Friday 13 April 2012

Vedic influence in Persia

The pre-Zorastrian Persia revolved around the worship of Mithra. He appears as the God of peace in the Vedic religion and as the God of faithfulness in Avestic. Mithra in the Vedic tradition is one of the Adhityas a Solar deity. See list below.
  1. Varuna
  2. Mithra
  3. Aryaman
  4. Bhaga
  5. Anśa or Aśa
  6. Dhāt or Daka
  7. Indra

Mithra is often worshiped in the company of Varuna in the Vedic tradition and in the Avestic Mitra-Ahura Mazdha.
In the Vedic tradition the Solar deity Aryaman is the chief of the Manes. The word Aryaman can be split into the following two words “Aha” and “yama”.  Aha  means time & Yama means controller. The Ahriman of the Persians refer to Aryaman. Death in Persia is associated with the victory of Ahriman over a living being. Ahriman’s victory over Ahura-Mazda also indicated the passage of time through the 4 ages. Hence, Ahriman can be seen as the controller of time. 

References:
Wikipedia

Vedic Elements in the Ancient Iranian Religion of Zarathushtra by Subhash Kak

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