Zahra Zahra Riahizamin; Tahereh Foadi
Abstract
Vāyu is one of the most mysterious Indo-Iranian gods that despite other gods of the Mazdāyasnā religion, conceptualizes the dual confrontation of life and death. Mention has been ...
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Vāyu is one of the most mysterious Indo-Iranian gods that despite other gods of the Mazdāyasnā religion, conceptualizes the dual confrontation of life and death. Mention has been made of Vāyu in Rig-Veda, Avesta and Pahlavi texts. By examining the reflection of the divine and devilish faces of it within the aforementioned texts and later works such as national epics, one can understand the endurabilityof this ancient god in the form of ritual-mythical patterns of prayer, combat and death. This research is descriptive-analytical. By investigating library sources and by finding Vāyu's function in religious texts and its reflection in epic poems, the researchers argue that despite the presence of the simple word of "wind" in epics, one must pay a closer attention to the deeper semantic layers of the word and what lies in its mythical-semantic roots. After an examination of various evidences in epic poems, one comes to the conclusion that wind is not merely a representative of a natural phenomenon; in fact, Vāyu has kept its mythical function among epic works especially Shāhnāmah; and has manifested itself through three main roles:
1-The god of war and the multifunctional god of warriors (accompanying heroes in their battles, helping the army, assisting heroes to cross the sea, overthrowing flags and supporting the king),
2- The messenger of death.
3- Tīsgtar's assistant in doing such acts as wizardry with the wind and putting heroes into test by exposing them to wind and coldness.
Keywords: God of war, Wind, Praying, National Epic Poems, Vāyu.
