Sraosha

“Sraosha, the holy, the strong, the embodied — he who listens to all prayers and guards the soul in the three nights after death.”

Lore: Sraosha (“Obedience” or “Hearkening”) is the divine listener — the Yazata who hears all prayers and carries them to Ahura Mazda. He is the special opponent of Aeshma Daeva (wrath), fighting fury with obedience and discipline. Most importantly, Sraosha is the guardian of the soul after death — for the three nights after a person dies, Sraosha stands watch over the soul, protecting it from demonic assault as it awaits judgment at the Chinvat Bridge. He is the first being the soul meets after death.

Parallel: → The Guardian Angel concept. The idea of a specific divine being assigned to protect an individual soul — especially at the moment of death and during the journey to judgment — is the Zoroastrian source for the guardian angel. In Catholic tradition, guardian angels protect souls from demonic attack and present them before God at judgment. Sraosha does exactly this.