An asura (Sanskrit and Pali: à ¤ à ¤¸à ¥Âà ¤°) in Buddhism is a demigod or titan of the KÃÂmadhÃÂtu. They are said to live more pleasurable lives than humans, but are also in thrall to qualities such as wrath, pride, envy, and insincerity.
The Buddhist asuras have a few myths distinctive from the asuras of Hinduism, which are only found in Buddhist texts. They are thought to originate from the earlier Hindu origin asuras.
In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated "titan", "demigod", or "antigod".
Buddhaghosa explains that their name derives from the myth of their defeat at the hands of the god à Âakra. According to the story, the asuras were dispossessed of their state in TrÃÂyastriá¹Âà Âa because they became drunk and were thrown down Mount Sumeru. After this incident, they vowed never to drink sura again.
While all the gods of the KÃÂmadhÃÂtu are subject to passions to some degree, the asuras above all are addicted to them, especially wrath, pride, envy, insincerity, falseness, boasting, and bellicosity.
The Great Calm-Observation by Zhiyi says:
<blockquote>Always desiring to be superior to others, having no patience for inferiors and belittling strangers; like a hawk, flying high above and looking down on others, and yet outwardly displaying justice, worship, wisdom, and faith â this is raising up the lowest order of good and walking the way of the Asuras.</blockquote>
The asuras are said to experience a much more pleasurable life than humans, but they are plagued by envy for the devas, whom they can see just as animals perceive humans.
They are sometimes referred to as pà «rvadeva (PÃÂli: pubbadeva), meaning "ancient gods."
The Asuras formerly lived in the TrÃÂyastriá¹Âà Âa world on the peak of Sumeru with the other gods of that world. When à Âakra became the ruler of that world, the asuras celebrated by drinking much GandapÃÂna wine, a liquor so strong that à Âakra forbade the other gods to drink it. Weakened by their drunkenness, the asuras could not resist when à Âakra had the whole lot of them thrown over the edge of TrÃÂyastriá¹Âà Âa into what would become the Asura-world at the base of Sumeru. A tree grows there called CittapÃÂtali; when the asuras saw it blossom, they saw that it was different from the PÃÂricchattaka (Sanskrit: PÃÂriyÃÂtra) tree which had grown in their old home, and they knew that they were dispossessed.
They now meditated on war. In armor and weapons, they climbed up the steep slopes of Sumeru "like ants." à Âakra set out to meet them, but was forced to retreat because of their numbers. Passing through the forest where the garuá¸Âas live on his flying chariot, à Âakra saw that his passage was destroying the nests of the garuá¸Âas and ordered his charioteer MÃÂtali to turn back. When the pursuing asuras saw à Âakra turn about, they felt certain that he must be coming back with an even larger army, and they fled, ceding all the ground they had gained.
Despite their many wars, there was eventually a partial concord between the TrÃÂyastriá¹Âà Âa gods and the asuras. This came about because à Âakra fell in love with Sujà(also known as Shachi), daughter of the Asura chief Vemacitrin. Vemacitrin had given Sujàthe right to choose her own husband at an assembly of the Asuras, and she chose à Âakra, who had attended disguised as an aged Asura. Vemacitrin thus became à Âakra's father-in-law.
The asura realm is one of the realms one can be reborn into within the six realms. Rebirth here is a result of experiencing the fruits of wholesome karma while engaging in unwholesome karma.
The placement of the asura realm in Buddhist cosmology varies among traditions. Sometimes the asura realm is recognized as one of happiness, existing beneath the worlds of the devas and humans. In other schemes, it is viewed as a fourth addition to the usual three evil paths that make up the animal realm, ghost realm and hell realm.
In schools that recognize the desire realm as consisting of five realms, the asura realm tends to be included among the deva realm. In Tibetan Buddhism, the addition of the asuras in the six-world bhavacakra was created in Tibet at the authority of Je Tsongkhapa.
The Ekottara ÃÂgama and the Saddharmasmá¹ÂtyupasthÃÂna Sà «tra explain that asuras are divided among the realms of ghosts and animals. In the former case, they are powerful, high-ranking asuras reminiscent of gods such as MÃÂra. In the latter case, they are like fearsome beasts that live 84000 yojanas beneath the ocean floor.
The leaders of the asuras are called asurendra (PÃÂli: Asurinda, Chinese: é¿修羠çÂÂ; Pinyin: ÃÂxià «luó-wáng; Romaji: Ashura-à Â), literally meaning "Asura-lord". There are several of these, as the Asuras are broken into different tribes or factions. Among them are the bow-wielding DÃÂnaveghasa Asuras, and the terrible-faced KÃÂlakañjakas. In Pali texts, names that are found include Vepacitti, RÃÂhu (believed to be synonymous with Verocana), PahÃÂrÃÂda, Sambara, Bali, Sucitti, and Namucë. According to Buddhaghosa, the three primary leaders were Vepacitti, RÃÂhu and PahÃÂrÃÂda.
Mahayana literature tends to recognize four primary leaders, whose biographies are explained in detail in both the Saddharmasmá¹ÂtyupasthÃÂna Sà «tra and the Daà Âabhà «mika Sà «tra. According to this tradition, these asuras live 84,000 yojanas beneath the ocean floor on the northern side of Mount Sumeru, which are divided into four layers.
According to the Lotus Sutra, the four leaders of the asuras took refuge in the Buddha after hearing his sermon.
The asuras were said to be in possession of a war drum called ÃÂlambara, which sounded like the peal of thunder. It was created from the claw of a giant crab named Kulëradaha. It has since been repurposed by à Âakra.
Mahayana texts also mention a stringed instrument belonging to the asuras rendered in Chinese as ÃÂxià «luó QÃÂn (Chinese: é¿修羠ç´; Pinyin: ÃÂxià «luó QÃÂn), literally meaning "asura harp".