The word has an Indo-Iranian root, descendant of the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eish₂- ‘strengthen; propel’, making it cognate with Ancient Greek oîma (οἶμα) ‘spring, rush’, Latin īra ‘wrath’, and Lithuanian aistrà ‘violent passion’.
The demon's chief adversary, however, is Sraosha "Obedience", the principle of religious devotion and discipline.
The opposition between religious obedience and distraction from it is also expressed in the Yasna 10.8's portrayal of Aeshma as the metaphysical endangerment of the Good Religion.
Aeshma distracts from proper worship, distorting "the intention and meaning of sacrifice through brutality against cattle and violence in war and drunkenness.
(Vendidad 11.9) In the Zoroastrian texts of the 9th–12th centuries, the function of battling Aeshma is also ascribed to Mithra (Zand-i Wahman yasn 7.34), and Denkard 3.116 places him in opposition to Vohu Manah.