Joyous Welcome Awaits The Righteous In Heaven
Heaven is the best and the shining and the all happy abode of the righteous. So bright is its light that words can describe it not, nor tongue can tell. Beyond compare is the bliss that the denizens of heaven enjoy. It is the place of eternal peace and rest and joy.
Ahura Mazda, the Great King of heaven, sits enthroned in Garonmana, the Abode of Song. In these realms of eternal light, stand round the resplendent throne of the lord God, the Holy Immortals and the Adorable Ones, the Amesha Spentas and the Yazatas, the Fravashis the unfailing friends and guardians of the saintly souls of the dead, all clad in robes of pure, white hue.
With the golden key in his hands, Asha guards the gates of heaven. Heaven is the gift of Asha to those who, wedded to his righteousness in life, walk the path of Righteousness, the only true path of life upon earth.
Heaven is my birthplace and to heaven will I make my homeward journey, when death liberates me from my earthly bonds. Steep is the ascent to heaven. With truthful and virtuous conduct will I lighten my soul that easily it can climb the highest heights of heaven. Faithful to the pious memory of the dead, I will pay them my dutiful homage and I will bring to them sacrificial offerings of good thoughts and good words and good deeds. In their love for me will they receive me with open arms, when death releases me for my return to my heavenly home. Vohu Manah, the premier of heaven, arrayed in dazzling bright, rises from his golden throne and welcomes every righteous soul with the words: “Hail Thee, Thou that cometh from the world, perishable to that which is imperishable.” Help me, I pray, to be one of the happy group of the righteous to join Thy heavenly hosts, Ahura Mazda!
There is heaven, Ahura Mazda, wherever Thou art. To be with Thee is to be in heaven. I need not then wait till death brings me to greet Thee. Verily earth itself is heaven for me, when Thou, in Thy goodness, dost take me in Thy fold. My heart is my heaven, when Thou dost abide there. When I walk with Thee, I tread the golden pavement of paradise. O, leave me not then, my lord, for garden is wilderness and nectar is poison and light is darkness, if Thou dost depart from me. Let me live with Thee while alive and let me live with Thee again when I am dead, in heaven in life, in heaven in death, always and ever in heaven, O Heavenly Father!
