A Parsi Times reader recently asked if Ahriman (the evil spirit) really exists and if Ahriman exists, did Ahura Mazda create Ahriman or like Ahura Mazda, Ahriman too is self-created and without a beginning or end? He also asked if it is essential to exorcise Ahriman every morning by praying ‘Shekasteh Shekasteh Sheytān?’

Interestingly, Asho Zarathushtra makes no reference to a personified embodiment of evil (Ahriman or Satan) in the Gatha. The concept of Shaitan (Satan) or the devil appears to have evolved during the Sassanian period, several centuries after Asho Zarathustra. What Asho Zarathustra conceptualized was Angra Mainyu which is evil or dark mentality. The Gatha suggest that Angra Mainyu can be kept away by following Spenta Mainyu or Good Mentality. Zarathustra only refers to the two mentalities (Angra and Spenta) in the Gatha.

Evil as per Abrahamic traditions

In Judaism, Satan is understood as a metaphor for yetzer hara or the ‘evil inclination,’ a concept comparable to the Zoroastrian idea of Angra Mainyu, the ‘evil mentality,’ and the Vedic notion of Arishadvarga. In Islam, during Hajj, pilgrims perform the ritual of stoning the jamarāt – three walls in Mina symbolizing Abraham’s rejection of temptation and obedience to God. In the Bible, Satan first appears in Genesis as the serpent who tempts Eve, leading Adam to eat the forbidden fruit in Eden. In the New Testament, Satan attempts unsuccessfully to tempt Jesus during his forty days of fasting in the desert. Both Christianity and Islam describe Satan as a ‘fallen angel’ who rebelled against God. On deeper study, these allegories reveal an inner struggle: the human mind choosing between good and evil. The devil, whether called Ahriman, Satan, or Mara, symbolizes negative states and destructive tendencies within us.

Angra Mainyu

Mainyu is variously translated as ‘Spirit’, an abstract energy or ‘Mind’. Angra is viewed as destructive, chaotic, disorderly and inhibitive. One of the chief manifestations of Angra is destruction which arises from anger and, anger is a state of the mind. Thus, Angra Mainyu is a destructive, chaotic, disorderly and inhibitive state of the mind which often manifests into anger and destruction of all that is good.

In Yasna 30.3 there is reference to Aka Mainyu. Aka is Avestan for ‘evil’ or ‘deficient’ and is the antithesis of Spenta which is good and bounteous. Thus, while the earlier Avestan texts refer to Angra Mainyu in the abstract the later Middle Persian texts refer to a more personalized embodiment of evil by the name Ahriman. But, Angra Mainu or Ahriman, both are in eternal conflict with all that is good and bountiful.

In Zoroastrian theology, Angra Mainyu is limited to material space and time and at the end of time, Angra Mainyu will be finally defeated or simply disappear because Angra Mainyu is akin to a shadow. A shadow, as we know, exists only in relationship to a light source, a disrupting object and an object in the background. Thus, if Truth is light and the mind is the disorderly obstructive object, what is seen in the background of life is the shadow of Ahriman. But, let the light of truth shine through a mind attuned to the light (of truth) and there would be no obstruction and no shadow would seen in the background of life! There would be just light! Little wonder that in certain Pahlavi texts, Ahriman is viewed as ‘nonexistent’!

Arda Viraf Nameh

The Book of Ardā Wīrāz (Pahlavi or Middle Persian Ardā Wīrāz Nāmag) is a Zoroastrian religious text of the Sasanian era. It describes the journey of the soul of a devout (Wīrāz) Zoroastrian priest in a state of trance (induced by a form of wine mixed with various herbs) to the spiritual world. According to this book his soul crosses the Chinvat Bridge and is led by Srosh and Adar Yazad to observe heaven and hell. The souls of those who had diligently fulfilled their duties on earth and led a life of piety were seen rejoicing and those who were wicked and lived a life of deceit suffered in hell.

Importantly, in the book of Ardā Wīrāz is the reference of the narrator, (Ardā Wīrāz) to the reality of Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spenta and the non-reality of Ahriman and his horde of demons. This concept of ‘non-reality’ is also expressed in other Pahlavi texts, such as the Denkard (written during the ninth century AD.) which asserts that Ahriman: ‘has never been and never will be.’

Zoroastrian Form of Exorcism

In the Zoroastrian tradition one is expected on waking to recite a short prayer known as ‘Nirang-i-Gomez mālidan’. It is to be recited three times. It is a prayer to exorcise or drive away Ahriman the Accursed, first thing on waking up to a brand-new day! The Nirang reads: Shekasteh Shekasteh Sheytān, Ahriman gajasteh kār o kerdār, Na rasad gajasteh kār o kerdār; Si-o-sē Ameshāspand Dādār Hormazd pirozgar pāk; Ashaone Ashem Vohū.’ Translated: (May Satan (be) defeated and destroyed! (May) the works and workers of Ahriman the accursed (be) destroyed! May not works and workers of (that) accursed (Ahriman) reach (me)! The thirty-three Holy Immortals (Ameshaspands) And the Creator Hormazd be victorious and holy!)

The language of this Nirang is Persian and therefore believed to be a prayer composed in later times. To reiterate, in older Avestan texts the reference is not to Ahriman but to Angra Mainyu. In any case, the morning prayer, Shekasteh Shekasteh Sheytān is essentially a Positive Affirmation to stay attuned with one’s good mentality and reject dark mentality.

In conclusion, evil has no real existence. Evil is simply the absence of good, just as darkness is the absence of light. When we choose light, we automatically reject darkness and when we choose goodness, we automatically reject evil!