一切經音義 21.82

21.82

阿修羅（或云阿素羅阿。此云無也素極也妙也羅戱也言此類形雖似天而無天之妙戱也。案婆沙論譯為非天。以此類雖天趣所攝然多諂詐無天實德。故曰非天。如人行惡名曰非人。舊翻為不酒者。譯人謬言也謂梵語中𡨧利名酒而與素囉聲近即訓阿字為不故云不酒斯乃失之甚也。案梵本中阿修羅是多聲呼之。阿素洛是少聲呼之。然皆同一稱謂也）。

Asura (阿修羅: also rendered as Asura [阿素羅]. 'A' here means 'non-'; 'sura' means 'extreme' or 'wondrous'; 'ra' means 'sport'. It means that although the form of this class resembles that of the devas, they lack the wondrous sport of devas. According to the *Vibhāṣā-śāstra*, it is translated as 'non-deva' [非天]. This is because although this class is subsumed under the rebirth-destiny of devas, they are full of deceit and hypocrisy and lack the genuine virtues of devas, hence they are called 'non-deva'—just as a human who commits evil is called an 'inhuman being' [amanuṣya]. The older translation as 'without wine' [不酒] was an error by the translators, who supposed that in Sanskrit *surā* means wine, and since its sound is close to *sura*, they glossed the character *a-* as 'not' and thus said 'without wine'; this is quite mistaken. According to Sanskrit manuscripts, *asura* is spoken with a heavy [i.e., long] vowel, while *asura* [阿素洛] is spoken with a light [i.e., short] vowel; however, both designate the same being).