Asuras are spirits found in Buddhist and Hindu cosmology. They are often portrayed as power-hungry and lustful. Even the best of the Asuras can be unpredictable and prone to mood swings, making them dangerous friends and enemies.
Physical Description
Asuras are sometimes classified as demons, and they look the part. Their skin is deep red or blue-green, and their hair is dyed black. Four to six arms sprout from their bodies, as well as three heads, with faces pointing in opposite directions. They like fine clothing: silk skirts with golden sashes and fringes, golden bands around their arms, jeweled necklaces, and elaborate helmets.
Personality
Although they are more powerful than humans, the Asura are the least powerful—and least noble—of the deities. Their low rank means they are envious of the other gods and, at the same time, easily insulted if they are not praised for their powers.
Above all, they are temperamental and unpredictable. For example, when Sakra became ruler of the earth, the Asura celebrated his rise to power by drinking large amounts of strong liquor. While they were drunk, Sakra ordered them to be removed from his presence, and when the Asura sobered up, they felt so offended that they declared war on the new ruler.
Still, the Asuras are not all bad. On the one hand, they experience pleasure as deeply as negative emotions, which makes them very romantic lovers and fun friends. Many Asuras have poured their passionate emotions into religion as well, becoming devout practitioners and even priests. They make sacrifices, perform cleansing rituals, build temples, and go on sacred pilgrimages with great enthusiasm.
Hindus have divided Asuras into two groups: the good Adityas and the evil Danavas. Hindu texts also explain that an Asura who practices good deeds can reach the next level among the gods, transforming into an Asura-Deva. Due to their volatile emotions, Buddhists consider the Asura to be one of the “four unhappy births,” meaning that reincarnating as an Asura is as bad as reincarnating as an animal, taken to its extreme expression, which we know as karma.
Special abilities
As gods, and highly individualistic gods at that, the powers of the Asura are almost as unpredictable as their emotions. They are known for performing wonderful miracles, as well as waging nasty battles. They can fly, change shape, cast spells and charms, turn wild animals into slaves, and much more.
Female Asuras, known as Asuri, are especially famous for the charms they can work with plants. One legend explains that they created a plant that could cure leprosy, and another that they created powerful love potions with herbs.
Famous Asuras
Among the most famous Asuras are the following
Andhaka
One morning, Shiva (the Hindu creator god) was meditating on top of a mountain. His wife, Parvati, was in a playful mood, so she sneaked up behind Shiva and covered his eyes with her hand. Immediately, darkness fell upon the world, and Parvati’s hand began to sweat from the intensity of Shiva’s gaze. Her sweat fell onto the mountain, and a blind child emerged from the earth. Parvati was horrified by the child, but Shiva insisted that the child was his son and that he must be kept alive. They named the child Andhaka.
Days passed, and Parvati wept over the horrible child she had. Then, a demon king approached Shiva and begged for a child, as he had none. Shiva was pleased with the demon’s humility and gave him Andhaka to raise as his own. Andhaka learned all the ways of demons, and when his adoptive father died, he inherited his kingdom. But the inheritance was not easy. The demon king’s blood relatives rejected Andhaka, saying he was not a true member of the family, and took him to a deep forest outside their kingdom.
In the gloomy darkness of this forest, Andhaka struggled to find a way to regain his kingdom. At last, he decided that he would ask the god Brahma for help. He fasted for many days and nights, but Brahma remained distant. Finally, Andhaka became desperate, and in the darkness of the forest, he began to cut off his own arms and legs, begging Brahma to notice him.
Brahma seemed to look at the bleeding Andhaka, and was pleased by his devotion. He decided to give Andhaka two gifts. The first gift was something Andhaka had longed for all his life—he asked that his blindness be cured so that he could see. This was done, and Brahma could see the green trees that he had only known by the touch of fluttering leaves, he could see the bright birds that he had only known by their songs. He was very happy! If this miracle was possible, everything else must also be possible, so he asked Brahma to make him invincible.
Brahma denied the request, telling Andhaka that all things that are born must die. However, he would allow Andhaka to choose the condition of his death, so the young king declared that he would only die if he desired a woman who had been like a mother to him. Brahma granted this.
Andhaka spent the next few years reclaiming his kingdom, conquering surrounding lands and part of the heavens, and becoming rich. His name became known and feared throughout the world, for he had not forgotten the lessons the demon king had taught him. At last, he boasted to his minister that his success had been complete. No one could match his strength, his majesty, his riches.
But the minister replied: Andhaka did not possess a beautiful woman. Shortly thereafter, Andhaka was riding through his kingdom with his army. He came to a beautiful mountain and decided to rest there, sending some of his generals to search for enemies. When the generals returned, they had a strange story to tell: they had found an old hermit meditating in a cave, and beside him was a dazzling woman.
Andhaka ordered them to bring the woman to him, but the hermit refused to let her go. When the generals reported this to Andhaka, he became enraged and decided to go and fight the hermit himself. He expected an easy victory, but to his surprise, he was met by an army he could not defeat.
The fight lasted five hundred years, and other gods joined in to support the hermit. Meanwhile, Andhaka thought he would win. After all, he was invincible. What he did not know was that the beautiful woman he was fighting so hard for would be his undoing; she was his own mother, Parvati.
Finally, the hermit Shiva and Andhaka met in battle. Shiva managed to stab Andhaka many times with his trident, but wherever the king’s blood fell, new copies of him sprang up. Shiva ordered his servant to drink the blood before it could fall, and in this way, he finally managed to kill Andhaka and end the centuries-old war.
Bhasmasura
Bhasmasura was a religious fanatic, incredibly devoted to the great Shiva. After years of worshipping Shiva, Bhasmasura decided that he wanted to meet the god and ask him for a gift. He performed a long penance, starving himself and having his servants whip him, until Shiva was pleased and descended from the heavens to hear his plea.
Bhasmasura was awestruck by Shiva’s presence, but he did not forget the gift he wanted. He asked for a special power: whenever he placed his hand on someone’s head, that person would burn. As unusual as it was, Shiva granted his loyal follower this request.
But the exchange took a quick turn for the worse when Parvati appeared to ask her husband, Shiva, a question. Instantly, Bhasmasura was consumed by desire for Parvati. He decided to test his new power by trying to burn Shiva, so that he could claim Parvati for himself.
Shiva dodged just in time, but Bhasmasura continued to pursue him. Eventually, Shiva managed to summon Vishnu, and the two gods devised a plan to defeat Bhasmasura.
When Bhasmasura caught up, he came across a beautiful woman, a beauty so sensual that he completely forgot about Parvati. He asked this new beauty to marry him, and she said she would, but only if he could copy her exact movements in a dance.
She swayed her hips, and Bhasmasura swayed his. She curled her hands, and Bhasmasura did the same. After several minutes of hypnotic dancing, she placed her hand on top of his. Without hesitating for a second, Bhasmasura did the same and burned himself. Then the beauty transformed back into Vishnu, Shiva came out of hiding, and the two gods laughed together.
Vritra
Vritra was the ruler of the evil Asuras. While on earth, he took the form of a huge dragon and prevented the great rivers from flowing. His presence caused drought, suffering, and death throughout India, until he was killed by the hero Indra with a thunderbolt made by the gods.
Cultural Representation
In its earliest form, the word “asura” was a title, like lord, that could be used to describe any noble person, from kings to priests to gods. Later, “asura” evolved to mean any divine being, good or evil, orderly or chaotic. In the Vedic-Samhita, the oldest text of Hinduism dating back to 1500 BC, “asura” had both meanings.
Later, “asura” began to develop an evil connotation, perhaps because the asuras were associated with newer religions, while the devas continued to be associated with the Hindu tradition. The Puranas and Shiva Sutras, dating from 3 CE and 8 CE, refer to Asura as a special category of gods, generally destructive and chaotic. Eventually, Buddhists took the Hindu Asura and incorporated it into their own cosmology. They described Asura as the lowest of the gods, rude and undesirable.
Modern appearances
In addition to their place in Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, Asuras have also found their way into modern fiction. They are especially popular in video games, where their quick temper and six sword-wielding arms make them difficult for the hero to overcome. Final Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls, and Dungeon Fighter Online all feature Asuran characters. They also appeared in the popular science fiction film Stargate Atlantis.
