Chinvat Bridge

The bridge of judgment

The Gathas already speak of the 'Bridge of the Separator' (cinvato peretu) where each soul is judged by its deeds. Later Avestan and Middle Persian texts describe the scene in detail. For three nights after death the soul remains near the body, guarded by Sraosha. On the fourth dawn it comes to the bridge, which stretches from the peak of Mount Hara to the heavens, and its deeds are weighed by Mithra, Sraosha, and Rashnu.

Maiden or hag

The soul of a righteous person is met by its own daena, its conscience or religious self, in the form of a beautiful maiden who says she is the embodiment of its good thoughts, words, and deeds; the bridge becomes broad, and the soul passes over to the House of Song. The wicked soul meets a hideous hag, the bridge narrows to the width of a blade, and the soul falls into the House of the Lie. The ninth-century Book of Arda Viraf describes a priest's visionary journey across the bridge to see heaven and hell.

A lasting image

The image of a narrow bridge over the abyss that the righteous cross and the wicked fall from appears also in Islamic tradition (the sirat), and its possible Iranian background is widely discussed.