Asura

Asura is a god within, a god of chiefly spiritual and moral character. Now in the later development — in the later parts of the Rigveda — Asura disintegrated into a multitude of asuras, and they are demons of a definitely evil nature.

Jung traces the devolution of Asura from a supreme inward deity of spiritual-moral authority in the early Rigveda to a proliferating company of malevolent demons, linking this fragmentation to the Iranian transformation via Ahura Mazda.

Jung, C.G., Nietzsche’s Zarathustra: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1934-1939, 1988thesis

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the profound compassion and loving kindness of the All-Accomplishing Wisdom eliminates envy, which leads to the Asura-world.

Govinda maps the Asura-world onto the affliction of envy within Tibetan Buddhist cosmopsychology, identifying its antidote as the compassionate All-Accomplishing Wisdom of Amoghasiddhi.

Govinda, Lama Anagarika, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, 1960thesis

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the asuras, their perpetual enemies, are the forces of darkness. These forces interplay throughout history… we should keep reminding ourselves that these are essentially forces within each of us.

Easwaran internalises the deva-asura opposition as a psychological dynamic, reading the cosmic war between light and darkness as a drama enacted within every individual.

Easwaran, Eknath, The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living: A Verse-by-Verse Commentary, 1975thesis

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while uttering OM, we direct our mind upon the world of gods, who are enmeshed in the illusion of their own permanence and perfection; and while opening for them the gates of liberation

Govinda describes the meditative recitation of the six-syllable mantra as a compassionate traversal of all six samsaric realms including the Asura-world, with the aim of closing the gates of rebirth in each.

Govinda, Lama Anagarika, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, 1960supporting

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the incessant warfare concomitant with existence as an asura

Evans-Wentz catalogues the defining characteristic of asura existence as perpetual warfare, situating it within a Buddhist taxonomy of eight thraldoms from which liberation is sought.

Evans-Wentz, W. Y., The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Evans-Wentz Edition), 1927supporting

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A = asura, or titan, referring to the asura-world

Evans-Wentz glosses asura as ‘titan’ within a ritual syllabary encoding the six realms of existence, reflecting the Tibetan mortuary tradition’s systematic classification of samsaric states.

Evans-Wentz, W. Y., The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Evans-Wentz Edition), 1927supporting

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Jealous Gods, Realm of. See Asura Loka and Realms, Six

Trungpa’s index explicitly equates the Realm of the Jealous Gods with the Asura Loka, situating envy-driven competitive aggression as the psychological signature of this samsaric realm.

Trungpa, Chögyam, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, 1973supporting

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asura, 239, 248, 250 ff.; -loka, 240, 256

Govinda’s index confirms the sustained and systematic treatment of asura and the asura-loka throughout his discussion of Tibetan cosmological and meditative frameworks.

Govinda, Lama Anagarika, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, 1960aside

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