ECOLOGICAL ISSUES IN THE AVESTA: A LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37547/Keywords:
Avesta, Zoroastrianism, ecological ethics, sacred elements, environmental philosophy, Ahura Mazda, Asha, pollution, nature protection.Abstract
The Avesta, the sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism, represents one of the earliest systematic articulations of humanity's relationship with the natural world. The article investigates Avestan texts through their ecological components, which demonstrate that the ancient Iranian corpus encompasses a complete proto-ecological framework that defines four sacred elements — earth, water, fire, and air — as objects of veneration that must be kept safe from contamination. The article shows that Avestan ecological thought establishes modern environmental ethics through its primary Avestan sources and current scholarly analyses, which reveal a cosmological system that treats environmental destruction as both physical damage and spiritual violation.
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