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| Vohu Manah | |
|---|---|
Good Thought | |
 | |
| Other names | Vohman, Bahman, Vohu Mino, Vahishta Mino[2] |
| Avestan | Vohu Manah 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎⸱ 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬀𐬵 |
| Affiliation | The Thirty-Three Deities،Guardians of the Days of the Month، The Twelve Deities،Amesha Spenta |
| Symbol | Purity, wisdom, knowledge, good speech[3] |
| Sacred flower | Jasmine |
| Attributes | Guardian of the cattle, the first creation of Ahuramazd, the most powerful force in the battle against the chaos of the universe. |
| Enemy | Aka Manah |
| Day | 2nd of each month in the Iranian calendar |
| Gender | Male |
| Festivals | Bahmanagān |
| Associated deities | Drvaspa,Rama,Mah |
| Equivalents | |
| Abrahamic | Gabriel |
| Part ofa series on |
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Vohu Manah (Avestan: 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎⸱ 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬀𐬵vohu manah) is theAvestan language term for aZoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose", "Good Mind", or "Good Thought", referring to the good state of mind that enables an individual to accomplish their duties. ItsMiddle Persian equivalent, as attested in thePahlavi script texts of Zoroastrian tradition, is 𐭥𐭤𐭥𐭬𐭭Wahman, which is a borrowing of the Avestan language expression and has the same meaning, and which continues inNew Persian asبهمنBahman and variants. Manah is cognate with theSanskrit word Manas suggesting some commonality between the ideas of theGathas and those of theRigveda. The opposite of Vohu Manah isakem manah orAka Manah, "evil purpose" or "evil mind".
The term is a compound of the wordsvohu "good" andmanah "mind, thought, purpose", cognate with theVedic wordsvásu andmánas, both with the same meaning. Both of these derive fromProto-Indo-Iranian*Hwásuš and*mánas, in turn fromProto-Indo-European*h₁wésus and*ménos.
In theGathas, the oldest texts of theAvesta and considered to be composed byZoroaster, the term 'Vohu Manah' is not unambiguously used as a proper name and frequently occurs without the "Good" (Vohu-) prefix.
In the post-Gathic texts that expound the principles ofZoroastrian cosmogony, Vohu Manah is anAmesha Spenta, one of seven emanations ofAhura Mazda that each represent one facet of creation. In the case of Vohu Manah, it is theanimal creation, in particularcattle. Vohu Manah is of neutral gender in Avestan grammar but in Zoroastrian tradition is considered masculine.
In theZoroastrian calendar, the second day of each month as well as the eleventh month of each year are dedicated to Vohu Manah. In theIranian civil calendar, which inherits the names of the months from the Zoroastrian calendar, the 11th month is likewise named Bahman.
TheAchaemenid emperorArtaxerxes II (as it is rendered inGreek) had "Vohu Manah" as the second part of his throne name, which when "translated" into Greek appeared as "Mnemon".New PersianBahman remains atheophoric in present-day Iranian and Zoroastrian tradition.
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