Abstract
This article attempts to show the eschatological horizon of the Avestan prayer ashem vohu. Its placement in the Yasna at the threshold of the Old Avestan corpus and the virtues ascribed to it in other Avestan texts reveal its high stature in Zoroastrianism. The sense of the prayer remains obscure in its current translations. The problem is in part due to the fact that the text is syntactically defective. One must assume that the significance attributed to it in Avestan tradition is a reflection of what it says, its actual meaning. This is the guiding principle of its interpretation in this article. I critically consider the translations and interpretations of the prayer to date. Some of these are problematic even on the linguistic level. But the problem of sense remains even in those that are formally impeccable. The reason for this is that the translation reproduces the tautology that the original contains, instead of unfolding it. An attempt at unfolding the tautology can be seen in the Young Avestan exegesis of the prayer. Once the tautology is unfolded, the sense of the text becomes evident: those who support asa (the primordial order of creation) will have their wish for a blissful afterlife in asa (the divine sphere) fulfilled.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 101 - 116 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Indo-Iranian Journal |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
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Ahmadi, A. (2015). Some remarks regarding the asem vohu. Indo-Iranian Journal, 58(2), 101 - 116. https://doi.org/10.1163/15728536-05800050
Ahmadi, Amir. / Some remarks regarding the asem vohu. In: Indo-Iranian Journal. 2015 ; Vol. 58, No. 2. pp. 101 - 116.
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title = "Some remarks regarding the asem vohu",
abstract = "This article attempts to show the eschatological horizon of the Avestan prayer ashem vohu. Its placement in the Yasna at the threshold of the Old Avestan corpus and the virtues ascribed to it in other Avestan texts reveal its high stature in Zoroastrianism. The sense of the prayer remains obscure in its current translations. The problem is in part due to the fact that the text is syntactically defective. One must assume that the significance attributed to it in Avestan tradition is a reflection of what it says, its actual meaning. This is the guiding principle of its interpretation in this article. I critically consider the translations and interpretations of the prayer to date. Some of these are problematic even on the linguistic level. But the problem of sense remains even in those that are formally impeccable. The reason for this is that the translation reproduces the tautology that the original contains, instead of unfolding it. An attempt at unfolding the tautology can be seen in the Young Avestan exegesis of the prayer. Once the tautology is unfolded, the sense of the text becomes evident: those who support asa (the primordial order of creation) will have their wish for a blissful afterlife in asa (the divine sphere) fulfilled.",
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Ahmadi, A 2015, 'Some remarks regarding the asem vohu', Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 101 - 116. https://doi.org/10.1163/15728536-05800050
Some remarks regarding the asem vohu. / Ahmadi, Amir.
In: Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2015, p. 101 - 116.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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AB - This article attempts to show the eschatological horizon of the Avestan prayer ashem vohu. Its placement in the Yasna at the threshold of the Old Avestan corpus and the virtues ascribed to it in other Avestan texts reveal its high stature in Zoroastrianism. The sense of the prayer remains obscure in its current translations. The problem is in part due to the fact that the text is syntactically defective. One must assume that the significance attributed to it in Avestan tradition is a reflection of what it says, its actual meaning. This is the guiding principle of its interpretation in this article. I critically consider the translations and interpretations of the prayer to date. Some of these are problematic even on the linguistic level. But the problem of sense remains even in those that are formally impeccable. The reason for this is that the translation reproduces the tautology that the original contains, instead of unfolding it. An attempt at unfolding the tautology can be seen in the Young Avestan exegesis of the prayer. Once the tautology is unfolded, the sense of the text becomes evident: those who support asa (the primordial order of creation) will have their wish for a blissful afterlife in asa (the divine sphere) fulfilled.
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Ahmadi A. Some remarks regarding the asem vohu. Indo-Iranian Journal. 2015;58(2):101 - 116. doi: 10.1163/15728536-05800050
