The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s2.24

v1.c19.s2.24

The Asuras are generally referred to as enemies of Vedic people and of their gods, but some passages use the term in a good sense. One probable explanation of this has been hinted at before.¹⁹ Another, suggested by Bhandarkar, is that the hymns in which Vedic deities receive the appellation Asura were composed by seers of Asura stock who had embraced the Aryan religion, and the deprecatory passages were composed by Aryan seers antagonistic to the Asuras.²⁰ The enmity between Aryan and Asura increased in the post-Rigvedic period.