Saoshyant
Saoshyant (
Etymology
The Avestan word Saoshyant derives from an active participle (indicated by the -ant-) of the future stem of the verbal root sū-/sau-, which itself comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱewh₁- 'to swell'. The Avestan sūra- 'strong' and yawaēsū- 'ever-thriving' derive from this root. Over time, the verbal root acquired the extended meanings 'to be of use, profit, advantage' and 'to create profit, use, advantage, to further'. It is in this extended sense that the word Saoshyant was understood by Zoroastrians. In stanzas 128 and 129 of Yasht 13, the following explanation of the word's etymology is given: "we worship the frawaṣ̌i of righteous Astwat̰-әrәta, who will be the Victorious Saošyant by name ... (he is called) saošyant because he will further (sāwayāt̰) all material life".[1]
In scripture
In the
Saoshyant first appears as a proper name in the Younger Avesta,[5] explicitly so in Yasht 13.129 where it is used in the singular and where Astvat-ereta develops into an alternate name of the Saoshyant. The singular also appears in Yasna 59.1 where Verethragna is said to be Saoshyant's weapon in overcoming resistance. A plural form appears for instance in Yasht 17.1 where Ashi—the divinity of "recompense"—is described to give the Saoshyants the power of "making wonderful" (frasho.kereti). The term may also be rendered as "Renovation" and can be translated etymologically as "juicy-making".
The role of the Saoshyant, or Astvat-ereta, as a future saviour of the world is briefly described in Yasht 19.88-96, where it is stated that he will achieve the Frashokereti, that he will make the world perfect and immortal, and evil and
In tradition
Already alluded to in scripture (e.g. Yasht 19.88-96, see above), but only properly developed in the 9th–12th century texts, is the role of the Saoshyant during the final renovation. In these Middle Persian texts, the name is contracted to Soshans or similar (Sōshans in living Zoroastrianism).
Those medieval works of Zoroastrian tradition envision three future saviours, each of them a Soshans/Saoshyant, with one for the end of each thousand-year period that comprise the last 3,000 years of the world (these three millennia follow the "millennium of Zoroaster"). According to the tradition (found e.g. in the Jamasp Namag), the first Saoshyant will be named (H)Ushedar, the second (H)Ushedarmah and the third will again be the Saoshyant, who will lead humanity in the final battle against evil. The medieval works also transmit a tradition in which the three future saviours are mythologised as born of maidens, conceived while their mothers bathed in a lake that miraculously preserved the seed of the prophet Zoroaster himself.
The story of the Saoshyant's conception and early life are described in Denkard 7.10.15ff as follows: Thirty years before the decisive final battle, a maiden named Eredat-fedhri ("Victorious Helper") and whose nickname is "Body-maker" will enter a lake (in Yasht 19.92, this is "Lake Kansava"). Sitting in the water, the girl, who has "not associated with men" will receive "victorious knowledge." Her son, when born, will not know nourishment from his mother, his body will be sun-like, and the "royal glory" of the Khvarenah will be with him. Then, for the next 57 years he will subsist on only vegetables (17 years), then only water (30 years) and then for the final 10 years only on "spiritual food."
The events of the final renovation are described in the Bundahishn (30.1ff): In the final battle with evil, the yazatas Airyaman and Atar will "melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and it will be upon the earth like a river" (Bundahishn 34.18) but the righteous (i.e., the ashavan) will not be harmed. Eventually, Ahura Mazda will triumph, and his agent Saoshyant will resurrect the dead, whose bodies will be restored to eternal perfection, and whose souls will be cleansed and reunited with God. Time will then end, and asha and immortality will thereafter be everlasting.
In the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í tradition considers the prophecies of the Saoshyant (Bahá'i 'Soshyosh') to have been fulfilled in the person of
See also
References
- Citations
- ^ Malandra 2013
- ^ Boyce 1975, p. 234.
- ^ Boyce 1975, p. 282.
- ^ Dhalla 1938, p. 165.
- ^ Dhalla 1938, p. 108.
- ^ Kazemi 2013, p. 104.
- ^ a b Khianra & Stiles 2000, p. 368.
- Bibliography
- ISBN 90-04-04319-5.
- Dhalla, Maneckji Nusservanji (1938), History of Zoroastrianism, New York: OUP.
- Kazemi, Farshid (2013), "Celestial Fire: Bahá'u'lláh as the Messianic Theophany of the Divine Fire in Zoroastrianism", Irfan Colloquia, 14: 45–123.
- Khianra, Dipchand; Stiles, Susan Manek (2000), "Zoroastrianism", in Smith, Peter (ed.), A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith, London: Oneworld Publications, pp. 368–369, ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Malandra, William (2013). "Saošyant". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 17 April 2024.