Asha
[a] The word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius"[5] of "Truth" or "Righteousness".
In the Gathas—the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism, thought to have been composed by Zoroaster—it is seldom possible to distinguish between moral principle and the divinity.
Avestan aṣ̌a and its Vedic equivalent ṛtá both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ṛtá- "truth",[6] which in turn continues Proto-Indo-European *h2r-to- "properly joined, right, true", from the root *h2ar.
[9][h] Avestan druj, like its Vedic Sanskrit cousin druh, appears to derive from the PIE root *dhreugh, also continued in Persian دروغ / d[o]rūġ "lie", Welsh drwg "evil", and German Trug "fraud, deception".
[13] Both Avestan aṣ̌a/arta and Vedic ŗtá- are commonly translated as "truth" as this best reflects both the original meaning of the term as well as the opposition to their respective antonyms.
"[15] The adjective corresponding to the noun aṣ̌a/arta, "truth", is Avestan haithya- (haiθiia-), "true", the opposite of which is also druj-.
This meaning is also preserved in Avestan, for instance in the expression haiθīm varəz, "to make true" as in "to bring to realization.
"[16] Another meaning of "reality" may be inferred from the component parts of the aṣ̌a/arta: from (root) ŗ with a substantivizing -ta suffix.
These various meanings of "right" are frequently combined, such as "the inexorable law of righteousness,"[20] or as "the eternal fitness of things that are in accord with the divine order.
"Right working" also overlaps with both Indo-European *ár- "to (properly) join together" and with the notion of existence and realization (to make real).
[16] The kinship[23] between Old Iranian aṣ̌a-/arta- and Vedic ŗtá- is evident in numerous formulaic phrases and expressions that appear in both the Avesta and in the RigVeda.
In contrast, in the Vedas the opposite of both ŗtá- and sátya- is druh- and ánŗta-, also "lie" or "false".
Fire is "grandly conceived as a force informing all the other Amesha Spentas, giving them warmth and the spark of life.
An individual who has passed the fiery test (garmo-varah, ordeal by heat), has attained physical and spiritual strength, wisdom, truth and love with serenity (Yasna 30.7).
"[28] According to the post-Sassanid Dadestan i denig (I.31.10), at the final judgement a river of molten metal will cover the earth.
"[11] In Yasna 31.19, "the man who thinks of aṣ̌a, [...] who uses his tongue in order to speak correctly, [does so] with the aid of brilliant fire".
Asha Vahishta's association with atar is carried forward in the post-Gathic texts, and they are often mentioned together.
"[30] 'Aṣ̌a' derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root as 'Airyaman', the divinity of healing who is closely associated with Asha Vahishta.
At the last judgement, the common noun airyaman is an epithet of the saoshyans, the saviours that bring about the final renovation of the world.
Both Airyaman and Asha Vahishta (as also Atar) are closely associated with Sraosha "[Voice of] Conscience" and guardian of the Chinvat bridge across which souls must pass.
According to a lost Avestan passage that is only preserved in a later (9th century) Pahlavi text, towards the end of time and the final renovation, Aṣ̌a and Airyaman will together come upon the earth to do battle with the Az, the daeva of greed (Zatspram 34.38-39).
In present-day Zoroastrianism it is considered to invoke Airyaman just as the Ashem Vohu, is the second of the four great Gathic prayers, is dedicated to Aṣ̌a.
All four prayers (the first is the Ahuna Vairya, the third is the Yenghe Hatam) have judgement and/or salvation as a theme, and all four call on the Truth.
It is Airyaman that – together with fire – will "melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and it will be upon the earth like a river" (Bundahishn 34.18).
In Zoroastrian tradition, metal is the domain of Xshathra [Vairya], the Amesha Spenta of "[Desirable] Dominion", with whom Aṣ̌a is again frequently identified.
(Siroza 1.3 and 2.3) Aogemadaecha 41-47 prototypes death as a journey that has to be properly prepared for: As mortals acquires material goods as they go through life, so also should they furnish themselves with spiritual stores of righteousness.
Aṣ̌a's role is not limited to judgement: In Bundahishn 26.35, Aṣ̌a prevents daevas from exacting too great a punishment to souls consigned to the House of Lies.
Although there are numerous eschatological parallels between Aṣ̌a and Aši "recompense, reward" (most notably their respective associations with Sraosha and Vohu Manah), and are on occasion even mentioned together (Yasna 51.10), the two are not etymologically related.
The first month of the year of the Zoroastrian calendar is Farvadin, which is dedicated to and named after the Fravašis, the ancestral higher spirits.
"The underlying idea of the dedication" of the second month of the year to Asha Vahishta "may be revivification of the earth after the death of winter.
