''daeva''s, entities that in later Zoroastrianism are demons but in the Gathas are gods that are to be rejected. There, in ''Yasna'' 32.3, the ''daeva''s are identified as the offspring, not of ''angra mainyu'', but of ''akem manah''.
Related to, but not entirely equivalent to ''akem manah'', are other terms that express similar ideas. The first is ''aka mainyu'' "evil spirit" or "evil instrument," which in the Gathas is contrasted with ''spenta mainyu'' "bounteous spirit," the instrument through which
Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian ...
realized ("with his thought") creation. The other term is ''
angra mainyu
Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, th ...
'' "destructive spirit," which in Zoroastrian tradition is the epitome of evil, but in the Gathas is the other absolute antitheses of ''spenta mainyu''.
Gathic ''akem manah'' may also be equated with ''acishtem manah'' "worst thinking,"
[''cf.'' .] which reflects the later Zoroastrian opposition between ''akem manah'' and ''
vohu manah
Vohu Manah (Avestan: 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎⸱𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬀𐬵 ''vohu manah'') is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose", "Good Mind", or "Good Thought", referring to the good state of mind th ...
'', "good purpose." In ''Yasna'' 32.13, the abode of the wicked is ''acishtem manah''.
In the Younger Avesta
In the
Younger Avesta, Akem Manah is unambiguously a demonic entity, an auxiliary of
Angra Mainyu
Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, th ...
.
In ''
Yasht
A Yasht (, ) is a hymn of praise composed in the Young Avestan language and dedicated to specific Zoroastrian divinities. The term commonly applies to the collection of 21 Yashts, although it may also refer to other texts within the wider Avest ...
'' 19.46, Aka Manah,
Aeshma,
Azi Dahaka and Spityura battle
Vohu Manah
Vohu Manah (Avestan: 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎⸱𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬀𐬵 ''vohu manah'') is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose", "Good Mind", or "Good Thought", referring to the good state of mind th ...
,
Asha Vahishta
''Asha'' () or ''arta'' (; ) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right' (or 'righteousness'), 'order' and 'right work ...
and
Atar
Atar, Ahtra, Atash, Azar () or ''Dāštāɣni'',, s.v. ''agni-.'' is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is conside ...
for the possession of ''
khvarenah
''Khvarenah'' (also spelled ''khwarenah'' or ''xwarra(h)'': ) is an Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept literally denoting "glory" or "splendour" but understood as a divine mystical force or power projected upon and aiding the appointed. The ...
''. Later in the same hymn (19.96), Aka Manah is predicted to be in battle with Vohu Manah at the final renovation of the world, at which time Aka Manah – as all the other ''daeva''s also - will be vanquished.
In ''
Vendidad
The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/, also known as Videvdat, Videvdad or Juddēvdād, is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the ''Vendidad'' is an ecclesiastical code, not a ...
'' 19's account of the temptation of
Zoroaster
Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...
, Aka Manah poses ninety-nine questions to weaken the prophet's conviction in Ahura Mazda. Zoroaster does not succumb to the trick.
In tradition and folklore
In the Pahlavi texts
In the Zoroastrian texts of the 9th-12th centuries, Akoman (
Middle Persian
Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
for Akem Manah) is the second of Ahriman's (MP for Angra Mainyu) creatures (''
Bundahishn
The ''Bundahishn'' (Middle Persian: , "Primal Creation") is an encyclopedic collection of beliefs about Zoroastrian cosmology written in the Book Pahlavi script. The original name of the work is not known. It is one of the most important extant ...
'' 1.24), devised to counter Ohrmuzd's (Ahura Mazda's) creation of the world. This rank reflects Akem Manah's opposition to
Vohu Manah
Vohu Manah (Avestan: 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎⸱𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬀𐬵 ''vohu manah'') is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose", "Good Mind", or "Good Thought", referring to the good state of mind th ...
(cf. ''Bundahishn'' 30.29), who is the second of the
Amesha Spenta
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta (—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the ter ...
s.
Also reflecting the hierarchy that mirrors the
Amesha Spenta
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta (—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the ter ...
s and in which each of the "bounteous immortals" has collaborators (''hamkar''s), Akoman has a special relationship with Anashtih "non-peace". Akoman is also close to Varun/Varan "lust" or "concupiscence," together with whom (so ''Denkard'' 3.33) was created.
In the ''Epistles of Zadspram'' (14.8), Akoman is first among the demons who try to injure Zoroaster before and at his birth. He was however "easily defeated by his own weapon of deceit being turned against him. Vohuman, who had chased him to the spot, schemingly turned back and asked him to enter the house. Akoman thought that as his rival was leaving the place, his own work was finished, and consequently
eft as wellwithout accomplishing anything."
[.]
The ability to make righteous decisions is blunted by Akoman (''
Denkard
The ''Dēnkard'' or ''Dēnkart'' (Middle Persian: 𐭣𐭩𐭭𐭪𐭠𐭫𐭲 "Acts of Religion") is a 10th-century compendium of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs during the time. The ''Denkard'' has been called an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" an ...
'' 3.116). He is the cause of evil intent, and a mortal so afflicted searches for "gross defects" in others while hiding his own (3.255). ''Denkard'' 8 attributes the crying of new-born infants to Akoman, reasoning that the demon frightens the children with ghastly images of the final renovation of the world.
According to ''Denkard'' 9.30.8 (reflecting chapter 7.8 of the ''Warsht-mansr Nask'', a lost Avestan text), Akoman causes a mortal's failure to discriminate between good and evil. He so introduces discord and - as a consequence - physical evil in the world (''Denkard'' 6). He perverts a man's thoughts and makes him miserable.
[.]
Among all the demons, Akoman is to be dreaded the most (''Denkard'' 9).
In the ''Shahnameh''
In
Ferdowsi
Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...
's ''
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...
'', ''Akvan'' is described as having long hair, blue eyes and a head like an elephant with a mouthful of tusks instead of teeth.
In one of the tales, the demon traps
Rostam
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, death_place = Kabulistan
, death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a we ...
while the hero is asleep, and carries him up into the sky. He then asks Rostam whether he would prefer to be thrown upon a mountain, or into the sea. Rostam, aware that the demon's mind is perverse (''cf.''
In the Pahlavi texts above), asks to be thrown upon a mountain, and the demon in response throws him into the sea. Rescuing himself from the waters, Rostam recovers his horse and confronts the demon again, subsequently beheading it.
Another story has an oblique reference to a "Stone of Akvan", suggesting that there were once other legends surrounding Akvan/Akoman that have not however survived.
[.]
References
Bibliography
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{{Shahnameh
Shahnameh
Daevas