Aka Manah^{[pronunciation?]} is theAvestan language name for theZoroastriandaeva "Evil Mind", "Evil Purpose", "Evil Thinking", or "Evil Intention". Aka Manah also known as Akoman in Middle Persian and Akvan in New Persian, represents the malevolent force of sensual desire that was sent byAhriman to seduce the prophetZoroaster. His eternal opponent isVohu Manah. Aka Manah is thehypostatic abstraction of accusativeakem manah (akәm manah), "manah made evil". Theobjectification of this malign influence is the demon Aka/Akem Manah, who appears in later texts asMiddle PersianAkoman andNew PersianAkvan.

The concept ofakem manah is already attested in theGathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and believed to have been composed byZoroaster himself.

In two of the three instances where the term is used in these ancient texts,akem manah is an attribute of humans. InYasna 33.4, the poet promises to counter his own "disobedience andaka manah" through worship. InYasna 47.5,aka manah is the motivation (the state of mind) that causes deceitful actions. In the third instance where the term appears, Akem Manah is a property of thedaevas, entities that in later Zoroastrianism are demons but in the Gathas are gods that are to be rejected. There, inYasna 32.3, thedaevas are identified as the offspring, not ofangra mainyu, but ofakem manah.

Related to, but not entirely equivalent toakem manah, are other terms that express similar ideas. The first isaka mainyu "evil spirit" or "evil instrument," which in the Gathas is contrasted withspenta mainyu "bounteous spirit," the instrument through whichAhura Mazda realized ("with his thought") creation. The other term isangra mainyu "destructive spirit," which in Zoroastrian tradition is the epitome of evil, but in the Gathas is the other absolute antitheses ofspenta mainyu.

Gathicakem manah may also be equated withacishtem manah "worst thinking,"^[1] which reflects the later Zoroastrian opposition betweenakem manah andvohu manah, "good purpose." InYasna 32.13, the abode of the wicked isacishtem manah.

In theYounger Avesta, Akem Manah is unambiguously a demonic entity, an auxiliary ofAngra Mainyu.

InYasht 19.46, Aka Manah,Aeshma,Azi Dahaka and Spityura battleVohu Manah,Asha Vahishta andAtar for the possession ofkhvarenah. Later in the same hymn (19.96), Aka Manah is predicted to be in battle with Vohu Manah at the final renovation of the world, at which time Aka Manah – as all the otherdaevas also - will be vanquished.

InVendidad 19's account of the temptation ofZoroaster, Aka Manah poses ninety-nine questions to weaken the prophet's conviction in Ahura Mazda. Zoroaster does not succumb to the trick.

In the Zoroastrian texts of the 9th-12th centuries, Akoman (Middle Persian for Akem Manah) is the second of Ahriman's (MP for Angra Mainyu) creatures (Bundahishn 1.24), devised to counter Ohrmuzd's (Ahura Mazda's) creation of the world. This rank reflects Akem Manah's opposition toVohu Manah (cf.Bundahishn 30.29), who is the second of theAmesha Spentas.

Also reflecting the hierarchy that mirrors theAmesha Spentas and in which each of the "bounteous immortals" has collaborators (hamkars), Akoman has a special relationship with Anashtih "non-peace". Akoman is also close to Varun/Varan "lust" or "concupiscence," together with whom (soDenkard 3.33) was created.

In theEpistles of Zadspram (14.8), Akoman is first among the demons who try to injure Zoroaster before and at his birth. He was however "easily defeated by his own weapon of deceit being turned against him. Vohuman, who had chased him to the spot, schemingly turned back and asked him to enter the house. Akoman thought that as his rival was leaving the place, his own work was finished, and consequently [left as well] without accomplishing anything."^[2]

The ability to make righteous decisions is blunted by Akoman (Denkard 3.116). He is the cause of evil intent, and a mortal so afflicted searches for "gross defects" in others while hiding his own (3.255).Denkard 8 attributes the crying of new-born infants to Akoman, reasoning that the demon frightens the children with ghastly images of the final renovation of the world.

According toDenkard 9.30.8 (reflecting chapter 7.8 of theWarsht-mansr Nask, a lost Avestan text), Akoman causes a mortal's failure to discriminate between good and evil. He so introduces discord and - as a consequence - physical evil in the world (Denkard 6). He perverts a man's thoughts and makes him miserable.^[3]

Among all the demons, Akoman is to be dreaded the most (Denkard 9).^[3]

InFerdowsi'sShahnameh,Akvan is described as having long hair, blue eyes and a head like an elephant with a mouthful of tusks instead of teeth.

In one of the tales, the demon trapsRostam while the hero is asleep, and carries him up into the sky. He then asks Rostam whether he would prefer to be thrown upon a mountain, or into the sea. Rostam, aware that the demon's mind is perverse (cf.In the Pahlavi texts above), asks to be thrown upon a mountain, and the demon in response throws him into the sea. Rescuing himself from the waters, Rostam recovers his horse and confronts the demon again, subsequently beheading it.

Another story has an oblique reference to a "Stone of Akvan", suggesting that there were once other legends surrounding Akvan/Akoman that have not however survived.^[4]

• Shahnameh
• Daevas

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