Sraosha, known in later Persian as Srosh, Sarosh or Soroush, is a Zoroastrian yazata, a being worthy of worship, who personifies "hearing" in the sense of attentive obedience to divine teaching. He guards the world by night against demons, protects the soul after death and, with Mithra and Rashnu, presides over judgment at the Chinvat Bridge.
Sraosh (Sraosha) at a glance
| Also spelled | Sraosha, Srosh, Sarosh, Soroush |
|---|---|
| Meaning | "Hearing," "obedience," "observance"; often "conscience" |
| Class | Yazata (being worthy of worship) |
| Hymns | Yasna 57 (Srosh Yasht); Yasht 11 |
| Calendar | 17th day of each Zoroastrian month |
| Symbol | The rooster |
Name and meaning
The Avestan sraosha derives from a root meaning "to hear." It signifies hearing in the sense of heeding: attentiveness and obedience to the divine word. In English the name is often rendered "Obedience," "Observance" or "Conscience," and Zoroastrians sometimes call him the voice of conscience. Middle Persian texts write the name as Srosh, and later Persian forms include Sarosh and Soroush.
In the Gathas of Zarathustra, sraosha appears partly as a quality, the listening that opens a person to the teaching of Ahura Mazda, and partly as a divine figure. He is among the few yazatas named in the Gathas themselves.
Guardian by night
In the Younger Avesta, Sraosha becomes a powerful warrior-protector. The hymn devoted to him within the Yasna liturgy (Yasna 57, the Srosh Yasht) praises him as strong, righteous and watchful, the embodiment of sacred utterance, who never sleeps and who guards the creation of Ahura Mazda through the dark hours when demons are active. His chief opponent is Aeshma, the demon of wrath and violence, one of the daevas.
His sacred bird is the rooster, whose crowing at dawn was believed to drive away the demons of darkness and to call people to prayer. For this reason the rooster was treated with respect in Zoroastrian households. Sraosha is also associated with the correct performance of ritual and prayer, which he is said to protect.
Protector of the soul and the Chinvat Bridge
Zoroastrian tradition holds that the soul remains near the body for three days after death. During this time it is watched over by Sraosha, and prayers and ceremonies dedicated to him are performed by the family and priests. On the dawn of the fourth day the soul goes to the Chinvat Bridge, the "bridge of the separator."
There the soul's thoughts, words and deeds are judged by three divine beings: Mithra, guardian of covenant, Rashnu, who holds the scales of justice, and Sraosha. According to tradition, Sraosha accompanies the soul on its journey. For the righteous the bridge becomes broad and they pass to the House of Song; for the wicked it narrows. These beliefs connect to the wider Zoroastrian hope in the final renovation led by the Saoshyant.
Place in worship and calendar
The seventeenth day of each month in the Zoroastrian calendar is dedicated to Srosh, and prayers invoking him, such as the Srosh Baj, are part of daily devotion and of the rituals surrounding death. He is closely associated with Asha and with Ashi, the yazata of reward, and in later texts he is sometimes grouped with the Amesha Spentas as a heavenly leader.
Among the Parsis and Iranian Zoroastrians today, Sarosh remains one of the most frequently invoked divine beings, especially at the time of a death, when his protection of the departing soul is prayed for.
Soroush in Persian culture
After the Islamic conquest of Iran, the figure of Soroush survived in Persian literature and language. Classical Persian poets, including Hafez, refer to Soroush as a heavenly messenger bringing inspiration or good news, a role that some writers compared with that of the angel Gabriel. Sraosha has been described as perhaps the most popular of the lesser yazatas among Iranians, and Soroush is still a common Iranian given name. His endurance shows how Zoroastrian imagery continued to shape Iranian culture well beyond the community of believers.
Sraosha in scholarship
Scholars of Iranian religion have studied Sraosha as an example of how an abstract quality in the Gathas could develop into a personified divine being in later texts. His close ties to prayer, ritual correctness and the defense of the faithful have led some to describe him as a patron of the priesthood and of religious discipline. Comparisons have also been drawn between his role as guide of the soul and similar figures in other traditions, such as Hermes as escort of the dead in Greek religion, although such parallels are typological rather than historical.
Sources on Sraosha include the Avesta, particularly the Yasna and the Yashts, and Middle Persian works of the Sasanian and early Islamic periods, which preserve much of the tradition about death, the bridge and the soul's fate. Modern Zoroastrian communities continue to transmit these teachings through prayer and ritual rather than only through texts.
Related entries
Frequently asked questions
Who is Sraosha in Zoroastrianism?
Sraosha, later Srosh or Sarosh, is a yazata whose name means "hearing" or "obedience." He personifies attentive obedience to divine teaching, guards creation at night against demons, protects prayer and ritual, and watches over the soul after death. The seventeenth day of each Zoroastrian month is dedicated to him.
What happens at the Chinvat Bridge?
In Zoroastrian belief, the soul reaches the Chinvat Bridge on the fourth dawn after death. Its thoughts, words and deeds are judged by Mithra, Rashnu and Sraosha. For the righteous the bridge is wide and leads to the House of Song; for the wicked it becomes narrow, and they fall.
Why is the rooster sacred to Sraosha?
The rooster is Sraosha's sacred bird because its crowing at dawn was believed to drive away the demons of the night and to awaken people for morning prayer. Since Sraosha is the vigilant protector who fights darkness and guards devotion, the rooster became his natural emblem in Zoroastrian tradition.
Sources and further reading
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.