The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c17.s1.51

v1.c17.s1.51

The Asuras also are more probably to be taken as the powers of darkness than as men, though individual Asuras may be quite well nothing but men: thus Pipru is called a Dāsa, and also an Asura, and the Asura Varcin, whose hundred and thousand men are slain by Indra and Viṣṇu when they overthrow Çambara, may fall in the same category. As we have seen, the Asuras appear but seldom as foes in the Rigveda; in one hymn, however, we learn that Agni abandons the Asuras, and joins the gods, that Indra slays Vṛtra, and that the wiles of the Asuras depart from them.³ In the Brāhmaṇa literature Indra of course, like the other gods, fights against the Asuras, and after the usual period of defeat succeeds in defeating them in turn by the adoption of some ritual device or the repetition of some formula.⁴