It is possible to decipher in the gāthās a few indications of Zarathustra’s missionary activity. The prophet is surrounded by a group of friends and disciples, variously called the “poor” (drigu), the “friends” (frya), the “knowing” (vīdva), the “confederates” (urvatha).3 He urges his companions to “take arms to drive away” the enemies, the “wicked one” (Yasna 31. 18). This Zarathustrian cohort is opposed by the “men’s societies,” with their device aêśma, “fury.”
