Asura (Buddhism)
While all the gods of the Kāmadhātu are subject to passions to some degree, the asuras above all are addicted to them, especially wrath, pride, envy, insincerity, falseness, boasting, and bellicosity.
The Great Calm-Observation by Zhiyi says: Always desiring to be superior to others, having no patience for inferiors and belittling strangers; like a hawk, flying high above and looking down on others, and yet outwardly displaying justice, worship, wisdom, and faith — this is raising up the lowest order of good and walking the way of the Asuras.The asuras are said to experience a much more pleasurable life than humans, but they are plagued by envy for the devas, whom they can see just as animals perceive humans.
[citation needed] The asuras of some inferior realms however, are malevolent (such as the corruptor Mara) and can be referred to as demons.
Weakened by their drunkenness, the asuras could not resist when Śakra had the whole lot of them thrown over the edge of Trāyastriṃśa into what would become the Asura-world at the base of Sumeru.
When the pursuing asuras saw Śakra turn about, they felt certain that he must be coming back with an even larger army, and they fled, ceding all the ground they had gained.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the addition of the asuras in the six-world bhavacakra was created in Tibet at the authority of Je Tsongkhapa.
The leaders of the asuras are called asurendra (Pāli: Asurinda, Chinese: 阿修羅王; Pinyin: Āxiūluó-wáng; Romaji: Ashura-ō), literally meaning "Asura-lord".
In Pali texts, names that are found include Vepacitti, Rāhu (believed to be synonymous with Verocana), Pahārāda, Sambara, Bali, Sucitti, and Namucī.
According to this tradition, these asuras live 84,000 yojanas beneath the ocean floor on the northern side of Mount Sumeru, which are divided into four layers.
