268 
The corresponding account in a Fragment of the HadoTcht 
Nash states, — 
“ On the passing away of the third night [after death], 
As the dawn appears, the soul of the righteous man 
appears. 
Passing through plants and perfumes. 
To him there seems a wind, more sweet-scented than 
other winds. 
Advancing with this wind there appears to him what is 
his own religion, 
In the shape of a beautiful maiden. 
Then the soul of the righteous man spoke to her, 
f What maiden art thou, most beautiful of maidens V 
Then answered him his own religion : 
I am, 0 youth, thy good thoughts, good words, good 
deeds/ ” 
And then the righteous soul advances the four steps to per- 
fect consummation of bliss, the last being placed upon “ the 
eternal luminaries.”* 
14. The Ameshaspentas. 
The soul of the righteous is said to proceed to Aliuramazda 
and “ to the Ameshaspentas,” the Ameshaspends of the 
Parsis, whose name signifies “ Immortal Benefactors ;” and 
of whom, as we have seen,f the devout Ahuryan is a praiser. 
These personages may be fitly introduced by a very interesting 
quotation from Plutarch : “ Horomazes [Aliuramazda] having 
sprung from the purest light, but Areimanios [Angromainyush] 
from the darkness (ek tov %6(pov), they made war on each 
other : and the one [Horomazes] made six gods, the first 
(the god) of Good- mind (evvo lag). This is Vohumano, 
“ the Good-mind,” afterwards known as the angel Bahrnan, 
a personification of the nature of Aliuramazda, and who, as 
noticed,]; welcomes the righteous soul on its entry into 
Heaven. 
“ And the second (the god) of Truth (aXtjO dag ). ” This is 
Asha-vahista ; the most beautiful truth.” Asha, the equiva- 
lent of the Yedic rita, is the universal order of things, both 
material as in the kosmos ; and religious, as in fitting worship 
and ritual. Thus the term signifies order, righteousness, truth. 
Asha-vahista is a kind of personification of light, which is 
truth-revealing and displays the harmony of the All, in oppo- 
sition to darkness, which is essentially ignorant and chaotic. 
* Vide sec. 7. 
t Sup, sec. 10. 
X Sup. sec. 13. 
