- The hard “good vs evil” dichotomy is absent in the hindu milieu. Rather, there is the “higher” vs “lower” gradation.
- Yet, Hindu tradition is quite clear in Astika traditions being “higher” - eg. shatravo anindrA in shruti [MT16].
- There is no hard “good vs evil” dualism seen in dichotomoies such as:
- the semitic God vs Devil.
- Zoroastrian ahura mAzDa vs anghri mainyu or asura-adorers vs deva-adorers.
- daeva-s and asura-s came from the same pantheon. But - “Some deities have been sharply bifurcated. For instance: indra. indra as such is a despised “daeva” while verethragna (vRtrAghna/vRtrahan, an epithet of indra) is a revered yazata.”
asura-s, rAxasa-s
- Texts mention asura-s (including daitya-s like hiraNyakashipu and bali, dAnava-s like maya) and rAxasa-s (like rAvaNa)
- “asura is used as an apithet of varuNa, rudra and, wait, indra himself in the Rgveda”
- one of the classic (but obscure to modern hindu) synonyms for asura-s is “पूर्वदेव” (= former deva-s, now fallen into a corrupt station)
- Stories of asura-deva-battles are not to be taken literally, according to the veda-s themselves (eg: shatapatha-brAhmaNa asura-parAbhava part in 11.1.6.8-10, eggling).
Adoration
- Even many demons are ultimately redeemable (often at the cost of being terminated by a deva)!
- Aspects of asura-s, rAkShasa-s etc.. are adored, without rejecting the deva-s (who are presumed to be at the top anyway).
- niRRti is the dikpAla of the South West.
- Many are the oblations to various bhUta-s. Then there are oblations to pUtana etc.. during the jAtakarma ritual
- mahiShAsura is adored, having been syncretized with mhasoba (MT, MT_TW).
- Despite their many bad qualities, rAvaNa (and several rAkShasa-s) had many great qualities - devotion, ability to do great penance, vigor etc.. All this is acknowledged. In fact, rAvaNa too is adored as a minor deity in certain shaiva systems.
Distinctions
- In several works, the distinction between asura-s and rAxasa-s is clear.
- rAmAyaNa IMG.
- amarakosha
- असुरा दैत्यदैतेयदनुजेन्द्रारिदानवाः। शुक्रशिष्या दितिसुताः पूर्वदेवाः सुरद्विषः॥
- राक्षसः कौणपः क्रव्यात्क्रव्यादोऽस्रप आशरः॥
- asura and rAxasa-s don’t seem functionally different. We have a vRtra juxtaposed with a rAvaNa, a prahlAda juxtaposed with vibhIShaNa. Some asura-s and some rAxasa-s are venerated.