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Asuras ((サンスクリット:असुर)) are mythological lord beings in Indian texts who compete for power with the more benevolent devas (also known as ''suras'').〔Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, pages 2-6〕 Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman demigods with good or bad qualities, the good ones are called ''Adityas'' and led by Varuna, while the bad malevolent ones are called ''Danavas'' and led by Vrtra.〔Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, page 4〕 In the earliest layer of Vedic texts, Agni, Indra and other gods are also called Asura, in the sense of them being "lords" of their domain, knowledge and abilities. In later Vedic and post-Vedic texts, the benevolent gods are called ''Devas'', while malevolent Asuras compete against these Devas and are considered "enemy of the gods" or demons.〔Wash Edward Hale (1999), Ásura in Early Vedic Religion, Motilal Barnarsidass, ISBN 978-8120800618, pages 5-11, 22, 99-102〕 Asuras are part of Indian mythology along with Devas, Yaksha (nature spirits) and Rakshasas (ghosts, ogres), and Asuras feature in one of many cosmological theories in Hinduism.〔Don Handelman (2013), One God, Two Goddesses, Three Studies of South Indian Cosmology, Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004256156, pages 23-29〕〔Wendy Doniger (1988), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, Manchester University Press, ISBN 978-0719018664, page 67〕 ==Etymology and history== Monier-Williams traces the etymological roots of ''Asura'' (असुर) to ''Asu'' (असु), which means life of the spiritual world or departed spirits.〔Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, page 121〕 In the oldest verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, the ''Asuras'' are any spiritual, divine beings including those with good or bad intentions, and constructive or destructive inclinations or nature.〔 In later verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, Monier Williams states the ''Asuras'' are "evil spirits, demon and opponent of the gods". Asuras connote the chaos-creating evil, in Hindu mythology about the battle between good and evil.〔 Bhargava states the word, Asura, including its variants, asurya and asura, occurs "88 times in the Rigveda, 71 times in the singular number, four times in the dual, 10 times in the plural, and three times as the first member of a compound. In this, the feminine form, asuryaa, is included twice. The word, asurya, has been used 19 times as an abstract noun, while the abstract form asuratva occurs 24 times, 22 times in each of the 22 times of one hymn and twice in the other two hymns".〔PL Bhargava, ''Vedic Religion and Culture'', South Asia Books, ISBN 978-8124600061〕 Asura is used as an adjective meaning "powerful" or "mighty". In the Rigveda, two generous kings, as well as some priests, have been described as asuras. One hymn requests a son who is an asura. In nine hymns, Indra is described as asura. Five times, he is said to possess asurya, and once he is said to possess asuratva. Agni has total of 12 asura descriptions, Varuna has 10, Mitra has eight, and Rudra has six. Bhargava gives a count of the word usage for every Vedic deity. The Book 1 of Rig Veda describes Savitr (Vedic solar deity) as an Asura who is a "kind leader".〔 In later texts, such as the Puranas and the Itihasas with the embedded Bhagavad Gita, the Devas represent the good, and the Asuras the bad.〔Nicholas Gier (2000), Spiritual Titanism: Indian, Chinese, and Western Perspectives, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791445280, pages 59-76〕〔 According to the Bhagavad Gita (16.6-16.7), all beings in the universe have both the divine qualities (''daivi sampad'') and the demonic qualities (''asuri sampad'') within each.〔〔 The sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita states that pure god-like saints are rare and pure demon-like evil are rare among human beings, and the bulk of humanity is multi-charactered with a few or many faults.〔 According to Jeaneane Fowler, the Gita states that desires, aversions, greed, needs, emotions in various forms "are facets of ordinary lives", and it is only when they turn to lust, hate, cravings, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, hypocrisy, cruelty and such negativity- and destruction-inclined that natural human inclinations metamorphose into something demonic (Asura).〔Jeaneane D Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1845193461, pages 253-262〕〔Christopher K Chapple (2010), The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-1438428420, pages 610-629〕 Asko Parpola traces the etymological root of ''Asura'' to *asera- of Uralic languages, where it means "lord, prince".〔Asko Parpola (2015), The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0190226923, pages 114-116〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Asura」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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