Concept
Asha
Overview
Asha () or arta (; Avestan: 𐬀𐬴𐬀 Aṣ̌a / Arta) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right' (or 'righteousness'), 'order' and 'right working'. It is of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, aṣ̌a/arta represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism". The opposite of aṣ̌a is druj (Avestan: 𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬘, lit. 'deceit, falsehood').
Its Old Persian equivalent is arta-.[c] In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ard-.[a]
The word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius" of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta, this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta (Aṣ̌a Vahišta, Arta Vahišta), "Best Truth".[b] The Middle Persian descendant is Ashawahist or Ardwahisht; New Persian Ardibehesht or Ordibehesht. In the Gathas—the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism, thought to have been composed by Zoroaster—it is seldom possible to distinguish between moral principle and the divinity. Later texts consistently use the 'Best' epithet when speaking of the Amesha Spenta; only once in the Gathas is 'best' an adjective of aṣ̌a/arta. The Ashem Vohu, which is one of the most important prayers Zoroastrianism is dedicated to Asha.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
These, which threaten dangers and violence, men endeavor to appease and conciliate by sacred rites. The fourth and the fifth order of gods they assign to things and passions; to passions, Love, Venus, and Desire; the deities that preside over things, Hope, Justice, and Eunomia. The sixth order of deities are the ones made by the poets; Hesiod, willing to find out a father for those gods that acknowledge an original…
Plutarch, Complete Works of Plutarch — Volume 3
States what Asha is; the author is tied to Asha in the knowledge graph.
And yet even among the gods different functions are assigned to different personages; thus one is called the god of war, another the god of oracles, another the god of gain, and Aphrodite, as she has nothing to do with warlike affairs, is despatched by Zeus to marriages and bridals.
Plutarch, Plutarch's Morals
States what Asha is; the author is tied to Asha in the knowledge graph.
asha, for the young are dark-coloured and the adults white, the young having retained a former state of plumage. It appears therefore that, during a long line of descent, the adult progenitors of the Ardea asha, the Buphus, and of some allies, have undergone the following changes of colour: first, a dark shade; secondly, pure white; and thirdly, owing to another change of fashion (if I may so express myself), their…
Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
Names Asha several times; opens on Asha.
Related ideas
- Greek language
- Hebrew language
- Heraclitus
- Iran
- Indo-European languages
- Amesha Spenta
- Satya
- Denkard
- Latin
- Indo-Iranians
- Morpheme
- Doctrine
- Iranian peoples
- Moralia
- Greek mythology
- Plutarch
- Aletheia
- Theology
- Logos
- Iranian languages
- Zoroastrianism
- Zoroaster
- Proto-Indo-European language
- Gathas
Place in the tradition
Part of Dualism in cosmology.