Aži Dahāka

Overview

Yasna 9 recounts the rewards received by earlier preparers of Haoma. Athwya’s reward is the birth of Thraetaona, who defeats Aži Dahāka. The dragon has three jaws or mouths, three heads and six eyes, together with exceptional strength. The hosted edition renders another attribute as a thousand perceptions and records Mills’s alternative, a thousand powers.

The hymn identifies Dahāka as a druj made by Angra Mainyu against the inhabited and righteous world. This is the Avestan religious witness, whose account centres on Thraetaona’s victory. Its multiple heads should not be replaced with the two shoulder serpents of the later Shahnameh king Zahhak.

Origins & earliest records

Iranian Zoroastrian religious narrative and cosmology

Records & interpretation

Named and numbered primary-text passage directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Yasna

   L. H. Mills, with explicitly marked editorial revisions · 1898

   9.7–8; hosted historical edition date, not text-composition date.

Family & connections

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Primary records and illustrations

References

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1. Historical religious primary-text translationYasna 9.7–8 — primary translationResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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