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Bushyasta (Avesta, būšyāsta, būšiiąstā) is the Zoroastrian demon (daeva) of sloth. Her stock epithet is "the long-handed".
In scripture as well as in later tradition, Bushyasta (Middle Persian: Bushasp) is the hypostasis of laziness and idleness. She is the cause of procrastination as she strives to keep the righteous (ashavan) from performing productive tasks. She lulls the world back to sleep and "makes the faithful forget in slumber the hour of prayer."[1]
Although there are "as many demons as the sins that man commits" and Bushyasta is among the few daevas who are specifically mentioned in the texts, she is not among the fiends who are described in any great detail.[2]
- ^ Darmesteter 1880, p. lxvii.
- ^ Dhalla 1938, p. 405.