A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The Bundahishn places ten Kar fish around the Haoma tree in the great ocean. Ohrmazd creates them to prevent a lizard made by the evil spirit from injuring the tree. They circle continuously, keeping one head directed toward the opponent. Both sides receive spiritual nourishment and continue the contest until the renovation of the universe.

West’s translation also gives Ariz as a name for the fish and calls it the greatest creature of Ohrmazd. Its jaws can divide intervening creatures, with a specified exception for the vast Vas fish. Its serpent-like body is paired with extraordinary sensitivity to changes in water, even a disturbance compared to a needle scratch.

The Warharan Yasht supplies another witness to the fish’s extraordinary perception. Among Verethraghna’s gifts to Zarathushtra is sight like that of the Kara fish, capable of perceiving a disturbance as fine as a hair in the deep Rangha. Darmesteter’s note compares this with the Bundahishn’s account of minute changes in water. The hymn uses the fish as a standard of perception granted to a religious figure, while the Pahlavi account develops its guarding task around the tree.

Ten guardiansCircling patrolSerpent-like bodyPowerful jawsWater sensitivity
01

Origins & earliest records

Iranian Zoroastrian textual cosmology

02

Records & interpretation

Bundahishn translated primary paragraphs directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Bundahishn (Indian recension)

    E. W. West (translator) · 1897

    Hosted source attributes SBE5 Oxford 1897 edition; chapter/paragraph 18.2–6. Edition date is not text-origin date.

  2. 02

    Warharan Yasht

    James Darmesteter (translator) · 1898

    Yasht 14.29; comparison with Bundahishn 18.6 in translator note

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Bundahishn

Indian recension, West translation. Chapter/paragraph 18.2–6

Actual numbered translated passage read. No primary illustration or natural-animal identification inferred.

The Warharan Yasht supplies another witness to the fish’s extraordinary perception. Among Verethraghna’s gifts to Zarathushtra is sight like that of the Kara fish, capable of perceiving a disturbance as fine as a hair in the deep Rangha. Darmesteter’s note compares this with the Bundahishn’s account of minute changes in water. The hymn uses the fish as a standard of perception granted to a religious figure, while the Pahlavi account develops its guarding task around the tree.

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References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical religious primary-text translationBundahishn 18.2–6 — West translationResearch access: 2026-10-05
  2. Historical religious primary-text translationWarharan YashtResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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