Khordeh Avesta, meaning 'little, or lesser, or small Avesta', is the name given to two different collections of Zoroastrian religious texts. One of the two collections includes the other and takes its name from it.
In a narrow sense, the term applies to a particular manuscript tradition that includes only the five Nyayesh texts, the five Gah texts, the four Afrinagans, and five introductory chapters that consist of quotations from various passages of the Yasna.[1] More generally, the term may also be applied to Avestan texts other than the lengthy liturgical Yasna, Visperad and Vendidad. The term then also extends to the twenty-one yashts and the thirty Siroza texts, but does not usually encompass the various Avestan language fragments found in other works.
In the 19th century, when the first Khordeh Avesta editions were printed, the selection of Avesta texts described above (together with some non-Avestan language prayers) became a book of common prayer for lay people.[2] In addition to the texts mentioned above, the published Khordeh Avesta editions also included selections from the Yasna necessary for daily worship, such as the Ahuna Vairya and Ashem Vohu. The selection of texts is not fixed, and so publishers are free to include any text they choose. Several Khordeh Avesta editions are quite comprehensive, and include Pazend prayers, modern devotional compositions such as the poetical or semi-poetical Gujarati monagats, or glossaries and other reference lists such as dates of religious events.
^Kellens, Jean (1983), "Avesta", Encyclopædia Iranica, vol. 3, New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 35–44.
^Boyce, Mary (1984), Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, Manchester UP, p. 33.
KhordehAvesta, meaning 'little, or lesser, or small Avesta', is the name given to two different collections of Zoroastrian religious texts. One of the...
lesser texts are conventionally called KhordehAvesta or "Little Avesta" texts. When the first KhordehAvesta editions were printed in the 19th century...
Amesha Spentas, Haurvatat does not have a standing epithet that in later Avesta texts becomes an element of her proper name. Already in the Gathas, Haurvatat...
called the KhordehAvesta, which contains the Yashts and other important hymns, prayers, and rituals. The rest of the materials from the Avesta are called...
Gathas in the Yasna. It is also at the end of most of the prayers in the KhordehAvesta, except a certain few, most notably the Fravarane. In the Yasna, the...
like Ormazd. This is significantly different from what is found in the Avesta (where Mazda's stock epithet is dadvah, "Creator", implying Mazda is the...
Yasna 32.13, the abode of the wicked is acishtem manah. In the Younger Avesta, Akem Manah is unambiguously a demonic entity, an auxiliary of Angra Mainyu...
effectively defines ahura by defining what ahura is not. In the Younger Avesta, three divinities of the Zoroastrian pantheon are repeatedly identified...
the place where Zarathustra received the religion from Ahura Mazda. The Avesta also names it as the first of the "sixteen perfect lands" that Ahura Mazda...
Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition...
pre-Arm. *Zuradašt". There is no consensus on the dating of Zoroaster. The Avesta gives no direct information about it, while historical sources are conflicting...
of the Avesta proper. Yasht 11 has survived in a fragment of the Hadhokht Nask, which is today part of the KhordehAvesta, the "little Avesta." In Yasna...
one in which Alexander destroys a copy of the Avesta, and another in which the Greeks translate the Avesta into their own language. Book 4, the shortest...
the father of Fereydun. He is mentioned as the father of Fereydun in the Avesta, having been the "second man" to prepare Ahura-Mazda for the "corporeal...
Amesha Spentas, Ameretat does not have a standing epithet that in later Avesta texts becomes an element of her proper name. Already in the Gathas, Ameretat...
modern times, the wide availability of printed literature like the KhordehAvesta had a noticeable effect on Zoroastrian prayer practice. In general,...
creation was accomplished. This fundamental doctrine is only alluded to in the Avesta, but is systematically described in later Middle Persian language texts...
Andrés-Toledo 2015. Yasna Yasna ī Rapiθwin Vīsprad Vīdēvdād Vīštāsp Yašt KhordehAvesta Niyāyišn Gāh Āfrīnagān Sīh‐rōzag Yašts (a group of 21 hymns, such as...
The Vedic god Indra may correspond to the Verethragna of the Zoroastrian Avesta; In Vedic Sanskrit vārtraghna- is predominantly an epithet of Indra, which...
exegetical glosses, paraphrases, commentaries and translations of the Avesta's texts. The term zand is a contraction of the Avestan language word zainti...
number of real-world mountains in Iran and neighboring regions. In the Avesta, Mount Hara is the home of Mithra. In later texts like the Bundahishn, it...
receive a post resurrection paradise. The Zoroastrian holy book, called the Avesta, was written in the Avestan language, which is closely related to Vedic...
names from oral tradition, there are numerous variations of 'Arash'. In the Avesta the name appears as 'Erekhsha' (Ǝrəxša) "of the swift arrow, having the...
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