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Ashura: Demi-god, lower than human |
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Hey, it's been a while since I updated, but that's because I couldn't find more interesting info on kitsune. ( though there are a few good stories, perhaps I should post a few of those...) Anyway, I'm posting this because I've only heard of an Ashura in a video game and I'm bored. So I hope you enjoy this and I also hope that you check out this site where I got it from. It's got a lot of interesting things, and I think I've learned more about shinto and buddhism than chemistry. ^ ^
Ashura
common misspelling: Asyura
Beings just below humans in the Six States of Existence. Asuras are demigods, or semi-blessed beings. They are powerful, yet fierce and quarrelsome, and like humans, they are partly good and partly evil. In their earliest Hindu and Brahman manifestations, the Ashura are always fighting the Ten (Deva) for supremancy (often battling the deities commanded by Taishakuten, the Lord Indra of Hindu mythology). The Ashura are sometimes compared to the Titans of Greek mythology -- in one legend, they stand in the ocean with the water coming up to only their knees. But in most accounts, the Ashura are not giants. Some say Ashura was an Indian royal who converted to Buddhism. In other Hindu traditions, Ashura is a sun goddess, feared for bringing droughts.
In early Vedic legends, which celebrate the victory of the Aryan invaders who entered India around 1500 BC and conquered the local Dravidian people, we find mention of the Asura King (Ashura O). The Aryans portrayed their own gods as benevolent heavenly beings, while the gods of the conquered people were demoted to serving as subjects of the Aryan deities. But the Asura King, one of the major gods of the conquered Dravidians, was a threat to the victors, and was subsequently demoted to demon status. According to Aryan lore, Asura was defeated by Taishakuten (Indra) and hid thereafter in a lotus flower growing in the Icy Lake (Skt. = Anavatapta). The word asura was then sometimes translated as "non-god" or "anti-god" to complete the Aryan victory and to deny any chance of ranking the Asura among the heavenly gods. But with the emergence of Buddhism, Ashura is sometimes identified with sunshine and helping crops to grow. Many sources depict the Asura as demons, yet they are not always portrayed as sinister, and some are even godlike in their piousness. Among the truly evil was Vritra.
In Japan, Ashura is often shown with three faces and six arms, with the side faces often expressing the violent warrior aspects associated with Ashura's Hindu origin.
Courtesy of Onmarkproductions.
 Sevita Rhys · Sat Nov 10, 2007 @ 05:36am · 0 Comments |
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