Sraosha
Also known as: Srosh, Sorush
Mythological Narrative
The yazata of 'hearkening' to the divine word, who guards the world by night against the demons, protects the soul for three nights after death, and judges it at the Chinvat Bridge with Mithra and Rashnu; in the Shahnameh, as Sorush, a heavenly messenger.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## The hymn of Sraosha
The Srosh Yasht (Yasna 57) praises Sraosha as the first to worship Ahura Mazda with the sacred twigs and the first to sing the Gathas, and as a warrior who strikes down Aeshma, the demon of fury. He never sleeps, but watches over the world through the night, when the demons are strongest; the rooster, which wakes people for dawn prayer, is his bird.
## Guardian of the dead
In Zoroastrian tradition the soul of the dead remains near the body for three nights, protected by Sraosha, and prayers to him (the Srosh Baj) are recited during that time. On the fourth dawn the soul comes to the Chinvat Bridge, where Mithra, Sraosha, and Rashnu weigh its deeds.
## Sorush in the Shahnameh
Ferdowsi's Sorush is a heavenly messenger who appears at crucial moments: he warns King Kayumars of the demon who has killed his son, and he instructs Fereydun not to kill the defeated Zahhak but to chain him in Mount Damavand.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Sraosha.
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