Mithrem vouru gaoyaoitim yazamaide.
We revere Meher the possessor of wide pastures.

THEME:

Friendship

May Mehr (Angel of Justice and Light) grant you power to hear with justice,

Further Reading

The Lord of Wisdom (Ahura Mazda) creates humans to help other divinities to gradually overcome evil and restore world to its original perfect state. Therefore, the departed soul will be judged on what it has done to aid the cause of goodness. Attaining paradise becomes possible for all. Women as well as men, priests warriors servants and masters could all go to heaven. (According to ancient Persian tradition, when a person dies, the soul remains by the body for three days. On the fourth, it travels to the Chinvat Bridge (the Bridge of the Separator, also call Al-Sirat), accompanied by protecting spiritual beings. This bridge is "finer than a hair and sharper than a sword" and spans a deep chasm teeming with monsters. On the other side of the bridge is the gateway to paradise. DEMONS guard the foot of the bridge.) Chinvat Bridge* becomes a place for moral judgment. People are judged not only on the basis of their offerings, prayers and sacrifices, but also on their ethical achievements.The Gathas (Songs of Zoroaster) explain that the Bridge of the Separator "becomes narrow for the wicked," whereas the holy can easily pass unharmed. (In the Gathas, the fair god Rashnu is named as a judge who helps determine who is worthy of salvation and who must be damned.) All infidels (nonbelievers) fall into hell, which the prophet says has been created especially for the "followers of the lie."

Mithra presides over the tribunal; accompanied by Sraosha (Soroush) and Rashnu (Eyzad of Justice), who holds the scales of justice. Mithra, Sraosha and Rashnu, will judge all good (or bad!) Thoughts, Words and Deeds. Mithra takes his share by judging our Thoughts . In the Indian Veda the spirits are brought in by two dogs (messengers of Yama / Jam in Persian). In Avesta the two dogs await the spirits at the Chinvat Bridge. Dogs are still venerated by Zoroastrians and if possible are present at their funerals. Once judged, if the scales are heavier on the good side, the soul is lead by a beautiful maiden, the personification of its own conscience (‘daena’) to the paradise. If the scales sink on the bad side, the bridge becomes narrow, sharp and a horrid hag grabs the soul and plunges with it down to hell. Souls who are unsuccessful in crossing the Chinvat Bridge suffer these torments until AHRIMAN, the evil god, is destroyed by the good god Orzmahd during the LAST JUDGMENT. As this time, lost spirits are restored to the truth since "the lie" as been eradicated, or they face final ANNIHILATION. The concepts of hell, a place of torment presided over by Angra Mainyu (Ahriman, Shaytan in the Koran); heaven, resurrection and individual judgment are Zoroaster’s own.

SIROZAH XXVII :

MIHIR

We sacrifice unto Mithra, the Lord of the wide Pastures, Who has a thousand ears and a thousand eyes.