5 ms·

What is interesting is Asuras and Devas in Persian and Indian religions. In India the Devas are gods and the Asuras are demons. In Persia, Asuras (called Ahur

What is interesting is Asuras and Devas in Persian and Indian religions. In India the Devas are gods and the Asuras are demons. In Persia, Asuras (called Ahuras) eventually came to become singular Ahura and identified with the supreme God and the Devas became demons. Thus the gods and demons are reversed between India and Persia.

danans 5y ago
Both the cognates Asura/Ahura and Deva/Daeva come from proto Indo European roots describing supernatural or divine beings ("divine" itself is derived from the same root as Deva/Daeva) . The polarization of the two into inimical identities is thought to have happened at some point in antiquity, but it cemented after the Indian Vedic period. During the Vedic period the Asuras weren't all bad - indeed many import demigods of the pantheon are Asuras. They are quite analogous in this way to the Norse Æsir and Vanir, who are not strictly good and evil, and like them often had their conflicts play out on Earth. While some scholars have suggested that the Asura/Deva split must represent an actual schism that took place between the Zoroastrians and the Vedic peoples, it could just as well be the result of cultural drift or the influence of other adjacent cultures.
lazyninja987 5y ago
as the other comment says, asura/deva were not allways hero/villain split. King Bali is the perfect example. Bali was called an asura, but he never did anything wrong. He waged wars with devas, and even when devas pleaded vishnu for defeating him, Vishnu recognized his virtues and agreed to push him to paatala (below earth) using trick instead of killing him. King Prahlad is also another example, he is born to an asura father, but is worshipped as deva. His cousins/sons were again be treated as asuras. Deva/Asura is calibrated to the speaker. as BBC once said, one man's hero is other man's villain.

danans 5y ago

Both the cognates Asura/Ahura and Deva/Daeva come from proto Indo European roots describing supernatural or divine beings ("divine" itself is derived from the same root as Deva/Daeva) . The polarization of the two into inimical identities is thought to have happened at some point in antiquity, but it cemented after the Indian Vedic period. During the Vedic period the Asuras weren't all bad - indeed many import demigods of the pantheon are Asuras. They are quite analogous in this way to the Norse Æsir and Vanir, who are not strictly good and evil, and like them often had their conflicts play out on Earth. While some scholars have suggested that the Asura/Deva split must represent an actual schism that took place between the Zoroastrians and the Vedic peoples, it could just as well be the result of cultural drift or the influence of other adjacent cultures.

lazyninja987 5y ago

as the other comment says, asura/deva were not allways hero/villain split. King Bali is the perfect example. Bali was called an asura, but he never did anything wrong. He waged wars with devas, and even when devas pleaded vishnu for defeating him, Vishnu recognized his virtues and agreed to push him to paatala (below earth) using trick instead of killing him. King Prahlad is also another example, he is born to an asura father, but is worshipped as deva. His cousins/sons were again be treated as asuras. Deva/Asura is calibrated to the speaker. as BBC once said, one man's hero is other man's villain.