Amesha Spenta

Amesha Spenta (Aməša Spənta) is an Avestan language term for a class of divine entities in Zoroastrianism and literally means "Immortal (which is) holy" The name Later Middle Persian variations of the term include the contraction 'Ameshaspand' as well as the specifically Zoroastrian 'Mahraspand' and 'Amahraspand'.

As the great "divine sparks"

Significantly more common than the non-specific meaning of Amesha Spenta (see below) is a restrictive use of the term to refer to the great six "divine sparks" of Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrian tradition, these are the first six emanations of the noncreated Creator, through whom all subsequent creation was accomplished. This fundamental doctrine is only alluded to in the Avesta, but is systematically described in later middle Persian language texts, in particular in the Bundahishn (3.12), an 11th or 12th century work that recounts the Zoroastrian view of creation.

The expression "Amesha Spenta" does not occur in the Gathas, but "it was probably coined by Zoroaster himself. Spenta is a characteristic word of his revelation, meaning 'furthering, strengthening, bounteous, holy'." The oldest attested use of the term is in Yasna 39.3, which is part of the Yasna Haptanghaiti and in which the two elements of the name occur in reverse order, that is, as Spenta Amesha. Like all other verses of the Yasna Haptanghaiti, Yasna 39.3 is also in Gathic Avestan and is approximately as old as the hymns attributed to Zoroaster himself.