Page "Dharma" Paragraph 81

In this schema of asha versus druj, mortal beings ( humans and animals both ) play a critical role, for they too are created.

Here, in their lives, they are active participants in the conflict and it is their duty to defend order, which would decay without counteraction.

Throughout the Gathas, Zoroaster emphasizes deeds and actions, and accordingly asceticism is frowned upon in Zoroastrianism.

In later Zoroastrianism this was explained as fleeing from the experiences of life, which was the very purpose that the urvan ( most commonly translated as the ' soul ') was sent into the mortal world to collect.

The avoidance of any aspect of life, which includes the avoidance of the pleasures of life, is a shirking of the responsibility and duty to oneself, one's urvan, and one's family and social obligations.