On the two Epithets of Mithra in Yasht 10.112

Abstract

The article is devoted to clarifying the meaning of the compounds ərəzatō.frašnəm and zaraniiō.vārəθman that are used in Yasht 10.112. They are hapax legomena for the Avestan lexicon corpus and contain as the first parts the name of the precious metals: ‘silver’ (ərəzata-) and ‘gold’ (zaraniia-). An unambiguous translation of these compounds does not exist. The most controversial is the translation of the second part of the first compound: frašna-/frasna-, in which the scholars see either a silver headdress or a silver weapon (spear or pike). In Iranian representations, Mithra embodied the sunshine and rays and was also associated with the transitions between night and day – sunrise and sunset (Yasht 6.5; 10.125, 142). In this regard, there are no sufficient grounds to discern in the ərəzatō.frašnəm and zaraniiō.vārəθmanəm compounds the military vocabulary. According to the authors, one should see in these epithets an indication of the color aspect of celestial body, which is expressed through comparison with ‘silver’ and ‘gold’. The arguments presented in the article give grounds to interpret the considered epithets of Mithra as designation of the radiance and brilliance of the sun and offer an understanding of his image as a deity having silver rays in the form of darts (Av. frašna-, Pehl. plš, *fraš) and surround/protection (aureole) made of a golden light. Based on this, authors offer translation for ərəzatō.frašnəm and zaraniiō.vārəθmanəm in Yasht 10.112 as ‘silver-darted, gold-surrounded’. Presumably, these qualities, reflected in the considered epithets, were visually embodied in the iconography of Mithra, where he is shown with a nimbus and pointed rays emanating from it, indicating its luminiferous emanations.