Asura
[3]: 4 In the earliest layer of Vedic texts, Agni, Indra and other gods are also called Asuras, in the sense of their being "lords" of their respective domains, knowledge and abilities.
[3]: 4 Asuras are part of Hinduism along with Yakshas (nature spirits), Rakshasas (fierce man-eating beings or demons), Bhutas (ghosts) and many more.
The 5th century Buddhist philosopher Buddhaghosa explains that their name derives from the myth of their defeat at the hands of the god Śakra.
[8] In the oldest verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, the Asuras are any spiritual, divine beings including those with good or bad intentions, and constructive or destructive inclinations or nature.
[8] In later verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, Monier Williams states the Asuras are "evil spirits, demons and opponents of the gods".
[8] According to Finnish Indologist Asko Parpola, the word Asura was borrowed from Proto-Indo-Aryan into Proto-Uralic during an early period of contact, in the form *asera-, showing a meaning "lord, prince".
[10] Book 1 of the Rig Veda describes Savitr (Vedic solar deity) as an asura who is a "kind leader".
[15] According to Jeaneane Fowler, the Gita states that desires, aversions, greed, needs, emotions in various forms "are facets of ordinary lives", and it is only when they turn to lust, hate, cravings, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, hypocrisy, cruelty and such negativity- and destruction-inclined that natural human inclinations metamorphose into something demonic (Asura).
[15][16] In the Brahmanda Purana, it is stated the term 'Asura' was used for the Daityas due to their rejection of Varuni (Goddess of Wine) after she emerged from the Ocean of Milk (i.e. 'a-sura', meaning 'those who do not have Sura', that is, 'wine' or more generally 'liquor').
The allusions to the disastrous wars between the asuras and the suras, found in the Puranas and the epics, may be the conflict faced by people and migrants into ancient India.
Kuiper, W. Norman Brown, Haug, von Bradke, Otto, Benveniste, Konow, Rajwade, Dandekar, Darmesteter, Bhandarkar, and Raja, Banerji-Sastri, Padmanabhayya, Skoeld, S.C. Roy, Kumaraswamy, Shamasastry, Przyluski, Schroeder, Burrows, Hillebrandt, Taraporewala, Lommel, Fausboll, Segerstedt, Thieme, Gerschevitch, Boyce, Macdonnell, Hermann Oldenberg, Geldner, Venkatesvaran, and Jan Gonda.
[24] In the 19th century, Haug pioneered the idea that the term Asura is linguistically related to the Ahuras of Indo-Aryan people and pre-Zoroastrianism era.
These contrary roles have led some scholars to infer that there may have been wars between proto-Indo-European communities, and that adapted their gods and demons to reflect their social differences.
[27][3]: 5–8, 12, 15, 18–19, 37 Asko Parpola has re-opened this debate by presenting archaeological and linguistic evidence, but notes that the links may go earlier to Uralic languages roots.
The Aesir-Asura correspondence is the relation between Vedic Sanskrit Asura and Old Norse Æsir and Proto-Uralic *asera, all of which mean 'lord, powerful spirit, god'.
[36] Some of these tales constitute the background of major Hindu Epics and annual festivals, such as the story of Asura Ravana and Deva Rama in the Ramayana, and the legend of Asura Hiranyakashipu and Deva Vishnu as Narasimha,[36] the latter celebrated with the Hindu spring festival of Holika and Holi.
[39] In Buddhist mythology, 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.
[citation needed] Edelmann and other scholars state that the dualistic concept of Asura and Deva in Hinduism is a form of symbolism found throughout its ancient and medieval literature.
[42] Edelmann states that this symbolism embedded in the Upanishads is a reminder that one must struggle with presented ideas, learning is a process, and Deva nature emerges with effort.
[42] Similar dichotomies are present in the Puranas literature of Hinduism, where god Indra (a Deva) and the antigod Virocana (an Asura) question a sage for insights into the knowledge of the self.
[42] The god (Deva) and antigod (Asura), states Edelmann, are also symbolically the contradictory forces that motivate each individual and people, and thus Deva-Asura dichotomy is a spiritual concept rather than mere genealogical category or species of being.
[50] I dig this Healing Herb that makes my lover look on me and weep, That bids the parting friend return and kindly greets him as he comes.
Similarly, in the Atharva Veda, all sorts of medical remedies and charms are projected as Asuri manifested in plants and animals.
[51][52] Asuras (Classical Tibetan: ལྷ་མིན, romanized: lha min; simplified Chinese: 阿修罗; traditional Chinese: 阿修羅; pinyin: āxiūluó; Japanese: 阿修羅, romanized: ashura, asura) are a type of supernatural beings (anti-gods, demigods, or non-god titans) in traditional Buddhist cosmology and a realm of rebirth based on one's karma in current or past lives.
In Pali texts, names that are found include Vepacitti, Rāhu (Verocana), Pahārāda, Sambara, Bali, Sucitti, and Namucī.
