Item 3 in Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds
Good Deeds
Translate good intention and truthful speech into conduct that creates real benefit.
- Position
- 3
- Form
- Virtue to cultivate
- Obligation
- Aspirational
- Wording status
- Editorial paraphrase
- Intended audience
- Zoroastrian communities
- Last reviewed
- 28 June 2026
Names and terminology
Canonical name: Good Deeds
Original term: Hvarshta
Source wording
Editorial paraphrase: Translate good intention and truthful speech into conduct that creates real benefit.
Literal meaning
Translate good intention and truthful speech into conduct that creates real benefit.
Broader interpretation
Interpretation depends on the framework's historical purpose, intended audience and relationship to its other principles.
Ethical purpose
To shape conduct or character in a way consistent with the wider ethical framework.
Modern application
Modern application requires attention to consent, rights, evidence, foreseeable harm and changing social conditions.
Criticism and difficult cases
Application can become difficult when this principle conflicts with another duty, when harm is indirect, or when ancient social assumptions do not fit modern conditions.
Truth By Reason analysis
Truth By Reason assesses this principle according to evidence, rights, intentions, foreseeable consequences and consistency with the treatment of all affected beings.
Ethical themes
Sources
- Humata, Huxta, Huvaršta Academic / peer reviewed