Ahurani is the Avestan language name of a Zoroastrian divinity associated with "the waters". In scripture, the expression ahurani appears both in the singular and in the plural, and may - subject to context - either denote a specific divinity named Ahurani, or a class of divinities that are ahuranis. The Avestan feminine suffix -ani denotes "companion, wife, mate", hence ahurani means "partner of ahura." The ahura of the name may or may not be a reference to Ahura Mazda or to the other Ahuras. Following recent scholarship, it is now generally supposed that there was once been a divinity whose proper name was *Ahura, and from whom the various ahuras of the Avesta receive this epithet.
In scripture
In the ''Yasna Haptanghaiti''
In the Yasna Haptanghaiti, the ahuranis are invoked in the plural, as "companions of the ahura." In these verses of great antiquity and linguistically as old as the Gathas, they are also said to be "created by Ahura Mazda".
In the Younger Avesta, the expression appears in the singular: Ahurani bears gifts of health, prosperity, renown, and for the well-being of the soul. In Yasna 68.11, the devotee asks Ahurani for a long life and a welcome in the radiant abode of the righteous. In Yasna 68, which is a "hidden" Yasht, the "ahuric one of Ahura," appears to represent water in all its variations: rivers, wells, lakes, seas, snow and rain. As such, the single divinity appears to be synonymous with the *apas, the group of Indo-Iranian divinities of the waters. In other verses, the waters are themselves revered as the ahuranis. The ahuranis enlighten thought, speech and actions. This is in line with the Indo-Iranian tradition of identifying water with wisdom. The ahuranis as described as bringers of fertility and peace. In Yasna 68.1-2, the celebrantpriest offers the ahuranis a libation of milk and butter.
In tradition
Ahurani are not included in any list ofyazatas, nor do they/does she have a day-name dedication in the Zoroastrian calendar. This may be because in later Zoroastrianism Aredvi Sura Anahitadominates as divinity of the waters, and it is to her that the hymn to the waters is dedicated. There appear to be historic parallels between the Avestan ahuranis and the RigVedicvarunanis, the "wives of Varuna." These parallels are one of the points of comparison for the theory that Ahura Mazda and Varuna both descend from a common predecessor.
