Do the Gāthās Describe a Ritual Course?

The idea that sacrifice reproduces (in both senses of the verb) the cosmic order has found wide acceptance and application among the students of Zoroastrianism. We find its first articulation in relation to the (supposed) Gāthic sacrifice in the work of Molé, who adopted the general idea from Eliade. For Molé, as for those who follow him, 'sacrifice figures the world'. The impetus for the adoption of the idea seems to have been the realization of the central role of ritual in Zoroastrianism. Despite their differences in the interpretation of various topics, all the current major approaches to the Avesta depart from the premise. Until recently, however, scholars who ascribe a cosmological or eschatological function to the Gāthās hardly went beyond its assertion. In the past few years a number of prominent Avesta scholars have attempted to argue the case in reference to and through detailed discussion of specific Gāthic passages. According to these arguments, each of the Gāthās, or the Gāthās in their entirety, describes and accompanies a daily sacrifice. Kellens interprets the first Gāthā (Ahunavaitī) as a dawn sacrifice whose purpose is to ensure the sunrise and thus the maintenance of the cosmic order. In Cantera's view, the Gāthās relate to the individual eschatology, or a rehearsal of it in which the soul of the sacrificer meets Ahura Mazdā by way of the daēnā- or the 'Vision'. In particular, he interprets the last Gāthā in this light. The consultation with the god takes place at the sunrise through the matrimonial possession of the 'Vision' personified as Pourucistā in Vahištoišti Gāthā. In the paper, I investigate the main evidence and arguments for these interpretations and will argue that they fail to show that the Gāthās are the text of a ritual scenario.