Açoura

The ensured - demon - are spirits démoniaques opposed to the deva (sometimes called will sura ). The term vedic indicated a divine creature and was used to qualify gods like Indra, Agni and Varuna. Then, following a diversion of direction, the word which was a derivative of asu , the breath, the life, became a not-god by Métanalyse of the word as being built with will sura , god, preceded by the prefix privative Sanskrit has . One finds the denominations besides will ahura and deva in the Zoroastrisme but the significances is reversed, the will ahura being creatures of the good whereas the deva are those of the evil, which seems to induce an origin common to the people which generated these beliefs, one of the arguments in favor of the Théorie of the Aryan invasion.

Condemned to live in the lower areas in the palates built by their architect Maya, their attempts to conquer the skies is in the traditional hindouism at the origin of the permanent tension which opposes them to the gods.

Powerful by nature, they can increase to be able to them thanks to the Ascèse. Indeed, at the end of an asceticism the god Brahmâ grants a favor to the deserving ascetic, without making distinction as for his identity and with his nature.

In this case, the ensured can acquire such a power that the intervention of the major divinities, Shiva or Vishnu which goes down on ground (will avatara) is necessary. This opposition is in the middle of the majority of the Indian mythological accounts:

In the Râmâyana, Vishnu is incarnated in Râma to fight against the demon Ravana which had acquired invincibility but had by contempt neglected to include the man among his potential enemies
In the Mahâbhârata, the gods are incarnated in the Five Pândava to fight against the Hundred Kaurava regarded as incarnations of ensured

Among the ensured against which had to fight Vishnu one can count, Ravana (misadventure: Râma), Hiranyashipu (misadventure: Narasimha), Bali (misadventure of the dwarf Brahman Vamana).

The misadventure of Krishna had to fight against many ensured in particular during its childhood where it had to overcome all the demons sent by his malevolent uncle, Kamsa, to kill it.

Shiva is known to have overcome the demon elephant Gajâsura, Andhaka, and to have destroyed the three démoniaques fortresses, out of gold, money and iron which the wire of the ensured Târaka had made build in the skies by Maya.

The most known combat of the goddess Durgâ is that which it delivered against the polymorphic demon Mahisha (the “Buffle”, form which it had initially adopted) what was worth the epithet of Mahishamardinî or Mahishâsuramardinî to him, the tueuse one of the Demon buffalo.

Among the Navagrahâ, Rahu (the eclipse) and Ketu (the Comet) are regarded as the two parts of the body of the ensured which had tried to conceal liquor of immortality Amrita at the time of the Barattage of the milk sea, while Shukra (Venus) is regarded as the tutor and the “chaplain” ( purohita : person in charge of the worship) of the ensured .

Some ensured repented come sometimes helps some with the Gods, the redemption their is thus possible.

Local names of the Ensured

Tibetan: Lha-my-yin, Lha-min; Mongolian: Assuri; Chinese: Axiuluo; Japanese: Ashura.

Source

RENOU Louis, FILLIOZAT, Jean, Traditional India: Handbook of the Indian studies , Volume I, republication has. - Maisonneuve, Paris, 1985 (1st edition, Paris-Hanoï, E.F.E.O., 1953)

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