Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/80

Rh formed in accordance with the established rules and under a fixed order. This order was ṛta in rituals or rite, a word derived from the same stem. Thus step by step they advanced higher and saw that human life can best be lived when man's relations with his neighbours, his duty towards his fellowmen and towards the heavenly beings were regulated according to fixed laws. Thus they came to recognition of a basic moral order regulating human affairs and understood by ṛta employed in ethical matters as right or righteousness, word, of the same significance. Varuna, Mitra, and the Adityas, as also Agni and Soma, came to be regarded as the upholders of the moral order.

Zarathushtra adopts Asha, the variant of rta. A cardinal word which figures most prominently in the Gathas is Asha. Its more familiar and widely known Iranian variant is arta, areta, equivalent to the Vedic ṛta. Words derived from this stem must have been freely used in Western Asia and surrounding countries about four thousand years ago. We gather from the clay tablets bearing cuneiform inscriptions discovered at Tell-el-Amarna in Middle Egypt and the great find of tablets at Boghaz-Keui in Asia Minor that Dushratta, a Mitanni king, was ruling in Syria in about 1600 In his letter to his brother-in-law Amenhetep III of Egypt he mentions his brothers who bear the names Artashumara and Artatama. His grandfather also was named Artatama. Zarathushtra thus finds the stem arta or areta in vogue, but we do not find him using it in the Gathas. He uses its variant asha instead and makes it the basic foundation for the structure of his moral philosophy. The Later Avestan works follow him in their general use of the word. It is in the Old Persian inscriptions, however, that we find the use of arta as an element of proper names. The Pahlavi writers make a more frequent use of the arta form than of asha.

Asha stands for Ahura Mazda's righteousness. Ahura Mazda is the father of Asha, says Zarathushtra. He created Asha through his wisdom. Asha is of one will with Ahura Mazda. He is the counsellor of Ahura Mazda, and lives in one abode with Ahura Mazda and Vohu Manah. He is given the attribute Vahishta, 'best.' It is not employed in the Gathas