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{{Short description|Mandaic religious concept of truth}}
{{Mandaeism}}
{{For|the city|Istanbul}}
In [[Mandaeism]], '''kushta''' or '''kušṭa''' ({{langx|myz|ࡊࡅࡔࡈࡀ|lit=truth}}) can have several meanings. Its original literal meaning is "[[truth]]" in the [[Mandaic language]], and is thus typically used to refer to the Mandaean religious concept of [[truth]]. The same word is also used to refer to a sacred [[handclasp]] that is used during Mandaean rituals such as the [[masbuta]], [[masiqta]], and priestly initiation ceremonies.<ref name="Buckley 2002">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443}}</ref><ref name="auto">Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.</ref>
==In the World of Light==
[[Mandaeans]] believe that in the [[World of Light]], the '''[[Mšunia Kušṭa]]''', or the world of ideal counterparts, exists, where everything has a corresponding spiritual pair (''[[dmuta]]'').<ref name="Buckley 2002"/> Alternatively, ''kušṭa'' can be used as a synonym for [[Hayyi Rabbi]], or God in Mandaeism.<ref name="Buckley 2002"/>
In the 69th chapter of the [[Mandaean Book of John]], [[Manda d-Hayyi]] addresses [[Etinṣib Ziwa]] (Splendid Transplant), son of [[Yushamin]], as "Truth, beloved by all [[uthra|excellencies]]."<ref name="ddy">{{citation|mode=cs1 |url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/The_Mandaean_Book_of_John_Open_Access_Ve.pdf |first1=Charles G. |last1=Häberl |author-link=Charles G. Häberl |first2=James F. |last2=McGrath |author-link2=James F. McGrath |date=2019 |title=The Mandaean Book of John: Text and Translation |version=Open Access Version |publisher=De Gruyter |place=Berlin/Boston}}</ref> [[E. S. Drower]] interprets a reference in the [[Haran Gawaita]] to being looked upon by and rising with Transplant upon death as a reference to [[Saureil|Ṣauriel]], the Angel of Death.<ref>{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel Stefana|author-link=E. S. Drower|title=The Haran Gawaita and The Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa: The Mandaic text reproduced together with translation, notes and commentary |location=[[Vatican City]] |publisher=[[Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana]] |year=1953 |at=Page 7, footnote 8.}}</ref> Book 1, chapter 1 of the [[Left Ginza]] likewise observes that Ṣauriel is called "Death" in this world, but "Truth" (Kushta) by those who know about him.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Buckley |first=Jorunn Jacobsen |author-link=Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley |year=1982 |title=A Rehabilitation of Spirit Ruha in Mandaean Religion |journal=History of Religions |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=60–84 |doi=10.1086/462910 |jstor=1062203 |s2cid=162087047 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1062203}}</ref>
[[Carl Hermann Kraeling|Carl H. Kraeling]] interprets the concept of Kushta as having developed from an entity in the [[pleroma]] representing truth as the directive force of [[Hayyi]]'s actions, alongside [[Manda d-Hayyi]] as his [[hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostatic]] reason.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kraeling |first=C. H. |year=1933 |title=The Mandaic God Ptahil |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=152–165 |doi=10.2307/593099|jstor=593099 }}</ref>
==In rituals==
The ''kušṭa'' handclasp is exchanged dozens of times between the novice and initiator during [[Tarmida#Ordination|priest initiation ceremonies]]. It is also exchanged during rituals that need to be performed by priests, such as [[masbuta]] and [[masiqta]] rituals.<ref name="Buckley 2002"/> A two-volume study (''Kushṭā: a monograph on a principal word in Mandaean texts'') has been published by Waldemar Sundberg (1953, 1994).<ref>{{cite book |last=Sundberg |first=Waldemar |date=1953 |title=Kushṭā, a monograph on a principal word in Mandaean texts. Volume I: The Descending Knowledge |location=Lund |publisher=Lund University Press  |isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sundberg |first=Waldemar |date=1994 |title=Kushṭā, a monograph on a principal word in Mandaean texts. Volume II: The Ascending Soul |location=Lund |publisher=Lund University Press  |isbn=9179662927}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Drabsha]], the symbol of Mandaeism
*[[Rushuma]]
*[[Secret handshake]]
*''[[Via et veritas et vita]]''
*[[Religious views on truth]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://mandaeanpriests.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/57 Sydney 2014 Masbuta 11: Kushta (Oath)]
{{Mandaeism footer}}
[[Category:Mandaean philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Mandaic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Truth]]
[[Category:Hand gestures]]
[[Category:Mandaean rituals]]