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Parsis and Mantras
S some of the writer's Parsi friends have desired that we should A also deal with Parsi's belief in Mantras, we would very briefly do so as limitations on space at our disposal would not permit us to treat of the same in details. “Zarathushtra recognized the worship of only one Supreme Being, the Great Lord alone, the one without a second. He also declared the six Attributtes of the Lord to be worthy of our adoration, and in places spoke of Them as Divinities, the Holy Immortals. * * * Atar (Fire), being the living symbol of Zarathushtra's Faith, was also given a place in the Gathās. Besides the six Holy Immortals and Ātar. there are two other Beings mentioned in GathāsSraosha and Ashi--who are also to be taken in much the same way as the Amesha-Spentas." P. 91, 'The Religion of Zarathushtra' by Dr. I. J. S. Taraporewala. *
THE AMESH-SPENTAS OR HOLY IMMORTALS
The Amesh-Spentas are six; sometimes Ahura Himself is mentioned together with them and then they are 'spoken of as the seven Holy Immortals. We describe them below particularly..
1. Asha-Vahishta (the highest or the best Asha). Very early He represented fire, the symbol of the Zoroastrian Religion. In the Pahlavi language His name is Ardibesht. He is the Lord of Fire. Originally Asha-Vabishta meant the highest Truth or Righteousness or the Spiritual or Divine Law or the Law of God.
2. Vohu-Manõ is later Bahman. In later times Bahman occupies the first place among the Holy Immortals, while Ardibesht takes second. Literally Vohu-Mano means Good Mind implying loving kindness and good will towards all beings, including the animal creation. “Quite logically, therefore, many Parsis have held that early
* The writer acknowledges his great indebtedness to the said valuable work of Dr. Taraporewala in writing the present section.
