The Gathas (Gāθās) are the most sacred of the texts of the Zoroastrian faith, and are traditionally believed to have been composed by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself. Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathushtra, Zartosht). ... now. ...

Structure and organization

The Gathas are in verse, metrical in the nature of ancient Indo-Iranian religious poetry, which is extremely terse, and in which grammatical constructs are an exception. Map of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture (red), its expansion into the Andronovo culture during the 2nd millennium BC, showing the overlap with the BMAC in the south. ...

The 17 hymns of the Gathas consist of 238 verses, of about 1300 lines or 6000 words in total. They were later incorporated into the 72-chapter Yasna (chapter: ha or had, from the Avestan ha'iti, 'cut'), which in turn is the primary liturgical collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. The 17 hymns are identified by their chapter numbers in the Yasna, and are divided into five major sections: Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the hymns of the Zoroastrian holy book, the Avesta. ... See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ...

With the exception of Ahunavaiti Gatha, which is named after the Ahuna Vairya prayer (Yasna 27, not in the Gathas), the names of the Gathas reflect the first word(s) of the first hymn within them. Ahuna Vairya is the Avestan language name of the most sacred of the Gathic hymns of the Avesta, the revered texts of Zoroastrianism. ...

The sequential order of the Gathas is structurally interrupted by the Yasna Haptanghāiti ("seven-chapter Yasna", chapters 35-42), which is almost as old as the Gathas.

The language of the Gathas

The language of the Gathas, Gathic or Old Avestan, belongs to the old Indo-Iranian language group which is a sub-group of Eastern families of the Indo-European languages. Much of what is understood of Gathic Avestan, both in vocabulary and grammar, is only due to Gathic Avestan's close affinity to Vedic Sanskrit. Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the hymns of the Zoroastrian holy book, the Avesta. ... The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, which are the earliest sacred texts of India,. The Vedas were first passed down orally and therefore have no known date. ...

It must be noted that the Gathas are in an otherwise unknown language. The dependency on Vedic Sanskrit is a significant weakness in the interpretation of the Gathas, as the two languages, though from a common origin, had developed independently. Sassanid era translations and commentaries (the Zend) have been used to interpret the Gathas, but by the 3rd century the Avestan language was virtually extinct, and a dependency of the medieval texts is often discouraged as the commentaries are frequently conjectural. While some scholars argue that an interpretation using younger texts is inadvisable (Geldner, Humbach), others argue that such a view is excessively skeptical (Spiegel, Darmesteter). The risks of mis-interpretation are real, but lacking alternates, such dependencies are perforce necessary. The Sassanid Empire in the time of Shapur I; the conquest of Cappadocia was temporary Official language Pahlavi (Middle Persian) Dominant Religion Zoroastrianism Capital Ctesiphon Sovereigns Shahanshah of the Iran (Eranshahr) First Ruler Ardashir I Last Ruler Yazdegerd III Establishment 224 AD Dissolution 651 AD Part of the History of... Friedrich (von) Spiegel (July 11, 1820, Kitzingen - December 15, 1905, München) was a German orientalist. ...

There are three monumental translations of the Gathas worth noting: The earlier James Darmesteter version ('Zend-Avesta III, SBE 31, 1887) which is based on a translation "from below", that is, based on the later middle Persian commentaries and translations. The other two are Helmut Humbach's The Gathas of Zarathushtra (Heidelberg, 1959, repr. 1991), and Stanley Isler's The Gathas of Zarathustra (Acta Iranica IV, Leiden, 1975), both of which exploit the "Vedic" approach. James Darmesteter (March 28, 1849 - October 10, 1894), French author and antiquarian, was born of Jewish parents at Chateau Salins, in Alsace. ... The Sacred Books of the East is a monumental, 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious writings, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. ...

The content of the Gathas

Some of the verses of the Gathas are directly addressed to the Omniscient Creator Ahura Mazda. These verses, devotional in character, expound on the divine essences of truth, the good-mind, and the spirit of righteousness. Some other verses are addressed to the public that may have come to hear the Prophet, and in these he exhorts his audience to live a life as Ahura Mazda has directed, and pleads to Ahura Mazda to intervene on their behalf. Ahura Mazda is the Avestan language name for an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian religion that was subsequently declared by Zarathustra (Zoroaster) to be the one uncreated creator of all (God). ...

Other verses, from which some aspects of Zoroaster's life have been inferred, are semi-(auto)biographical, but all revolve around Zarathustra's mission to promote his view of the Truth. For instance, some of the passages describe Zarathustra's first attempts to promote the teachings of Ahura Mazda, and the subsequent rejection by his kinsmen. This and other rejection led him to have doubts about his message, and in the Gathas he asked for assurance from Ahura Mazda, and requests repudiation of his opponents.

The various hymns appear to have been composed at different periods in his life, and read chronologically, a certain earnestness and conviction in his message are apparent. While in earlier verses, Zarathustra occasionally expresses his doubts on his own suitability of the mission, he never wavers in his conviction that the message is correct. A tone of contentment and belief in his vindication is apparent only in the last few hymns, and to the last, where he officiates at the wedding of his youngest daughter, he remains the persevering predicant.

Aspects of Zoroastrian philosophy are distributed over the entire collection of Gathas. There is no systematic arrangement of the doctrine of Zarathustra in the texts.

Further reading

• Translations of the Yasna at avesta.org
• Article on The Gathas at the The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies
• Gathas entry in the Encyclopedia Iranica
• Gathas Translation by Ali Akbar Jafarey, Ph.D.

You can review a modern version of the Gathas by a Zoroastrian Friend Sarah at http://asha.page.tl/ Encyclopædia Iranica is a project of Columbia Universitys Center for Iranian Studies to create a comprehensive and authoritiative English language encyclopedia about the history and culture of Iran and Persia. ...