Gathas

The original teachings of Zarathushtra are compiled into hymns called the Gathas (songs). Zarathushtra composed his hymns in the Old Avestan language, a living language of his time. But Avestan was only a spoken language at that time, for it did not have a script and so there was no reading or writing. During Zarathushtra's time, priestly seers, who sought through study and meditation to reach direct communion with the divine, used poetic style of composition. The Gathas, like the Hindu Vedas, were composed in poetic rather than prose form because it is easier to memorize poetry than prose.

History

A dialect is a regional and temporal variation of a language. The Gathas, composed in Older (or Gathic) Avestan, have a dialect that is different to the prayers composed in Younger Avestan. The difference between Gathic and Younger Avestan is similar to what we notice today between British English and American English and, the Gujerati language spoken by the Parsis as compared to the Shuddh Gujerati spoken by the people of Gujerat in India.

The Prayer