ĀDĀ

 

ĀDĀ “requital” in Avestan. In the Gāthās the term implies a two-way process. It may proceed from Ahura Mazdā to the faithful: “Come to me, a good requital, and give support to me” ( Y. 49.1); “listen to me, have mercy on me, when there is any requital” (Y. 33.11). In the third occurrence, it is supposed to go from the faithful to Ahura Mazdā: “Receive, O Wise One, strength through good requital” (Y. 33.12). No clear eschatological connection is implied in any of these passages, whereas the term ādāna (Y. 30.7) is almost certainly connected with the hereafter: “He (Ahura Mazdā) shall be the first (to protect the faithful) during the requitals with the (molten) iron.” Cf. a similar use of ādā in the plural in the Gāthā of the Seven Chapters: āhū aṱ paitī adāhū mazdā ahura . . . rāitī . . . miždəm (Y. 40.1) “but at these requitals, O Wise One, by vouchsafing (our) salary . . .” Two occurrences (Y. 35.4 and 48.1) are illusory. In the Later Avesta, Ādā is clearly personified. She is associated with Aši: “good requitals and good rewards” (Y. 52.3); and she is invoked with Aši, Čišti, and Drvatāt (Y. 68.21).

Bibliography:

AirWb., cols. 320-21.

Gray, Foundations, p. 130.

S. Insler, The Gâthâs of Zarathustra (Acta Iranica 8), Tehran and Liège, 1975, pp. 53, 95.

H. Humbach, Die Gathas des Zarathustra, Heidelberg, 1959, I, pp. 103, 142.

(J. Duchesne-Guillemin)

Originally Published: December 15, 1983

Last Updated: July 22, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 4, p. 431

Cite this entry:

J. Duchesne-Guillemin, “ĀDĀ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/4, p. 431; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ada-requital-in-avestan (accessed on 7 January 2014).