Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/294

Rh crew. At the beginning of creation the recital of Ahuna Vairya by Mazda put Angra Mainyu to flight, 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. The Fravashis force him to give way to the blows of Spenta Mainyu. He bewails that Asha Vahishta frustrates his efforts to spread sickness.

Angra Mainyu's final defeat. Since the time when the Evil Spirit broke into the world of Righteousness, 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, and will hide himself forever in the bowels of the earth.

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.' The greatest of all the demons is Angra Mainyu, who has created these fiends in opposition to the