SRAŌŠA AND NIGHT IN THE AVESTAN VĪDĒVDĀD
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Abstract
Most of the Avestan Vīdēvdād is dedicated to myths and ritual rules and injunctions relating to opposition to the forces of evil. The latter are represented by the main antagonist of Ahura Mazda – Angra Mainyu – an evil spirit, demonic beings, non-Zoroastrians and heretics, and harmful animals. In daytime the patrons of performed rites and all spheres of life of the Zoroastrian community are served by gods who have their own specialization. Almost all of them act only during daylight hours. One of the important aspects of the ancient Iranian world picture presented in the Avesta is the idea of fractional composition of the day, divided into several parts. In the corpus of the Old Avesta, in the Gathas of Zaraθuštra (Y. 30.3) there is no categorical opposition of day and night, wakefulness and sleep. However, in the texts of the Young Avesta the attitude to these concepts undergoes a change; night and sleep begin to be understood as a dangerous period (night) and state (sleep). During the night, when the forces of evil are the strongest and most active, and the righteous Zoroastrians are at their most vulnerable, Sraōša, the deity of obedience, becomes the principal god to protect the faithful. This is a purely Iranian (not Indo-Iranian) deity, first appearing in Zaraθuštra’s sermons. The sacred animal associated with Sraōša in the Vīdēvdād is a rooster, which awakens people from a dangerous sleep, at the same time being an auxiliary priest (according to J. Kellens) under Sraōša who plays the role of the high priest during the morning liturgy. The dog is also an animal associated with Sraōša, according to Vīdēvdād it guards people, houses and herds, and stays awake at night, like the gods Ahura Mazdā, Miθra and Sraōša. In the hymn dedicated to him, Sraōša himself is compared to a shepherd’s dog.
How to Cite
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Avesta, day, dog, night, rooster, sleep, Sraōša, Vīdēvdād, wakefulness
Abaev V. I. (1989), Istoriko-etimologicheskiy slovar osetinskogo yazyka, Vol. 4, Izdatelstvo Akademii nauk SSSR, Leningrad. (In Russian).
Bartholomae Chr. (1961), Altiranisches Wörterbuch, 2 Unveränderte Auflage, W. de Gruyter, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111471778
Cantera A. (2013), “Talking with god: The Zoroastrian ham.paršti or intercalation ceremonies”, Journal Asiatique, T. 301(1), pp. 85–138.
Cantera A. (2021), “The sraōšāvarəza-priest and the usage of the srōš-barišnīh in the greater Long Liturgy”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 31, Issue 3, pp. 479–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186321000067
Chunakova O. M. (1991), Izvedat dorogi i puti pravednyh. Pehleviyskie nazidatelnye teksty, Vostochnaya literatura RAN, Moscow. (In Russian).
Chunakova O. M. (1997), Zoroastriyskie teksty, Vostochnaya literatura RAN, Moscow. (In Russian).
Darmesteter J. (1880), The Vendīdād, Sacred Books of the East, The Zend Avesta, Part I, At the Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Elizarenkova T. Ya. (2007), Atharvaveda (Shaunaka), Vol. 2: Books VIII–XII, Vostochnaya literatura RAN, Moscow. (In Russian).
Gershevitch I. (1967), The Avestan Hymn to Mithra, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hintze A. (2009), “Avestan Literature”, in R. E. Emmerick and M. Macuch (eds), The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran, Companion to A History of Persian Literature. A History of Persian Literature XVII, Vol. I, Tauris, London, pp. 1–71. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755610402.ch-001
Humbach H. (1991), The Gāthās of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts, Part I, In collab. with J. Elfenbein and P. O. Skærvø, Winter, Heidelberg.
Jamison S. and Brereton J. (2016), Commentary on RV, available at: https://rigvedacommentary.alc.ucla.edu (accessed 23 July 2021).
Kellens J. (2016), “Deux apologues sur le feu rituel”, in É. Pirart, Études de Linguistique Iranienne in Memoriam Xavier Tremblay, Acta Iranica, 57, Peeters, Leuven, Paris and Bristol, pp. 195–204. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1q26vmf.10
Kreyenbroek G. (1985), Sraoša in the Zoroastrian Tradition, E. J. Brill, Leiden.
Kulikov L. (2013), “An Atharvanic hymn to night: text-critical and linguistic remarks on the interpretation of Śaunakīya 19.50 = Paippalāda 14.9”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 76, No. 2, pp. 259–69. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X13000074
Malandra W. W. (2000), “Vendīdād. I. Survey of the History and Contents of the Text”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, New York 2000–2006, available at: https://iranicaonline.org/articles/vendidad (accessed 01 July 2021).
Monier-Williams M. (1951), A Sanskrit-English dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Panaino A. (2015), “El sueño de la razón produce monstruos. Lights and Shadows of Av. xvafna- ‘sleep/dream’ ”, in A. Cantera and J. Ferrer-Losilla (eds), at̰cit̰ bā nəmō haōmāi. Homenaje a Éric Pirart en su 65º aniversario, Estudios Iranios y Turanios, No. 2, Sociedad de estudios iranios y turanios (SEIT), Girona, pp. 163–90.
Pokorny J. (1959), Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bd. 1, A. Francke, Bern and München.
Rezania K. (2010), Die zoroastrische Zeitvorstellung: Eine Untersuchung über Zeit- und Ewigkeitskonzepte und die Frage des Zurvanismus, Göttinger Orientforschungen, Iranica, N.S. 7, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden.
Skjærvø P. O. (2007), “The Videvdad: its Ritual-Mythical Significance”, in V. S. Curtis and S. Stewart (ed.), The Age of the Parthians. The Idea of Iran, Vol. 2, I. B. Tauris, London and New York, pp. 105–41.
Steblin-Kamensky I. M. (1999), Etimologicheskiy slovar’ vakhanskogo yazyka, Peterburgskoye Vostokovedeniye, Sankt Petersburg. (In Russian).
Trofimov A. A. (2015), “K probleme rekonstruktsii i.e. *kwsep- ‘noch’ ”, in N. N. Kazansky (ed.), Indoevropeyskoe yazykoznanie i klassicheskaya filologiya – XIX (Chteniya pamyati I. M. Tronskogo), Materialy Mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii, prokhodivshey 22–24 iyunya 2015 g., Nauka, Saint Petersburg, pp. 899–909. (In Russian).
REFERENCES
Abaev V. I. (1989), Istoriko-etimologicheskiy slovar osetinskogo yazyka, Vol. 4, Izdatelstvo Akademii nauk SSSR, Leningrad. (In Russian).
Bartholomae Chr. (1961), Altiranisches Wörterbuch, 2 Unveränderte Auflage, W. de Gruyter, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111471778
Cantera A. (2013), “Talking with god: The Zoroastrian ham.paršti or intercalation ceremonies”, Journal Asiatique, T. 301(1), pp. 85–138.
Cantera A. (2021), “The sraōšāvarəza-priest and the usage of the srōš-barišnīh in the greater Long Liturgy”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 31, Issue 3, pp. 479–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186321000067
Chunakova O. M. (1991), Izvedat dorogi i puti pravednyh. Pehleviyskie nazidatelnye teksty, Vostochnaya literatura RAN, Moscow. (In Russian).
Chunakova O. M. (1997), Zoroastriyskie teksty, Vostochnaya literatura RAN, Moscow. (In Russian).
Darmesteter J. (1880), The Vendīdād, Sacred Books of the East, The Zend Avesta, Part I, At the Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Elizarenkova T. Ya. (2007), Atharvaveda (Shaunaka), Vol. 2: Books VIII–XII, Vostochnaya literatura RAN, Moscow. (In Russian).
Gershevitch I. (1967), The Avestan Hymn to Mithra, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hintze A. (2009), “Avestan Literature”, in R. E. Emmerick and M. Macuch (eds), The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran, Companion to A History of Persian Literature. A History of Persian Literature XVII, Vol. I, Tauris, London, pp. 1–71. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755610402.ch-001
Humbach H. (1991), The Gāthās of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts, Part I, In collab. with J. Elfenbein and P. O. Skærvø, Winter, Heidelberg.
Jamison S. and Brereton J. (2016), Commentary on RV, available at: https://rigvedacommentary.alc.ucla.edu (accessed 23 July 2021).
Kellens J. (2016), “Deux apologues sur le feu rituel”, in É. Pirart, Études de Linguistique Iranienne in Memoriam Xavier Tremblay, Acta Iranica, 57, Peeters, Leuven, Paris and Bristol, pp. 195–204. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1q26vmf.10
Kreyenbroek G. (1985), Sraoša in the Zoroastrian Tradition, E. J. Brill, Leiden.
Kulikov L. (2013), “An Atharvanic hymn to night: text-critical and linguistic remarks on the interpretation of Śaunakīya 19.50 = Paippalāda 14.9”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 76, No. 2, pp. 259–69. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X13000074
Malandra W. W. (2000), “Vendīdād. I. Survey of the History and Contents of the Text”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, New York 2000–2006, available at: https://iranicaonline.org/articles/vendidad (accessed 01 July 2021).
Monier-Williams M. (1951), A Sanskrit-English dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Panaino A. (2015), “El sueño de la razón produce monstruos. Lights and Shadows of Av. xvafna- ‘sleep/dream’ ”, in A. Cantera and J. Ferrer-Losilla (eds), at̰cit̰ bā nəmō haōmāi. Homenaje a Éric Pirart en su 65º aniversario, Estudios Iranios y Turanios, No. 2, Sociedad de estudios iranios y turanios (SEIT), Girona, pp. 163–90.
Pokorny J. (1959), Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bd. 1, A. Francke, Bern and München.
Rezania K. (2010), Die zoroastrische Zeitvorstellung: Eine Untersuchung über Zeit- und Ewigkeitskonzepte und die Frage des Zurvanismus, Göttinger Orientforschungen, Iranica, N.S. 7, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden.
Skjærvø P. O. (2007), “The Videvdad: its Ritual-Mythical Significance”, in V. S. Curtis and S. Stewart (ed.), The Age of the Parthians. The Idea of Iran, Vol. 2, I. B. Tauris, London and New York, pp. 105–41.
Steblin-Kamensky I. M. (1999), Etimologicheskiy slovar’ vakhanskogo yazyka, Peterburgskoye Vostokovedeniye, Sankt Petersburg. (In Russian).
Trofimov A. A. (2015), “K probleme rekonstruktsii i.e. *kwsep- ‘noch’ ”, in N. N. Kazansky (ed.), Indoevropeyskoe yazykoznanie i klassicheskaya filologiya – XIX (Chteniya pamyati I. M. Tronskogo), Materialy Mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii, prokhodivshey 22–24 iyunya 2015 g., Nauka, Saint Petersburg, pp. 899–909. (In Russian).