一切經音義 21.82

21.82

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).