Introduction
Nanghaithya is one of the six chief daevas of Zoroastrianism, opposed to the Amesha Spenta Spenta Armaiti, "Holy Devotion". The name is directly cognate with Nasatya, an epithet of the Vedic twin gods the Ashvins in Hindu tradition, another example of a term from the shared Indo-Iranian religious past recast as demonic in the Zoroastrian system.
This article covers only the Zoroastrian daeva; the Ashvins of Hindu tradition are a separate, positively regarded pair of gods.
Zoroastrianism inherited many divine names from the older, shared Indo-Iranian religious tradition ancestral to both Zoroastrianism and Vedic Hinduism, but its strict ethical dualism recast several of these figures as daevas, evil spirits opposing Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas, in deliberate contrast to their positive standing (as Devas) in the Vedic tradition. The six chief daevas each specifically oppose one Amesha Spenta.
Opposition to devotion
As the daeva opposed to Spenta Armaiti, Nanghaithya represents a rejection of the proper humility, devotion and right relationship with the created world (especially the earth) that Spenta Armaiti embodies; Zoroastrian texts associate this daeva with discontent, ingratitude and a corrupted spiritual disposition.
A minor figure in the sources
Compared to some other daevas, relatively little independent narrative or detailed description survives for Nanghaithya beyond the basic pairing with Spenta Armaiti in the lists of the six chief daevas and their Amesha Spenta counterparts.