一切經音義 12.257

12.257

阿素洛（舊云阿須倫。或云阿脩羅。皆梵語訛轉也。正云阿上聲素羅轉舌。此曰非天或云障蔽諸鬼神中最大福德。印度風俗凡諸鬼神通名為天。此類常與諸天爭勝故以非天簡之。起世因本經說其徒有四類。國土宮殿在大海之下。須彌山四面各有一國。東面毘摩質多。南面踊躍。西而幻化。北面羅睺上去海水萬瑜繕那感四風輪持水令住。一曰住二曰安住三曰不墮四曰牢固。諸餘眷屬或住諸山人間海嶋往往聞有阿脩羅窟。即傳記所說清辯菩薩所入處是也）。

阿素洛 (anciently called 阿須倫 or 阿脩羅; both are phonetic corruptions of Sanskrit; the correct form is 阿, in the rising tone, 素羅, with a rolled tongue [asura]. This translates as 'non-god' (asura) or 'shielding/obstructing'; among ghosts and spirits they possess the greatest merit and virtue. By Indian custom, all ghosts and spirits are generally designated as 'devas'; because this class constantly contends with the devas for supremacy, they are distinguished as 'non-gods' (asura). The *Lokasthiti-nidāna-sūtra* states that their assembly has four kinds; their realms and palaces are beneath the great ocean. On each of the four sides of Mount Sumeru there is one realm: on the eastern side, Vimalacitra; on the southern side, Yodharatha (踊躍); on the western side, Māyā (幻化); on the northern side, Rāhu. Up above the ocean water by ten thousand yojanas, they move four wind-disks that hold the water and keep it suspended: the first is called 'Abiding', the second 'Firmly Abiding', the third 'Non-Falling', and the fourth 'Steadfast'. Their various other retinues either dwell in mountains, the human world, or islands in the sea; one often hears of Asura caves, which are precisely the places entered by Bodhisattva Bhāviveka as recorded in historical accounts).