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Avesta

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DescriptionZoroastrian scripture: Yasna Gathas Yashts Vendidad Bundahishn Denkard Bahman Yasht Jamasp Namag — Saoshyant messianic hope world renovation Frashokereti

Avesta

The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. It preserves the oldest Indo-Iranian religious poetry and contains the earliest known formulation of a coming world saviour — the Saoshyant.

Sections

  • Yasna — Sacred liturgy (72 chapters), including the Gathas, the hymns of the prophet Zarathushtra
  • Yashts — 21 hymns of praise to divine beings; Yasht 19 (Zamyad) contains the fullest Saoshyant eschatology
  • Vendidad — 22 fargards of purity law; Fargard 2 (Yima’s Vara) contains the flood/apocalypse narrative
  • Bahman Yasht — Zand-i Wahman Yasn; 9 chapters of Zoroastrian apocalyptic; four world ages; Saoshyant millennia
  • Jamasp Namag — 10 chapters; Jamaspa’s prophecies to Vishtasp; Ushedar first Saoshyant millennium
  • Bundahishn — 34 chapters; Zoroastrian cosmology and eschatology; resurrection; three Saoshyants
  • Denkard Book 7 — 11 chapters; life of Zoroaster; Saoshyant millennia; Frashegird renovation

The Saoshyant — World Saviour

The Saoshyant concept is the central eschatological figure of Zoroastrianism, influencing Jewish, Christian, and Islamic messianism:

  • Yasna 9: First mention — Haoma promises the Saoshyant
  • Yasna 29: Ahura Mazda appoints the Saoshyant as guardian
  • Yasna 48: “When will the Saoshyant’s wisdom prevail?”
  • Yasht 19 par. 89: The Saoshyant closes the Hvareno (kingly Glory) narrative
  • Bundahishn 30: Three Saoshyants, seed of Zarathushtra, Lake Kansaoya, final resurrection
  • Denkard 7.11: Soshyant and the Renovation (Frashegird) — climax of the Saoshyant tradition
  • Bahman Yasht 3-9: Ushedar, Ushedarmah, and Soshyant millennium sequence

The Gathas

The Gathas (Yasna 28-53) are 17 hymns composed by Zoroaster himself — the oldest surviving Indo-Iranian religious texts.

Sources

  • Yasna: L.H. Mills, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 31 (1886). Public domain.
  • Yashts: James Darmesteter, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 23 (1883). Public domain.
  • Vendidad: James Darmesteter, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 4 (1880). Public domain.
  • Bundahishn, Bahman Yasht, Jamasp Namag: E.W. West, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 5 (1880). Public domain.
  • Denkard Book 7: E.W. West, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 47 (1897). Public domain.
  • Digital editions by Joseph H. Peterson, avesta.org (1995).

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