Vedic Mythology c8.3

c8.3

In the AV. and later *asura* means ‘demon’ only; but in the RV. the word is predominantly a designation of gods, and in the Avesta Ahura (= *asura*) is the name of the highest god. Thus the sense of ‘god’ is clearly the older. An attempt has been made to explain the transition from this meaning to that of ‘devil’, from national conflicts in consequence of which the Asuras or gods of extra-Vedic tribes became ‘demons’ to the Vedic Indian⁴. There is, however, no traditional evidence in support of this view. The explanation seems rather to be found in the following development within the Veda itself⁵. *Asura* as compared with *deva* has in its older sense a peculiar shade of meaning. It is especially applied to Varuṇa or Mitra-Varuṇa⁶, whose *māyā* or ‘occult power’ is particularly dwelt upon⁷. But the word *māyā* in the sense of ‘craft’ is also applied to hostile beings⁸ and is closely connected with the bad sense of *asura* (10, 124⁵. 138³)⁹. To the Vedic poets *asura* must therefore have meant ‘possessor of occult power’¹⁰ and as such would have been potentially applicable to hostile beings. In one hymn of the RV. (10, 124) both senses seem to occur¹¹. Towards the end of the Rigvedic period the application of the word to the gods began to fall into disuse. This tendency was perhaps aided by the want of a general word to denote the higher hostile demoniac power and by an incipient popular etymology¹² recognising a negative in the word and leading to the invention of *sura*, 'god' (first found in the Upaniṣads)¹³.