Sraosha
Encyclopedia
Sraosha is the Avestan language
Avestan language
Avestan is an East Iranian language known only from its use as the language of Zoroastrian scripture, i.e. the Avesta, from which it derives its name...

 name of the Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...

 divinity of "Obedience" or "Observance", which is also the literal meaning of her name.

In the Middle Persian
Middle Persian
Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a...

 commentaries of the 9th-12th centuries, the divinity appears as S(a)rosh. This form appears in many variants in New Persian as well, for example Perso-Arabic , Sorūsh. Unlike many of the other Yazata
Yazata
Yazata is the Avestan language word for a Zoroastrian concept. The word has a wide range of meanings but generally signifies a divinity...

s (concepts that are "worthy of adoration"), Sraosha has the Vedic
Historical Vedic religion
The religion of the Vedic period is a historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites...

 equivalent to Saraswati
Saraswati
In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....

.

Sraosha is also frequently referred to as the "Voice of Conscience", which overlaps with both "Obedience" and as her role as the "Teacher of Daena
Daena
Daena is a Zoroastrian concept representing insight and revelation, hence "conscience" or "religion." Alternately, Daena is considered to be a divinity, counted among the yazatas.-Nomenclature:...

", Daena being the hypostasis
Hypostasis
Hypostasis may refer to:* Hypostatic abstraction * Hypostasis , personification of entities* Hypostatic gene* Hypostasis , an Australian-based not-for-profit organization...

 of both "Conscience" and "Religion".

In Zoroaster's revelation

Sraosha is already attested in the Gathas
Gathas
The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zarathusthra himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrian faith.-Structure and organization:...

, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and believed to have been composed by Zoroaster
Zoroaster
Zoroaster , also known as Zarathustra , was a prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism who was either born in North Western or Eastern Iran. He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism...

 himself. In these earliest texts, Sraosha is routinely associated with the Amesha Spenta
Amesha Spenta
' is an Avestan language term for a class of divine entities in Zoroastrianism, and literally means "Bounteous Immortal" The noun is amesha "immortal", and spenta "furthering, strengthening, bounteous, holy" is an adjective of it...

s, the six "Bounteous Immortals" through which Ahura Mazda realized ("created by His thought") creation.

In the Gathas, Sraosha's primary function is to propagate the religion of Ahura Mazda to humanity, as Sraosha herself learned it from Ahura Mazda. This is only obliquely alluded to in these old verses but is only properly developed in later texts (Yasna
Yasna
Yasna is the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta as well as the name of the principal Zoroastrian act of worship at which those verses are recited. The Yasna, or Izeshne, is primarily the name of the ceremony in which the entire book is recited and appropriate...

 57.24, Yasht
Yasht
The s are a collection of twenty-one hymns in Younger Avestan. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. Yasht chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as Yt....

 11.14 etc.). Directly evident in the Gathas is the description as the strongest, the sturdiest, the most active, the swiftest, and the most awe-inspiring of youths (Yasna 51.13), and as the figure that the poor look to for support (51.10).

In the ethical goals of Zoroastrianism ("good thoughts, good words, good deeds") as expressed in Yasna 33.14, Sraosha is identified with good deeds. This changes in Zoroastrian tradition (Denkard
Denkard
The Dēnkard or Dēnkart is a 10th century compendium of the Mazdaen Zoroastrian beliefs and customs. The Denkard is to a great extent an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" and is a most valuable source of information on the religion...

 3.13-14), where Sraosha is identified with good words. In Yasna 33.5, the poet speaks of Sraosha as the greatest of all (decision makers) at the final renovation of the world.

In 50.4-5, the poet sees the path of Sraosha (an allusion to the Chinvat bridge
Chinvat bridge
The Chinvat Bridge in Zoroastrianism is the bridge which separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. All souls must cross the bridge upon death....

) as
In 43.46, Zoroaster is reminded to hurry with the propagation of Mazda's message before the prophet's death (before he encounters Sraosha and Ashi
Ashi
Rav Ashi was a celebrated Jewish religious scholar, a Babylonian amora, who reestablished the academy at Sura and was first editor of the Babylonian Talmud...

). In 44.16, Sraosha and Vohu Manah
Vohu Manah
Vohu Manah is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose" or "Good Mind", referring to the good moral state of mind that enables an individual to accomplish his duties...

 ("Obedience" and "Good Thought") are said to be brought to all humankind.

In the younger Avesta

Sraosha has two yashts dedicated to her. One of these is Yasna 56-57, which is part of the primary Zoroastrian act of adoration. Yasna 56-57 is a "hidden" yasht in that those verses describe a devotee's relationship with Sraosha but do not directly address her. The other hymn to the divinity is Yasht 11, which is a direct invocation of Sraosha and bears her name in the title. Yasht 11 - like the other direct Yashts also - is not part of the liturgy of the Avesta
Avesta
The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.-Early transmission:The texts of the Avesta — which are all in the Avestan language — were composed over the course of several hundred years. The most important portion, the Gathas,...

 proper. Yasht 11 has survived in a fragment of the Hadhokht Nask, which is today part of the Khordeh Avesta
Khordeh Avesta
Khordeh Avesta may refer to either:* a formal category of certain short Avestan language texts. For a list of nineteen texts included in this category, see Khordeh Avesta texts....

, the "little Avesta."

In Yasna 56-57, Sraosha is variously described as mighty, the incarnate word of reason, whose body is the holy spell (57.1). She "possesses Truth" (ashavan
Ashavan
Avestan ashavan is a Zoroastrian theological term. It literally means "possessing aša", hence "possessing truth" or "possessing righteousness", but has further implications:...

em
) and is "stately" (57.2, 57.5, 57.7, 57.9, 57.11, 57.15 etc.). She is said to have been the first in all of creation to adore Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas. (57.2 and 57.6). She recited five holy verses in order to favor the great sextet (57.8), and the Ahuna Vairya
Ahuna Vairya
Ahuna Vairya is the Avestan language name of the most sacred of the Gathic hymns of the Avesta, the revered texts of Zoroastrianism....

 invocation and other sacred formulae are her weapons (57.22). She returned victorious from her battles with evil (57.12), which allowed the various aspects of creation to populate the world (57.23). Sraosha wanders about the world teaching the religion of Mazda (57.24). Sraosha is frequently described as the "lord of ritual" (57.2, 57.5, 57.7, 57.9, 57.11 etc.) and she propitiates haoma
Haoma
Haoma is the Avestan language name of a plant and its divinity, both of which play a role in Zoroastrian doctrine and in later Persian culture and mythology. The Middle Persian form of the name is hōm, which continues to be the name in Modern Persian and other living Iranian languages.Sacred haoma...

 with sacrifice (57.19).

In Yasht 11, mankind lives under Sraosha's constant guardianship (11.7). She is not interrupted by sleep in her constant vigil (11.14) in which she wields her weapons against the druj (11.0). Sraosha teaches the word of Ahura Mazda to mankind (11.14). The poor look to her for support (11.3) and she is welcome in all homes that she protects (11.20).

In yet other texts Sraosha is again protector of ritual, but here the celebrant priest receives the epithet Sraoshavarez (Yasht 24.15; Vendidad 5.25, 7.17 et al.). In Vendidad 18.22, Sraosha is called for help against the demon-serpent Azi Dahaka who threatens to extinguish the hearth fire (cf. Atar
Atar
Atar is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" ....

).

Sraosha is the chief adversary of Aeshma
Aeshma
Aeshma is the Younger Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's demon of "wrath." As a hypostatic entity, Aeshma is variously interpreted as "wrath," "rage," and "fury." His standard epithet is "of the bloody mace."...

, the daeva
Daeva
Daeva in Avestan language meaning "a being of shining light", is a term for a particular sort of supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. Equivalents in Iranian languages include Pashto dêw , Baluchi dêw , Persian dīv , Kurdish dêw...

 of wrath, for Aeshma distracts from proper worship, distorting "the intention and meaning of sacrifice through brutality against cattle and violence in war and drunkenness." While Aeshma's standard epithet is xrvi.dru- "of the bloody mace," Sraosha's standard epithet is darshi.dru- "of the strong (Ahuric
Ahura
Ahura is an Avestan language designation for a particular class of Zoroastrian divinities.-Etymology:Avestan ahura derives from Indo-Iranian *asura, also attested in an Indian context as RigVedic asura...

) mace." Sraosha will overthrow Aeshma at the renovation of the world (Yasht 19.95).

In Zoroastrian tradition

In Zoroastrian tradition, Sraosha is one of the three guardians of the Chinvat bridge
Chinvat bridge
The Chinvat Bridge in Zoroastrianism is the bridge which separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. All souls must cross the bridge upon death....

, the "bridge of judgement" that all souls of the dead must cross. Although Sraosha is only one of the three divinities that pass judgement (the other two being Rashnu
Rashnu
Rashnu is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian yazata of justice. Together with Mithra and Sraosha, Rashnu is one of the three judges who pass judgment on the souls of people after death...

 and Mithra
Mithra
Mithra is the Zoroastrian divinity of covenant and oath. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth, and the guardian of cattle, the harvest and of The Waters....

), Sraosha alone accompanies the soul on their journey across the bridge.

As also the other two guardians of the bridge, Sraosha is closely identified with Ashi
Ashi
Rav Ashi was a celebrated Jewish religious scholar, a Babylonian amora, who reestablished the academy at Sura and was first editor of the Babylonian Talmud...

, "Recompense". In Yasht 17.15 and 17.17, Sraosha is called Ashi's "brother." One of Sraosha's stock epithets is ashya, which may either mean "companion of recompense" or simply "companion of Ashi".

In the day-name dedications of the Zoroastrian calendar
Zoroastrian calendar
This article treats of the reckoning of days, months and years in the calendar used by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith. Zoroastrian religious festivals are discussed elsewhere, but have a fixed relationship to Nawruz, the New Year festival, whose timing is discussed below...

, the seventeenth day of the month is dedicated to Sraosha.
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