Gavaevodata- Persian PrimordialPrimordial"The First Animal"

The First Creation

Ahura Mazda fashioned Gavaevodata, the "Uniquely-Created Bull," as the first animal. The Bundahishn describes it as white and luminous, standing on the right bank of the river Veh Daiti while Gayomard, the first man, stood on the left. No disease or death existed yet. The bull and the first man lived in a perfection that Angra Mainyu would soon shatter.

Death into Life

When Angra Mainyu broke through the sky and attacked creation, one of his first acts was the slaying of the primordial bull. But from Gavaevodata's body arose all species of beneficial animals. From its marrow grew fifty-five species of grain and twelve species of medicinal plants. Its seed, carried to the moon for purification and returned to earth, generated the varieties of animal life that populate the world. Angra Mainyu killed one creature and made a thousand.

Yasna 29, among the oldest Gathic hymns, gives voice to Geush Urvan, the soul of cattle, crying out for a protector against violence and cruelty. The soul appeals to the divine beings. Ahura Mazda answers by appointing Zoroaster himself as guardian, and Vohu Manah, the Amesha Spenta of cattle, receives the complaint.