Can we change ourselves?

Who are they? Asuras are the demons and the fight between good and evil is when the gods are at war with them. Daityas and danavas are also demons. They represent the chaos and adharma (betrayal, discord, wrongness, and vice, immorality) that threatens our cosmic stability.

Inwardly they symbolize our ego-based ignorance that is externalized causing so much destruction and acts of terrorism. The gods and Devi in her many avatars represent light and truth. In the wars between the demons and the Gods, our internal struggles are happening, which then are manifest in the wars we are seeing around us.

Asuras were described in Vedic hymns in 1500—1200 BCE, and in the Puranas. The good asuras were described as Adityas and were led by Varuna, while the malevolent ones were called Danavas and were led by Vritra. 2000 years ago, in the Puranas, they were described as villains and enemies of the Devas.

In the Gita, and the Puranas the asuras embody all humanity, who are greedy, self-absorbed, avaricious, militant, egotistical and combative.

In the Devi Mahatmaya, 1500 years ago, the battles between the Goddess and the Demons takes place. Here again we see the fight between the good and evil which resides within us, explained through complex stories.

What is our lesson? We have to overcome our ego and our sense of attachment to material possessions.

In order to be on the path of self-realization, and saving the cosmos, we can accomplish this by loving, serving and giving.

Aim Hrim Klim

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash