''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 (; ae, , translit=Ahura Mazdā; ), also known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hoormazd, Hormazd, Hormaz and Hurmuz, is the creator deity in Zoroastrianism. He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the ''Yasna''. ...
realized ("with his thought") creation. The other term is ''
angra mainyu'' "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'', "good purpose." In ''Yasna'' 32.13, the abode of the wicked is ''acishtem manah''.
In the Younger Avesta
In the
Younger Avesta
The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.
The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...
, Akem Manah is unambiguously a demonic entity, an auxiliary of
Angra Mainyu.
In ''
Yasht'' 19.46, Aka Manah,
Aeshma,
Azi Dahaka
Zahhāk or Zahāk () ( fa, ضحّاک), also known as Zahhak the Snake Shoulder ( fa, ضحاک ماردوش, Zahhāk-e Mārdoush), is an evil figure in Persian mythology, evident in ancient Persian folklore as Azhi Dahāka ( fa, اژی دهاک) ...
and Spityura battle
Vohu Manah,
Asha Vahishta
Asha (; also arta ; ae, 𐬀𐬴𐬀, translit=aṣ̌a/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(eousness)', 'ord ...
and
Atar for the possession of ''
khvarenah
Khvarenah (also spelled khwarenah or xwarra(h): ae, 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀𐬵 ') 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 aidi ...
''. 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'' 19's account of the temptation of
Zoroaster
Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label=New Persian, Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastria ...
, 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 or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
for Akem Manah) is the second of Ahriman's (MP for Angra Mainyu) creatures (''
Bundahishn'' 1.24), devised to counter Ohrmuzd's (Ahura Mazda's) creation of the world. This rank reflects Akem Manah's opposition to
Vohu Manah (cf. ''Bundahishn'' 30.29), who is the second of the
Amesha Spenta
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta ( ae, , Aməša Spəṇta—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 ...
s.
Also reflecting the hierarchy that mirrors the
Amesha Spenta
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta ( ae, , Aməša Spəṇta—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 ...
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 well
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aquat ...
without accomplishing anything."
[.]
The ability to make righteous decisions is blunted by Akoman (''
Denkard'' 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
Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), 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 sin ...
's ''
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...
'', ''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 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