AHMEDABAD: V. BOMBAY, ARCHDIOCESE OF.
AHIRMAN. — In the Mazdean religion, Ahirman is the evil principle, the source of all evil, also known in older forms as Angro Mainyush. The second part of the compound, *mainyush*, means “spirit,” while the meaning of the first, *angro*, is still debated; it probably signifies “tormentor, malefactor,” in contrast to *spento mainyush*, the “beneficent spirit.”
In the ancient Avesta, Ahirman is not directly opposed to Ahuramazda, but rather to his “beneficent spirit.” The two, the tormentor and the beneficent one, are called “twins” (Yasna 30:3), yet they remain in perpetual opposition, disagreeing neither in thought, nor in decision, nor in speech, nor in action (Yasna 45:2). In the later development of the religion, the beneficent spirit was identified with Ahuramazda, a development whose beginnings can be traced even in the ancient hymns; thus, a direct dualism arose between Ahuramazda and Ahirman. Aristotle already knew this stage of development when he directly opposed Oromasdes and Aremian (Diogenes Laertius, *Vita philos.*, prooem. 5).
The name *Angro Mainyush* appears a few times in the ancient Avesta; more often, evil is represented there by *druj*, “the lie,” from which the evil teacher, that is, the heretic, draws inspiration, as does the deceitful tongue, and from which ignorance of the true doctrine arises. No creative power is attributed to the evil spirit; rather, through free choice, men align themselves with one spirit or the other, and thus on earth there arises the dualism and struggle between good and evil. The *deva*, that is, the deities of the ancient Iranian polytheism whom Zarathustra opposed, chose the evil principle and became demons.
In the course of the macrocosmic drama, each spirit possesses its own power, but at the end of the world the good principle will definitively triumph over the evil one.
In the later Avesta and in religious literature subsequent to Ahirman, a creation opposed to that of Ahuramazda is described; while Ahuramazda creates life and light, Ahirman creates death and darkness. To destroy good creatures, he employs a monstrous serpent, Azhi Dahaka, disrupts the course of the stars and of waters to sterilize the earth, and sends countless diseases to torment mankind. He dwells in darkness and on earth gathers his diabolical hosts on Mount Arezura, marshals them for assault, and hurls them into the world. He can transform himself into a horse, a toad, and a serpent. In Pahlavi literature, which draws from lost books of the Avesta, his struggle against Ahuramazda is framed within a chronological system of twelve thousand years, divided into four millennia. With the beginning of the third millennium, the struggle ignites, and Ahirman succeeds in killing the first man, Gayomart, and the primeval bull, prototype of animal and vegetable life, and on earth a mingling of good and evil ensues through the irruption of the evil spirit. At the end of the final millennium, he will be defeated, evil destroyed; good, by contrast, will reign unchallenged.