Ahtsijashtrshtvy

The Ahtsijasht'rshtvy or the "Morning dewdrop upon the cactus-blossom coloured lake" is a theological treatise written by the Shadowborn philosopher Marjenjitsá. It is dated to have been written in the year Kh'jas 1.40 according to the Vht'shjenjé calendar which would correspond roughly to 270ABV. It is notable that it is one of the very few Vht'shjenjé manuscripts that has seen widespread translation, including Saiännic, Mannakene and the Rûkh languages. It thus often becomes the sole representative of literature and philosophy of the Iron Desert, which normally remains obscure and unknown to outsiders. As it has been accepted as canon by the Vht'shjenjé themselves, it is however perhaps in a good position to do so. It is also noteworthy that it is written in a far more prosaic manner than most Scorched literature, not leaning as heavily upon allusion to earlier works, lending it better for translation.
The title refers to a desert flower called Savavshti, frequently praised in Scorched poetry for its ability to break through the hard red shale of the Iron Desert and blossom out with a brilliant deep crimson colour. Thus, it is said to be a sacred flower whose roots are nurtured by the blood of fallen warriors, and the mere mention of it evokes the image of blood. One of the main topics of the Ahtsijasht'rshtvy is the concept of Shárv or "bloodline", a crucial concept in Shadowborn religion. Just like the Savavshti is fed by the blood of martyrs, so is all cultural achievement ultimately an express of the bloodline's heritage. The Ahtsijasht'rshtvy denies the existence of a personal soul (referred to in the book as Ráv) and maintains that the personal essence that bestows animacy to the human body is little more than a vessel for Shárv. The soul is ultimately the blood in the individual's veins, itself lended to her from her forebears, and will in turn be handed down to her descendants.
Thus, central concepts around Shárv is the collective nature and permanent nature of it. A single human life is like a single drop of blood in a great pool of it, or a dewdrop in a Savavshti-coloured lake. From it comes the concept of reincarnation, as the individual soul returns to the collective after death to return in a new guise, the dead returning as descendants of themselves but also different as the bloodline grows in strength as the population grows.
The Ahtsijasht'rshtvy also delves with the maintenance of collective memory, the wisdom and knowledge of a people being stored into the Shárv which in turn leads to the creation of civilisation as it is employed collectively. This is why every culture on Amauvala has developed differently from one another, but also as bloodlines cross there is also cross-cultural influences. It maintains that every human life on Amauvala has their own Shárv that it is part of, and within that Shárv lies the potential to create an enlightened civilisation. Failure to recognise the Shárv will lead to ignorance and inevitably suffering.
Marjenjitsá makes it clear that deities, considered by most cultures as separate entities, are to be venerated and given due respect only if they can serve to refine virtue and reverence of the Shárv. Deities that merely seek the subjugation and adoration of their subjects will repress the Shárv and should thus be rejected. In a bit of poorly concealed advice, she warns that the same is applicable to mortal rulers of men.
Copies of the Ahtsijasht'rshtvy written in the state of Vht'shjenjé usually carry a stamp issued by the Shjevtyrín's court in dark blue ink, but translated copies made elsewhere will obviously not have this feature. They're often bilingual, containing the original Essjentine writing at the top and a second language below.
Category:Literature
Category:Culture
Category:Religions