Ahuna Vairya

Ahuna Vairya is the Avestan language name of Zoroastrianism's first of four Gathic Avestan formulas. The text, which appears in Yasna 27.13, is also known after its opening words yatha ahu vairyo. In Zoroastrian tradition, the formula is also known as the ahun(a)war.

Numerous translations and interpretations exist, but the overall meaning of the text remains obscure. The Ahuna Vairya and Ashem Vohu (the second most sacred formula at Yasna 27.14) are together "very cryptic formulas, of a pronounced magical character." The Ahunavaiti Gatha (chapters 28-34 of the Yasna), is named after the Ahuna Vairya formula.

In relation to the other formulas

Like the other three formulas (Ashem vohu, Yenghe hatam, Airyaman ishya), the Ahuna Vairya is part of the Gathic canon, that is, part of the group of texts composed in the more archaic dialect of the Avestan language. Together with the other three formulas, the Ahuna Vairya is part of the 'envelope' that liturgically encloses the Gathas, i.e. the hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself. One of the formulas, the Airyaman ishya (Yasna 54.1) follows the Gathas, while the other three formulas -- Ahuna Vairya, Ashem vohu and Yenghe hatam (together at Yasna 27.13-27.15) -- precede them.