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Rh 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. If a priest of this character were to give a benediction, his words of blessing would go no further than his lips. Whoso gives the consecrated food to a sinner of that type brings calamity to his own country. He himself is a heretic, for he does not acknowledge any temporal or spiritual master. Ahura Mazda accordingly advises Zarathushtra to recite the divine names when he wishes to rout the malice of any such apostate; Vayu likewise enjoins upon him to utter his sacred names when in danger of being so harassed.

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 His name occurs but twice in the extant Avestan text; he is mentioned as one of the ribald crew routed by Zarathushtra; and in another passage a spell mentioning him by name is recited to drive away the demons. 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.

Foe to the archangel Khshathra Vairya. The Indian counterpart of the demon Sauvra is Sharva. The Avestan texts,