The Scriptures

the texts that carry it — language, era, and use Part of Stories & Scripture →

The Gathas. Seventeen hymns in a language older than the rest of the Avesta, generally accepted as the prophet's own words. They are personal, argumentative and extremely obscure — he asks Ahura Mazda direct questions, complains that he has no cattle and few men, and demands to know who set the stars in their courses. No two translations agree. Language Old Avestan, close to Vedic Sanskrit and older than the rest of the Avesta by centuriesComposed Composed by Zarathustra himself, on the standard view Open the book — context & 1 source →

The Avesta. What survived of the great canon — with the Gathas, Zarathustra's own hymns, at its heart. Language AvestanComposed Gathas c. 1200 BCE; compiled under the Sasanians Open the book — context →

The Khordeh Avesta. The Little Avesta — the prayer book people actually own. It has the five daily prayers, the kusti formulas, the litanies for each yazata and the blessings for ordinary occasions, printed with the Avestan alongside a Gujarati or Persian gloss. Most Zoroastrians know these prayers by sound long before they know what they mean. Language Avestan, with Pazand and Gujarati or Persian glossesComposed Compiled in the Sasanian period and after Open the book — context →

The Vendidad. The law against the demons: corpse pollution, the treatment of dogs, menstruation, penances, and the Yima story. It survives complete when almost nothing else does, because priests needed it. It is also the text reformists most want to historicise and traditionalists most insist on, and that argument is the shape of modern Zoroastrian debate. ⚖ contested within Language Avestan, in twenty-two chaptersComposed Late Avestan, redacted under the Parthians and Sasanians Open the book — context →

The Denkard. A ninth-century encyclopedia in Middle Persian, nine books of which survive, containing theology, law, summaries of Avestan books that no longer exist, and reasoned polemic against Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Manichaeism. It was compiled by a community already under Muslim rule and losing ground, trying to write down everything while it still could. held by most Language Middle PersianComposed Ninth to tenth century, under Islamic rule Open the book — context →

The Bundahishn. The Primal Creation. Twelve thousand years divided into four ages, the assault of the Evil Spirit on a perfect world, the long period of mixture we are living in, and the renovation at the end. The Gathas contain no creation account; this is where the cosmology everyone associates with the religion is actually written down. held by most Language Middle PersianComposed Ninth century, from much older material Open the book — context →