it would not rise as high as the heavenly wisdom of the heavenly Mithra; or if the ears of the earthly man could hear a hundred times better, he would not hear so well as the heavenly Mithra who with a thousand devices of his, hears well and sees every man that tells a lie.[1] To such a one Mithra gives neither strength nor vigour, glory nor reward,[2] but on the contrary, he inflicts dire punishment. Into the hearts of all such he strikes terror, taking away the strength of their arms, fleetness from their feet, the sight from their eyes, and the hearing from their ears.[3] It is he that hurls down their heads as he deals them death.[4] Mithra keeps back harm and death from him who lies not unto him.[5] Neither the wound of the well-sharpened spear nor that of the well-darted arrow harm him whom Mithra comes to help.[6]
Mithra, the guardian of contracts. Ahura Mazda enjoins upon Zarathushtra not to break the contract that is entered into with the righteous or with the wicked, for Mithra stands for both the righteous and the wicked.[7] In his rôle of genius of light he guards the sanctity of oaths, and the word mithra in the Avesta is frequently used as a common noun, meaning 'contract.'[8] For that reason, he who violates the oath, whether it be with a believer or a non-believer, feels the visitations of the stern angel's wrath. The crime of the one who thus violates a contract is called Mithra-druj, 'deceiving Mithra.' Such a criminal is heavily punished, and his guilt falls upon the shoulders of his kinsmen for years in the next world, making them answerable for it by punishment.[9] The ethics of thus holding a man's family and kinsmen responsible for his guilt seems to be a relic of the primitive type of group morality.
Mithra as a war divinity. Incidental allusion has been made above to Mithra as the lord of hosts. For that reason it is easy to comprehend the fact that warring nations invoke Mithra for help before going into battle; and the lord of hosts sides with that army which excels in offering sacrifice.[10] When Mithra marches out amid the hostile armies on the battlefield, he throws confusion into the camp of the enemy that has offended him.
