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Iranian Astrology & Cosmology
GARÔDMÂN
"THE HEAVEN"
By: William W. Malandra
The Pahlavi name for heaven and paradise, derived from GAv garô.dəmâma- (lit. "house of song"; cf. YAv garô.nmâna-, Man. Mid. Pers. gr`sm`n, Prth. grdm`n, Sogd. °r’rδmn). It frequently appears as a synonym for wahišt, paradise, e.g., in hendiadys wahišt ud garôdmân (Pahlavi Texts, p. 151) or in the phrase wahištîg…pad garôdmân î Ohrmazd "resident of Paradise in Ohrmazd's garôdmân" (Wištâsp Yt. 42). But in the other contexts garôdmân is used to designate specifically the highest station of heaven, while wahišt is the general term covering all the "stations" of heaven. Accordingly, Ardâ Wîrâz (q.v.) is shown dušox (hell), hammistagân (limbo), and wahišt through which he ascends in four steps successively from the star (=humat) to the moon (=hûxt) to the sun (=huwaršt) stations and finally gardômân (Chap. 7 ff.). Another synonym for gardômân is anagr rošnîh or simply anagrân (the infinite lights; e.g., Mênôg î xrad 94). In the Pahlavi literature gardômân is described as the radiant pleasant, peaceful, sweet-smelling abode of Ohrmazd, the Amahrspands (see AMEŠA SPENTA) and the deities, to which the souls of the pious go after death and to which all souls will go after the completion of the Frašgird (q.v.). For the most part the language used to describe gardômân is concrete and evokes images of a sublime earthly existence where one has all the best food and drink, where one can sit upon one's golden throne or recline upon a soft couch with cushions, where one is reunited with loved ones and can enjoy music and other forms of entertainment.
Bibliography
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P. Gignoux, "L'enfer et le paradis d'apreàs les source pehlevi," JA, 256, 1968, pp. 219-45, with references to primary and secondary sources |
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Source/Extracted From: Encyclopaedia Iranica
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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