Vohu-mano (Bahman) means “the Good Mind.” Originally a mere attribute of Ahura-mazda, Vohu-mano came to be considered, first as one of the high angels attendant on him, and then formally as one of-his six councillors. He had a distinct sphere or province assigned to him in Ahura-mazda’s kingdom, which was the maintenance of life in animals and of goodness in man. Asha-vahista (Ardibehesht) means “the Highest Truth”--“Voritas optima,” or rather perhaps “Veritas lucidissima.” He was the “Light” of the universe, subtle, all-pervading, omnipresent. His special business was to maintain the splendor of the various luminaries, and thereby to preserve all those things whose existence and growth depend on light. Khshathra-vairya (Shahravar), whose name means simply “possessions,” “wealth,” was regarded as presiding over metals and as the dispenser of riches. Qoonta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat)--the “white or holy Ar-maiti,” represented the Earth. She had from the first, as we have already seen, a distinct position in the system of the Zoroastrians, where she was at once the Earth goddess and the genius of piety. Haurvatat (Khordad) means “health”--“sanitas”--and was originally one of the great and precious gifts which Ahura-mazda possessed himself and kindly bestowed on his creatures. When personification, and the needs of the theology, had made Haurvatat an archangel, he, together with Ameretat (Amerdat), “Immortality,” took the presidency of the vegetable world, which it was the business of the pair to keep in good condition. In the council of Angro-mainyus, Ako-mano stands in direct antithesis to Vohu-mano, as “the bad mind,” or more literally, “the naught mind”--for the Zoroastrians, like Plato, regarded good and evil as identical with reality and unreality. Ako-mano’s special sphere is the mind of man, where he suggests evil thoughts and prompts to bad words and wicked deeds. He holds the first place in the infernal council, as Vohu-mano does in the heavenly one. Indra, who holds the second place in the infernal council, is evidently the Vedic god whom the Zoroastrians regarded as a powerful demon, and therefore made one of Angro-mainyus’s chief councillors. He probably retained his character as the god of the storm and of war, the destroyer of crops and cities, the inspirer of armies and the wielder of the thunder-bolt. The Zoroastrians, however, ascribed to him only destructive actions; while the more logical Hindoos, observing that the same storm which hurt the crops and struck down trees and buildings was also the means of fertilizing the lands and purifying the air, viewed him under a double aspect, as at once terrible in his wrath and the bestower of numerous blessings. Qaurva, who stands next to Indra, is thought to be the Hindoo Shiva, who has the epithet qarva in one of the Vedas. But the late appearance of Shiva in the Hindoo system makes this highly uncertain.