is surrounded by seas: the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. There are high mountain ranges, plateaus, and arid as well as semi-arid regions.
Central Asia includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. In a broader definition, other areas often included are central east Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Tibet, the north-western regions of Pakistan, and within India, Punjab and part of Kashmir, including Ladakh. This area includes high mountains and passes, deserts, and grassy steppes. The main rivers are the Amu Darya (Oxus), Syr Darya, and Hari. The Aral Sea and Lake Balkash are large water bodies in the region.
Some of the old historical divisions of Central Asia are as follows:
Eurasian and Russian steppes (includes the northern part of this region)
Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin (in the north-east)
Zhegstu/Semirechye: West of Dzungaria with Lake Balkash to the north and Tien Shan mountains to the south
Khorazm (Chorasmia): South of t
he Aral Sea, along the Amu Darya
Transoxiana: North of the middle and upper Amu Darya
Maveranahr: Between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, with the Aral Sea to the north-east
Bactria: Northern Afghanistan and the upper region of the Amu Darya
Sogdiana: North of Bactria (where Bukhara and Samarkand are located)
Khorasan: North-east Iran
Margiana: North-east Iran and Turkmenistan
Sistan/Seistan: a border region in eastern Iran (Sistan and Baluchestan provinces), south-west Afghanistan (Nirmuz province), and northern tip of south-western Pakistan (Balochistan province); derives its name from Sakastan of which it was once the westernmost region.
WEST ASIA
West Asia is one of the earliest areas with settled agriculture. It was once thought that agriculture and early animal domestication originated in this region and then spread into South Asia. But, as the American anthropologist and archaeologist G.L. Possehl points out, the emerging theory is that ‘the near Eastern hearth of domestication was simply much larger than older hypothesis assumed. Rather than ending in the Zagros mountains of Iraq/Iran, it spread all the way across the Iranian plateau to the Indus valley’. Right across this huge area, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indus, agriculture was beginnining around the same time—from 10,000 BCE or even earlier. Proto-agriculture, a stage of watering, weeding, and harvesting wild plants, represents an earlier stage. As Possehl says:
This area can be seen as a large interaction sphere in prehistoric times. This is the expanded nuclear zone for Near Eastern, Iranian, Central and South Asian domestication. The domestication of those plants and animals on which Near Eastern, South and Central Asian civilizations were founded seems to have taken place in this nuclear zone. Interaction within it may have been so intense and regular that future excavations will find no predominant early centre of innovation within it, but that the ideas and products of early experiments with plants and animals, were rapidly disseminated within the interaction sphere. The forces of cultural change and adaptation were regional rather than local (Near Eastern, South Asian, Iranian, Afghan, etc). Rich communication and sharing of ideas and products were essential ingredients in the process of cultural change.