246 THE EE 7. W. ST. CLAIE TISDALL_, D.D._, ON MITHRATSM. 



He is often closely associated with Ahura Mazda, as in the 

 Ri^-Veda wiih his equivalent Varuna. Thus we read : 



" Mithra, Ahura, the lofty ones, the imperishable, the 

 righteous, do we honour : . . . Mithra, lord of all the 

 provinces, do we lionour."* 



He aids Ahura Mazda in his long contest against Anro 

 Mainyus, the Hurtful Spirit," and all the evil beings which 

 assist him and his evil creatures. Since the Sun visits the 

 Underworld at night, Mithra was held to be one of the rulers 

 of the world of the dead. On the fourth day after death, 

 when the spirit of a deceased Zoroastrian reached the entrance 

 to the " Bridge of the Judge " {Cliinvat-peretu), which stretched 

 from the Alburz to the Chakat Daitih, he was there tried by 

 Mithra, Sraosha, and Eashnu, of whom the latter weighed his 

 deeds in a balance. If he passed this test, the bridge expanded 

 before him to the width of a parasang. His good deeds, 

 assuming the form of a beautiful girl, came to meet and 

 welcome him to Paradise, Gar6-nmana,f " the Home of Hyams," 

 the Heaven of Ahura Mazda. The wicked could not cross the 

 bridge, but were driven to torment.J 



High as was Mithra's position under the Zoroastrian reforma- 

 tion,§ it was apparently lower than it had been before 

 Zoroaster's time. He had previously been one of the chief 

 deities, perhaps the greatest and most popular of all : whereas 

 now he was not included among the Amesha-Spentas,|| who 



^ Yasht X, 145 :— 



Mithra Ahura berezanta 



;iithy^jahha ashavaiia yazamaide : . . . 



Mithrem vlspanam dahyunam 



dainhu-paitlm yazamaide. 



t In the Gathas called Garo-demdna. 



X Vide Vendidad xix, 100, 101 ; Arta Vlraf Namak, iii, 1 ; iv, 7 : v, 

 i, 2 ; xvii, 1 ; Blind xii, 7, etc. 



§ Before this reformation the religion of the Persians must have been 

 more similar to that of the Aryans in India. The names of many beings 

 worshipped in India remain in the Avesta, as Indra, Mithra (Skt. Mitra), 

 Airyaman (Skt. Aryauian), Aslia (Skt. Rita), Ahura (Skt. Asura), Apam 

 Napw (Skt. Apam Napat), Tistriya (Skt. Tishya ?), Raman (Skt. Eama), 

 Vayu, Vata, etc. But some of these have become demons {e.g. Indra, 

 who in the Avesta is the demon of untruthfulness) ; audc^eva (deus, ^eo's-), 

 *'god," has become daeva, "demon." 



II "Or Bounteous Immortals"; Ahura Mazda, Vohu Mano, Aslia Vahista, 

 Khshathra Vairya, Speiita Armaiti, Haurvatat and Ameretat. Ahura 

 Mazda was their chief, and was generally regarded as father of the rest, 

 Speiita Armaiti, his spouse (ta ca vispa, Ahura. thvvahmi, yL2izddi, Khshathrdi 

 a voyathra, Yasna xxxiv, 10), being his own daughter {Yasna, xlv, 4). In 

 Tasht xviii, 2, Ashi Vanuhi is said to be Ahura Mazda's daughter : in 



