The Zarathushtra Gâthâs and the origins of Mazdaism (continued) (10)

Yasna 44

How does this cosmogony develop? What is the process? Here is the main plan of this cosmogony:

• Y 44.3 begetting of Aṣ̌a, then the celestial luminaries begin their rotation;
• Y 44.4 development of the three world spaces with the appearance of Vohu Manah ;
• Y 44.5 transformation of the cosmic mechanism into ritual phases, which close the stanza, through the intermediary of thought ;
• Y 44.6 verification of ritual legitimacy;
• Y 44.7 appearance of living beings.

the full text is as follows

Y 44.3 "I ask you this, tell me straight, O Master: Who then is by begetting the first father of the Arrangement? Who then fixed the path of the sun and stars? And who causes the moon to wax and wane? These and other things I wish to know, O Mazdā".

Y 44.4 "I ask you this, tell me straight, O Master: Who then kept the earth down and the clouds from falling? Who (separated) the waters from the plants? Who harnessed with swift (horses) the wind and the clouds? Who then is the founder of Divine Thought, O Mazdā?"

Y 44.5 "I ask you this, tell me straight, O Master: What good workman separated daylight from darkness? What good workman separated sleep from wakefulness? Who makes dawn, noon and night make him who desires think of the object of his desire?"

Y 44.6 "I ask you this, tell me straight, O Master: If the words I am about to say are true thus: "Right-Thinking sustains the Arrangement by deeds (and) bestows power upon thee by Right-Thinking," to make whom happier have you framed the full cow?"

Y 44.7 "I ask you this, tell me straight, O Master: Who frames Right-Thinking with the ability to make it admired? Who, at intervals, has set a son standing on earth for the father? I, out of interest in your (answers), grant you my well-directed favor, O Mazdā, for, in (my) opinion (that you are) beneficent, it is you who have done all these things."

We cannot therefore detect a succession of phases: mental state - immobile material state - mobile material state, but there is the germ of the recent Avestic vision of the doctrine of the millennia.

Monotheism

Here, we shall approach the question from another angle by seeing how the pantheon mentioned in the Gāθās works. To begin with, the different strata of the Avesta present a different pantheon of entities:

1. The list of recent Yašt entities (Amǝṣ̌as Spǝṇtas): Vohu Manah, Aṣ̌a, Xšaθra, Ārmaiti, Hauruuatāt and Amǝrǝtāt ;
2. The list of Y 37 haptahatic entities (Amǝṣ̌as Spǝṇtas): Aṣ̌a, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra, Daēnā, Fsǝratū and Ārmaiti ;
3. The list of theoretical gatic entities (Ahuras): Aṣ̌a, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra, Ārmaiti, Daēnā and Ādā.

Note that the canonical list of Yašt appears in Y 47.1: "By mainiiu pomp, very good Thought, deed and word, in accordance with the Arrangement, they give him health and immortality. Ahura Mazdā is in the company of Power and Right Thought".

But what do the texts tell us?

Let's start with the GA. Y 28.1, which formulates a request(yāna), designates the entities as a global body, then each entity will be addressed in turn. The gathering will take place at Y 31.4 (Aṣ̌a, Mazdā, Aṣ̌i, Ārmaiti, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra) upon invitation. Then Ahura Mazdā must transfer the knowledge to the sacrificers and draw up the program for the sacrifice (Y 31.6-21). The names of the entities that constitute the forces of immortality: Hauruuatāt and Amǝrǝtāt appear. They reappear at the beginning of the sacrificial moment (Y 33.8), then, in Y 33.11, it's time for the libation of Haoma (Mazdā, Ārmaiti, Aṣ̌a, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra, Ādā) and in Y 33.12 (Ahura, Ārmaiti, Tǝuuīši, Ādā, Aṣ̌a, Vohu Manah, Fsǝratu), Ahura Mazdā is addressed as the sun.

Y 28.1 "In homage to this help, with outstretched hands, I (ask you) all, O Mazdā, the beginning of the Beneficial Notice, in accordance with the Arrangement and with a gesture that gives you to receive the aptitude of the good Thought and the soul of the cow".

Y 31.4 "When the Ahuras are there, the Arrangement that must be invited and Mazdā, with the Mise-en-mouvement and the Just-Thought, I will require of them with the very good Thought to possess authoritative power, the growth of which will enable us to overcome Deceit".

Y31.6 bb' mention of health and immortality

Y 31.21 a' mention of health and immortality

Y 33.8 cc' mention of health, youth and immortality

Y 33.11 "Ahura Mazdā who bestows swelling so well, Right-thought, Arrangement that multiplies living beings, good Thought and Power, hear me, have mercy on me at every presentation-offering!"

Y 33.12 "Rise up before me, O Ahura, from Right-Thinking receive youth, from Right-Presentation-Offerings vivacity, from Arrangement aggressive force-dominance, from Right-Thinking fsǝratū,(receive all this) from most beneficent passion, O Mazdā!".

A structure emerges: at Y 31.4, the primary entities (Aṣ̌a, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra, Ārmaiti and a variable female entity) appear, then at Y 31.6, the secondary entities: immortality, health, strength and youth, constitute the final content of the sacrifice. The purpose of the sacrifice is to bring these two groups together. The consequence of this fusion is the appearance of the daēnā, the final entity.

This pattern can be seen in the GA : fusion in Y 33.12 (see above) then in Y 33.13, movement must be given to the progression of the light-diurnal, the daēnā :(aṣ̌iš) frō spǝṇtā ārmaitē, aṣ̌ā daēnå fradaxšaiiā "O beneficent Just-thought, propel the visions according to the Arrangement!". Same pattern during the meat offering: appearance of secondary entities from Y 34.1 to Y 34.11, then at Y 34.13, the daēnā will hit the road.

In the GU, the pantheon is brought together at Y 43.16, following the identification of fire and mainiiu. Then, the merging of the two lists is found at Y 45.10, and at Y 45.11, mention of the final entity, the daēnā :

Y 43.16 "O Ahura Mazdā, behold, Zaraθuštra chooses your mainiiu, which is most splendid. May the Bony Arrangement be imperious in its animation! May Right-Thinking be found in a power exposed to the sun and give impetus through deeds and Right-Thinking!"

Y 45.10 "We strive to gratify with the sacrifices of the Righteous Thought Ahura Mazdā, who is heard by the breath that the (Righteous Thought) has conferred upon him by the Arrangement and the Right Thought. At the moment when his power is exercised, they give him health and immortality, youth and strength as his own property".

How do primary and secondary entities merge?

The abstract allegories of thought are united with the entities of immortality by means of the sacrificial offering. This can be seen in Y 44.6, which attests to a new element: the cow(gąm). This is the operative element.

Y 44.6 "I ask you this, tell me straight, O Master: If the words I am about to say are true thus: "Right-Thinking sustains the Arrangement by deeds (and) grants you power by Right-Thinking," to make whom happier have you framed the full cow?"

Is the operative element the same in AI ? No, here it's the term ādā, which appears in Y 33.11 and refers to haomic libation. And in the GS ? The gathering is initial, as it appears in Y 47.1, and the final entity, the daēnā appears in Y 49.5. Between the two, Y 49.1 attests the term ādā.

Y 47.1 "By mainiiu pomp, very good Thought, deed and word, in accordance with the Arrangement, they give him health and immortality. Ahura Mazdā is in the company of power and Right-Thinking".

Y 49.5 "Every parent of Right-Thinking who has united his daēnā with the Arrangement through Right-Thinking is libation-īžā and libation-āzūiti (in person), O Mazdā. With all of them, it is at the moment when your power is exercised, O Ahura".

The ultimate check is to see how Y 51, a Gāθā in a single chapter, proceeds. The list of primary entities appears in 51.4 (Fsǝratu, Mǝrǝždikā, Aṣ̌a, Ārmaiti, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra, Mazdā). The gathering takes place in Y 51.21 (Ārmaiti, Daēnā, Aṣ̌a, Vohu Manah, Xšaθra, Mazdā, Aṣ̌i) with direct mention of the final entity. But in Y 51.7, we see the gathering of secondary entities with the cow (incidentally, already attested in Y 51.5):

Y 51.4 "Where is the[ārōiš ā] Fsǝratū? Where does it take the road to mercy? Where is the glorifying Arrangement? Where (is) the beneficent Just-thought? Where is the very good Thought? Where (are they) in the company of your power, O Mazdā?"

Y 51.5 mention of the cow

Y 51.7 "O Mazdā, you who carved out the cow, the waters and the plants, give me, at the time of the utterance-sǝ̄ṇgha, immortality and health through the very faste mainiiu, strength and youth through the good Thought!"

Y 51.21 "This is the man faste by words, deed and (this) light-idea of Right-Thinking: / The man faste belongs to Right-Thinking by words, deed and this light-idea: "The daēnā is the faste Arrangement". Ahura Mazdā gives power through Right-Thinking. I ask him for the right Mise-en-mouvement".

So there is a pantheon, but a pantheon of subordinate gods.

Miθra

Three Indian deities are also present in the pantheon of the late Avesta: Apąm Nāpat, Vayu (left in reserve for the time being) and Miθra. Apąm Nāpat, the grandson of the Waters, is the form of fire after the sacrifice, when it has been extinguished. As for Miθra, the Gāθās give only one attestation of it in the plural, thus not referring to divinity. So is its absence fortuitous? Quite possibly. The Gāθās include three ritual times: dawn - noon - night. Whereas the recent Avesta has two more: hāuuani for the morning and uzaiieirina for the afternoon. The liturgical system therefore lacks the ritual times corresponding to the two deities: Miθra is the god of hāuuani time and Apąm Nāpat of uzaiieirina time, hence an objective reason for their absence. Moreover, perhaps "the people of the Gāθās" knew no Miθra deity. The Gāθās present a term uruuata-"treaty", unknown by other strata, perhaps synonymous with Miθra. The contrast between the light and darkness of night is evoked by the term maēθā (another root than Miθra). So we have a network that evokes Miθra's personality.

Uranian monotheism

Ahura Mazdā is the old father sky, and sky tends to become the superior, even unique, divinity. In our system, Ahura Mazdā would be a federation of deities, who can be defined as the actors of daylight, with the mental force prevailing (Vohu Manah, Mainiiu, Ārmaiti, Mazdā).