asura

asura, in Hindu mythology, a class of beings defined by their opposition to the devas, or suras (gods). The Sanskrit term asura appears first in the Vedas, a collection of poems and hymns composed about 1500–1000 bce, and refers to a human or divine leader. Its plural form gradually predominated and came to designate a class of beings opposed to the Vedic gods. Later the asuras came to be understood as demons. This pattern was reversed in Iran and the Avestan language of Zoroastrian texts, where ahura came to mean the supreme god, Ahura Mazdā, and the daevas came to mean demonic forces of evil. Hindu texts recount numerous myths of the gods’ successful conquests over the asuras, and many of these stories play important roles in Hindu holidays. Although most asuras in Hindu mythology are cast in the role of evil opponents of the gods, there are also many notable good asuras who align with the gods.

In the Vedic era

In the earliest layers of the Vedic corpus, Books II–VII of the Rig Veda, the term asura is applied to multiple deities as well as humans in the sense of a divine or lofty leader, but it functions as a descriptor and does not indicate a class of beings. Many deities later considered as devas are called asura in the early Vedic texts, including Agni (fire god), Varuna (sky god), and Savitr (sun god). In one verse in the Rig Veda, Rudra, the Vedic predecessor of Shiva, is called both an asura and a deva. The term asura is also associated with maya—the magical ability of divine beings to create divine illusions and to shape-shift. The capacity to morph into different forms is a key trait of asuras in later mythology.

In the later books of the Rig Veda (Books I and VIII–X, composed c. 1200–1000 bce), the meaning of asura turns more negative and is closely associated with Vritra, the dragonlike, rain-hoarding demon slain by the high god Indra. By the time of the Atharva Veda (c. 1000 bce) and the Brahmanas (c. 900–700 bce), asuras are clearly depicted as a class of demonic beings diametrically opposed to the gods (devas). They are also increasingly mentioned as allied with another class of demons, the rakshasas, and these evil beings continued to be paired in the ongoing development of Hindu demonology.

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Epic demonology

The nature of the asuras is further clarified in the epics Ramayana (c. 300 bce) and Mahabharata (finalized 400 ce, but comprising older material). In these texts two lineages of asuras are identified in the mythology: the Danavas (children of Danu) and the Daityas (the children of Diti). Danu and Diti are the wives of the sage Kashyapa and daughters of the sage Daksha—as was Aditi, the mother of a group of 12 devas called the Adityas. Thus the devas and asuras are half-siblings.

In the epics the asuras are typically defined as being in conflict with the devas, who are sometimes called suras. The texts suggest etymologies for these terms following the logic of the word asura’s apparent privative prefix a- (“not”), even though that negative sense was not a part of the meaning in the earlier Vedic context. The analytical texts allege that the term asura comes from asat (“nonbeing,” from sat, the verb “to be”). Alternatively, they surmise that the divine suras are those who drank wine (surā) and the demonic asuras are those who did not, which refers to the classic myth of how the gods drank the amrita while the demons did not.

Churning of the ocean

In the story of the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthana) as told in the Mahabharata, the devas and asuras momentarily cooperate and use Mount Mandara (a mythical mountain) as the churning stick and the giant naga (mythical snake) Vasuki to churn the cosmic milk ocean. Their goal is to elicit the elixir called amrita (“not death”), which they plan to share. They manage to express a number of additional sacred items from the ocean through the churning—including the Moon, Lakshmi, and other wondrous items—before the amrita emerges. After the physician god Dhanvantari emerges bearing the amrita, the devas trick the asuras. The god Vishnu, through his power of maya, becomes the enchantingly beautiful goddess Mohini. All the demons desire her and give her the amrita, but she turns around and gives it only to the gods to drink, returning the two classes of divine beings to their ongoing opposition. One of the asuras, called Svarbhanu or Rahu, disguises himself as a god and drinks some of the elixir. But the Sun and Moon report it and Vishnu immediately lops off the immortal demon’s head. The disembodied head of the asura becomes Rahu and the tail becomes Ketu, shadow planets that cause eclipses and considered two of the nine planets (navagrahas) in Hindu astrology.

Gods versus asuras in the Puranas

The churning of the ocean story also appears in the Hindu mythological compendiums called the Puranas (“Ancients”; c. 400–1500), as do many other accounts of the opposition between devas and asuras. In these myths the supreme gods of classical Hinduism—Vishnu, Shiva, and forms of the Great Goddess (Durga and Kali)—succeed in conquering various menacing rakshasas and asuras.

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Goddesses

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The demon Mahisha, or Mahishasura (“Buffalo Demon”), is perhaps the most widely known asura. As recounted in the Devi Mahatmya (written about the 5th or 6th century ce), he is defeated by the goddess Durga. Her conquest of this asura is the basis for the holiday Vijayadashami, which concludes the holiday Durga Puja. Other asuras defeated at the hands of Kali, another form of the Great Goddess, include Raktabija and the two pairs of demons Shumbha and Nishumbha and Chanda and Munda.

Shiva and Skanda

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Shiva is known to have destroyed the demon Andhakasura (“Blind Demon”), who was actually the son of Shiva and his wife Parvati but raised by a demon and later killed by Shiva when attempting to abduct Parvati. Shiva and Parvati’s son Skanda (also called Karttikeya or Kumara) is born to defeat the asura Taraka. The background story of Shiva and Parvati’s courtship through their conception of Skanda, in order that a son of Shiva might defeat Taraka, is told with poetic flair in the Kumarasambhava (“Birth of the War God”) by the celebrated 5th-century poet and playwright Kalidasa.

Vishnu’s avatars

Vishnu’s 10 main avatars, the Dashavatara, encounter and defeat numerous asuras as recounted in the Puranas. Vishnu’s avatar Rama dispatched the rakshasa Ravana in the Ramayana, but many of the other incarnations battle asuras. In his Vamana avatar, Vishnu conquers the demon Bali (or Mahabali). According to the mythology of the holiday Onam in Kerala, Mahabali had been a king of Kerala, but once defeated by Vishnu, he accepts Vishnu’s superiority. Pleased with his devotion, Vishnu allows Mahabali to return annually to Kerala, which is celebrated as Onam.

Krishna kills numerous asuras in the Bhagavata Purana (c. 10th century), including his uncle Kamsa, who is the incarnation of an asura, and Narakasura (“Hell Demon”), whose defeat is celebrated on the day before Diwali. Also in the Bhagavata Purana Vishnu is said to incarnate as the Buddha in order to delude demons into believing a false religion. Vishnu’s boar incarnation, Varaha, destroys the asura Hiranyaksha (“Golden Eye”).

Hiranyaksha’s brother, Hiranyakashipu (“Golden-Clothed”), is defeated by Vishnu’s man-lion avatar, Narasimha. Hiranyakashipu’s son, Prahlada, however, is well-known as an asura who shows great devotion (bhakti) for Vishnu, so much so that his father tried to kill him but failed when Vishnu intervened on Prahlada’s behalf—a feat that is celebrated as part of the colorful holiday Holi.