Mitra

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This article is about the Vedic deity Mitra. For other divinities with similar names, see Mitra.
Mitra
God of friendship, oaths and the morning sun
Member of Adityas
File:Mithra et accessoires du culte.jpg
Wooden cult image of Mitra from Tajikistan
AffiliationVaruna, Deva, Adityas
AbodeDevaloka
MantraOm Mitraya Namah
WeaponSword
MountHorse
Personal Information
ConsortRevati
Children
Parents

Mitra (Sanskrit Mitrá) is a Hindu god and generally one of the Adityas (the sons of the goddess Aditi), though his role has changed over time. In the Mitanni inscription, Mitra is invoked as one of the protectors of treaties. In the Rigveda, Mitra appears primarily in the dvandva compound Mitra-Varuna, which has essentially the same attributes as the god Varuna alone,[1] e.g. as the principal guardian of ṛtá "Truth, Order". In the late Vedic texts and the Brahmanas, Mitra is increasingly associated with the light of dawn and the morning sun (while Varuna becomes associated with the evening, and ultimately the night). In the post-Vedic texts – in which Mitra practically disappears[2] – Mitra evolved into the patron divinity of friendship, and because he is "friend", abhors all violence, even when sacred.[3]

Onomastics

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Look up Mitra and मित्र in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra means "(that which) causes [-tra] to bind [mi-]", hence Sanskrit mitram, "covenant, contract, oath",[4] the protection of which is Mitra's role in both the Rigveda and in the Mitanni treaty. In post-Vedic India, the noun mitra came to be understood as "friend", one of the aspects of bonding and alliance. Accordingly, in post-Vedic India, Mitra became the guardian of friendships. In most Indian languages, the word mitr means 'friend'. The feminine form of the word in languages like Marathi or Hindi is maitrin or mitrā.

In the Vedas

In the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedic texts, Mitra is mostly indistinguishable from Varuna, together with whom Mitra forms a dvandva pair Mitra-Varuna,[lower-alpha 1] and in which Mitra-Varuna has essentially the same characteristics as Varuna alone.[1][5][6] Varuna is not only the greater of the two, but also – according to RV 2.12 – the second-greatest of the RigVedic gods after Indra.[1]: 134  Rigvedic hymns to Mitra-Varuna include RV 1.136, 137, 151–153, RV 5.62-72, RV 6.67, RV 7.60-66, RV 8.25 and RV 10.132. Mitra is addressed independently in one hymn only RV 3.59,[1] where he has hardly any traits that distinguish him from Varuna,[1] and owing to the scantiness of the information supplied in that hymn his separate character appears somewhat indefinite.[1]

Mitra as an independent personage is insignificant. ... One theory holds that the dvandvic union possibly represents an apotropaic application [of "friend"] to the otherwise frightening and dangerous Varuna."[7]

Combined descriptions

Mitra-Varuna are conceived as young,[1] they wear glistening garments,[1] are monarchs and guardians of the whole world[1] and their palace is golden,[1] with a thousand pillars and a thousand doors.[1] They support (and are frequently invoked next to) heaven and earth,[1] and the air between heaven and earth.[1] They are lords of rivers and seas,[1] and they send rain and refreshment from the sky.[1]

They wet the pastures with dew of clarified butter (ghee),[1] and rain abounding in heavenly water comes from them.[1] Their domain has streams that flow with honey,[1] and their pastures have cattle that yield refreshment.[1] They afflict those that disregard them with disease.[1] They are asuras,[1] and (like all asuras) wield their power through secret knowledge (māyā́),[1] which empowers them to make the sun traverse the sky,[1] and to obscure it with clouds.[1] Their eye is the sun,[1] and they mount their chariot in the highest heavens,[1] which they drive with the rays of the sun as with arms.[1] They have spies that are astute and undeceivable.[1] They are maintainers of order (ṛtá, “truth”), they are barriers against falsehood, which they punish.[1] They once both emitted their semen into a pitcher at the sight of nymph Urvashi, from which the sages Vashishtha and Agastya emerged.[8]

Asuras and devas

Although they are Asuras, Rigvedic Mitra-Varuna are also addressed as devas (e.g., RV 7.60.12). Mitra is also a deva (mitrasya...devasya, RV 3.59.6) in RV 3.59, which is the only Rigvedic hymn dedicated to Mitra independently from Mitra-Varuna. Despite the independent dedication, Mitra still retains much the same characteristics as Varuna in that hymn. Like Varuna, Mitra is lauded as a god following ṛta, order and stability and of observances (3.59.2b, vrata). Again like Varuna, Mitra is the sustainer of mankind (3.59.6a, said also of Indra in 3.37.4c) and of all gods (3.59.8c, devān vishvān). Elsewhere, when Mitra appears not paired with Varuna, it is often for the purpose of comparison, where other gods are lauded as being “like Mitra”, without the hymn being addressed to Mitra himself (Indra 1.129.10, 10.22.1–2 etc.; Agni 1.38.13 etc.; Soma 1.91.3; Vishnu 1.156.1). A characteristic unique to Mitra is his ability to marshal the people (yātayati, yātayáj-jana), an attribute that appears to be peculiarly his.[1]

Distinct characteristics

In some of their aspects, Varuna is lord of the cosmic rhythm of the sun and other celestial spheres, while Mitra brings forth the light at dawn, which was covered by Varuna the previous evening. Mitra is also independently identified as being force by which the course of the sun is regulated (ṛta); Savitr (RV 1.35) is identified with Mitra because of those regulations, and Vishnu (RV 1.154) takes his three steps by those regulations.[1] Agni is kindled before dawn to produce Mitra, and when kindled is Mitra.[1]

In the Atharvaveda, Mitra is again associated with sunrise, and is contrasted with Varuna's association with the evening.[1] In the Brahmanas, the exegetical commentaries on the Vedas, the associations with morning and evening lead Mitra to be connected with the day, and Varuna with night.[1] Also in Shatapatha Brahmana, Mitra-Varuna is analyzed as "the Counsel and the Power" – Mitra being the priesthood (Purohita), and Varuna the royal power (Rājān).

In Post-Vedic texts

Mitra appears in post-Vedic Hindu scriptures like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Puranas. However, his role gets significantly reduced and little is mentioned about him other than him being a solar deity and an Aditya, (the sons of the goddess Aditi, fathered by the sage Kashyapa).[9][10] According to Bhagavata Purana, Revati (lit. 'prosperity') is the name of Mitra's wife and the couple has three sons—Utsarga, Arishtha and Pippala.[11]

The pairing of Mitra with Varuna is still present;[10] a yajna dedicated to them by Vaivasvata Manu is mentioned in these scriptures. An instance of rivalry between Varuna and Mitra also occurs:

Both Mitra and Varuna became enamored of the celestial nymph Urvashi, and Varuna was moved to emit his seed into a sacred pitcher. Mitra was promised her courtship, but she was more interested in Varuna. This caused Mitra's seed to fall from her womb into the same sacred pitcher and he cursed her for lack of fidelity. From the mixed seed, the seers Vashishtha and Agastya were born, who are considered to be the sons of both Mitra and Varuna.[8][10]

Other significant mentions about Mitra include the legend of Prithvi, where he acted as milkman of the gods to milk the cow-form of the earth goddess; his fight with Praheti in the Devasura war; and his worship by Pandava King Yudhishthira and Akrura.[12]Template:Full citation

In inscriptions

Indic Mitra is first attested in a 14th century BCE Mitanni inscription in which an Indo-Aryan king of Mitanni invokes the gods Mitra, Indra, Varuna, and the Nasatyas as guarantors of his sworn obligations.[13]

In living tradition

In the Atharvaveda, Mitra is associated with sunrise, and accordingly, Mitra is worshipped in the sunrise prayers of the Hindus. The morning upasthaana prayer, recited to the risen sun after contemplation on the sacred Gayatri mantra, is a collection of Vedic verses addressing Mitra.[citation needed]

Mitra is co-worshipped in the Mitrotsavam Hindu festival of the Sun god Surya, whose orderly traversal of the sky is ensured by Mitra (e.g. RV 1.35) and Mitra-Varuna (e.g. RV 8.25.8).

Mitra is also worshiped in Bengal in the month of Agrahayan (November- December). Worship begins on Kartik Sankranti, the last day of the Bengali calendar month Kartik; and after worshiping the Mitra Dev (locally called Itu Thakur) for the full month, it[clarification needed] is abducted into water on the day of Agrahayan Sankranti.

This puja is celebrated like a Vrata especially by women. On the first day, adherents bring a clay pot full of soil and plant many kind of seeds and plant roots in it. Every Sunday of the month they worship and sprinkle water on it. On the final day they abduct Itu Thakur in water before sunset.[clarification needed]


Mitra (Proto-Indo-Iranian: *mitrás) is the name of an Indo-Iranian divinity from which the names and some characteristics of Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra derive.

The names (and occasionally also some characteristics) of these two older figures were subsequently also adopted for other figures:

Indian Religious Texts

File:Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg
Look up Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/mitra in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Both Vedic Mitra and Avestan Mithra derive from an Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra-, generally reconstructed to have meant "covenant, treaty, agreement, promise." This meaning is preserved in Avestan miθra "covenant." In Sanskrit and modern Indo-Aryan languages, mitra means "friend," one of the aspects of bonding and alliance.

The Indo-Iranian reconstruction is attributed[15] to Christian Bartholomae,[16] and was subsequently refined by A. Meillet (1907), who suggested derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- "to exchange."

A suggested alternative derivation was *meh "to measure" (Gray 1929). Pokorny (IEW 1959) refined Meillet's *mei as "to bind." Combining the root *mei with the "tool suffix" -tra- "that which [causes] ..." (also found in man-tra-, "that which causes to think"), then literally means "that which binds," and thus "covenant, treaty, agreement, promise, oath" etc. Pokorny's interpretation also supports "to fasten, strengthen", which may be found in Latin moenia "city wall, fortification", and in an antonymic form, Old English (ge)maere "border, boundary-post".

Meillet and Pokorny's "contract" did however have its detractors. Lentz (1964, 1970) refused to accept abstract "contract" for so exalted a divinity and preferred the more religious "piety." Because present-day Sanskrit mitra means "friend," and New Persian mihr means "love" or "friendship," Gonda (1972, 1973) insisted on a Vedic meaning of "friend, friendship," not "contract".

Meillet's analysis also "rectified earlier interpretations"[15] that suggested that the Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra- had anything to do with the light or the sun. When H. Lommel suggested[17] that such an association was implied in the Younger Avesta (since the 6th century BCE), that too was conclusively dismissed.[18] Today, it is certain that "(al)though Miθra is closely associated with the sun in the Avesta, he is not the sun" and "Vedic Mitra is not either."[15]

Old Persian Miθra or Miθra – both only attested in a handful of 4th-century BCE inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and III – "is generally admitted [to be] a borrowing from the Avesta,"[19] the genuine Old Persian form being reconstructed as *Miça. (Kent initially suggested Sanskrit[20] but later[19] changed his mind). Middle Iranian myhr (Parthian, also in living Armenian usage) and mihr (Middle Persian), derive from Avestan Mithra.

Greek/Latin "Mithras," the focal deity of the Greco-Roman cult of Mithraism is the nominative form of vocative Mithra. In contrast to the original Avestan meaning of "contract" or "covenant" (and still evident in post-Sassanid Middle Persian texts), the Greco-Roman Mithraists probably thought the name meant "mediator." In Plutarch's 1st-century discussion of dualistic theologies, Isis and Osiris (46.7) the Greek historiographer provides the following explanation of the name in his summary of the Zoroastrian religion: Mithra is a meson ("in the middle") between "the good Horomazdes and the evil Aremanius [...] and this is why the Pérsai call the Mediator Mithra". Zaehner[21] attributes this false etymology to a role that Mithra (and the sun) played in the now extinct branch of Zoroastrianism known as Zurvanism.

Indian Mitra

Main article: Mitra (Vedic)

Vedic Mitra is a prominent deity of the Rigveda distinguished by a relationship to Varuna, the protector of rta as described in hymn 2, Mandala 1 of Rigveda. Together with Varuna, he counted among the Adityas, a group of solar deities, also in later Vedic texts. Vedic Mitra is the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings.

The first extant record of Indo-Aryan [22] Mitra, in the form mi-it-ra-, is in the inscribed peace treaty of c. 1400 BC between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van in Asia Minor. Mitra appears there together with four other Indic divinities as witnesses and keepers of the pact.

Iranian Mithra

File:Taq-e Bostan - High-relief of Ardeshir II investiture.jpg
Mithra (left) in a 4th-century investiture sculpture at Taq-e Bostan in western Iran.
Main article: Mithra

In Zoroastrianism, Mithra is a member of the trinity of ahuras, protectors of asha/arta, "truth" or "[that which is] right". Mithra's standard appellation is "of wide pastures" suggesting omnipresence. Mithra is "truth-speaking, ... with a thousand ears, ... with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake." (Yasht 10.7). As preserver of covenants, Mithra is also protector and keeper of all aspects of interpersonal relationships, such as friendship and love.

Related to his position as protector of truth, Mithra is a judge (ratu), ensuring that individuals who break promises or are not righteous (artavan) are not admitted to paradise. As also in Indo-Iranian tradition, Mithra is associated with (the divinity of) the sun but originally distinct from it. Mithra is closely associated with the feminine yazata Aredvi Sura Anahita, the hypostasis of knowledge.

File:Mithra&Antiochus.jpg
Mithras-Helios, in Phrygian cap with solar rays, with 1st century BC Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. Found at Mount Nemrut, in present-day eastern Turkey.

Mithra in Commagene

There is a deity Mithra mentioned on monuments in Commagene. According to the archaeologist Maarten Vermaseren, 1st century BC evidence from Commagene demonstrates the "reverence paid to Mithras" but does not refer to "the mysteries".[lower-alpha 3][23]

In the colossal statuary erected by King Antiochus I (69–34 BC) at Mount Nemrut, Mithras is shown beardless, wearing a Phrygian cap,[24][25] and was originally seated on a throne alongside other deities and the king himself.[26] On the back of the thrones there is an inscription in Greek, which includes the name Apollo-Mithras-Helios in the genitive case (Ἀπόλλωνος Μίθρου Ἡλίου).[27]

Vermaseren also reports about a Mithras cult in Fayum in the 3rd century BC.[lower-alpha 4][28] R.D. Barnett has argued that the royal seal of King Saussatar of Mitanni from c. 1450 BC depicts a tauroctonous Mithras.[lower-alpha 5][29]

Buddhist Maitreya

Main article: Maitreya

Maitreya is sometimes represented seated on a throne, and venerated both in Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from the ancient Iranian deity Mithra. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names. According to Tiele (1917) "No one who has studied the Zoroastrian doctrine of the Saoshyants or the coming saviour-prophets can fail to see their resemblance to the future Maitreya."[30]

Paul Williams claims that some Zoroastrian ideas like Saoshyant influenced the beliefs about Maitreya , such as expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation.[citation needed] Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya .

File:0 Relief représentant Mithra - Louvre-Lens (2).JPG
Relief of Roman Mithras, in a tauroctony scene.

Graeco-Roman Mithras

Main article: Mithraic mysteries

The name Mithra was adopted by the Greeks and Romans as Mithras, chief figure in the mystery religion of Mithraism. At first identified with the Sun-god Helios by the Greeks, the syncretic Mithra-Helios was transformed into the figure Mithras during the 2nd century BC, probably at Pergamon. This new cult was taken to Rome around the 1st century BC and was dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. Popular among the Roman military, Mithraism was spread as far north as Hadrian's Wall and the Germanic Limes.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ In Sanskrit dvandva compounds, the shorter name always appears first, regardless of seniority, hence 'Mitra-Varuna' even though Varuna is the more important of the two.
  2. ↑ "The Iranian Manicheans adopted the name of the Zoroastrian god Mithra (Av. Miθra; Mid. Pers. Mihr) and used it to designate one of their own deities. [...] The name appears in Middle Persian as Mihr (myhr, which does not stem from the genuine Old Persian form *miça-), in Parthian as Mihr (myhr) and in Sogdian as Miši (myšyy; Sundermann, 1979a, p. 10, sub 3/11.2). The spellings mytr, mytrg, however, are not variants of the name Mithra, they rather denote Maitreya."[14]
  3. ↑ Other early evidence of the first decades B.C. refers only to the reverence paid to Mithras without mentioning the mysteries: Examples which may be quoted are the tomb inscriptions of King Antiochus I of Commagene at Nemrud Dagh, and of his father Mithridates at Arsameia on the Orontes. Both the kings had erected on vast terraces a number of colossal statues seated on thrones to the honour of their ancestral gods. At Nemrud we find in their midst King Antiochus (69–34 BC and in the inscription Mithras is mentioned ...[23]
  4. ↑ According to Vermaseren, there was a Mithras cult in the Fayum in the third century BC, and according to Pettazzoni the figure of Aion has its iconographic origin in Egypt.[28]
  5. ↑ I ... see these figures, or some of them, in the impression of the remarkable royal seal of King Saussatar of Mitanni (c. 1450 BC great-great-grandfather of Kurtiwaza): The only royal Mitannian seal that we possess. ... Mithra tauroctonos – characteristically kneeling on the bull to despatch it. We can even see also the dog and snake ... below him are twin figures, one marked by a star, each fighting lions ... below a winged disc between lions and ravens, stands a winged, human-headed lion,&nbspp;...[29]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 MacDonell, Arthur Anthony (1917). A Vedic Reader. Oxford University Press. pp. 78–83, 118–119, 134.
  2. ↑ Visuvalingam, Elizabeth-Chalier (1989). "Bhairava's royal Brahmanicide". Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees: Essays on the guardians of popular Hinduism. New York, NY: State University Press. p. 200.
  3. ↑ Dumézil, Georges (1990). Mitra-Varuna: An essay on two Indo-European representations of sovereignty. Cambridge: Zone Books. ISBN 0-942299-13-2.
  4. ↑ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996). Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan] (in Deutsch). Vol. II. Heidelberg: Winter. pp. 354–355.
  5. ↑ Lüders, Heinrich (1951). Alsdorf, Ludwig (ed.). Varuna und das Wasser [Varuna and the Water(s)]. Varuna (in Deutsch). Vol. I. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
  6. ↑ Lüders, Heinrich (1959). Alsdorf, Ludwig (ed.). Varuna und das Rta [Varuna and the Rta]. Varuna (in Deutsch). Vol. II. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
  7. ↑ York, Michael (2005). "Mitra". In Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; Foulston, Lynn; York, Michael (eds.). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge. p. 503.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Goodman, Hananya (2012-02-01). Between Jerusalem and Benares: Comparative studies in Judaism and Hinduism [archive]. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-0437-0.
  9. ↑ Williams, George M. (2003). Handbook of Hindu Mythology [archive]. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC Clio. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-85109-650-3 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Hopkins, Edward Washburn (June 1968). Epic Mythology [archive]. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8196-0228-2.
  11. ↑ Daniélou, Alain (Dec 1991). The Myths and Gods of India [archive]. Princeton Bollingen Series. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-59477-733-2. The classic work on Hindu polytheism
  12. ↑ Cologne Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index
  13. ↑ Læssøe, Jørgen (1963). People of Ancient Assyria: Their inscriptions and correspondence. Routledge. p. 86.
  14. ↑ Sundermann, Werner (2002). "Mithra; iii. in Manichaeism" [archive]. Encyclopedia Iranica.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Schmidt, Hans-Peter (2006), "Mithra i: Mithra in Old Indian and Mithra in Old Iranian" [archive], Encyclopaedia Iranica, New York: iranica.com (accessed April 2011)
  16. ↑ Bartholomae, Christian (1904), Altiranisches Wörterbuch, Strassburg: Trübner (fasc., 1979, Berlin: de Gruyter), at column 1183.
  17. ↑ Lommel, Herman (1970), "Die Sonne das Schlechteste?", in Schlerath, Bernfried (ed.), Zarathustra, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, pp. 360–376
  18. ↑ Gershevitch, Ilya (1975), "Die Sonne das Beste", in Hinnells, John R. (ed.), Mithraic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies., vol. 1, Manchester: UP/Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 68–89
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Ware, James R.; Kent, Roland G. (1924), "The Old Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 55, The Johns Hopkins University Press: 52–61, doi:10.2307/283007 [archive], JSTOR 283007 [archive] at p. 55.
  20. ↑ Kent, Ronald G. (1953), Old Persian: Grammar, Lexicon, Texts (2nd ed.), New Haven: American Oriental Society, §78/p. 31b
  21. ↑ Zaehner, Richard Charles (1955), Zurvan, a Zoroastrian dilemma, Oxford: Clarendon at pp. 101–102.
  22. ↑ Thieme, Paul (1960), "The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties", Journal of the American Oriental Society, 80 (4): 301–317, doi:10.2307/595878 [archive], JSTOR 595878 [archive]. pp. 301–317.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Vermaseren, M.J. (1963). Mithras: The secret god. London, UK: Chatto and Windus. p. 29.
  24. ↑ Hopfe, Lewis M. (1994). "Archaeological indications on the origins of Roman Mithraism". In Hopfe, Lewis M. (ed.). Uncovering Ancient Stones: Essays in memory of H. Neil Richardson. Eisenbrauns. pp. 147–158, esp. 156.
  25. ↑ Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef, ed. (1956). Corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum religionis mithriacae. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. CIMRM 29. Head of a beardless Mithras in Phrygian cap, point of which is missing.
  26. ↑ Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956). Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. CIMRM 28. The gods are represented in a sitting position on a throne and are: Apollo-Mithras (see below); Tyche-Commagene; Zeus-Ahura-Mazda; Antiochus himself and finally Ares-Artagnes.
  27. ↑ Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956). Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. CIMRM 32, verse 55.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Barnett, R.D. (1975). Hinnells, John R. (ed.). Mithraic Studies. First International Congress of Mithraic Studies. Vol. II. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press ND. p. 467 ff.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Barnett, R.D. (1975). Hinnells, John R. (ed.). Mithraic Studies. First International Congress of Mithraic Studies. Vol. II. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press ND. pp. 467–468.
  30. ↑ Tiele, C.P. (1917). The Religion of the Iranian Peoples [archive]. Translated by Nariman, G.K. Bombay: The Parsi Publishing Co. p. 159.

See also

Footnotes

References

https://talageri.blogspot.com/2023/10/persian-urdu-words-and-mitra-universal.html [archive]

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