Introduction
Khshathra Vairya, "Desirable Dominion" or "Power to be Chosen" (later Shahrevar), is one of the six Amesha Spentas, personifying rightful authority and the kind of power that should be actively chosen and used for good, in contrast to power seized or misused.
The Amesha Spentas ("Bounteous Immortals") are six (or, counting Ahura Mazda himself as their head, seven) divine beings who represent and administer aspects of Ahura Mazda's good creation. Zoroastrian theology generally treats them as emanations or aspects of Ahura Mazda's own nature rather than as separate offspring in an ordinary genealogical sense, and each is opposed by one of the six chief daevas in Zoroastrian dualism.
Kingship and dominion
Khshathra Vairya represents the ideal of just rule, both the rightful power that a good king should exercise on earth and, ultimately, the future kingdom of Ahura Mazda that will be fully established at Frashokereti, the final renovation of the world.
Association with metal
Khshathra Vairya is traditionally associated with metal, understood in Zoroastrian symbolism both as a material of practical and martial use and, in eschatological contexts, as connected to the final ordeal by molten metal that separates the righteous from the wicked at the end of time.
Opposing daeva
Khshathra Vairya is opposed by Saurva, one of the six chief daevas, associated with misrule, oppression and the abuse of power, the direct inversion of Khshathra Vairya's own domain.