Ahura Mazda, also known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hourmazd, Hormazd, and Hurmuz, was the creator god in the religion of Mazdaism (from zoroastrianism). He is opposed by the evil god Angra Mainyu.
Description[]
In Zoroaster's religious teachings, Ahura Mazda is recognized as the supreme Creator God of the universe who was not created himself. Ahura Mazda seems to represent an amalgamation of various previous Indo-Iranian deities into one all-encompassing deity. Zoroaster's assertion that divinity was essentially One (rather than a multiplicity) was most likely an attempt to differentiate his religious movement from the polytheistic Persian cults of his time.
Central to Zoroaster's view of Ahura Mazda was the concept of asha (the Persian equivalent of the Vedic rta), literally, "truth." In the extended sense, asha refers to the equitable law of the universe, which governed the life of Zoroaster's people, the nomadic herdsmen of the Central Asian steppes.
Overview[]
All physical creation (geti) was created and maintained according to a larger divine plan attributed to Ahura Mazda. Violations of the order (druj) were violations against creation, and thus transgressions against Ahura Mazda. In Zoroaster's original teachings, Ahura Mazda was the transcendent entity which actually existed above the opposed forces of asha and druj; in Zoroaster's formulation these antipodes were personified by two spirits who represented good (Spenta Mainyu) and evil (Angra Mainyu).
According to Zoroaster's teachings, while Ahura Mazda is seen as the one uncreated Creator of all, He is not also seen as the creator of druj, for as anti-creation, the druj are not created (or not creatable, and therefore, like Ahura Mazda, uncreated). "All" is therefore the "supreme benevolent providence", and Ahura Mazda as the benevolent Creator of all is consequently the Creator of only the good. In Zoroaster's revelation, Ahura Mazda will ultimately triumph (Yasna 48.1), but cannot (or will not) control the druj in the here and now. As such, Zoroaster did not perceive Ahura Mazda to be the root of evil, nor was he considered wholly omnipotent.
