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Verethragna

January 01, 1970

Verethragna or Bahram (Avestan: 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬖𐬥𐬀‎ vərəθraγna) is an Indo-Iranian deity.[3][4]

Verethragna
Orlagno (Verethragna) on the coinage of Kanishka I, 2nd century CE.[1][2]

The neuter noun verethragna is related to Avestan verethra, 'obstacle' and verethragnan, 'victorious'.[5] Representing this concept is the divinity Verethragna, who is the hypostasis of "victory", and "as a giver of victory Verethragna plainly enjoyed the greatest popularity of old."[6] In Zoroastrian Middle Persian, Verethragna became 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭 Warahrām, from which Vahram, Vehram, Bahram, Behram and other variants derive.

The word has a cognate in Vedic Sanskrit. The Vedic god Indra may correspond to the Verethragna of the Zoroastrian Avesta; In Vedic Sanskrit vārtraghna- is predominantly an epithet of Indra, which corresponds to the Avestan noun verethragna-.

The name and, to some extent, the deity was borrowed into Armenian Վահագն Vahagn and Վռամ Vṙam, and has cognates in Buddhist Sogdian 𐫇𐫢𐫄𐫗‎ wšɣn w(i)šaɣn, Manichaen Parthian 𐭅𐭓𐭉𐭇𐭓𐭌 wryḥrm Wahrām, Kushan Bactrian ορλαγνο Orlagno.[7] While the figure of Verethragna is highly complex, parallels have also been drawn between, Puranic Vishnu, Manichaean Adamas, Chaldean / Babylonian Nergal, Egyptian Horus, Hellenic Ares and Heracles.

In scripture edit

In the Bahram Yasht edit

Yasht 14, the hymn of praise to Verethragna, "though ill-preserved, contains what seem very archaic elements".[6] There, Verethragna is described as "the most highly armed" (Yasht 14.1), the "best equipped with might" (14.13), with "effervescent glory" (14.3), has "conquering superiority" (14.64), and is in constant battle with men and daemons (14.4, 14.62).

Verethragna is not exclusively associated with military might and victory. So, for instance, he is connected with sexual potency and "confers virility" (Yasht 14.29), has the "ability to heal" (14.3) and "renders wonderful". The Yasht begins with an enumeration of the ten forms in which the divinity appears: As an impetuous wind (14.2-5); as an armed warrior (14.27) and as an adolescent of fifteen (14.17); and in the remaining seven forms as animals: a bull with horns of gold (14.7); a white horse with ears and a muzzle of gold (14.9); a camel in heat (14.11-13); a boar (14.15); a bird of prey (veregna, 14.19-21); a ram (14.23); and a wild goat (14.25). Many of these incarnations are also shared with other divinities, for instance, the youth, the bull and the horse are also attributed to Tishtrya. Likewise, the bird, the camel and the wind to Vayu-Vata, another member of the Zoroastrian pantheon associated with martial victory.

In other texts edit

Together with Čistā, Verethragna is a principal companion of Mithra (Mihr Yasht 10.70). Several sections of the Bahram Yasht also appear in hymns dedicated to other divinities, but it is rarely possible to determine in which direction those sections were copied.

The identification of Verethragna as a boar in Yasht 14 led Ilya Gershevitch to identify Dāmōiš Upamana – a boar in the Avestan hymn to Mithra – to be an alter-ego of Verethragna.[8][9][10]

In culture and tradition edit

 
Statue of Hercules in Behistun, dedicated in the name of "Herakles Kallinikos" (Ἡρακλῆν Καλλίνικον, "Hercules glorious in victory") by a Seleucid governor in 148 BCE.[11] Some have interpreted it as an Hellenistic-era depiction of Verethragna as Heracles.[12] Kermanshah, Iran.[12]

In the Zoroastrian hierarchy edit

In the Zoroastrian hierarchy of divinities, Bahram is a helper of Asha Vahishta (Avestan, middle Persian: Ardvahisht), the Amesha Spenta responsible for the luminaries. In the Zoroastrian calendar instituted during the late Achaemenid era (648–330 BCE), the twentieth day of the month is dedicated to Bahram (Siroza 1.20).

In the later middle Persian texts Bahram is especially venerated as one of the Amesha Spentas, effectively giving him the high rank for his success in driving back Angra Mainyu[13][14]

As the name of a planet edit

 
Syncretic Parthian relief carving of Bahram (Nergal) from Hatra in Iraq, dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD

In the astronomical and calendrical reforms of the Sasanian (224-651 CE), the planet Mars was named Bahram. Zaehner attributes this to the syncretic influences of the Chaldean astral-theological system, where Babylonian Nergal is both the god of war and the name of the red planet.[15] (see also: "Fatalistic" Zurvanism).

In the name of a class of fire edit

According to Boyce, the present-day expression Atash-Behram as the name of the most sacred class of fires is a confusion of the adjectival "Victorious Fire" with "Fire of Bahram"[16] The former is the way it appears in Middle Persian inscriptions such as the Kartir inscription at Kabah-i Zardusht, while the latter is what is now understood by the term Atash-Behram. Gnoli attributes the change to natural misunderstanding "abetted in Islamic times by a progressive decay in Zoroastrian priestly teaching"[17]

In art and iconography edit

 
Kushan ruler Kanishka I with god Orlagno (Verethragna).

The only evidence of a cult appears in the first century account of Strabo, who reports, probably on authority of Nearchus, that the Carmanians worshipped a divinity of victory (Geographika, 15.2.14). That this was Bahramb / Verethragna is unlikely if, as per Strabo, he was their "only god."[citation needed] However, the account does reveal that divinities of war were known to the people who were not of the Iranian plateau, evidence for which also comes from Herodotus (4.59-62).

Under the Seleucids (330–150 BCE) and Arsacids (250 BCE–226 CE), that is, in the Empires influenced by Hellenic culture, Verethragna was both identified as Ares and associated with Heracles, and given the Greek name Artagnes.[18] This syncretism is well attested in statuary and iconography, most notably in that of the inscription of Antiochus I Theos of Commagene, in which all three names occur together.

That Bahram was considered the patron divinity of travelers is perhaps reflected by the life-size rock sculpture of the divinity on the main highway at Behistun. There Bahram reclines with a goblet in his hand, a club at his feet, and a lion-skin beneath him.

In the early Sasanian period Bahram is still represented as the Greek Heracles. In the relief of Ardeshir I at Naqs-e Rajab III,[citation needed] Bahram appears as one of the two smaller figures between Ahura Mazda and the king. There, he has a lion's skin in his left hand and brandishes a club in his right. The other small figure – who appears to be paying homage to Bahram – is the future king Bahram I.

Bahram also appears as wings, or as a bird of prey, in the crowns of the Sasanian kings. This iconography first appears in the crown of Bahram II which also bears the name of the divinity. A similar image is adopted by Peroz (whose name also means 'victorious') as well as by Khosrau Parwez (again, Parwez meaning 'ever-victorious'). Similarly, boar and eagle heads on caps crown the heads of princes. Boar figures are widespread in Sasanian art, appearing in everything from textiles to stucco and in silver ornaments, coins, and seals. Other animal motifs have been found that recall the aspects of Bahram (see the ten forms of Bahram in the Avesta, above). The bird motif on Sasanian-era fire altars are also believed to represent Bahram.

As the name of kings edit

Bahram was the name of six Sasanian kings:

In Avestan scholarship edit

 
A boar in a frescoe at Bamiyan, symbol of the Mazdean god of victory Verethragna. 6th-7th century CE.[19]

The interpretation of the divinity was once one of the more widely debated fields in Zoroastrian scholarship since the theories of origin reflected a radical revolution in ethical, moral and religious values.[20]

Primarily because the Avestan adjective verethragnan ('victorious') had a corresponding Vedic term vrtrahan where it appeared "preponderantly [as] a qualification of Indra", Zoroastrians and Hindus accept that[21][page needed] in Indo-Iranian times there existed the warrior god Indra and that Avestan Verethragna might be analogous to that divine figure. The Sanskrit cognate of Verethragna is Vritraghna, which is an epithet for Indra in Vedic literature, and he too is the destroyer of "Vritra", an Asura whose name literally means obstacle.

But western scholars oppose this identification: In the Avesta, it is the hero warrior-priest Fereydun who battles the serpent Aži Dahāka (which, for the virtue of 'Azi' being cognate with Sanskrit 'Ahi', snake, is – by proponents of the theory - associated with Vedic Vritra[a]). One Western scholar claims that, in the Vedas, the epithet 'hero' (sura) is itself almost exclusively reserved for Indra, while in the Avesta it is applied to Thraetaona and other non-divine figures. The term "victorious" is not restricted to Verethragna, but is also a property of a number of other figures, both divine and mortal, including Thraetaona. Then, while in the Vedas it is Indra who discovers Soma, in the Avesta, it is humans who first press Haoma and Thraetaona is attributed with being the "inventor of medicine". In the Vedas, Indra strikes with vajra, but in the Avesta vazra is Mithra's weapon.

Attempts to resolve these objections led to the development of another theory, in which, in addition to the pre-historical divinity of victory, there was also a dragon-slaying hero Indra. Then, while the Iranians retained the figures independently of one another, the Indians conflated the two (leaving an echo in the character of Trita Aptya).

This theory too had its problems, in particular the fact that Indra was already evidently a divine figure, and not a man, in the Mittani treaties, where he appears in the company of Mitra and Varuna. That again raises more questions since the treaties echo the Rig Veda's invocation of all three as protectors of contract, again, not a property associated with Verethragna.[b]

However, as Benveniste and Renou demonstrated, many of the objections to the first theory could be negated if the evidence were reviewed in light of the fact that the principal feature of Verethragna was not to slay noxious creatures but to overcome obstacles (verethra), in particular to unblock the flow of apas, the waters, the holiest of the elements.[22]

Paul Thieme agreed with this principal feature, but clarified that while the wealth of archaic elements in the Bahram Yasht clearly point to the pre-Zoroastrian era, the interpretation of proper names is "highly conjectural", and "in no case do we get a decisive argument against their Indo-Aryan or old Indic character"[23][c] Adopting "the exact linguistic and exegetic analysis" of Benveniste and Renou, Thieme concludes "Proto-Aryan *Indra has assumed the functions of a Proto-Aryan god *Vrtraghna." Noting that Vrtrahan is the name of Indra only in the later Sanskrit texts (but not in the Rig Veda), Thieme adds "there is no valid justification for supposing that the Proto-Aryan adjective *vrtraghan was specifically connected with *Indra or any other particular god."[25]

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ It remains unclear why those two and not any other Azi, or for that matter, Vedic ahi budhnya, should be related.
  2. ^ Boyce draws attention to the fact that Indra is specifically named as a demon in both the Avesta (Vendidad 10.9) and also in later middle Persian texts (e.g. Bundahishn 21.6)[20] Boyce adds that it is preferable to see individual developments rather than elements inherited from a different past.[26]
  3. ^ Since "Vedic Indra must be distinguished from a presumable Proto-Aryan *Indra [of the Mittani treaties]"[23] "we may go so far as to say that the Avestan Vərəθraγna in his role as the fighting companion of Miθra is the equivalent of the Vedic Indra in his role as the helper of the Adityas. This does not necessarily mean that Vərəθraγna has taken the place of Proto-Aryan *Indra; it may just as well mean that Vedic Indra has replaced a Proto-Aryan Vərəθraγna." [24]

References edit

  1. ^ Fleming, Benjamin; Mann, Richard (26 March 2014). Material Culture and Asian Religions: Text, Image, Object. Routledge. p. 433. ISBN 978-1-135-01372-1.
  2. ^ Stewart, Sarah; Williams, Alan; Hintze, Almut (16 February 2016). The Zoroastrian Flame: Exploring Religion, History and Tradition. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-85772-815-9.
  3. ^ Kuehn, Sara (12 July 2011). The Dragon in Medieval East Christian and Islamic Art. BRILL. p. 103. ISBN 978-90-04-18663-7. With a foreword by Robert Hillenbrand
  4. ^ Fragner, Bert G. (30 September – 4 October 1991). "[no title cited]". Proceedings of the Second European Conference of Iranian Studies: Held in Bamberg, 30th September to 4th October 1991, by the Societas Iranologica Europaea. Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (published 1995).
  5. ^ Gnoli (1989), p. 510.
  6. ^ a b Boyce (1975), p. 63.
  7. ^ "Orlagno". British Museum (britishmuseum.org).
  8. ^ Gershevitch (1959), pp. 166–169.
  9. ^ Gnoli (1989), p. 511.
  10. ^ Boyce (1975), p. 83, note 416.
  11. ^ Visscher, Marijn S. (2020). Beyond Alexandria: Literature and Empire in the Seleucid World. Oxford University Press. p. 75, note 26. ISBN 978-0-19-005908-8.
  12. ^ a b Gnoli & Jamzadeh (1988), pp. 510–514.
  13. ^ de Menasce (1958), pp. 5–18.
  14. ^ Gnoli (1989), p. 513.
  15. ^ Zaehner (1955), p. 147 ff.
  16. ^ Boyce (1982), p. 222 ff.
  17. ^ Gnoli (1989), p. 512.
  18. ^ Duchesne-Guillemin (1973).
  19. ^ Rowland, Benjamin (1975). The art of Central Asia. New York, Crown. p. 89.
  20. ^ a b Boyce (1975), pp. 62–64.
  21. ^ Benveniste & Renou (1934).
  22. ^ Benveniste & Renou (1934), p. 182.
  23. ^ a b Thieme (1960), p. 302.
  24. ^ Thieme (1960), p. 312.
  25. ^ Thieme (1960), p. 312-313.
  26. ^ Boyce (1975), p. 283.

Bibliography edit

  • Benveniste, Émile & Renou, Louis (1934). Vrtra et Vrθragna. Paris, FR: Imprimerie Nationale.
  • Boyce, Mary (1975). History of Zoroastrianism. Vol. I, The early period. Leiden, NL: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10474-7.
  • Boyce, Mary (1982). History of Zoroastrianism. Vol. II, Under the Achamenians. Leiden, NL: Brill. ISBN 90-04-06506-7.
  • Duchesne-Guillemin, J. (1973). La religion de l'Iran ancien [Religion of ancient Iran] (in French). Bombay, IN: Tata Press.
  • Gershevitch, Ilya, ed. (1959). The Avestan Hymn to Mithra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 459329059.
  • Gnoli, Gherardo (1989). "Bahram in old and middle Iranian texts". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 3. New York, NY: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 510–513.
  • Gnoli, Gherardo; Jamzadeh, P. (1988). "Bahrām (Vərəθraγna)". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. III, Fasc. 5, pages 510–514.
  • de Menasce, Jean-Pierre (1958). Une encyclopédie mazdéenne: le Dēnkart. Quatre conférences données à l'Université de Paris sous les auspices de la fondation Ratanbai Katrak. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
  • Thieme, Paul (Oct–Dec 1960). "The 'Aryan' gods of the Mitanni treaties". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 80 (4): 301–317. doi:10.2307/595878. JSTOR 595878.
  • Zaehner, Richard Charles (1955). Zurvan, a Zoroastrian dilemma. Oxford, UK: Clarendon. ISBN 0-8196-0280-9.

Further reading edit

January 01, 1970
verethragna, bahram, avestan, 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬖𐬥𐬀, vərəθraγna, indo, iranian, deity, orlagno, coinage, kanishka, century, neuter, noun, verethragna, related, avestan, verethra, obstacle, verethragnan, victorious, representing, this, concept, divinity, hypostasis, victo. Verethragna or Bahram Avestan 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬖𐬥𐬀 vere8ragna is an Indo Iranian deity 3 4 VerethragnaOrlagno Verethragna on the coinage of Kanishka I 2nd century CE 1 2 The neuter noun verethragna is related to Avestan verethra obstacle and verethragnan victorious 5 Representing this concept is the divinity Verethragna who is the hypostasis of victory and as a giver of victory Verethragna plainly enjoyed the greatest popularity of old 6 In Zoroastrian Middle Persian Verethragna became 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭 Warahram from which Vahram Vehram Bahram Behram and other variants derive The word has a cognate in Vedic Sanskrit The Vedic god Indra may correspond to the Verethragna of the Zoroastrian Avesta In Vedic Sanskrit vartraghna is predominantly an epithet of Indra which corresponds to the Avestan noun verethragna The name and to some extent the deity was borrowed into Armenian Վահագն Vahagn and Վռամ Vṙam and has cognates in Buddhist Sogdian 𐫇𐫢𐫄𐫗 wsɣn w i saɣn Manichaen Parthian 𐭅𐭓𐭉𐭇𐭓𐭌 wryḥrm Wahram Kushan Bactrian orlagno Orlagno 7 While the figure of Verethragna is highly complex parallels have also been drawn between Puranic Vishnu Manichaean Adamas Chaldean Babylonian Nergal Egyptian Horus Hellenic Ares and Heracles Contents 1 In scripture 1 1 In the Bahram Yasht 1 2 In other texts 2 In culture and tradition 2 1 In the Zoroastrian hierarchy 2 2 As the name of a planet 2 3 In the name of a class of fire 2 4 In art and iconography 2 5 As the name of kings 3 In Avestan scholarship 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 Further readingIn scripture editIn the Bahram Yasht edit Yasht 14 the hymn of praise to Verethragna though ill preserved contains what seem very archaic elements 6 There Verethragna is described as the most highly armed Yasht 14 1 the best equipped with might 14 13 with effervescent glory 14 3 has conquering superiority 14 64 and is in constant battle with men and daemons 14 4 14 62 Verethragna is not exclusively associated with military might and victory So for instance he is connected with sexual potency and confers virility Yasht 14 29 has the ability to heal 14 3 and renders wonderful The Yasht begins with an enumeration of the ten forms in which the divinity appears As an impetuous wind 14 2 5 as an armed warrior 14 27 and as an adolescent of fifteen 14 17 and in the remaining seven forms as animals a bull with horns of gold 14 7 a white horse with ears and a muzzle of gold 14 9 a camel in heat 14 11 13 a boar 14 15 a bird of prey veregna 14 19 21 a ram 14 23 and a wild goat 14 25 Many of these incarnations are also shared with other divinities for instance the youth the bull and the horse are also attributed to Tishtrya Likewise the bird the camel and the wind to Vayu Vata another member of the Zoroastrian pantheon associated with martial victory In other texts edit Together with Cista Verethragna is a principal companion of Mithra Mihr Yasht 10 70 Several sections of the Bahram Yasht also appear in hymns dedicated to other divinities but it is rarely possible to determine in which direction those sections were copied The identification of Verethragna as a boar in Yasht 14 led Ilya Gershevitch to identify Damōis Upamana a boar in the Avestan hymn to Mithra to be an alter ego of Verethragna 8 9 10 In culture and tradition edit nbsp Statue of Hercules in Behistun dedicated in the name of Herakles Kallinikos Ἡraklῆn Kallinikon Hercules glorious in victory by a Seleucid governor in 148 BCE 11 Some have interpreted it as an Hellenistic era depiction of Verethragna as Heracles 12 Kermanshah Iran 12 In the Zoroastrian hierarchy edit In the Zoroastrian hierarchy of divinities Bahram is a helper of Asha Vahishta Avestan middle Persian Ardvahisht the Amesha Spenta responsible for the luminaries In the Zoroastrian calendar instituted during the late Achaemenid era 648 330 BCE the twentieth day of the month is dedicated to Bahram Siroza 1 20 In the later middle Persian texts Bahram is especially venerated as one of the Amesha Spentas effectively giving him the high rank for his success in driving back Angra Mainyu 13 14 As the name of a planet edit nbsp Syncretic Parthian relief carving of Bahram Nergal from Hatra in Iraq dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD In the astronomical and calendrical reforms of the Sasanian 224 651 CE the planet Mars was named Bahram Zaehner attributes this to the syncretic influences of the Chaldean astral theological system where Babylonian Nergal is both the god of war and the name of the red planet 15 see also Fatalistic Zurvanism In the name of a class of fire edit According to Boyce the present day expression Atash Behram as the name of the most sacred class of fires is a confusion of the adjectival Victorious Fire with Fire of Bahram 16 The former is the way it appears in Middle Persian inscriptions such as the Kartir inscription at Kabah i Zardusht while the latter is what is now understood by the term Atash Behram Gnoli attributes the change to natural misunderstanding abetted in Islamic times by a progressive decay in Zoroastrian priestly teaching 17 In art and iconography edit nbsp Kushan ruler Kanishka I with god Orlagno Verethragna The only evidence of a cult appears in the first century account of Strabo who reports probably on authority of Nearchus that the Carmanians worshipped a divinity of victory Geographika 15 2 14 That this was Bahramb Verethragna is unlikely if as per Strabo he was their only god citation needed However the account does reveal that divinities of war were known to the people who were not of the Iranian plateau evidence for which also comes from Herodotus 4 59 62 Under the Seleucids 330 150 BCE and Arsacids 250 BCE 226 CE that is in the Empires influenced by Hellenic culture Verethragna was both identified as Ares and associated with Heracles and given the Greek name Artagnes 18 This syncretism is well attested in statuary and iconography most notably in that of the inscription of Antiochus I Theos of Commagene in which all three names occur together That Bahram was considered the patron divinity of travelers is perhaps reflected by the life size rock sculpture of the divinity on the main highway at Behistun There Bahram reclines with a goblet in his hand a club at his feet and a lion skin beneath him In the early Sasanian period Bahram is still represented as the Greek Heracles In the relief of Ardeshir I at Naqs e Rajab III citation needed Bahram appears as one of the two smaller figures between Ahura Mazda and the king There he has a lion s skin in his left hand and brandishes a club in his right The other small figure who appears to be paying homage to Bahram is the future king Bahram I Bahram also appears as wings or as a bird of prey in the crowns of the Sasanian kings This iconography first appears in the crown of Bahram II which also bears the name of the divinity A similar image is adopted by Peroz whose name also means victorious as well as by Khosrau Parwez again Parwez meaning ever victorious Similarly boar and eagle heads on caps crown the heads of princes Boar figures are widespread in Sasanian art appearing in everything from textiles to stucco and in silver ornaments coins and seals Other animal motifs have been found that recall the aspects of Bahram see the ten forms of Bahram in the Avesta above The bird motif on Sasanian era fire altars are also believed to represent Bahram As the name of kings edit Bahram was the name of six Sasanian kings Bahram I r 271 274 Son and successor of Shapur I Bahram II r 274 293 Son and successor of Bahram I Bahram III r 293 Son and successor of Bahram II Bahram IV r 388 399 Son and successor of Shapur III Bahram V r 420 438 Son and successor of Yazdegerd I Bahram Chobin r 590 591 Successor of Hormizd IVIn Avestan scholarship edit nbsp A boar in a frescoe at Bamiyan symbol of the Mazdean god of victory Verethragna 6th 7th century CE 19 The interpretation of the divinity was once one of the more widely debated fields in Zoroastrian scholarship since the theories of origin reflected a radical revolution in ethical moral and religious values 20 Primarily because the Avestan adjective verethragnan victorious had a corresponding Vedic term vrtrahan where it appeared preponderantly as a qualification of Indra Zoroastrians and Hindus accept that 21 page needed in Indo Iranian times there existed the warrior god Indra and that Avestan Verethragna might be analogous to that divine figure The Sanskrit cognate of Verethragna is Vritraghna which is an epithet for Indra in Vedic literature and he too is the destroyer of Vritra an Asura whose name literally means obstacle But western scholars oppose this identification In the Avesta it is the hero warrior priest Fereydun who battles the serpent Azi Dahaka which for the virtue of Azi being cognate with Sanskrit Ahi snake is by proponents of the theory associated with Vedic Vritra a One Western scholar claims that in the Vedas the epithet hero sura is itself almost exclusively reserved for Indra while in the Avesta it is applied to Thraetaona and other non divine figures The term victorious is not restricted to Verethragna but is also a property of a number of other figures both divine and mortal including Thraetaona Then while in the Vedas it is Indra who discovers Soma in the Avesta it is humans who first press Haoma and Thraetaona is attributed with being the inventor of medicine In the Vedas Indra strikes with vajra but in the Avesta vazra is Mithra s weapon Attempts to resolve these objections led to the development of another theory in which in addition to the pre historical divinity of victory there was also a dragon slaying hero Indra Then while the Iranians retained the figures independently of one another the Indians conflated the two leaving an echo in the character of Trita Aptya This theory too had its problems in particular the fact that Indra was already evidently a divine figure and not a man in the Mittani treaties where he appears in the company of Mitra and Varuna That again raises more questions since the treaties echo the Rig Veda s invocation of all three as protectors of contract again not a property associated with Verethragna b However as Benveniste and Renou demonstrated many of the objections to the first theory could be negated if the evidence were reviewed in light of the fact that the principal feature of Verethragna was not to slay noxious creatures but to overcome obstacles verethra in particular to unblock the flow of apas the waters the holiest of the elements 22 Paul Thieme agreed with this principal feature but clarified that while the wealth of archaic elements in the Bahram Yasht clearly point to the pre Zoroastrian era the interpretation of proper names is highly conjectural and in no case do we get a decisive argument against their Indo Aryan or old Indic character 23 c Adopting the exact linguistic and exegetic analysis of Benveniste and Renou Thieme concludes Proto Aryan Indra has assumed the functions of a Proto Aryan god Vrtraghna Noting that Vrtrahan is the name of Indra only in the later Sanskrit texts but not in the Rig Veda Thieme adds there is no valid justification for supposing that the Proto Aryan adjective vrtraghan was specifically connected with Indra or any other particular god 25 See also editIndra VritraFootnotes edit It remains unclear why those two and not any other Azi or for that matter Vedic ahi budhnya should be related Boyce draws attention to the fact that Indra is specifically named as a demon in both the Avesta Vendidad 10 9 and also in later middle Persian texts e g Bundahishn 21 6 20 Boyce adds that it is preferable to see individual developments rather than elements inherited from a different past 26 Since Vedic Indra must be distinguished from a presumable Proto Aryan Indra of the Mittani treaties 23 we may go so far as to say that the Avestan Vere8ragna in his role as the fighting companion of Mi8ra is the equivalent of the Vedic Indra in his role as the helper of the Adityas This does not necessarily mean that Vere8ragna has taken the place of Proto Aryan Indra it may just as well mean that Vedic Indra has replaced a Proto Aryan Vere8ragna 24 References edit Fleming Benjamin Mann Richard 26 March 2014 Material Culture and Asian Religions Text Image Object Routledge p 433 ISBN 978 1 135 01372 1 Stewart Sarah Williams Alan Hintze Almut 16 February 2016 The Zoroastrian Flame Exploring Religion History and Tradition Bloomsbury Publishing p 184 ISBN 978 0 85772 815 9 Kuehn Sara 12 July 2011 The Dragon in Medieval East Christian and Islamic Art BRILL p 103 ISBN 978 90 04 18663 7 With a foreword by Robert Hillenbrand Fragner Bert G 30 September 4 October 1991 no title cited Proceedings of the Second European Conference of Iranian Studies Held in Bamberg 30th September to 4th October 1991 by the Societas Iranologica Europaea Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente published 1995 Gnoli 1989 p 510 a b Boyce 1975 p 63 Orlagno British Museum britishmuseum org Gershevitch 1959 pp 166 169 Gnoli 1989 p 511 Boyce 1975 p 83 note 416 Visscher Marijn S 2020 Beyond Alexandria Literature and Empire in the Seleucid World Oxford University Press p 75 note 26 ISBN 978 0 19 005908 8 a b Gnoli amp Jamzadeh 1988 pp 510 514 de Menasce 1958 pp 5 18 Gnoli 1989 p 513 Zaehner 1955 p 147 ff Boyce 1982 p 222 ff Gnoli 1989 p 512 Duchesne Guillemin 1973 Rowland Benjamin 1975 The art of Central Asia New York Crown p 89 a b Boyce 1975 pp 62 64 Benveniste amp Renou 1934 Benveniste amp Renou 1934 p 182 a b Thieme 1960 p 302 Thieme 1960 p 312 Thieme 1960 p 312 313 Boyce 1975 p 283 Bibliography editBenveniste Emile amp Renou Louis 1934 Vrtra et Vr8ragna Paris FR Imprimerie Nationale Boyce Mary 1975 History of Zoroastrianism Vol I The early period Leiden NL Brill ISBN 90 04 10474 7 Boyce Mary 1982 History of Zoroastrianism Vol II Under the Achamenians Leiden NL Brill ISBN 90 04 06506 7 Duchesne Guillemin J 1973 La religion de l Iran ancien Religion of ancient Iran in French Bombay IN Tata Press Gershevitch Ilya ed 1959 The Avestan Hymn to Mithra Cambridge Cambridge University Press OCLC 459329059 Gnoli Gherardo 1989 Bahram in old and middle Iranian texts Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol 3 New York NY Routledge amp Kegan Paul pp 510 513 Gnoli Gherardo Jamzadeh P 1988 Bahram Vere8ragna Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol III Fasc 5 pages 510 514 de Menasce Jean Pierre 1958 Une encyclopedie mazdeenne le Denkart Quatre conferences donnees a l Universite de Paris sous les auspices de la fondation Ratanbai Katrak Paris Presses Universitaires de France Thieme Paul Oct Dec 1960 The Aryan gods of the Mitanni treaties Journal of the American Oriental Society 80 4 301 317 doi 10 2307 595878 JSTOR 595878 Zaehner Richard Charles 1955 Zurvan a Zoroastrian dilemma Oxford UK Clarendon ISBN 0 8196 0280 9 Further reading editDumezil G 1970 The destiny of the warrior Chicago IL University of Chicago Press ISBN 0 226 16970 7 Lommel Herman 1939 Der arische Kriegsgott Frankfurt am Main DE Klostermann Puhvel Jaan 1989 Comparative Mythology Baltimore MD Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 0 8018 3938 6 West E W 1880 Marvels of Zoroastrianism The Bahman Yasht In Muller F M ed Sacred Books of the East Vol 5 Oxford UK Oxford U Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Verethragna amp oldid 1219362248, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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