Asha Vahishta- Persian AngelAngel"Best Truth"
Also known as: Ardibehesht and Arta Vahishta
Description
Of the seven Amesha Spentas, Asha Vahishta guards sacred fire, the element that cannot lie. His name means "Best Truth." The Persians, Herodotus wrote, considered lying the most disgraceful of all acts and raised their children above all to speak honestly.
Mythology & Lore
The Hymns of Zoroaster
In the Gathas, Zoroaster speaks "according to Asha" and frames every question he puts to Ahura Mazda in terms of the righteous order of the cosmos. Yasna 43 and 44 are built around this: how does truth govern the world? Those who follow it are Ashavan. Those who follow falsehood are Dregvant. There is no middle ground. Asha Vahishta, "Best Truth," is this principle given divine form, the Amesha Spenta who protects it.
The opposition is total. Asha against Druj, truth against the Lie. Every moral choice aligns a person with one or the other. The reward for truth is light and the company of Ahura Mazda. Herodotus saw the teaching's mark on Persian culture centuries later: the Persians, he wrote, raised their children above all to tell the truth and considered lying the most disgraceful act a person could commit.
The Sacred Fire
Among the seven creations the Amesha Spentas guard, Asha Vahishta's charge is fire. The sacred fires in Zoroastrian temples burn under his protection, and the Vendidad prescribes elaborate rules for their care and purity. To tend the fire is devotion to truth itself.
The Bundahishn pairs Asha Vahishta against the daeva Indra, who promotes apostasy and the rejection of truth. At the Frashokereti, when the world is made new, Asha will triumph over Druj completely. The fires will no longer need tending. Truth will govern on its own.
Relationships
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