The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c23.s1.9

v1.c23.s1.9

The theory of Haug⁸ that the change of meaning of Asura as between Asura in India and Ahura Mazdāh in Iran was due to a divergence in religion in the Indo-Iranian people, which ended in the schism of the two nations, is hopelessly opposed to the fact that the change of meaning takes place in India itself, and, since Darmesteter,⁹ the theory has prevailed that the change by which Asura became the name of demons in India, while in Iran the Devas became demons, is an internal change of meaning in the two languages, brought about by causes which can be made more or less clear. In the case of India the development of Asura into a hostile sense is traced to its use in connexion with the word Māyā, ‘wile’¹⁰ or ‘occult power’, assisted by the popular derivation which saw a negative in the first letter of the word, and vaguely conceived the meaning as ‘not heavenly’, this view leading to the creation of the term *sura* for god in the Upaniṣads, and perhaps also by the absence of any collective name for the enemies of the gods proper. The change of Deva was by Darmesteter attributed to the misunderstanding under the régime of Zoroaster of the old phrases ‘wrath of gods and men’, and ‘trouble made by gods or men’, but this argument is of very problematic value indeed.