History of Zoroastrianism/Chapter 27

by Maneckji Nusservanji Dhalla

 

CHAPTER XXVII

 

EVIL

 

Dualism in evolution. The original Gathic conception of the reality of evil is more emphasized by the theologians of the Later Avestan period, and the personality of the Prince of Evil becomes at the same time more pronounced. The hardest crux that confronts the Zoroastrian divines, as it does every theologian, is how Ahura Mazda, the father of goodness, can be made responsible for the existence of evil in this world. The prophet had already taught the existence of an independent power as the originator of evil. The idea inherent in this teaching is now elaborately worked out until every object that is branded by man as evil is ascribed to the agency of the Evil Spirit. A ban is put upon everything in the universe that is opposed to Asha's realm of righteousness, even to the detail of noxious creatures and poisonous plants. They belong to the evil creation. Herodotus and Plutarch inform us that the Magi held it a virtue to kill noxious creatures.^[1] From the standpoint of evil, therefore, it is easy to understand that such a usurper king as Azhi Dahaka, who took a fiendish delight in feasting his eyes upon the most atrocious crimes perpetrated under his rule, was sent to this world by the arch-fiend as the apostle of destruction and death.^[2] Hail and hurricane, cyclone and thunderstorm, plague and pestilence, famine and drought, in fact everything that harms man and decimates population, belong to the realm of evil. Angra Mainyu has cast an evil eye upon the good creation of Ahura Mazda, and by his glance of malice introduced corruption and disease into the universe.^[3] The opposition between the Good and Evil Spirits is so pronounced that distinctive linguistic expressions are now used for both. There are separate words used for the organs, movements, and speech of the Good Spirit and his creation, and for those of the Evil Spirit and his world; and this rule applies to wicked men in general as well as to the noxious creatures. The man of the kingdom of goodness 'speaks,' but the wicked one 'howls' or 'roars'; the former 'eats,' but the latter 'devours'; the good one 'walks,' but the wicked 'rushes'; the one has a 'head,' but the other has a 'skull'; the one dwells in a 'house,' the other in a 'burrow.'^[4] Thus the antithesis between good and evil becomes even more and more prominent. It is indelible. Evil remains as real a factor as good, as independent, and as active. There is a pronounced antithesis and an active warfare between the two rival spirits, and reconciliation or peace between them is impossible. Every prayer in the Younger Avesta begins with the exhortation to propitiate the Good Spirit and abjure the Evil One. Man is warned to guard himself from the wiles of Angra Mainyu.

The earliest non-Zoroastrian writers speak of Zoroastrianism as the religion of dualism. Early Greek writers, who, we can safely assert, were contemporary at least with the Later Avestan period, speak of the religion of Iran as based on the belief in two rival spirits. Hippolytus relates, on the authority of Aristoxenus (about 320 b.c.), that the Persians believed in two primeval causes of existence, the first being Light, or the father, and the second, Darkness, the mother.^[5] On the authority of Diogenes Laertius we have the assurance that Eudoxus and Aristotle wrote of these two powers as Zeus, or Oromazdes, and Hades, or Areimanios.^[6] Plutarch (a.d. 46-120) narrates, in the same tone, that Oromazdes came from light, and Areimanios from darkness. The Good Spirit created six archangels and other divine beings, and the Evil One created as a counterpoise to them six arch-fiends, and other infernal creatures, and the devil's activity of counter-creation extended also to the physical world, for in opposition to the creation of good animals and plants by Oromazdes, he brought forth noxious creatures and poisonous plants. His opposition permeates the entire creation and will last up to the end of time, when he will be defeated and be made to disappear.^[7] Plutarch himself further mentions, on the authority of Theopompus (400 b.c.), the loss of whose excursus dealing with Zoroastrianism in antiquity is still to be deplored, that the good God ruled for three thousand years, and the Evil One for another three thousand years. At the expiration of six thousand years, they entered into a conflict which goes on, and which will end in the final annihilation of the field.^[8] Diogenes confirms this statement.^[9] All this has its historic bearing upon the whole realm of Zoroastrianism in its relation to the great religions of the world, for each and all of them have had to deal with the problem of evil in its application to the life of man.

 

Angra Mainyu

The titles of the Evil Spirit. The Gathic epithet angra is turned into a proper name. Angra Mainyu is the Demon of Demons,^[10] who has crept into the creation of the Good Spirit.^[11] His standing epithet is 'full of death.'^[12] He is all death.^[13] He is deadly.^[14] He is of evil glory.^[15] He is the worst liar.^[16] He is a tyrant,^[17] of evil creation,^[18] of evil religion,^[19] and of evil knowledge,^[20] and of malignity,^[21] as well as inveterately wicked.^[22] He is the doer of evil deeds.^[23] The north is the seat of Angra Mainyu,^[24] where he lives with his evil brood in the bowels of the earth to make onslaughts on the world of righteousness.^[25]

The counter-creations of Angra Mainyu. The Avestan texts persistently speak of the creations of the two spirits, Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu;^[26] moreover the first chapter of the Vendidad contains a list of the good places created by Ahura Mazda, over against which the Evil One counter-created various physical and moral evils to thwart the peace and happiness of the good creation. It is the Evil Spirit who has infected the bodies of mortals with disease and decay;^[27] it is from him that come deformities of body;^[28] and he is ever perpetrating wrong against the world of goodness. Angra Mainyu corrupts the moral nature of man. He it was who called into existence the tyrant Azhi Dahaka for the destruction of the creatures of righteousness.^[29] The rival spirits have divided their sphere of possession and activity of the wind of Vayu, a part of which belongs to the Good Spirit, whereas the other part is included in the kingdom of the Evil Spirit.^[30]

Angra Mainyu grovels before Zarathushtra. In his malicious thoughts and teachings, his intellect and faith, his words and deeds, and in conscience and soul, the Evil Spirit is exactly and diametrically the opposite of Ahura Mazda.^[31] Angra Manyu practises deceitful wiles, and incites man to rebel against the divine authority. As the arch-betrayer he allures man to abjure the Good Spirit. On the advent of Zarathushtra, as the true prophet, this soul of righteousness stupefies him, because he sees in the earthly embodiment of Ahura Mazda's will his eternal foe, who will by holy teaching and preaching threaten the overthrow of his infernal empire of wickedness.^[32] The Prince of Darkness, in tempting Zarathushtra, promises him the sovereignty of the world, if he will only reject the faith of Mazda; but the prophet replies that he will not renounce the excellent religion, either for body or life.^[33] Angra Mainyu determines to overthrow such faith on the part of the prophet to whom he is so opposed, and resolves to wreak vengeance upon him. He clamours for the death of the sage, and lets loose legions of demons to assail him, but the chosen of Ahura Mazda is found to be an impregnable rock, not to be moved. The blessed one scatters his assailants in flight. They rush howling and weeping to the regions of darkness, or hell.^[34] Defeated and dismayed, the Evil Spirit bewails that Zarathushtra alone has accomplished what all the Yazatas together were unable to do; in other words, he is the only one who has baffled the devil and his infernal crew.^[35] At the beginning of creation the recital of Ahuna Vairya by Mazda put Angra Mainyu to flight,^[36] and as a consequence the Spirit of Evil crouches in abject servility to Mazda's prophet, who has hurled him backward into the darkest abyss.

The demon-binder Takhma Urupi turned Angra Mainyu into a horse and rode him all around the earth during his reign of thirty years.^[37] The Fravashis force him to give way to the blows of Spenta Mainyu.^[38] He bewails that Asha Vahishta frustrates his efforts to spread sickness.^[39]

Angra Mainyu's final defeat. Since the time when the Evil Spirit broke into the world of Righteousness,^[40] a constant war is being waged against the hosts of Wickedness by the powers of Righteousness, as shall be to the last when Righteousness shall triumph over Wickedness. The faithful, accordingly, pray that Wickedness may be routed and Righteousness may rule for all in all. Every child of man has had his share in this universal strife and struggle. Those that through ignorance have not been steadfast in the path of goodness, and have been led to revolt from their creator, are those that have been victims to the clutch of Angra Mainyu. As the world progresses towards the true knowledge of the excellent Faith, mankind will embrace Righteousness and thus weaken the power of Wickedness. The perfection of mankind will thus come to pass; and finally the Father of Evil and all imperfection, having been deserted by his misguided followers, will be impotent. This will be the final crisis at which the Sovereign of Evil, bereft of power, will bow to his final fate and flee,^[41] and will hide himself forever in the bowels of the earth.

 

Daevas

The Demons. The daevas, or demons, are of both sexes, as are their heavenly counterparts. Over against the vispe Yazata, or 'all angels,' stand in sharp contradistinction the vispe Daeva, 'all demons.'^[42] The greatest of all the demons is Angra Mainyu,^[43] who has created these fiends in opposition to the Yazatas. The archangelic host of the Amesha Spentas, and some of the angel band of Yazatas have each a Daeva as a special adversary engaged in thwarting the divine will. Plutarch states that when Oromazdes created the six archangels, Areimanios counter-created an equal number of fiends.^[44] The arrangement, however, is perfunctory, if we examine the Younger Avestan text. The personality of the majority of these demons is not sharply defined, and the account of their activities, as found in the Later Avestan texts, is very vague and meagre. Some are mentioned simply by name, without any account of their function being added; it is only through the help of the Pahlavi literature that we can get a more definite idea of their place in the infernal group. Not only are the wicked spirits spoken of as the Daevas, but also the nomadic hordes of Gilan and Mazanderan, realms designated as Mazainya in the Avesta, that constantly burst with their infidel hordes of invaders into the settlements of the faithful, menacing their properties, devastating their fields, and carrying away their flocks, are branded as Daevas.^[45] The wicked sodomite is equally a daeva, and a worshipper of daevas, as well as a paramour of daevas; he is a daeva during life, and remains a daeva after death.^[46] All moral wrongs and physical obstacles are personified and catalogued in this scheme of demonology. To every disease is assigned its own demon as having been the cause of the malady The germs of disease and death, of plague and pestilence, are spoken of metaphorically as Daevas. The Fire of Ahura Mazda serves to kill such Daevas by thousands wherever the scent of the holy flame may spread.^[47] It is said that if the sun were not to rise, and the light of day should not curb their power to do harm under the cover of darkness, the Daevas would kill all living beings.^[48] In connection with such ideas of the power of evil, it may be understood that the Avestan texts teach that the ground wherein are interred the corpses of the dead is infested with myriads of the demons, who feed and revel on the spot as a consequence, for such a place is their favourite haunt.^[49] Even the dropping of nails and hair on the ground is an act of uncleanness that is equivalent to offering a sacrifice to the demons, as spirits of pollution. Such a careless act of uncleanness results in the production of demoniacal foes to health and purity such as lice and moths, which are equally called the daevas.^[50] The northern regions are peopled with the demons.^[51] They are evil, bereft of good, ill-behaved, evil-doing, worst liars, most loathsome, and most wicked.^[52]

The number of the demons is said to be legion, even though the Avestan texts mention only about forty-five more explicitly by name. As in other cases of the fiendish crew of hell, many of these evil powers have no story in particular to tell, but we shall deal with the more important ones in the sections that immediately follow.

The work of the demons. The demons have all been allotted their special provinces of work in both the worlds. Active work and strenuous exertion on the part of man deal them blows; for example, when the farmer tills his fields and sows his corn, the demons are dismayed. When the corn grows the demons start in dismay and faint, they grumble and rush to their hovels.^[53] They spread uncleanness on the earth,^[54] that the creatures may thereby suffer, and attack and overpower him who moves about without the sacred girdle.^[55] They sought for the death of Zarathushtra.^[56] They prevented the stars, the moon, and the sun from moving, until the Fravashis showed them their path.^[57]

Means to confound them. The faithful recite the holy spells to dispel the demons. Zarathushtra himself, at the outset, baffled them by uttering the holy word.^[58] As stated elsewhere, these evil spirits are put to flight at the recital of the Ahuna Vairya, Ashem Vohu, Gathic stanzas, and the other spells,^[59] and the drinking of the consecrated Haoma, moreover, brings destruction to them.^[60]

Those who strike terror into the hearts of the demons. Ahura Mazda is invoked to smite the demons,^[61] and Haurvatat, Ardvi Sura, Drvaspa, and the Fravashis are invoked by the kings and heroes to the same end.^[62] Asha Vahishta smites the worst of the demons by thousands,^[63] while they tremble before Sraosha, who wields a club in his hands to strike upon their skulls.^[64] Three times each day and each night Sraosha comes down upon this earth with his terrible mace to fight against the demons.^[65] Mithra likewise levels his club at their skulls and smites them down.^[66] The kings Haoshyangha, Takhma Urupi, and Vishtaspa triumphed and ruled over the demons.^[67] Of course the demons are terrified at the birth of Zarathushtra.^[68] They conspired to kill him,^[69] but he routed them at the outset.^[70] Not one of them, nor all together, could compass the hallowed sage's death;^[71] they vanished overcome at his sight.^[72] In fact all those demons that roamed about on the earth in human form sank beneath the earth at the appearance of the prophet.^[73] For all these reasons it may be understood that in the realm of the hereafter the demons quail at the sight of a righteous soul advancing towards heaven, in the same manner as a sheep trembles in the presence of a wolf.^[74]

The Daeva-worshippers. In opposition to the faithful who are called Mazdayasnians, or the worshippers of Mazda, all unbelievers and wicked persons are styled the Daevayasnians, that is, as being worshippers of the demons. The two worlds of the righteous and the wicked are rent asunder. The barrier between them cannot be broken. Mazda extends his helping hand to the righteous, but leaves the wicked to themselves. Nay he hates them.

As the dregvant, or the wicked one, stands in antithesis to the ashavan, the righteous one, in the sphere of morals, so the Daevayasnian, or worshipper of demons, stands in contradistinction to the faithful Mazdayasnian in the matter of belief. Both words, dregvant and daevayasna, are Zoroastrian synonyms also of heretic. The life of a Daevayasnian is not of equal value with that of a Mazdayasnian; this is shown in the Avesta by the fact that the new surgeon who intends practising among the Mazdaworshippers must first prove his skill on three of the worshippers; and if his operations are successful he may then be given permission to practise among the faithful, but if his tests prove fatal he is to be disqualified forever.^[75] In regard to acts of worship, moreover, those misguided sacrificers who bring libations unto Ardvi Sura after sunset are classed among the worshippers of the Daevas, for the libations brought after the sun has set reach the demons.^[76]

Zoroastrianism is anti-daeva, or against the demons. In the hymn of the Confession of Faith that the faithful recites from the time when he as a child is invested with the sacred cord, and which he thereafter repeats throughout his life at the opening of each daily prayer, he proclaims himself a worshipper of Mazda and a foe to the demons.^[77] In this antagonistic attitude to all that is evil, he abjures everything relating to the demons and all that may accrue from them, exactly as the prophet Zarathushtra did.^[78] One of the Nasks, or books of the Avesta, moreover, derives its name from this very expression and is called, accordingly, the Vendidad, more correctly 'Vidaeva-dāta,' or 'law against the demons.'

 

Aka Manah

The demon of Evil Mind. Angra Mainyu has created Aka Manah, or Evil Mind, as a counterpoise to the Good Mind of Vohu Manah. The fiend occupies, after his father, Angra Mainyu, the second place among the whole host of demons. In spite of this, he figures very rarely in the Younger Avesta and we do not hear so much of his activity as in the Pahlavi works. Aka Manah, in the scene of the temptation of the prophet, joins in the stratagem of the demon Buiti to assail Zarathushtra, and as an impersonation of the baser side of the human mind he practises his wiles by guileful words of seduction for the sainted leader to abandon the course of righteousness, but the holy prophet baffles the fiend in his attempt.^[79] This evil being, moreover, takes part unsuccessfully in the contest between the powers of the Good Spirit and the Evil Spirit to seize the Divine Glory.^[80] The ethics of Zoroastrianism naturally demands that Aka Manah's power shall be ultimately destroyed, and accordingly he will be vanquished by Vohu Manah at the end of the present cycle.^[81]

 

Druj

The embodiment of wickedness. In his inscriptions, Darius concentrates all evil in Drauga or Lie, as the Gathas did in Druj. Druj is feminine in gender and, like other demons, is a spirit.^[82] This evil genius of Wickedness of the Gathic period preserves her original traits in the Yasna and Yasht literature, but it seems, if we judge rightly, that she gradually undergoes a transformation in the Vendidad. The Gathic prayer of the faithful to enable the true believer to smite Druj, and thereby to weaken the Kingdom of Wickedness, is still echoed in the first part of the Avestan period.^[83] The house-lord, for example, invokes Asha to drive away Druj from his house, and the faithful asks for strength to enable him to smite Druj, while he likewise implores the good Vayu to remove the fiendish Druj.^[84] King Vishtaspa, as a champion warring against all that is evil, drove away Druj from the world of Righteousness;^[85] and even Ahura Mazda himself acknowledges that had not the Fravashis helped him, Druj would have overpowered the entire world.^[86] In the same manner we can conceive why Mithra should be invoked by cattle that have been led astray to the den of Druj by the wicked.^[87] Druj is designated as of evil descent and darkness,^[88] and devilish by nature.^[89] Her abode is in the north.^[90]

In her burrows gathered the demons.^[91] It is through the help of the religion of Mazda that the Druj can be driven away from the world; this is expressly the saying of Ahura Mazda to his prophet.^[92] At the final renovation Saoshyant, the saviour, will overcome the Druj among mankind;^[93] she will then perish utterly and forever with her hundred-fold brood.^[94]

Other Drujes. The Gathas knew but one Druj, the one that works in opposition to Asha. In the Later Avestan texts Druj becomes a class designation of minor female demons. These fiends are styled the Drujes, and Yt. 2. 11 speaks of vispe druj, 'all drujes,' in the same strain as vispe Yazata, 'all Yazatas,' and vispe daeva, 'all demons.' From the sacred texts we learn that there are drujes who come openly, and there are those that come in secret, and again there are those that defile by mere contact.^[95] The term druj itself is loosely applied likewise to other demons and wicked persons. Angra Mainyu himself is called a druj.^[96] The demon Buiti, for instance, is designated as a druj,^[97] and the demoniacal Azhi Dahaka, who was sent to this world by the archfiend as a scourge to the world of Righteousness, is called a druj. The daevas, moreover, when baffled in their foul attempt to kill Zarathushtra, howl out that he is a veritable druj to every druj.^[98] The conviction of the pious that Druj will perish at the hands of Asha Vahishta is for all time firm, because Sraosha appears on the field as the best smiter of Druj.^[99] Manthra Spenta routs the Druj.^[100] In a lengthy disputation, moreover, Sraosha extorts from the fiendish impersonation, Druj, the secret of how mankind by their various misdeeds impregnate her and her brood of fiends; that is, in simpler language, he learns from her by what particular works man increases the Druj's domain of wickedness.^[101]

Druj as the personification of bodily impurity under the name Nasu. Purity of body, mind, and spirit go together to constitute a righteous man. The Gathas pre-eminently speak of the ethical virtues and purity of soul. Asha presides over Righteousness, and Druj acts as the evil genius of Wickedness. The greater portion of the Vendidad, however, contains priestly legislation for purity of body, as well as of the soul, and gives elaborate rules for the cleansing of those defiled by dead matter. The uncleanness embodied in the very term druj is now personified as Druj Nasu; her abode is in the burrow at the neck of the mountain Arezura in the northern region, but at the same time her presence is everywhere manifest on this earth.^[102] Her chief function is to spread defilement and decay in the world. Immediately after the death of an individual, when the soul leaves the body and decomposition sets in, the Druj Nasu comes flying from the north in the shape of a despicable fly, and takes possession of the corpse.^[103] She is expelled, however, when a dog or the corpse-eating birds have gazed at the dead body,^[104] and when certain pious formulas have been recited. In reply to the inquiry how one may best drive away the Druj Nasu that rushes from the dead and defiles the living, Ahura Mazda bids the faithful to recite the holy spells.^[105] When the purificatory rites have been performed and the sacred formulas uttered upon the one defiled by the dead, the Druj Nasu becomes weaker and weaker and flees from one part of the body to the other, until finally she vanishes towards the northern regions.^[106] Whoso offers for consecration water that has in any way been defiled by the dead, or proffers libations after the sun has set, even though with good intent, feeds the Druj and thereby hinders the work of righteousness.^[107] The religion of Mazda, as a faith paramount, dispels best this Druj of defilement.^[108]

The barrier between the ashavans and dregvants is still impassable. Though the concept Druj as the genius of wickedness has undergone a change in the Later Avesta, the adjectival form, dregvant, meaning wicked, as opposed to ashavan, righteous, remains unaltered. This designation is applied equally to bad men and to demons, in the same manner as it used to be in the Gathas. Angra Mainyu himself is dregvant.^[109] The term is applied to Dahaka,^[110] Arejataspa,^[111] to all Daevayasnians, and to all of evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds. The world of righteousness is opposed by the world of wickedness.^[112] The faithful pray that the righteous may have the power to act according to their will, but that the wicked may be bereft of it and be driven out from the world of the Holy Spirit.^[113] Every true believer confesses that he belongs to the righteous and not to the wicked.^[114] That the righteous may rout the wicked is the fervent prayer of the faithful.^[115] Along with the employment of this term, the application of the derogatory title ashemaogha, literally meaning 'one who destroys Asha, Righteousness,' has come into vogue and is equally applied to the wicked. Perhaps there is this difference in usage; that dregvant is an ethical appellation of unrighteous men, whereas ashemaogha seems to be a theological and ritual designation of one who deviates from the prescribed teachings of the established church and who preaches heresy both as regards the doctrines of the faith and the rules of ceremonial. The ashemaogha is generally to be understood as equivalent to the unrighteous. Any one who undertakes to cleanse a person defiled by the dead, without being well-versed in the Zoroastrian rules of cleanness, is also an ashemaogha. Such a man retards the progress of the world by his false deed.^[116] If a priest of this character were to give a benediction, his words of blessing would go no further than his lips.^[117] Whoso gives the consecrated food to a sinner of that type brings calamity to his own country.^[118] He himself is a heretic, for he does not acknowledge any temporal or spiritual master.^[119] Ahura Mazda accordingly advises Zarathushtra to recite the divine names when he wishes to rout the malice of any such apostate;^[120] Vayu likewise enjoins upon him to utter his sacred names when in danger of being so harassed.^[121]

 

Indra

A god in the Vedas, a demon in the Avesta. This demon furnishes us with an instance of degrading one of the great Indian divinities to the rank of a demon in the Iranian theology. He is mentioned in the Boghaz-keui tablets, recently discovered in Asia Minor, that are supposed to date from about 1400 b.c. His name occurs but twice in the extant Avestan text; he is mentioned as one of the ribald crew routed by Zarathushtra;^[122] and in another passage a spell mentioning him by name is recited to drive away the demons.^[123] These two Avestan passages, however, do not give us an inkling of the function of this fiend. In the Pahlavi period he assumes the part of Asha Vahishta's adversary.

 

Saurva

Foe to the archangel Khshathra Vairya. The Indian counterpart of the demon Sauvra is Sharva. The Avestan texts, which make two mentions of the name of this demon, do not give us his life-story.^[124] In the diabolical host he is the adversary of the archangel Khshathra Vairya, through whom shall be established the Kingdom of Ahura Mazda.

 

Taromaiti

She thwarts devotion. This feminine demoniacal impersonation of heresy and counterpart of Spenta Armaiti is to be smitten by the recital of the sacred formulas; she will flee away as soon as the Airyaman Ishya prayer is uttered.^[125] The faithful, in consequence, pray that the genius of devotion may dispel this demoness from their houses.^[126]

 

Naonghaithya

A demon of incipient personality. Naonghaithya corresponds to the Vedic Nasatya, the epithet of the heavenly Ashvins, and is likewise mentioned in the Boghaz-keui tablets, but is classed in the Zoroastrian works among the evil powers. The demon is twice mentioned in the Avestan texts,^[127] but the passages in question shed no real light on the sphere of his activity. During the Pahlavi period, however (and the same may reasonably be presumed for the Avesta), Naonghaithya, or Naunghas, as he is then called, is seen working in antagonism to Spenta Armaiti.

 

Taurvi and Zairicha

The adversaries of Haurvatat and Ameretat. The names of the dual demons Taurvi and Zairicha personify, in later texts at least, fever and thirst. They occur together and are mentioned in two places in the Younger Avesta,^[128] yet without any special description of their work. They are in the Pahlavi texts depicted as the adversaries of the dual divinities Haurvatat and Ameretat, whose active mission in the world has been described above.

 

Astovidhotu

The fiend of death. As indicated etymologically by the root of the Avestan words maretan and mashya, man is mortal. This mortality applies to his material frame only. At death he dies in the flesh, but he lives forever in the spirit. Astovidhotu, literally 'the bone-divider,' who impersonates death, awaits all. When a man is burnt by fire or drowned in water, it is Astovidhotu who binds his breath and hastens him to an unnatural death.^[129] Man trembles at Astovidhotu's sight.^[130] The demon prowls with padded feet and silently creeps to capture his victim, pouncing upon him so suddenly that the unfortunate one remains unaware of his doom. He cannot be won over by favour or by bribe. He respects not rank or position, but he mercilessly captures all.^[131] Every one eagerly wishes to put off the moment of this catastrophe. No one prays for death before its time, and no one likes to hasten to the jaws of this all-devouring demon. The philosopher may speak of death with sublime resignation, the theologian may console himself by depicting death as the birth into a higher life, the mystic may long for the dissolution of the body as a heaven-sent liberation of the spirit, but the majority of humanity thirst for life and thirst for a long life. The death-toll which Astovidhotu exacts from the world is appalling. On that account Mithra and Sraosha are invoked by the faithful to protect them from the assaults of Astovidhotu,^[132] and Ahura Mazda's divine aid protects the child in its mother's womb from the onslaughts of this demon.^[133] The man who marries and rears a family, is hard-working, and nourishes his body with meat, is able the better to withstand Astovidhotu than a celibate.^[134]

 

Vizaresha

This demon's work. The demon Vizaresha, 'the dragger away,' lies in wait for the wicked souls at the gate of hell, when justice is administered to the souls on the third night after the bodily deaths of men. No sooner do the heavenly judges pass their verdict of being guilty on a soul than Vizaresha pounces upon his victim and mercilessly drags the wretched soul into the bottomless hell.^[135]

 

Kunda

A demon at the gate of hell. Sraosha is invoked to smite this demon. The fire of Ahura Mazda routs him.^[136] He is drunken without drinking, and hurls the souls of the wicked into hell.^[137] There are spells to rout the fiend and his evil progeny. The name occures in its feminine form as Kundi.^[138]

 

Bushyansta

Sloth personified. Idleness and inactivity tend to strengthen the Kingdom of Evil. The demoness Bushyansta, or sloth personified, literally 'procrastination,' is commissioned by Angra Mainyu to inculcate the habit of sleep and procrastination among mankind. She, the long-handed, as she is called,^[139] lulls the whole living world to inordinate slumber. Timely sleep as such is of Ahura Mazda's making and it receives even adoration;^[140] but Bushyansta, the inordinate, tempts the idle to be unduly long in bed,^[141] and thus prevents the practice of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.^[142] At dawn the cock Parodarsh, whose name literally means 'one who sees ahead,' flapping his wings and crowing aloud, warns slumbering humanity of the stratagem of Bushyansta, and informs the faithful that it is time to wake up and proceed to work.^[143] When Mithra comes in his chariot, he puts the fiend to flight;^[144] the Aryan Glory and the holy spells join hands as well to render powerless this demoness of laziness.^[145]

 

Aeshma

The demon of wrath. This evil genius of wrath and fury, who conies down from the Gathic period, works in opposition to Sraosha. He is full of sin,^[146] and is the wielder of a bloody mace.^[147] Ahura Mazda created Sraosha to counteract his fiendish mischief.^[148] The faithful invoke Sraosha to protect them from his assaults.^[149] Sraosha hurls his mace at this demon's skull, and the fiend takes to flight before Mithra.^[150] Intoxicating drinks incite men to embrace Aeshma, but the recital of the holy spells helps to dispel him.^[151]

 

Buiti

The tempter of Zarathushtra. The nineteenth chapter of the Vendidad contains an account of the temptation of Zarathushtra by the Evil Spirit. Angra Mainyu decreed in his infernal council amid the bickerings of the demons with one another that Buiti, who is death unseen, should go to the world and lure Zarathushtra from his constancy. The righteous one chants the sacred Ahuna Vairya formula and dispels the demon, who rushes away to report his inability to overpower the holy prophet.^[152] Buidhi is the name of a demon found in Vd. 11. 9, 12, which may be a variant reading of Buiti.

 

Apaosha

The demon of drought. The Yasht dedicated to Tishtrya gives a picturesque account of the battle waged between the angel of rain and the demon of drought. Tishtrya assumes three different forms for ten nights each. For the first ten nights he takes the form of a youth of fifteen years of age, for the second ten nights he moves along in the shape of a golden-horned bull, and the last ten nights in the shape of a beautiful white horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison, seeking libations and offerings, so that he may bestow upon his supplicants oxen, children, and horses.^[153] When he proceeds to his work of pouring down water on the earth, he is confronted by the demon Apaosha, who has assumed the form of a dark horse.^[154] A severe struggle ensues, lasting for three days and three nights. Apaosha comes off first as the victor in the combat and puts the genius of rain to flight.^[155] Tishtrya bemoans his lot and complains before Ahura Mazda that mankind had neglected to sacrifice unto him. If only he were strengthened by their offerings, he would carry with himself on the battlefield the vigour of ten horses, ten camels, ten bulls, ten mountains, and ten rivers.^[156] Ahura Mazda, thereupon, offers a sacrifice to the unfortunate angel and gives him the desired strength.^[157] Girt with this added power, Tishtrya now boldly marches against his rival, and engages in combat with him, until, to the joy of the waters, and plants, and lands, and fields, Tishtrya comes out triumphant and Apaosha is defeated.^[158]

 

Spenjaghri

Apaosha's associate. The name of this demon occurs but once in the Avesta, in Vd. 19. 40, where Vazishta, the fire of lightning, is spoken of as smiting Spenjaghri. We learn from the Pahlavi works that this fiend works in concert with Apaosha to hinder Tishtrya from pouring the rain upon the earth.

 

Azi

Demon of avarice. On the physical side this demon strives to extinguish the household fire, but he is repelled by Sraosha three times during the night.^[159] On the moral side he is the evil genius of avarice.^[160] Sacrifices are offered to the waters and trees to enable the faithful to withstand him.^[161]

 

Vayu

A collaborator of Astovidhotu. We have already seen the good part of Vayu personified as a Yazata. The other part belongs to the realm of wickedness and is impersonated by a demon of the same name. He accompanies the demon Astovidhotu in his work of bringing death unto creation. He is most pitiless and his path is most dreadful. A man may be able to traverse a path that is barred by a flowing river, or by a huge serpent, or by a terrible bear, or by an army, but no man can ever cross the path of Vayu and come out safe.^[162] It is Vayu who hastens his victim to speedy death by smothering him when he is drowned or thrown in a burning fire.^[163] As the good Vayu and the good wind, Vata, are identical, so are also the evil Vayu and the devil Vata personifying the storm-wind.^[164]

 

Minor Demons

Some of the other demons who are merely mentioned by name, and about whose characteristics we do not know anything, are Vyambura, Hashi, Ghashi, Saeni, Buji, Driwi, Daiwi, Kasvi, Akatasha, Aghashi, Paitisha, Zaurva, Ithyejah, Spazga, and other shadowy evil intelligences.^[165]

 

Pairikas

The fairies. A class of bewitching fairies has been created by Angra Mainyu to seduce men from the right path and injure the living world. Nimble as birds they go along flying in the shape of shooting stars between the earth and the heavens.^[166] They come upon fire, trees, and other creations from which they are to be driven away by the recital of spells.^[167] They try to kill Zarathushtra, but in vain.^[168]

Three of the more prominent fairies are mentioned by name. They are Khnanthaiti that clave unto King Keresaspa, who was bewitched by her looks;^[169] Duzhyairya,^[170] corresponding to Dushiyar, or the fairy of drought according to the Old Persian Inscriptions,^[171] and to Dushyari of the Turfan manuscript of Mani;^[172] and Mush.^[173] Zarathushtra tells Angra Mainyu he will smite Khnanthaiti.^[174] Ahura created Tishtrya to rout Duzhyairya.^[175] He keeps her in bonds as a thousand men would keep one man, and if Tishtrya were not to keep her in check she would extinguish the life of the entire material world.^[176] Mithra withstands the Pairikas.^[177]

The recital of the Ahuna Vairya and Airyaman Ishya prayers routs the fairies.^[178] Zarathushtra asks Ahura Mazda to declare the divine name of his by the utterance of which he may smite the demons and fairies.^[179] Ahura Mazda thereupon declares that the recital of his holy names is most efficacious for routing the evil ones.^[180] Haurvatat, Haoma, Ardvi Sura, Tishtrya, Mithra, Vayu, the Fravashis, sun, waters, and trees are invoked to give power to withstand the seductive attacks of the Pairikas.^[181] Haoshyangha and Takhma Urupi overpowered and ruled over them.^[182]

The Yatus, or sorcerers, usually associate with this class of evil beings.^[183] The faithful declare in the Confession of the Faith that they abjure the sorcerers and those addicted to the sorcerers.^[184] Ahura Mazda's names, and the most efficacious prayers Ahuna Vairya, Ashem Vohu, Yenghe Hatam, and Airyaman Ishya rout the sorcerers.^[185] The recital of the hymn to Sraosha frightens and forces them to flee.^[186] The prayers and sacrifices unto the fire,^[187] the sun,^[188] Vayu,^[189] Tishtrya,^[190] Haoma,^[191] enable the faithful to disable the sorcerers. The Fravashi of King Haosrava is invoked to rout them.^[192] King Takhma Urupi subdued them.^[193] They failed in their attempts to compass the death of Zarathushtra.^[194] The West has derived the term magic from Magi, the priestly class of the ancient Persians. The Zoroastrian works of all periods, however, detest sorcery as an evil creation of Angra Mainyu.^[195] The verdict of the Greek writers regarding this is unanimous. Dino states in his Persica that the Magi abhorred divination by magic, and Sotion on the authority of Aristotle and Dino says that sorcery was unknown among the Magi.^[196]

 

1. Herod. 1. 140; Plutarch, Is. et Os. 46.
2. Ys. 9. 8; Yt. 17. 34.
3. Vd. 22. 2, 9, 15.
4. See Frachtenberg, Etymological Studies in Ormazdian and Ahrimanian words in the Avesta in Spiegel Memorial Volume, p. 269-289; Moulton, Early Zoroastrianism, p. 218, 219.
5. Refutatio Haeresium, 1. 2.
6. Prooem. 8.
7. Is. et Os. 46, 47.
8. Is. et Os. 47.
9. Prooem. 9.
10. Vd. 19. 1, 43.
11. Yt. 13. 77.
12. Ys. 61. 2; Yt. 3. 13; 10. 97; 13. 71; 15. 56; 17. 19; 18. 2; 24. 43; Vd. 1. 3; 19. 1, 43, 44; 22. 2; Aog. 4, 28.
13. Yt. 13. 71.
14. Yt. 22. 2.
15. Yt. 24. 43.
16. Yt. 3. 13.
17. Vd. 19. 3.
18. Ys. 61. 2; Vd. 19. 6.
19. WFr. 4. 2.
20. Aog. 4.
21. Yt. 17. 19; Vd. 11. 10; 19. 1, 5, 9, 12, 44.
22. Ys. 27. 1; Yt. 10. 118; 13. 71, 78.
23. Yt. 19. 97.
24. Vd. 19. 1.
25. Yt. 19. 44.
26. Ys. 57. 17; Yt. 11. 12; 13. 76; 15. 3, 43, 44; Vd. 3. 20; 13. 1, 2, 5, 6, 16.
27. Vd. 20. 3; 22. 2.
28. Vd. 2. 29, 37.
29. Ys. 9. 8.
30. Ys. 22. 24; 25. 5; Yt. 15. 5, 42, 57; Sr. 1. 21; 2. 21.
31. Ys. 19. 15.
32. Yt. 17. 19.
33. Vd. 19. 6, 7.
34. Vd. 19. 46, 47.
35. Yt. 17. 19, 20.
36. Ys. 19. 15.
37. Yt. 15. 12; 19. 29.
38. Yt. 13. 12, 13, 71.
39. Yt. 3. 14-17.
40. Yt. 13. 77.
41. Yt. 19. 96.
42. Ys. 27. 1; 57. 18; Yt. 9. 4; 19. 81; Vd. 10. 16.
43. Vd. 19. 1, 43.
44. Is. et Os. 47.
45. Ys. 27. 1; 57. 17; Yt. 5. 22; 9. 4; 10. 97; 13. 137; Vd. 10. 14, 16; 17. 9, 10.
46. Vd. 8. 31, 32.
47. Vd. 8. 80.
48. Yt. 6. 3; Ny. 1. 13.
49. Vd. 7. 55-58.
50. Vd. 17. 2, 3.
51. Vd. 7. 2; 19. 1.
52. Ys. 12. 4.
53. Vd. 3. 32.
54. Yt. 10. 50.
55. Vd. 18. 54, 55.
56. Vd. 19. 3.
57. Yt. 13. 57.
58. Yt. 13. 90.
59. Yt. 3. 7, 10; 4. 2; 11. 6; Vd. 10. 13-16; 18. 16.
60. Ys. 10. 6.
61. Ys. 27. 1.
62. Yt. 4. 2; 5. 22, 26, 68, 77; 9. 4; 13. 45, 137.
63. Yt. 2. 11, 12; 3. 10, 14.
64. Vd. 19. 15.
65. Ys. 57. 31, 32.
66. Yt. 6. 5; 10. 26, 97, 128-133.
67. Yt. 19. 26, 28, 29, 84.
68. Vd. 19. 46.
69. Vd. 19. 3.
70. Yt. 13. 89.
71. Yt. 8. 44.
72. Yt. 19. 80.
73. Ys. 9. 15; FrW. 4. 3.
74. Vd. 19. 33; Aog. 19.
75. Vd. 7. 36-40.
76. Yt. 5. 94, 95; Nr. 68.
77. Ys. 12. 1.
78. Ys. 12. 4-6.
79. Vd. 19. 4.
80. Yt. 19. 46.
81. Yt. 19. 96.
82. Yt. 1. 19; 11. 3; 13. 71.
83. Ys. 61. 5; Yt. 1. 28.
84. Ys. 60. 5; Yt. 24. 25; Vd. 20. 8.
85. Yt. 19. 93.
86. Yt. 13. 12, 13.
87. Yt. 10. 86.
88. Yt. 19. 95.
89. Ys. 9. 8; 57. 15; Yt. 5. 34; Vd. 8. 21; 18. 31 f.
90. Yt. 3. 17; Vd. 8. 21.
91. Vd. 3. 7.
92. Vd. 19. 12, 13.
93. Yt. 13. 129.
94. Yt. 19. 12, 95.
95. Yt. 4. 6.
96. Vd. 19. 12.
97. Vd. 19. 1-3.
98. Vd. 19. 46.
99. Ys. 57. 15; Yt. 3. 17; 11. 3.
100. Yt. 11. 3.
101. Vd. 18. 30-59.
102. Vd. 3. 7.
103. Vd. 7. 1, 2.
104. Vd. 7. 3.
105. Yt. 4. 5; Vd. 10. 1.
106. Vd. 9. 12-26.
107. Vd. 7. 78, 79.
108. Vd. 19. 12, 13.
109. Ys. 27. 1; 61. 5.
110. Ys. 9. 8.
111. Yt. 5. 109.
112. Ys. 8. 8; Vd. 18. 76.
113. Ys. 8. 5,6.
114. Ys. 10. 16.
115. Yt. 1. 28.
116. Vd. 9. 51, 52.
117. Vd. 18. 11.
118. Vd. 18. 12.
119. Yt. 13. 105.
120. Yt. 1. 10, 11.
121. Yt. 15. 51.
122. Vd. 19. 43.
123. Vd. 10. 9.
124. Vd. 10. 9; 19. 43.
125. Yt. 3. 8, 11. 15.
126. Ys. 60. 5.
127. Vd. 10. 9; 19. 43.
128. Vd. 10. 9; 19. 43.
129. Vd. 5. 8, 9.
130. Aog. 57.
131. AOg. 70-73.
132. Ys. 57. 25; Yt. 10. 93.
133. Yt. 13. 11, 28.
134. Vd. 4. 47-49.
135. Vd. 19. 29.
136. Yt. 24. 26.
137. Vd. 19. 41.
138. Vd. 11. 9, 12.
139. Vd. 11. 9; 18. 16, 24.
140. Vsp. 7. 3.
141. Yt. 22. 42.
142. Vd. 18. 17, 25.
143. Vd. 18. 16, 24. For general information about the cock among the ancient Iranians, see Jackson, Proceedings, JAOS. 13. lix-lxi, cf. also Peters, The Cock, in JAOS. 33. 377-380.
144. Yt. 10. 97, 134.
145. Yt. 18. 2; Vd. 11. 9, 12.
146. Yt. 10. 97.
147. Ys. 10. 8; Yt. 11. 15.
148. Yt. 11. 15.
149. Ys. 57. 25.
150. Ys. 57. 10; Yt. 10. 97.
151. Ys. 10. 8; Yt. 17. 5; Vd. 11. 9.
152. Vd. 19. 1-3.
153. Yt. 8. 13-19.
154. Yt. 8. 21.
155. Yt. 8. 22.
156. Yt. 8. 23, 24.
157. Yt. 8. 25.
158. Yt. 8. 26-29.
159. Vd. 18. 19, 21, 22.
160. Yt. 18. 1.
161. Ys. 16. 8.
162. Aog. 77-81.
163. Vd. 5. 8, 9.
164. Vd. 10. 14.
165. See Gray, op. cit., p. 224-226.
166. Yt. 8. 8.
167. Vd. 11. 9, 12.
168. Yt. 8. 44.
169. Vd. 1. 10.
170. Yt. 8. 51, 53, 54.
171. Darius, Pers. d. 3.
172. Muller, Handschriften-Reste, 2, p. 15, in Abh. d. kgl. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., Anhang, Berlin, 1904.
173. Ys. 16. 8.
174. Vd. 19. 5.
175. Yt. 8. 36, 51, 53-55.
176. Yt. 8. 54, 55.
177. Yt. 10. 26.
178. Yt. 3. 5; 11. 6; Vd. 20. 12.
179. Yt. 1. 6.
180. Yt. 1. 10, 11.
181. Ys. 9. 18; 16. 8; 68. 8; Yt. 4. 4; 5. 26; 6. 4; 10. 34; 13. 104, 135; 15. 12; Sr. 2. 13.
182. Yt. 19. 26, 28, 29.
183. See Frachtenberg, Allusions to Witchcraft and other primitive beliefs in Dastur Hoshang Memorial Volume, p. 398-453; Franklin, Allusions to the Persian Magic in Classical Latin Writers, ib., p. 520-534.
184. Ys. 12. 4.
185. Ys. 61. 3; Yt. 1. 6; 3. 5, 9, 12, 16.
186. Yt. 11. 6.
187. Vd. 8. 80.
188. Yt. 6. 4.
189. Yt. 15. 56.
190. Sr. 2. 13.
191. Ys. 9. 18.
192. Yt. 13. 135.
193. Yt. 19. 29.
194. Yt. 8. 44.
195. Vd. 1. 14, 15.
196. Frag. 5, FHG. 2. 90; Diogenes Laertius, Prooem. 8; cf also Windischmann in Sanjana's Zarathushtra in the Gathas and in the Greek and Roman Classics, p. 88, 105.