Afterlife in Zoroastrianism Prods Oktor Skjærvø 2013
1. The Iranians
Zoroastrianism or Mazdaism (Mazdayasnianism, Mazdeanism)
is the religion of speakers of mostly Iranian languages and is
currently practiced mainly in Iran, India, and the diaspora,
notably in the US and UK. Its adherents are called Zoroastrians
or Mazdayasnians (Mazdeans).1
The oldest part of the Avesta, the “Old Avesta," containing the
Gathas and other texts, was contemporary with the Oldest
Indie texts, the Vedas.
The later part, the “Young Avesta," contains texts probably
from the first half of the 1stM BCE, when several of the tribes
had migrated into the area of modern Afghanistan and the
Iranian plateau.
Among the Young Avestan texts are:
-- the Yasna, which accompanied the morning ritual;
-- the Videvdad, which contains rules
concerning pollution and how to avoid it;
-- the yashts, hymns to individual deities,
recited at their festivals and name days;
-- numerous short texts recited during daily rituals; and
-- a few short texts recited at funeral rituals.2
The Avestan texts were transmitted orally and not written down
until (probably) the early 7th CE and onward, although the
earliest manuscripts known are only from the 13th & 14th C’s.
The earliest contemporary written testimonies are the
Old Persian inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings (550-330 BCE),
who were settled in the province of Parsa in SW Iran (modern
Fars).3 After the fall of the Achaemenids to Alexander, there are
no major sources until the Sasanian period (224-651 CE).4
From the rest of the Sasanian period, however, and
well after the Arab conquest, the textual tradition remained
oral until the 9th CE and later.5,6
This article focuses on a the Avesta, b the Achaemenid
inscriptions, c the Middle Persian inscriptions, and d the Pahlavi
books.
This article is printed in “Predrag Bukovec and Barbara Kolkmann-
Klamt, eds., Jenseitsvorstellungen im Orient, Religionen im Vorder-
en Orient (RVO), Hamburg: Kovač, 2013, pp. 311-349.”
1
It is known from the Avesta, a collection of texts, the origins of
which reach back into the 2ndM BCE, when the Iranians were settled
still in Central Asia.
2 when he would be undone permanently.
the Hadokht nask and the Aogemadaecha
3
Darius (522-486 BCE) and his son Xerxes (486-465 BCE) left
numerous inscriptions in their palaces at Persepolis and Susa and a
few elsewhere. Later kings were mostly content to leave inscriptions
detailing their genealogies.
4
In the 3rdCE, several kings, as well as the high priest Kerdir (fl. 240-
290 CE), left substantial inscriptions in Middle Persian and Parthian,
some also in Greek, with important information about beliefs and
practices, notably about afterlife.
5
These are the so-called “Pahlavi books,” a large corpus of oral
traditions in Sasanian Middle Persian, which was redacted and
written down from the 9th CE on.
6 10
Already at this time, modern Persian was the spoken language,
which was also used in the Zoroastrian communities to write down
the traditions, and, in the Indie diaspora, a large new literature in
Persian developed, as well as in the local Indie language, Gujarati.
2. Cosmology and Anthropology
The Avestan texts contain no systematic presentations of the
ancient Iranian beliefs regarding
-- the nature of the world,
-- and man’s place in it. 7
From the earliest evidence, we see that, presumably
by observing nature, the Iranians thought of
-- the world as a series of cyclical events, i.e.,
-- the rotating heavens with all the heavenly bodies:
-- were likened to a race course
-- or the movement of the shuttle in a loom;
-- which were thought to end
-- when they had gone through their “Last Turning”
-- i.e., when the last race had been run,
-- and when the cosmic fabric had been finished.
From this, they also regarded time as twofold:
-- a time without beginning and end from, which
-- a limited time was cut-out for the duration of
the created world.
The daily alternation of light & darkness,
-- and rotating seasons, and other recurring events,
-- notably the female monthly cycles,
were in turn connected to the heavens,
gave birth to the idea of
-- a cyclical battle associated with light & darkness
-- btw health & life and sickness & death. Thus they
came to view the world as a dual entity containing the
-- Principles of both Good & Evil,
which were separate from Eternity,
-- but in current time were mingled & in competition.
According to the Avestan and Pahlavi texts:
there came a point in time when
-- the evil principle, Av. Angra Manyu,8
--,9
desired the world of the Good Principle and prepared
to attack.
Lord of the Good Principle, Av. Ahura Mazda,
“the All-knowing Lord," Pahl. Ohrmazd,10
decided to let him attack rather than incapacit-
ating the Adversary temporarily,
but before then, he would
create the temporal world as a trap and prison, from which the
Adversary would not be able to escape,
-- instead would have to stay & fight until the end,
By a primordial yasna ritual, “sacrifice” (Pahl. yazishn), Ahura
Mazda/Ohrmazd then thought forth (not spoke!) in the “world
of thought” [WoT] the cosmic Order asha, and sired11 the
7
For this, we have to wait for the Pahlavi literature. To reconstruct
the earliest beliefs about the origin and end of the world, we
therefore usually take the Pahlavi texts as basis and interpret the
older, fragmentary, evidence in their light, keeping in mind that
beliefs develop and change.
8
the Dark/Evil (Destructive) Spirit, Pahl. Ahrimen or “the Foul Spirit”
9
Ehrimen
Hürmüz
11
sire: 1. A biological father. 2.a. The male parent of an animal, especi-
ally a domesticated mammal. 2.b. The plant or gamete responsible
for fertilizing an ovule that develops into a seed. 3. Arch A male
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
various elements of the sacrifice,
the life-giving immortals:
Av. Good Thought (Pahl. Wahuman, Wahman),
Best Order (Ashwahisht, Ardwahisht),
Well-deserved Command (Shahrewar),
Life-giving Humility (Spandarmad),
Wholeness (Hordad), and
Un-dyingness (Amurdad),
as well as all the other elements of the ordered cosmos which
in turn, would serve as the prototypes, or blueprints, for the
“world of the living”[WoL].
Yasna ritual in this world repeats ‘Primordial One’
to produce the cyclical re-birth of the cosmos.
At the end of the world, at the Renovation, to make Ohrmazd’s
cosmos permanent, the Final Body, 2 yasnas will be performed:
-- one in This World, and -- one in The
Other.
Among the deities supporting Ahura Mazda (Ohrmazd) are
Sraosha (Pahl. Srosh), who fights Wrath at night, keeping the
creatures safe;
Rashnu (Pahl. Rashn), the god of
rightness and straightness;
Mithra (Pahl. Mihr), oversees human elationships;
Verthragna,1 god of Victory;
Fire, son of Ahura Mazda’s/Ohrmazd
Among the demons supporting the Evil Spirit were:
Wrath, the embodiment of the night sky
and Sraosha’s/Srosh's special adversary, and
the Bone-untier 2 and the demon Drag-off,3 both associated
with death.
The dead, whether going to paradise or to hell, would have to
traverse the space intermediate btw earth & heaven, which
surrounds the earth on all sides, Av. Wayu.4 In Pahlavi, he is
referred to as the Good Way or the Evil Way, depending on
where the soul was thought to be going.
According to the Pahlavi texts, the creation took place in
3 steps, each lasting 3000 yrs;
making of the World of Thought, [WoT] the other world
making of the World of the Living [WoL] in the WoT
(like an embryo in the womb to be born),
and make realize the WoL,5 i.e., this world.
When the WoL was born, it was also set in motion, which
allowed the Adversary to attack, which caused evil to be
mingled with goodness, producing the state of Mixture. This
started the battle, that’ll last for another 6000 yrs.
ancestor; a forefather. 4. Arch A gentleman of rank. 5. Arch Used as
a form of address for a superior, especially a king.
tr.v. sired, siring, sires: 1. To be the biological father of (a child).
2. To be the male individual or gamete producing (an animal's
offspring or a plant's seed) through sexual reproduction: the boar
that sired the litter; pollen grains siring seeds.
1 8
Pahl. Warahran, Wahram
2 9
Av. Astowidatu, Pahl. Astwihad
3
Av. Wizarsha, Pahl. Wizarsh, Wizisht
4
https://iranicaonline.org/articles/vayu
5 10
as a newborn living being in the world of the living,
which is the world of humans
p. 2
According to the Pahlavi texts, the 2 first living beings were:
1- Gayomard 6 life with death 7
2- the Cow (later Bull) “placed alone,”
both spherical beings.
Gayomard & Cow killed when the Adversary attacked, but their
semen sank into the earth, and from it mankind and animals
were born.
The two first humans were (Pahl.) Mashi & Mashiyani, “mortal
man & woman," who grew up from the earth inseminated by
Gayomard and from whom humanity is descended.
In the Mixture, humans fight evil by doing good:
thinking good thoughts, speaking good speech,
doing good deeds.
-- For 3000 years 8 life is all about balancing these
against evil thoughts, speech,
deeds.
-- A main concern of humans is therefore to keep:
a positive balance btw their good & evil thoughts,
etc., which will determine their fate after death.
-- Man, being surrounded by evil, must fight a constant
battle with things that tempt and pollute to stay pure,
so
-- contributing to Ahura Mazda’s/Ohrmazd’s cyclical
victory over the Adversary , until the end of time,
when his victory will be permanent;
-- so: A Battle fought both
-- on the daily level, and
-- on the ritual level.
1-Everything that is in accordance with and supporting Ahura
Mazda's/ Ohrmazd’s cosmic Order, is an ertawan, sustainer of
Order, Orderly.9
2-Everything that has been deceived by the forces of Evil,
embodied in the (female) principle of cosmic deception or
chaos , the Lie,10 is possessed by her.
According to the Pahlavi texts:
During the first 2 M of the 3, several great heroes and
villains fight for supremacy in the world, but, at the end
of the 2nd M:
Zarathustra 11 is born, and at the turn of the 3rd M, at
the age of 30, is brought to an interview with Ohrmazd
(Ahura Mazda); He sacrifices to Ohrmazd, starting the
cycle of sacrifices in this world, and thereby, initiates the
countdown to the end-of-time and the permanent re-
establishment of Ohrmazd’s cosmos.
A more archaic version of this narrative is found in the Gathas:
After the return to chaos after Ahura Mazda's first
Ordered cosmos (initiating the world cycle), living
creatures complain to Ahura Mazda that they have no
protector in the current existence, and Ahura Mazda
sends Zarathusta down to the living, for him and his
6
Av. Gaya Martan
7
being the offspring of Ohrmazd and Spandarmad, the Earth.
include the present time at which we live
Av. ashawan, Old Pers. ertawan, Pahl. ahlaw and arda. The Pahlavi
terms (ahlaw and ahlayfh) are also often translated, loosely, as
“righteous” and “righteousness.”
Av. druj, Pahl. druz
11
Av. Zarathushtra, Pahl. Zardusht, Zardukhsht; Zerdüşt
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
successors to replicate Ahura Mazda’s sacrifice in this
world in an in-terminable cycle leading up to the end of
time.
According to the Young Avesta: By his sacrifices and recital
of the Gathas, Zarathustra fought the evil old gods1 and
forced them underground, and banished the Dark Spirit from
the earth.
At the beginning of each of these 2 M, a son of Zarathustra will
be born, each of whom, by his sacrifice, will bring the world
closer to its conclusion. Their Avestan names were
Ukhshyad-erta, 2 “he who makes Order grow” and Ukhshyad-
nemah, “he who makes reverence grow.”3
It is with the birth of the 3rd however, at the end of the last
millennium, that the goal is reached: Astwad-erta
“he through whom Order receives bones”.4
All activity in the cosmos, by its cyclic nature,
-- presages the end result, the final turn in the cosmic and
ritual races, when
-- the dead will be resurrected and the cosmos will be
reborn for the very last time in the Final Body,
-- when all of humanity will be saved and spend eternity
with the gods in the new world.
As mankind is altogether Ahura Mazda’s/Ohrmazd’s creation,
they are fundamentally good, but can be corrupted.
Maintaining the family and producing offspring was important,
because it produced soldiers for the big battle.
To create as firm as possible-a-bond with the final Renovation,
families were encouraged to marry close relatives, after the
prototypes of
-- Ahura Mazda and Life-giving Humility
(Ohrmazd and Spandarmad): father & daughter;
-- Spandarmad and Gaydmard: mother & son; and
-- Mash! and Mashiyani: brother & sister.
This kind of marriage,5 was said to be one of the best deeds a
Mazdayasnian could perform. To what extent or whether it was
the practice in the general population is not known.
Evil was inherent in decay and death and any part of dead
things, so also included parts discarded from living bodies, such
as nails and hair, which must therefore be disposed of carefully.
Blood from menstruation was thought to be particularly
polluting, and women had to be sequestered during their
period and take particular care not to pollute those around
them. Pollution was therefore an ever-present threat, and great
care had to be taken to avoid it or, if polluted, to purify oneself
in order to minimize one’s account of sins and reduce ones
chances of going to hell.
Avestan man possesses several kinds of “souls.” In the Avesta,
there is
1
daewas, Pahl. dew “demon”
2
The Pahlavi forms of the names are Ushidar and Ushidarmah, which
have been changed, probably by popular connection with ush “dawn.”
3
alluding to the earth and/or the sun
4
that is, becomes a permanent living entity. These 3 were the saosh-
yants, the “re- vitalizers,” that is, those “who shall make the world
alive,” and Astwad-erta was the re vita lizer par excellence and, in
Pahlavi, was simply called (the) Soshans.
5 Kerdir, Islam in the case of Arda Wiraz.
Av. khwaethwadatha, Pahl. khwedddah
p. 3
the “(breath-)soul (urwan, “soul” for short), which leaves
the body at death and wanders into the beyond;
the “vision-soul" (daena, Pahl. den), which represents the
totality of man’s thoughts, speech, and deeds and
accompanies the soul in the beyond; and
the “pre-soul” (frawashi) which pre-exists the person in
the other world, but comes into this world to help
produce the fetus and, at death, returns to the other
world.
In the Pahlavi texts, the gyan is the soul that leaves the body at
death, while the ruwan is the soul that travels into the beyond.
Other basic constituents of living beings include the conscious-
ness and the bones, which are wrenched apart at death.
The daena, Pahl. den (of the Mazdayasnians) also refers to the
knowledge imparted to Zarathustra by Ahura Mazda. In the
Pahlavi texts, the term den therefore refers to the entire sacred
tradition, transmitted orally for millennia. The translation of the
term as “religion” therefore does not capture its real
implication.
3. Afterlife: Basic Elements
In a Pahlavi text of maxims ascribed to Zarathustra, among a
number of things a person should know when coming of age at
fifteen, are the following: “that the soul will be annihilated, the
body will be dispersed and there will be an accounting at the
dawn of the third night; there will be a passing of the Chinwad
bridge; Soshans will come and perform the resurrection; and
the Final Body will come about” (PN. 16). These are the salient
stages of afterlife in the beliefs of Zoroastrianism, which, like
other religious systems, knows of two separate judgments: a
judgment of individual after death and one of all of resurrected
mankind at the end of (limited) time.
What happens after death is variously described in the
Zoroastrian sources, but most share the following events, not
necessarily in this order. The soul remains near the dead body
for three days and nights, then, at “dawn of the third night”
(Pahl. sidosh), it starts its journey into the other world.
Here, it is met by deities and demons, as well as by a woman
who represents the person’s good or evil thoughts, words, and
deeds in life and whose appearance is accordingly.
The soul arrives at a bridge, where it is judged,
-- and the bridge widens to let the righteous across,
-- but narrows to a sharp edge for the wicked, who fall into hell.
--The righteous proceed upward to paradise,
where they are regaled with tasty foods,
-- while the wicked are forced to eat putrid foods in hell, where
they will be punished until the end of time.
This narrative is presented in two ways: either as a theological
description or as a vision seen by living persons. The latter
include the narrative in Kerdir’s inscriptions and the story of
Arda Wiraz, the Arda Wiraz-namag, which is rightly compared,
for both contents and manner of description, with Dante's
Divina Commedia. In both of these narratives, the journey is
undertaken in order to prove the correctness of the religious
beliefs in times when there was heavy competition from other
beliefs, notably Manicheism and Christianity in the case of
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
When the end of time is near, various events will take place,
leading up to the re-surrection of the bodies. The re-surrected
will have to pass through a river of molten metal, causing all
remaining sins to be burnt away, and will then all live forever in
paradise.
Theological descriptions and discussions of afterlife and “the
end of time” are found in several Pahlavi texts, the most
detailed among them are:
Manushchihr’s Dadestan i denig (DD.)
“Judgments according to the den" and
Zadspram’s Wizidaglha i Zadspram (WZ.) “Select issues by
Zadspram”; 1
the anonymous Bundahishn (Bd.) “the creation from the
beginning,”
(Dadestan i) Menoy khrad (MX.)
“(judgments by) the divine wisdom,” and
the Pahlavi rivayat “accompanying the Dadestan i denlg" (PR.),
a miscellany.
4. Death and the Journey
into the Beyond in the Avesta
Whether the often cryptic Gathas contain references to the two
judgments is unclear, but not unlikely. In the Gathas, the souls
and daenas of the sacrifices undertake a journey into the
beyond and up to Ahura Mazda and his entourage to present
their gifts to him and are judged for their performance. The
journey takes the form of a chariot race against the souls and
daenas of the rival sacrifices, Since both life and the ritual
competition are thought of in terms of a race, it is not always
clear which of the two “races” are being alluded to. The winners
will be guests in Ahura Mazda’s abode, the House of Song (garo
dmana), the losers in the House of the Lie. They will all pass the
Ford of the Accountant (chinwato pertu), where, presumably,
their merits and demerits are recorded (not stated explicitly in
the Gathas). Here the rivals will howl in fear and then, for their
poor performances, will travel through Wayu, dragged down
“by the chain of death” (Yasna 53.8). If the Iranians already
thought about afterlife and an end of time, it is quite probable
that the descriptions may refer to these, as well as to the ritual
chariot race.
The Young Avesta, on the contrary, contains quite explicit
descriptions of what happens to the souls of the dead and what
happens at the end of time. The fate of the Orderly, “the
righteous,” is described briefly in Yasna 71.16, where Ahura
Mazda is addressing Zarathustra:
„As you wish, o Orderly one, you shall be Orderly (asha-
wan) here.
You shall stretch your soul across the Ford of the
Accountant.
You shall come to the Best Existence, singing the Ushtawaiti
Gatha."
These sentiments are reflected in the Achaemenid period in an
inscription by Xerxes, the only reference to death and afterlife
1
With “Judgements” are the writings of 2 sibling priests, sons
of Juwan-jam
p. 4
in these inscriptions (XPh 4656):
„You who hereafter shall think:
'Let me be happy while alive and
Orderly (one with Order) when dead!'
behave according to the law
that Ahuramazda set down!
You shall sacrifice to Ahuramazda (Av.:)
according to the Order in height.
The man who behaves according to the law that
Ahuramazda set down and sacrifices to
Ahuramazda according to the Order in height
will become both happy while alive and Orderly
when dead.”
The same sentiment is again reflected in the Sasanian period in
Kerdir’s inscriptions (see below).
There are several texts in which events related to death are
described. The most archaic one is found in chapter nineteen of
the Videvdad (19.28-32), where Ahura Mazda explains to
Zarathustra what happens after death.
..After a man has departed, after a
man has passed away, then the wicked
demons giving evil gifts tear at the
departed.
As it becomes light after the third night
and the brilliant dawn shines far and wide,
ascending the mountains reaching into the sphere of Order,
where one can breathe freely,
the sun comes up preceded by well-armed Mithra.
The demon Drag-off then leads the soul bound,
that of short-lived humans and that of wicked demon-
worshipers.
It comes along paths set in place in/by Time
both for the wicked and for the righteous,
to the Ford of the Accountant set in place by Ahura Mazda.
There they ask back the consciousness and soul,
the share of living beings given to them in their bony
existence.”
Then, a beautiful, resplendent, garlanded woman appears,
accompanied by a dog (dogs?). She drags the evil souls of the
wicked down into the darkness, but leads the souls of the
righteous up over high Mount Hara (Hara berzaitl) and stretches
it across the Ford of the Accountant, which is the place of
transit of the gods in the other world. The soul is led before
Good Thought, who gets up from his golden throne and asks it
how the journey went, after which they go on into the presence
of Ahura Mazda and his companyons, to be seated on golden
thrones in the House of Song.
Further details are provided in the so-called Hadokht nask
(uncertain meaning), which covers the fates of the righteous
and the wicked in mirror images.
For three nights after death, the souls remain near the
headrest of the departed, where they experience as much
happiness/unhappiness as they experienced in life. The
righteous recite the first section of the second Gatha (the
Ushtawaiti Gatha, “song of the wishes”), to ensure that, “at the
last turn of their life,” Ahura Mazda will stretch their souls
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
across the Ford of the accountant away from the “worst
existence,” while the wicked recite the fourth and last sect on,
“to what ground shall I bend?,” understood as “to what land
shall I go?”
Then, at the dawn of the third night, the soul of a righteous
person passes through sweet-smelling blooming meadows,
where it is met by perfumed southerly winds. In that wind, their
daena appears in the shape of a female whose appearance
matches its good thoughts, etc., in life (HN. 2.9):
„in the form of a young woman, beautiful,
like a lady, with white arms,
strong, well-shaped, well-turned,
tall, with high breasts, with a sinuous body,
high-born, of wealthy stock, fifteen-year-old in looks,
and more beautiful than the most beautiful living beings.”
The soul of the righteous asks her who she is and tells her it has
seen no one
more beautiful then her. She answers (HN. 2.11-14):
„l am, O youth, your good thought, good
speech, good deeds, your good daena, your
very own daena.
Whoever loved you so much, so well, so beautifully,
with fragrance, victory, opposition to evil, as you seem to
me,
you loved me so much, so well, so beautifully,
with fragrance, victory, opposition to evil, as I seem to you.
When you saw another making burnt offerings,
offering incense, and spreading out plants,
then you sat down performing the Gathas,
sacrificing to the good waters, caring for the Fire of Ahura
Mazda,
and seeking to please the Orderly man coming from near or
from afar.
Then you made me even more loved than I
already was, even more beautiful than I
already was, even more praiseworthy than I
already was.
Already sitting on a high seat you seated me
on an even higher seat, by this well-thought
thought of yours, by this well-spoken speech
of yours, by this well-done deed of yours.
By your example, men will sacri^ce for me
with long-lasting sacrifices to Ahura Mazda
and consult with me (about what good deeds
to do?).”
The soul of the righteous then takes four steps through the
heavenly levels of good thoughts, speech, and deeds and up to
the eternal lights. The soul is asked about its journey, but Ahura
Mazda tells them to leave it alone, since it has just passed
through the bloody, fearsome, tortuous, path where bones and
consciousness are wrenched apart. Then food is brought: spring
butter for the righteous.
The experience of the souls of the wicked is the opposite of
this. At the dawn of the third night, the souls pass through foul-
smelling frozen fields and are met by stinking northerly winds.
In that wind, their daenas appear in the shape of a female
whose appearance match their evil thoughts, etc., in life. The
Avestan text is here omitted in the manuscripts and can only be
p. 5
recovered from the Pahlavi version, where she is described as
most repulsive-looking, scrawny, with protruding knees and
sunken behind, and foul-smelling, like the most filthy of evil
beasts. Asked who she is, she answers that she is the wicked
thoughts, speech, and deeds of the soul who performed the will
of Ahrimen and the devils instead of worshiping Ohrmazd and
the gods and caring for the fire; who locked the door when
guests came and treated them in niggardly fashion; and who
made her worse when she was already very bad. By this
example, men will sacrifice to the Foul Spirit and consult her
(for evil things to do?).
The souls then take four steps through the levels of evil
thoughts, speech, and deecs and down to the eternal darkness.
There they are asked about their journey, but the Evil Spirit
(Angra Manyu) orders that they be left alone, since they have
just passed through the bloody, fearsome, tortuous, path where
bones and consciousness are wrenched apart. Then foul poison
is brought to them as food.
Zarathustra asks Ahura Mazda again where the souls of the
dead, their presouls, will be, and is told they will be with the
“Life-Giving Spirit” and with “the Best Thought."
In the Aogemadaecha, the demon Bone-untier, whom nobody
can escape, is said to bind people (i.e., their souls) and lead
them through Wayu, whom nobody can avoid (Aog. 57-58;
Videvdad 5.8-9).
5. Kerdir’s Inscriptions
It is in two long inscriptions (inscribed on rock faces) of the
third-century high priest Kerdir, “mowbed of Ohrmazd,” that we
for the first time meet with the form of the narrative of the
soul’s fate after death that will evolve in various ways and
finally be written down by the ninth-century priests. The two
identical inscriptions in which this narrative is found are
fragmentary, but enough details are preserved to see that the
narrative v/as already basically the same as later.1
The certainty obtained by Kerdir from his visionary experience
is summed up in a short inscription, which also includes the
conclusion of the two longer ones (Kerdir at Naqsh-e Rajab near
Persepolis):
“I Kerdir have lived in truthfulness in the realm and have
served the gods well and obtained their favor.
And I prayed to the gods; ‘If you gods once made me,
Kerdir, outstanding in this life, then do show me, too, in
afterlife, the nature of heaven and hell! And show me,
too, how it will be in afterlife with respect to these
services as they are performed in the land, so that I may
be more confident about them!’
And as I had prayed to the gods and had indicated, so
they did show me heaven and hell and the nature of
good and evil of these services.
But, then, since the gods did show me in this manner
how it is in afterlife, I also served the gods even better
and obtained greater favor from them, and I was even
more generous and truthful for the sake of my own soul.
And I became much more confident about these
1
SKJ>ERV0 [2011b],
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
sacrifices and other services that are performed in the
land. And whoever sees and reads this inscription, let him
be generous and truthful with respect to the gods and
the rulers and his own soul, and let him be confident
about these sacrifices and other services and the
Mazdayasn an den that are performed in the land.
And let him not be agnostic about what is on the farther
side, but let him know well that heaven and hell exist.
And he who is good, will go to heaven, but he who is evil,
will be thrown down to hell. And he who is good and
behaves well, fame and prosperity will befall this bony
body of his, and Orderliness will come to that bony soul
of his, like it did me, Kerdir.”
The two (identical) longer inscriptions of Kerdir contain the
narrative of the trip into the beyond (Kerdir at Naqsh-e Rostam
and at Sar-e Mashhad). It is not Kerdir himself who travels, but
a look-alike accompanied by at least two narrators (his
charioteers?), who give a running description of what they see
happen. The terminology of the narrative is, unfortunately, not
very explicit, and the characters they meet on their journey are
not identified by name, but simply referred to as “princes
shining with the color of dawn,” each one more excellent than
the preceding ones.
One prince awaits them as soon as they enter the other world.
Then, the look- alike appears and the young woman, who
comes from the east = “sunrise” on a very bright path; she
greets the look-alike, who accompanies them as they travel on.
Next, another prince appears with a balance before him, who,
in the Pahlavi texts is identified as Rashn. Passing him, they
come to yet another prince, who holds a ladle in the hand. This
ladle then becomes “like a bottomless pit, full of serpents,
scorpions, lizards, and other evil animals,” which is then said to
be the structure of hell. The god with the ladle is not mentioned
in the Pahlavi texts, but should probably be identified with
Srosh, the greatest fighter of evil and Ohrmazd’s fire-tending
priest, the priest who, typically, wields a lacle to place firewood
on the fire.
The narrators become very distressed at the sight of the pit, but
are told not to be afraid, but just go on telling what they see.
Now a wooden beam (dar) appears over the well like a bridge,
and, as the travelers approach it, it becomes greater in width
than in length. Then, yet another prince appears from the other
side, who crosses the bridge and leads the travelers across,
Kerdir’s likeness going between the prince and the young
woman. Once they have crossed, they keep walking toward the
sunrise. Next, something appears in the sky, perhaps a ladder as
in the Pahlavi texts, along which they mount and come to
several palaces, presumably including those of the moon and
the sun, to a last one, where the woman and Kerdlr's likeness
go and sit in the heavenly window of Warahran, the god of
victory. Kerdir’s likeness takes meat, bread, and wine and
portions out to a throng that approaches, while an anonymous
deity keeps pointing at Kerdir’s likeness and smiling.
6. Death in the Pahlavi Texts
According to the Pahlavi texts, death is a consequence of being
born (DD. 22; PN. 30-32). Already at conception, the Bone-
untier throws, from the other world, a rope about the child’s
p. 6
neck, which no being in the other world, good or bad, can untie
while alive. After death, if the person has been good, the rope
will fall off on its own, but a wicked person will be led to hell by
that rope or by another rope tied around his neck by the demon
Drag-off.
At death, the consciousness is then wrenched from the soul.
According to Zad- spram, if wicked, the soul will urge the
consciousness to go to the Best Existence, leaving the soul
where it is, but if righteous, it will receive as its share to return
home with the gods, like a warrior at the end of the battle
returns with the general to the prince’s court (WZ. 30.33-34).
When a person dies, dogs and birds will tear apart the corpse,
and he experiences mortal fear, like a ewe about to be torn
apart by wolves. The bones fall to the ground. According to
Manushchihr (DD.14-15), the soul argues with the dogs and
birds not to eat the body, in order that Ohrmazd may restore it
at the Final Body. He also assures us that the souls receive no
credit against their sins from this suffering, which the soul
shares with the body.
After death, the souls are said to remain near their dead bodies
for three nights, during which they are punished by the Bone-
untier, Drag-off, and other demons in atonement for the evil
deeds they may have done in addition to their good deeds and
for which they have not yet paid, what is called the “account of
the third dawn (sidosh).’’ According to the Bundahishn, when a
fire is kept burning near the headrest, the soul turns it back to
the fire or, if there is no fire, to the Victorious Fire, presumably
the fire in the nearest fire-temple (Bd. 30.4-5). Manushchihr
(DD. 19) is more specific: the first night, the souls are
congratulated for their good thoughts but given grief for their
evil thoughts; the second night, they are given joy for their good
speech, but discomfort and punishment for their evil speech;
and, the third night, they receive support for their good deeds,
but punishment for their evil deeds.
The Pahlavi rivayat follows the narrative of the Hadokht nask
quite closely (PR. 23-24), including the recital of the UshtawaitT
gatha, but in its Pahlavi form, which explains its inclusion in the
death ritual. Here the wicked lament “to which land shall I
go/tum, whom^:an I seek to keep this evil from me?” (PR.
23.19).
In one text it is said that, before the Bone-untier arrives, the evil
Way sits on the corpse and separates and scatters the various
bodily and mental parts of the person (PT. no. 10 §3). According
to Zadspram, the divine messenger Neryosang will then come
and put together again what the demons have scattered (WZ.
30.43). According to the Bundahishn, the soul’s experience of
the cutting and scattering is like that of a house being
demolished (Bd. 30.6). The souls then enter the other world at
the dawn of the third night and begin their journey into the
beyond, during which it will be decided whether they are going
to paradise, hell, or an intermediate place.
As for the dead body, Manushchihr tells us that (DD. 16), as
long as some goodness remains in it, the demons fear it “like a
ewe pursued by a wolf fears the wolf.” Soon, however, the
demon of carrion, the Nasush, will rush upon the body and
drive the soul (gyan) out of it and take up its abode in it, after
which the body is called “carrion" (nasay). Finally, the body is
exposed to birds and dogs to be eaten, leaving nothing but the
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
bones.
7. The Journey into the Beyond
in the Pahlavi Texts
The Pahlavi narrative of the souls once in the beyond follows
that of the Hadokht nask, with minor differences, especially
embellishments (AWN. 4; MX. 1.110-194; PR. 23-24). Although
the accounts in the various texts agree on the basic stages of
the journey, which are those seen in Kerdir’s inscriptions, they
differ on these and among themselves in many details. Notably,
the young woman appears before the judgment in most of the
accounts, although, logically, she should not be seen until after
the judgment, which is how the Menoy khrad has it, since her
appearance reflects the same judgment.
Once in the other world, the souls are met by several deities
and demons. The principal deities encountered by the soul are
Srosh, who protects the souls during the three days after death
(DD. 27) and on their way to the “passage of wails” (Bd. 26.50),
Mihr, and Rashn, who weighs good deeds and sins on his
balance. Arda Wiraz is first met by Srosh and the divine Fire and
is then met and protected specifically by Mihr, Rashn, the good
Way, Warahran, the Good Fortune of the Mazdayasnian Den,
and the pre-souls of the righteous (AWN. 4.1, 5.3). The Menoy
khrad lists Srosh, the good Way, and Wahram as protecting
deities and the demons Bone-untier, “who swallows the entire
creation, but knows not satiety,” the evil Way, Drag-forth and
Drag-off, and Wrath with the bloody club (MX. 1.115).
According to the Bundahishn, the demon Drag-off also sits at
the door of Hell (Bd. 27.22). In the Menoy khrad, the soul of the
righteous is accompanied to and across the bridge by Srosh, and
it is only then that the young woman appears, followed by the
fragrant wind, which Srosh says comes from paradise.
8. The daena/den
The young woman (form of a young woman) who appears to
the soul after it ente's the other world (or after the bridge) is
said to be the totality of its thoughts, words, and deeds, and
Manushchihr likens her to a treasurer, who carries the
accumulated good/evil deeds on her shoulder (DD. 23.5).
According to the Bundahishn (chap. 30), if the soul has been
righteous in “generosity," it sees the form of a young woman in
the wind, who guides it to a ladder with three levels, and it
mounts in three steps up to the star, moon, and sun levels,
through good thoughts, words, and deeds, and up to
Garodman.
If the soul has been wicked in “niggardliness,” it is met in the
wind by the form of a young woman, who is his deeds, which (!)
then turn into a sharp edge. She tells him that, whether he
wants to or not, he has to cross. The soul of the wicked answers
that, even if one were to cut it with a very sharp knife, shoot it
with an arrow, or strike the soul (gyan) out of its body, that
would seem better than passing the bridge. The young woman
then takes the shape of a terrifying untamed beast and stands
before the soul, which, terrified, takes three steps, is cut down,
and falls into hell. Similarly, in the Pahlavi rivayat (chaps. 23-24,
where the bridge is not mentioned), the soul of the wicked
laments that it would be better if they cut off his head, shot him
p. 7
with arrows, took him prisoner, cut him with daggers, or killed
him than for him to take the path along which his action would
lead him. Then his action stands l5fefore the soul, and Drag-off
casts a noose around its neck and chases it like a horse on a
race course scared of the whip (PR. 23.28-29).
In Zadspram’s account (WZ. 30.52), the soul is first met by the
other-worldly “forms” of all things in this world: the forms of
water and plants like a garden with flowers; the forms of a
young woman, a man, and of white male and female cattle; the
form of fire, which passes over the Chinwad bridge striking the
gloom and darkness of hell; the form of a mountain, which the
soul must scale; the forms of metals and stones like golden
thrones; and the form of earth, like an ever-lasting house. He
also compares death to birth, explaining that the righteous
soul’s fearsome, but successful passage of the bridge is like a
successful birth, while the passage of the wicked soul is like the
birth of a dead fetus, which is thrown away and falls into hell.
The form of a young woman, who guides the soul to paradise
and teaches it the language of the gods, is like a mother who
raises her child (WZ. 31).
The Bridge and the Fate of the Souls in the Pahlavi Texts
After the various encounters, the souls are led to a bridge
located in the middle of a mountain called the “Ridge of the
Law” (Chagad i daytlg). The bridge itself is in the other world
and is also called “the yoke of the balance set in place by
Rashn.” It is located in the middle of the world of the living in
Eranwez, Avestan Aryanam Vaejah, the mythical homeland of
the Iranians, and goes from the bottom of Mount Hariburz (Av.
“tall Hara”) in the north to its top in the south. It is like a tree
trunk (dar) or the sharp edge of a sword, nine spears long,
twenty-seven reeds wide, and sharp as a razor blade (also dar).
A dog stands in front of the bridge (Bd. 30; DD. 20). The bridge
is called the Chinwad bridge after the Avestan term chinwato
pertu “Ford of the Accountant,” or the “passage of wails" (cheh-
widarg) by popular etymology.
Present at the bridge are Mihr, Srosh, and Rashn, the god with
the balance (not mentioned in all texts) which shows no
preferences for rich or poor, but also Wrath with his bloody
club and Astwihad (MX. 1.116-122). In the Denkard, we are told
that Rashn and the other other-worldly judges purify the souls
of persons who have repented their sins and been absolved by
the account and punishment at the dawn of the third night and
then lead them across the Passage of Wails to the Best
Existence (Dk. 3.18). In the Pahlavi commentary on the
invocation of Rashnu in the Avestan ST-rozag (1.18), “the thirty
days (of the month)," the accounting of the three nights is
performed according to the “straightness” of Rashn, who is also
said to be the one who holds the balance at the “passage of
wails” and the one who administers the trial (passaxt) at the
Final Body (see below).
When the soul comes there, its good and evil thoughts, etc., are
weighed and, according as which weighs the most, it goes on to
paradise on the wide bridge or falls into hell from the bridge
when it becomes narrow as a blade. If the balance is equal, they
go off to the intermediate place. According to the Pahlavi
rivayat, if the good deeds weigh more than the sins by only one
hair’s breadth, it goes to paradise, but, if its sins weigh more by
the tip of an eyelash, it goes to hell (PR. 9.15).
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
According to the Bundahishn, when the soul comes to the sharp
edge, if it is righteous, the edge widens and the victorious
Farrobay fire smites the darkness and accompanies the soul
across the bridge in the shape of fire (Bd. 30.23). The deities in
the other world purify it (presumably of their remaining bad
deeds), similarly as they do in this world, and the soul is made
to cross another “yoke," which leads all the way to the top of
Hariburz, where the good Way takes its hand and guides it to
what will be its own place. If the soul is wicked, the sharp edge
narrows down, making it impossible to cross. The soul takes
three steps through its evil thoughts, words, and deeds and
then falls headlong into heli.
After passing Rashn and the bridge, the souls of the righteous
proceed upwards by means of a ladder through good thoughts,
good speech, and good deeds, corresponding to the star level,
moon level, and sun level, where Garodman (Ohrmazd’s abode,
see below) is, and on to the Eternal Lights. Conversely, the souls
of the wicked fall headlong dov/n and the lying demons, as well
as the pollution caused by their sins, lead them clown into the
earth. Both roads lead from the “Ridge of the law” (Bd 30.25),
he comments. According to Manushchihr, the journey of the
righteous is as pleasant as when a handsome and amazingly
fragrant person were to take a walk by his own wish in this
world in blossoming spring amid heavenly music and
experiencing no trouble. The journey of the wicked, however, is
as unpleasant as a person in this world who were to take a walk
through a fetid cemetery amid sharp daggers pointing both up
and down, running against his will and experiencing no reprieve
(DD. 20). He also mentions another description of the final
journeys of the righteous and the wicked (DD. 30-31): the soul
of the righteous proceeds to heaven by the force of its other-
worldly good deeds together with the otherworldly good guide,
its own good deeds being measured against his other-worldly
deeds with regard to their appropriate place and time. It drives
to paradise or Garodman on a chariot drawn by four horses,
wearing suitable garments, equipment, and weapons. Once
arrived, Wahuman introduces the soul to Ohrmazd and, at
Ohrmazd’s command, reveals to it its position and reward,
which it will keep until the end of the resurrection. The soul of
the righteous is received by its relatives and friends who
adhered to the same den, who show him affection. They drive
across the bridge through the other world and are led by the
force of their good deeds up to the stars, the moon, the sun, or
the endless lights (DD. 33).
9. Paradise and Hell in the
Avesta
In the GaOas, the successful poet-sacrificers are said to go
to the House of Sonc (garo dmana), Ahura Mazda’s
abode, where all their artistic creations (songs, sacrificial
performances) are stored. The “best existence” is also
referred to as “the existence of Good Thought” or “of
Best Thought" (wahishta ahu, which became the standard
modern Persian term, behesht), or “the house of Best
Thought” (Yasna 30.4, 32.15, 51.15).
The wicked, unsuccessful ones, will, for their evil actions,
be howling in disappointment and fear at the Ford of the
Accountant, being consigned to a long time in darkness,
p. 8
as “guests” in the house of the Lie (drujo dmana) or “the
house of worst thought,” lamenting and eating bad food,
having been led to that “worst existence” (achishta ahu)
by their daenas (Yasna 30.4, 31.20, 32.13, 46.11, 49.11).
In the Young Avesta, paradise is called “the Best
Existence" (vahishta ahu) or (the light) Garonmana, which
is now just a name. Hell also has its own name,
daozhanghwa, the place of the “bad existence,” the
abode of the Evil Spirit and the demons. The entrance to
hell is on the “neck” or “head” of Arzura, where the
demons run together from the den of the Lie and which is
the place on the earth the most devoid of happiness
(Videvdad 3.7, 19.44).
The two existences are characterized as “free space” or
“abundant breathing space,” contrasting with “narrow
space” (anzah, related to angst and anxiety) and ‘lack of
breathing space.”
10. Paradise and Hell
in the Pahlavi Texts
There are several descriptions of paradise and hell in the
Pahlavi texts, differing in particular on the divisions into levels
and the accompanying terminology. The ancient terminology
for paradise and hell survives in Pahlavi, where the various
terms are differentiated by place and inhabitants. The Gathic
term Garodman is still the abode of Ohrmazd and the
amahrspands. The “best existence” has been split in two: the
same term wahisht (Av. vahishta) is said to stretch from the star
level up to and including Garodman (MX.6.8-12); in one text,
wahisht is said to contain “the gods in the other world”
(menoyan yazdan) and Garodman the amahrspands (Dk. 3.350),
and the “best existence {pahlom/pashom akhwan) of the
Orderly” also contains the amahrspands (DD. 73.2), the
opposite being the “worse existence” (wattar akhwan; Bd.
26.17). According to the Pahlavi rivayat, the Best Existence
(pashom akhwan) is from the star-level to the sun-level, the
endless lights from the sun-level to the sky, and Garodman is on
the sun-level, and the distance between the levels is 34,000
frasangs (PR. 65.1, 10).
The intermediate place (hamestagan) is said to be between the
earth and the star-level (MX. 6.18-19; PR.) and the only
punishment there are seasonal cold and heat (AWN. 6.6); it is
also said to be similar to this world and the souls’ positions are
proportionate to their good deeds (WZ. 33-34).
Hell is located in the center of the earth and its entrance is in
the north, which is where the Adversary, the Foul Spirit, pierced
the earth and entered Ohrmazd’s creation. It is characterized by
stench, constriction, lack of comfort, and everything bad (Dk.
5.8), as well as heat and dryness (AWN. 18). Arda Wiraz
describes it as very deep, like the most terrifying pit dug in the
narrowest and most fearful place. It contains two main levels,
“hell” and the “darkest hell.” According to the Menoy khrad,
hell is from the level of evil thought all the way down to the
darkest hell. The entrance, said to be on the ridge of the top of
Mount Arzur (Bd. 9.10-11), is guarded by the constellation
Haftoring (Ursa Minor; Bd. 2.7,4.28).
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
According to Manushchihr (DD. 32), hell is in the north and
down below the earth and reaches to the uppermost low part
of the sky; its entrance into the earth is on the “neck of Arzur,”
where the demons gather. It is also called the “head” of ArzOr,
because that is were the demons in this world run about. It
contains three separate places: an intermediate place, which
has much more evil than good and is terrifying, fetid, and dark;
the worst existence, which is the first place housing demons
that torment the souls and which contains no relief; and the
“den of the Lie” (drujaskan), which is at the bottom of the “dark
house,” where the “(animal-?)headed demons” run about and
which is all darkness and suffering. The term “house of the Lie”
(drujoman) is found in the exegesis on Yasna 49.11 in the
Denkard (9.64.9).
The redactor of the Pahlavi rivayat comments that the common
belief that hell is behind ArzOr is not correct; instead, the door
to hell is on a ridge, hence the name “the ridge of Arzur,” while
what is behind Arzur is a ravine, which the creator will fill with
(molten) metal at the end of time (PR. 50.1).
According to Arda Wiraz, the darkness in hell is so thick it can
be grasped and its stench such that whoever smells it is
instantly overcome; it is so tight that not everybody can stand,
and everybody thinks he is alone: when only three days and
nights have passed, it is as if the nine millennia have already
passed and the damned wonder why they are not being
released. Everywhere is full of ferocious animals, who tear at
and devour the souls like dogs their bones (AWN. 18), and,
according to the Bundahishn, the darkness in hell is so thick one
can take it with one’s hands and its stench so thick one can cut
it with a knife; and when they are punishing a thousand men
within a yard these will think they are alone, for lonesome
punishment is the worst of all (Bd. 27.53). Emed son of
Ashwahisht, answering the question whether the righteous and
wicked will see one another while waiting for the Final Body,
tells us that the wicked will not see one another in hell, but
think they are alone and that nobody else is in hell; for “the
heaviest punishment upon those in hell is loneliness” (REA.
39.37).
The priests also discussed the question whether the souls would
actually see Ohrmazd and the Evil Spirit. Arda Wiraz, for
instance, saw Ohrmazd as pure light and no body and heard his
voice coming out of the light, which frightened him (AWN. 101),
but he was able to see the Foul Spirit, scorning and making fun
of the wicked for doing his bidding while eating Ohrmazd’s
bread and not thinking of him as the creator (AWN. 100.1).
Manushchihr, however, says that Ohrmazd's form is not
completely visible, but can be seen by “wisdom” (khrad) and
similar perceptions. Ahrimen, he points out, is not of this world,
that is, has no perceptible existence, which was the current
thinking, but he also points out that both the good and wicked
souls can see with their other-worldly senses the places where
Ohrmazd and Ahrimen are located and so are able to recognize
them (DD. 18). He elaborates on this later, saying that the
other-worldly beings sometimes don an appearance that can be
seen by beings from this world, and then the inner sense (okh)
can see those from the other world in this world like one might
see the body with the soul inside, the fire with the divine
Warahram, or the water with its own other-worldly counterpart
inside, and it is delighted by what it is permitted to see of the
p. 9
divinity (DD. 30). Ohrmazd, of course, sees the souls, as he is
the one who made them.
11. Rewards and Punishments
in the Pahlavi Texts
According to Manushchihr, the accounting is performed by
several deities (DD. 13). It is the duty of the amahrspand
Wahuman to count three times a day all the good deeds and
sins a person commits. Mihr is in charge of the accounts of “sins
against one's fellow men” (hamemal) assigned to the “contract-
breakers” (the domain also of the Avestan Mithra). At the dawn
of the third night, the judges are Srosh and Rashn, who
calculate the amounts of good deeds and sins and the extent of
a person’s righteousness and wickedness; the righteous will
then proceed to the Best Existence in paradise, the wicked to
the worst existence in hell. Finally, at the Final Body, it is
Ohrmazd himself who, in his omniscience, totals up the
thoughts, words, and deeds of all creatures.
The righteous do not all go to the same place in the beyond. For
instance, according to Arda Wiraz, the star level is the place of
tiose who have performed no rituals, no Gathas, no
khwedodah, and have not held any high socio-political
positions; the moon-level is that of those who have performed
no rituals, no Gathas, no khwedodah\ the sun level is that of
those who were good kings, rulers, and guardians; and
Garodman is the place for the very righteous (AWN. 7-10).
Similarly, the redactor of the Pahlavi rivayat places ir the
intermediate place on the star-level the pre-souls of the
righteous whose good deeds and sins are of equal weight and
have performed rituals, as well as those whose good deeds
weigh more than their sins, but have performed no ituals (PR.
65.2). Fie also places on the sun-level the pre-souls of the
righteous whose good deeds are enough to cancel a sin “worth
forfeiting one’s body” (tanabuhl) and who have performed
rituals, and those with more good deeds are in a higher place
than those with less and are honored by them (PR. 65.11).
Contracting a khwedo- dah marriage, in fact, cancels even the
most grievous of sins, such as the capital sin (margarzan
“worthy of death”) of sorcery (PR. 8b. 1).
Also among the best of deeds is generosity (radTh, cf. Kerdir). In
the Pahlavi rivayat, Ohrmazd tells Zarathustra that there are
thirty-three roads between the Chinwad bridge and Garodman
and that whoever is righteous by one good deed can take one
road, but those who are righteous for generosity can take any
of the thirty-three (PR. 10h). Conditional generosity, however,
as when the giver evaluates the worthiness of the recipient,
takes him to hell (PR. 10d). Someone who gives something to a
righteous, but then discovers he is wicked, must take it back
and produce a witness that he has no longer given anything to
the wicked person in order to go to heaven (PR. 10e).
The redactor of the Shayist ne shayist, “what is appropriate and
what is not,” also distinguishes between the various levels
(chap. 6): if the person has performed an amount of good deeds
enough to cancel a sin worth three whiplashes
(sroshocharanam) more than it has committed sins, the soul
goes to paradise (wahishty, if enough to cancel a sin whereby
one’s body becomes forfeit, the soul goes to the best existence
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
(pahlom akhwan). This was the opinion of the learned
Soshyans, but Kay-adur-bozed modified the second case to say
that, if somebody abiding by an evil den performs this many
good deeds, he is saved from hell. The redactor also assesses
the importance of repentance and death rituals (chap. 8.4-23),
for instance: of one is guilty of a capital sin and has given one’s
body and possessions to the religious judges (rad) and is
repentant of one’s sin also in thought and gives the judges
authority over one’s work and good deeds, then the previous
(lost) good deeds come back and, when he has undergone the
three nights’ punishment (after death), he will not go to hell;
but if he is not repentant he goes to hell, and, at the Final Body,
they will bring him back out and behead him once for each
capital sin and revive him after the last, then show him the
severe punishment of the three nights. Or: if one has
committed many capital sins, but repents of each one in
thought, then his repentance closes the road to hell, but if even
a single one is not re- perted, the road is not closed, “for it is
not to Ohrmazd’s benefit.’’ Or: if he has committed a capital sin
and is repentant in thought and the judge knows that he will
surrender his body when he must, he may kill him, “for it is to
Ohr- mazd’s benefit.” And, finally: one is always authorized to
atone with repentance for a sin as (Av.) committed before, “for
Ohrmazd will not leave his creatures to the Foul Spirit with the
exception that they have not repented.”
According to Manushchihr (DD.19, 31), if the soul in addition to
having more good (then evil) deeds, has also adhered to a good
law, it goes to paradise (wahisht), and if in addition to these
two it has also sung the Gathas, it goes all the way to
Garodman. The wicked, he says, fall headlong down into hell,
where they are met by demons and the souls of all kinds of evil-
doers, and are led to the Lie and the Foul one. They then stay
there on their appropriate levels, enduring punishments
commensurate with the evil they themselves have committed,
until the Renovation (thus also REA. 39.26).
The redactor of the Pursishnlha, “Questions” (qu. 3). simply
states that, whoever abides by the den of Ohrmazd and
Zarathustra and performs the appropriate rituals will go to
Garodman and not to hell. According to the redactor of the
Bundahishn, whoever has both kinds of “wisdom” (khrad, the
one one is “born with” and the one acquired “through the ears’)
goes to the best existence, those who lack both to the worst
existence (Bd. 26.17).
The fact that the greater quantity, not exclusiveness of good
deeds and sins determine the place of the souls after passing
the bridge obviously implies that some of those saved may still
carry sins with them and some of those damned still carry good
deeds with them and so was bound to raise questions as to
where those sins were expiated and what was the consequence
of those good deeds. A chapter in the Denkard addresses this
issue: the wicked are rewarded for whatever few good deeds
they may have performed and then they are punished in hell
until the Renovation; the righteous are punished for whatever
little sin they may have committed and they will then have
rewards in paradise forever (Dk. 3.171). Elsewhere it is said that
the Righteous receive atonement for their evil deeds and
rewards for having abstained from evil deeds (Dk. 5.8). It was
also thought by some that there was a road going from hell to
paradise reserved for those who still had “some sin to carry,”
p. 10
but, presumably, so small that they could escape (Dk. 6.287).
Manushchihr distinguishes between sins that have already been
canceled by good deeds and sins which remain in the soul’s
account. These are weighed against its good deeds, and the
soul of the righteous receives a temporary punishment for
whatever sins need to be erased. Similarly, the soul of the
wicked receives a temporary respite of happiness before going
to its punishment, which will last until the resurrection (DD.
12),.
The redactor of the PursishnTha (qu. 2) answers the question
whether souls that are in hell will be rewarded for their good
actions before the Final Body, to which he responds that they
have to serve out their punishment in full before they can be
rewarded, and Emed son of Ashwahisht says that whoever is
serving a punishment commensurate with his deeds, even if he
also has good deeds to his account, cannot escape from hell
before his time (REA. 39.16).
In the Pahlavi rivayat, the question is addressed whether the
souls of children go to paradise and hell and why. The redactor
answers that the souls of children under eight go to the sun-
level, and, if the father is righteous, they will go with him to
paradise, but with the mother if the father is wicked. Sadly, if
both are wicked, the child will go with them to hell, with one
authority voicing the diverging opinion that, if the child itself
has performed enough good deeds, it will not go to hell with
the parents (PR. 8d.7-8)
In general, the good deeds and sins of the child go to the child’s
account only from the age of fifteen, but, before then, to those
of the parents. Similarly in the case of teacher and student (PR.
29.4): a righteous teacher who has taught his student well
thereby saves him from hell and prepares the road for him to
the bridge and thence to paradise; conversely, all the good
deeds done by the student because of the teaching also belong
to the teacher, and, at the resurrection, they will both be raised
together, for the teacher nourishes the soul, the parents only
the body. With this compare a passage in the Denkard
according to which a judge {rad) of the den in this world who
gives people awareness of the Mazdayasnian den enables them
to obtain salvation by means of good deeds and by atoning for
sins; in this way he saves them and leads them upward (Dk.
3.180).
The effect of repentance and the rituals of the judgment at the
dawn of the third night in particular are discussed (PR. 15a):
Those who have shown repentance for their sins before death
will be taken to the Ridge of the Law and to paradise. Those
guilty of capital sins, if they repented in this world and were
beheaded, then they become righteous once the ritual is
performed; if they repented, but were not able to be beheaded
in this world, they will be beheaded at the bridge and then too,
become righteous once the rituals are performed. If they did
not repent, they go to hell. One lenient authority, however, said
that, with only one capital sin, they would become righteous in
the usual way, but not with two, the reason being that one can
be decapitated in this world only once. Another, however, said
two capital sins could be carried, since one will be decapitated
twice, once in this world and once in the other (further
restrictions on the nature of the repentance in PR. 15b-e). Also
according to the Pahlavi rivayat, once Ohrmazd and Ahrimen
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
have asked their questions of the souls, the souls will repent
and for their repentance their bodies will be resurrected (PR.
9.4-8).
Emed son of Ashwahisht devotes a section to the question as to
who protects the souls in hell (REA. 39.27-32), for, as he says,
the souls of the wicked departed are also souls of men, whom
the good Creator has created and who have an original divine
substance in them and, to protect them, the Creator has spread
out the cover of Justice over them. In this way, the demons are
unable to torment them more than they deserve, and, in the
end, they will have the gods’ forgiveness.
That all is not beyond hope for the damned is emphasized by
the redactor of the Wizirkerd T denfg (chap. 5), who tells us
that, three times each day, they hear the voice of the
amahrspands from paradise, telling them: “Do not fear, for we
shall restore your dead bodies, but, while in your world, good
people spoke to you words of those loving their souls and
showed you the straight path, but you did not accept it.” And
three times each day, the righteous H5m (Av. Haoma) speaks
into their ears: "Do not fear, for I shall give you happiness. For I
shall keep death away from your souls. Your souls are not
subject to death the way your bodies are subject to death. So
be not afraid, although you die in so much punishment and
torment!”
The concept is emphasized repeatedly, for instance, “and you
raise all, the righteous as well as the wicked, and you do not
leave any among your creatures in the bond of the snare of the
Lie” (Stayishn T ST-rozag 15.4); and “they will restore the bodies
of all people, for the good, merciful Creator, full of goodness,
will not leave any creature to the Lie” (DD. 74.3).
There were, apparently, a few dissenting voices, among them
that of the redactor of the Mendy khrad, who says the
punishment in hell will last forever (MX. 39.32), and that of the
redactor of the Shayist ne shayist (8.23b): “Ohr- mazd does not
leave his creatures to the Evil Spirit except when
‘unconfessed’,” but the “forever" may not exceed the duration
of limited time.
12. Rewards and Punishments in
the Book of Arda Wiraz
After Arda Wiraz passed through the three levels and arrived in
Garodman, Wahman gave him a tour of the place. He saw the
pre-souls of Gayomard and Zarathustra and his friends and the
other promoters of the den. He then visited several special
places allotted to the especially righteous (AWN 12-15):
first, the generous, those who adhered to the good den and
performed the rituals, those who contracted khwedodah
marriages, kings and rulers, nobles and speakers of truth;
second, the women who pleased the gods and Ohrmazd’s
creations, were obedient to their husbands, and harbored no
doubts about the Mazdayasnian den\ third, members of the
four professions: priests, warriors, agriculturalists, and
shepherds who performed their duties; and, fourth, local rulers
and householders who performed their duties and the justices
of peace and protectors of the poor.
p. 11
Once arrived in Garodman, the heavenly Fire showed Arda
Wiraz a vast lake, which contained all the humidity of the
firewood he had offered to the fire. Passing through paradise,
he then encountered all the various people considered good,
beginning with the generous, who were the most luminous and
brilliant of them all.
Before going on to hell, Arda Wiraz was then shown a large and
terrifying river full of souls and pre-souls trying to cross, some
successfully, others not. The river, he was told, consisted of the
tears of those who wept and grieved for the departed, some
less, who were able to cross, some more, who were not.
Many or most of the punishments in hell were made to fit the
crime, as the following examples show. Rather surprisingly, the
first punishment Arda Wiraz saw upon entering hell was for the
sin of passive anal intercourse, which else-where is said to be
one of the worst sins ever; as punishment, a snake like a beam
entered his behind and came out through the mouth, while
innumerable snakes were gnawing at all parts of his body.
The second punishment was for the soul of a woman who did
not observe the menstruation rules to stay away from water
and fire; as punishment she was given to eat plate after plate of
human excrements.
The third was for the soul of a man who killed a righteous man
and whom they now kept killing again and again. And the fourth
was for the soul of a man who had intercourse with a woman
during her menstrual period; now, they kept pouring the filth
and menstrual offal into his mouth, and he also had to keep
cooking and eating “his own sweet child” (AWN. 19-22).
Among the more unusual punishments was that of the soul of a
man whose entire body was being gnawed by ferocious
animals, except his right foot, whose sin was that he had never
done anything good, except that he had once kicked a bail of
hay before a plowing ox (AWN. 32); similarly, the punishment of
the soul of a man who was being cooked in a brazen pot, but
with his right foot hanging outside, for the sin of having done
evil things with his entire body, except that he had killed
innumerable noxious creeps with his foot (AWN. 60). The
“darkest hell” was the one below the Chinwad bridge, from
which Arda Wiraz could hear the howls and complaints of
Ahrimen and demons, as well as of the damned, and which
frightened him so much that he begged his companion deities
not to take him there and turn back, but they told him he need
have no fear (AWN. 53, cf. Kerdir). Among the first damned in
the “darkest hell” were the souls of women who used to wail
and weep and strike their heads (in grief), whose heads were
now severed from their bodies, but the tongues were still able
to howl (AWN. 57); the souls of the wicked unbelievers, who did
not believe in the truths of the den and were now being eaten,
digested, and defecated by the demons and animals (AWN. 61);
the soul of a woman who had smartened herself up and done
bad things with other men and was now made to comb her
chest and breasts with an iron comb (AWN. 62). Toward the
bottom of this hell, we find the greatest sinners, among them
the soul of a woman who had been pregnant with another
man's child, but said she was not pregnant and aborted the
child, but was now forced to comb an iron mountain with her
breasts while a child was crying on the other side of the
mountain, but the mother could not come to the child nor the
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
child to the mother (AWN. 78); the soul of a woman who had
eaten meat unbeknownst to her husband and also given others
to eat, but now had to eat her own carcass (AWN. 83); the soul
of a man who kept killing his child and eating the brain, who
had been a judge and passed untrue judgments and exercised
no leniency, but treated those seeking justice with anger (AWN.
91). The last two in this section were the souls of a man and a
woman who kept defecating and eating their own feces for
having deliberately eaten dead matter, killed beavers, and
struck and killed other of Ohrmazd's creatures (AWN. 98). The
very last were the souls of wicked men and women going head
first down into hell, whose tongues were pierced by wooden
nails, and whose entire bodies were being combed by demons
with iron combs for the sin of having disobeyed their rulers and
been enemies in the armies of their rulers (AWN. 99).
p. 12
13. The Resurrection &
the Renovation in the Avesta
The return to the origins was initiated by Zarathustra and will
be continued by his three sons, the “revitalizers” (saoshyant),
who will be born at one-thousand-year intervals from
Zarathustra’s semen, preserved in a lake. According to the
Pahlavi texts, three virgins will come down to the lake to bathe
and become pregnant. The name of the last is Av. Vispa-tarwari,
“she who will overcome all (obstructions, evil).” Her son,
Astwad-erta, “he through whom Order will have bones,” the
revitalizer par excellence (Pahl. Soshans), will initiate the last
days, bringing about the “Renovation" (Av. frashd-kerti, Pahl.
frashkerd). His name refers to the final rebirth of the Ordered
cosmos, which needs ‘‘bones and life breath” to become a living
entitiy. Several un-dead heroes who have been lying asleep in
various places are awakened to combat their opponents and
become his “companions”:
Yasht 13.128-129 (to the pre-souls)
„We sacrifice (to) the pre-soul of Ukhshyad-erta sustainer of
Order.
We sacrifice (to) the pre-soul of Ukhshyad-nemah sustainer
of Order.
We sacrifice (to) the pre-soul of Astwad-erta sustainer of
Order,
who shall be called the victorious Revitalizer and Astwad-
erta:
thus called “Revitalizer” because he will revitalize the entire
world of the living;
thus called “Astwad.erta” because, when possessing bones
and life breath,
he will seek again bony freedom from danger for
withstanding the Lie which has the appearance of two-
footed beings, for withstanding the hostility dragged against
the sustainers of Order.”
Yasht 19.88-96
„We sacrifice to the strong Fortune of the poets, which
followed the victorious Revitalizer, as well the other
companions, so that he would Renew the existence making
it incorruptible, indestructible, undecaying, unrotting, ever-
living, ever-vitalizing having command at will, so that when
the dead arise again he will come, vivifying and free from
destruction,
(and) 'the existence will be renewed in return for our gifts to
god'.
Living beings who hold the announcements of Order will be
indestructible,
The lie will be destroyed and dispelled to the very place
whence had come to destroy the sustainers of Order.
The villainess will cower in fear, and the villain will be
destroyed: thus is the Model.
When Astwab-erta shall stand forth from the Kansaoya Sea,
the messenger of Ahura Mazda, the son of Vispa-
tarwari, brandishing (his) victorious weapon, which
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
the firm Thraetaona carried when the giant Dragon
was smashed...
He will see with the eyes of “wisdom” (khratu).
He will look out for all the living beings, chasing her, the one
of evil form, behind.
He will see the entire bony existence with the eyes of the
milk libation.
He will make firmly indestructible the entire bony world of
the living.
The companions of victorious Astwad-erta will come forth,
those with good thoughts, good speech, good deeds, good
daenas,
who none of them have ever once spoken anything wrong
with their own tongue.
Before them Wrath with the bloody club giving evil gifts will
retreat.
He shall overcome the evil Lie with Order, the one of
darkness and of evil seed.
Evil thought shall be overcome.
Good Thought shall overcome it.
The falsely spoken speech too shall be overcome.
The word correctly spoken shall overcome it...
Wholeness and Immortality shall overcome both hunger and
thirst.
Wholeness and Immortality shall overcome the evil hunger
and thirst.
The Evil Spirit whose deeds are evil shall retreat, having
command over nothing.”
The Achaemenid kings interpreted the frasho-kerti in their own
way as making “wonderful” (frasha) things here in this world
matching Ahura Mazda’s creations.
Thus, Darius at Naqsh-e Rostam (b):
“Ahura Mazda is the great god who made this wonderful
(creation) that can be seen,”
and at Susa (f):
“much worderful work was ordered at Susa,
much wonderful work was completed.”
14. The Resurrection in
the Pahlavi Texts
The Renovation was thought to be due 3000 years after Zarathus-
tra’s interview with Ohrmazd. Thus, Zarathustra is quite dejected
when he asks Ohrmazd in the Pahlavi rivayat (chap. 25) how much
time remains to the end, and Ohrmazd answers 3000 yrs.
Ohrmazd, however, tells him that the souls in Garodman,
experience the waiting period in the same manner as a young
couple who sleep together, wish morning will never come.
According to the calculations in the Bundahishn, the interview
took place at the end of the 3000 yrs-after the birth-of-the
world of the living, and 258 years “after Alexander.”
Adding the duration of the various rulers after Wishtasp listed
in the Bundahishn,
-- the Iranians of the 3rd CE would be living at end-of-1stM
and begin-of-2nd M, that of Zarathustra’s son Ushidar
-- and 2M more would remain until the coming of Zarath-
ustra’s son Soshans and the ensuing end of the world.
-- Thus the pious wish of the dignitaries of Iran who
wished the new king Narseh (ruled 293-302) that his rule
p. 13
“might last until the Renovation” was probably rather
optimistic.
The last millennia will be marked by several cataclysmic events
before Soshans begins the raising of the dead.
--For a short period before this, all humanity will uphold the
den, and there will be no death (PR. 48.52-53).
-- Several heroes will then be awakened or resurrected.
-- The giant Dragon (Dahag), which was chained by Thraetaona,
will be killed by the resurrected Karsasp.
-- Kay Husroy, who killed the evil Frasiyab, will be awakened
and rule the seven continents for 57 yrs, then
-- King Wishtasp, who accepted the den from Zarathustra, is
made back into bodily form and receives the rule from Kay
Husroy (MF. 33). Then
-- Soshans and his helpers will make the dead stand in their
dead bodies (PR. 48.54), on the 6th day of the 1st month of the
year (at spring equinox), according to one text (MF. 34).
Although Soshans is the one who raises the dead, he is not the
one who makes the bodies whole so as to be resurrected: that
task is the creator’s alone.
According to Zadspram, Zarathustra wondered to Ohrmazd:
Whether the departed would have a body at the
Renovation or simply be disembodied entities throwing no
shadows, seeing that they had been torn apart by dogs and
birds and (the parts) carried off by wolves and vultures?
Ohrmazd answers that it will be easier:
Now that he has the ingredients he did not yet have at
the creation. For the constituents of the bodies have
been preserved in Ohrmazd’s creations:
--flesh, bones, and tendons in the earth;
-- blood in the water; hair in the plants;
-- fire in the light;
-- the soul (gyan) in the wind (WZ. 34).
At the resurrection, he will simply reclaim these constituents
from the creations that guard them—bones from the earth,
blood from the water, hair from the plants, soul (gyan) from the
wind—and mix them, producing the shape of each, but in a
more beautiful form (Bd. 34.4-5; PR. 48.55, 61; 52).
Then Soshans will perform 5 yasna rituals, each time raising
1/5th of the dead: the first being Gayomard, then Mashi and
Mashiyani. They will all look around and recognize each other
from when they were alive (Bd. 34.6-9; PR. 48.56-57; MF. 45).
According to the Pahlavi rivayat, the righteous will then enjoy
food and all good things as when first created, though good
taste will be magnified a thousand times.
Men will be given back their main wives, those without wives
will be given one by Spandarmad, and women without
husbands will be given one by Ohrmazd (PR. 48.58-63; MF. 45;
cf. Bd. 34.24).
The texts disagree on the sequence of events after this.
According to the redactor of the Bundahishn,
 Afterlife in Zoroastrianism
-- next comes the assembly of Isadwastar,1 yet-another-son-of
Zarathustra, in which everybody will see their good and evil
deeds and the righteous will be apparent among the wicked like
white sheep among the black;
-- the wicked who had righteous friends in life will berate them
for-not-teaching-them, and the righteous who had not attempt-
ed to improve their wicked friends, will be shamed in the
assembly (Bd. 34.10-12).
The redactor of the Pahlavi rivayat places this after the final
trial, when, once all have been cleansed of their sins, Isadwastar
will call an assembly in which rewards and recompenses will be
meted out according to the amount of good deeds each has
performed (PR. 48.97).
In the Bundahishn, the account of Soshans’ raising of the dead
is taken up again a second time, after which the redactor credits
Soshans with distributing the rewards and recompenses (Bd.
34.25).
There then follows the second “dawn of the third night," when
the sinners are thrown back into hell to be tormented in body
and soul, weeping so that the tears stand up to their calves
when sons are separated from fathers, brothers from brothers,
and friends from friends, and the righteous weep for the
wicked, but the wicked for themselves, and the greatest
sinners, including the Giant Dragon and Frasiyab are punished
ten-fold by the punishment “of four nights” (Bd. 34.13-16).
The redactor of the Pahlavi rivayat comments that the wicked
who harmed the righteous in life and were violent, will die once
more, but be resurrected and again restored after three days.
At that time, all will be resurrected and restored except those
who have committed capital crimes, who are thrown back into
hell for another three days and nights (PR. 48.66-68).
15. The Final Trial
Then the heavenly dragon Gochihr falls down from heaven and
sets the earth on fire. The Fire and the divine Erman (Av.
Aryaman) melt the metal in the mountains, which pours into a
giant river, through which humanity must pass. The good pass
through without discomfort, like through warm milk, while the
wicked have the rest of their wickedness burnt out of them (Bd.
34.17-19).
According to the Pahlavi rivayat, it is the amahrspand
Spandarmad, the Earth, who, at the dawn of the 3rd night, will
require them to be punished, and the amahrspand Shahrewar,
protector of metals, will melt all the metal in the mountains,
which will stand deep enough to reach the mouth of the sinners
standing at the place of the Trial (passaxt) (PR. 48.69-72).
According to Manushchihr, toward the end of their time in hell,
the sinners grow weary of being tormented by the demons and,
with new-found courage, turn on their jailers, and are expelled
from hell. They are then tried for three days by molten metal,
during which they weep an “ocean" of tears. After “washing
with the best washing” and having been acquitted by the most
complete count, the entire creation of the creator will be clean
and pure (DD. 36.95-98).
1
only his name is mentioned in the Avesta
p. 14
16. The Renovation and
the Final Body in the Pahlavi
Texts
The final sacrifices in the WoL will be performed by Zarathustra
and Wishtasp (Dk. 9.33.5) and in the WoT by Ohrmazd and
Srosh, whereby the Final Body will be produced, and the world
will be Renovated.
The Lie will be overcome and banished to its original abode, and
the Evil Spirit shall no longer have any power (Bd. 34.29-30; MF.
34-35).
Death will be overcome and banished, and mankind will return
to its original existence, when they were indestructible and
immortal (Bd. 34.32; Dk. 3.159, 298, 370, etc.;).
The gods will perform the final ritual to produce the Final Body,
after which gods and men will be together and Ohrmazd will
have completely reassembled his creation (Bd. 34.22; PR.
48.99).
The texts disagree on the age the new humans will assume.
According to the Bundahishn, adult men will be restored as 40
yr-olds, while under-age children will be made 15 yrs old.
According to another text, if they have eaten meat, they will be
raised in the form of 40-year-olds, but those who have not in
the form of 15-year-olds (MF. 41).
According to the Pahlavi rivayat, people will
-- look like 40 yr olds, not subject to decay and ageless,
deathless, and immortal;
-- their tasks will include paying homage to Ohrmazd and
serve their lord in whatever way pleases themselves the
most (PR. 48.98-102).
-- Eating will no longer be needed, but the tastes of all
good foods will be permanently in their mouths.
-- They will also enjoy sex, but producing no offspring (PR.
48.105-106; MF. 46-47).
As Manushchihr points out, after the annihilation of a I powers
of evil, there will be no hell since there is no wickedness, no
malice since there is no harm; no grief since there is no fear, no
shame since there is no ugliness, etc. (DD. 36.101).
Manushchihr also tells us that, once the wicked have endured
the punishment of the Renovation and the Final Trial by molten
metal, they become pure of all sins and go to the Best Existence
(DD. 13.6, 31.10).
The redactor of the Bundahishn has an additional interesting
detail (Bd. 34.26); after the rewards have been distributed,
whoever has ordered no getokhrid ritual (approximately:
purchasing redemption) and has given no garment “of
righteousness” to the deserving, will be naked in paradise, but,
having sacrificed to Ohrmazd, the Gathas will serve him as
clothes, an idea that goes back to the Avesta, where we read
“the Gathas which are our guardians and protectors and
food in the otherworldly realm, which are for our soul
both food and clothing” (Yasna 55.2).