WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN

Post No. 10,634

Date uploaded in London – –    6 FEBRUARY   2022         

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

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tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

Here is the story from the Aitareya Brahmana,

“The Devas and Asuras waged war in these worlds,

The Asuras made these worlds fortified places (Puras, Polis in Greek) and made them as strong and impregnable as possible; they made the earth of iron, the air of silver, and the sky of gold. Thus they transformed these worlds into fortified places. .

The Devas said, these Asuras have made these worlds fortified places; let us build other worlds in opposition to these. They then made out of her/earth a seat, out of the air a fire hearth, and out of the sky two repositories for sacrificial food. (These are called Havirdhana).

The Devas said, let us bring the ‘Upasads’. By means of a siege/upasada one may conquer a large town. When they performed the first Upasad, they drove the Asuras from this world. When they performed the second, they drove them out from the air and when they performed the third, they drove them out from the sky. Thus they drove them out from these worlds.

xxx

What is Upasad?

Upasad is a particular ceremony which is to take place immediately after the great ‘Pravargya’ ceremony, during which the priests produce for the sacrifice (Yajamana) a golden celestial body , with which alone he is permitted by the gods to enter heaven. When in this way the sacrificer is born anew he is to receive the nourishment appropriate for an infant’s body, and this is milk. The chief part of the Upasad ceremony is, that one of the priests, the ‘Adhvaryu’, presents milk to him in a large wooden spoon, which he must drink. Formerly it had to be drunk from the cow which was to be milked by the Adhvaryu. But this custom has now fallen into disuse.

(We may compare it to a miracle in the Pathrrup Pathu – Ten Decads- in 2000 year old Sangam Tamil Literature where the poet disappeared after the Tenth Yaga. The poet earlier demanded the Chera king that he may be sent to heaven in physical body. When the Tamil king asked him to suggest the way forward, the poet asked the Tamil king to perform Ten Yagas for him. Chera king obeyed and at the tenth sacrifice both the Tamil poet and his wife went to heaven in physical body. Visvamitra , earlier tried the trick with the king Trisankhu, but failed miserably for lack of penance. But Trisankhu became Southern Stars- now in the flags of Australia, New Zealand and  few other countries)

Martin Haug continues the story,

“The Asuras, thus driven out of these worlds, repaired to the Ritus/ seasons. The Devas said, let us perform Upasad. The Upasads being three, they performed each twice; that makes six in all, corresponding with the six seasons. Then they drove the Asuras out from the Ritus/ seasons.

(In European countries the seasons are four; but in the Rig Veda and Tamil Sangam literature the seasons are six, typical Hindu and Indian, a severe blow to Max Muller gang and Marxist gang)

The Asuras now repaired to the months. The Devas made twelve Upasads, and drove them out from the months. After having been defeated here also , they repaired to the half months. The Devas performed 24 Upasads and drove the Asuras out of half months . After having been defeated again, the Asuras repaired to the day and night. The Devas performed Upasads and drove them out.

Therefore the first Upasad ceremony is to be performed in the first part of the day and the other in the second part of the day. The sacrificer leaves thus only so much space to the enemy as exists between the conjunction of day and night, that is the time of twilight in the morning and evening.

(Hindus believe that time- twilight time- should be allocated to worship of gods and so they perform Sandhya Vandana 3 times everyday-  ealrly morning, mid day and early evening.)

xxx

Asura Gayatri

Thus the Asuras of the Hindu literature are being the supreme beings of the Parsis, Ahura Mazda with his arch angels, is according to these statements, hardly to be doubted. But there exists, perhaps, a still more convincing proof. Among the metres, used in the Yajur Veda , we find seven such which are marked by the epithet ‘Asuri’ such as Gayatri Asuri, Usnih Asuri, Pankti Asuri. These Asura metres, which are foreign to the whole Rigveda, are actually found in the Gatha literature in the Zend Avesta, which professedly exhibits the doctrine of Ahura religion.

The Gayatri Asuri consists of 15 syllables which metre we discover in the gatha Ahunavaiti, if we bear in the mind that the number of 16 syllables, of which it generally consists, is often reduced to 15. Compare, for instance, Yas.31-6 and the first two lines of 31-4.

The Usnih Asuri, consisting of 14 syllables, is completely extant in the Gatha Vohu- khshathra ( Yas literature) , each of which comprises 14 syllables.

The Pankti Asuri consists of 11 syllables, just as many as we found in the Gathas Ushtavaiti and Spenta- mainyu.

This coincidence can certainly not be merely accidental, but shows clearly, that the old Gatha literature of the Zend Avesta was well known to the Rishis who compiled the Yajur Veda.

Of great importance, for showing the original close relationship between the Hindu and Parsi religions, is the fact several of the Hindu gods are actually mentioned by name in the Zend Avesta, some as demons and, others as angels.

I will show them in another article.

Xxx

My comments

Asuras in Zend Avesta are good and Devas are bad is not new to Hindu religion. Whenever a new prophet forms a new religion or sect, he decried the old gods and practices. The oldest schism in Vedic society was seen in the creation of the Shukla and Krishna Yajur Vedas. In the Vedic period we saw Indra and Agni were at the top position. Later Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva occupied top positions. During the times of Adi Shankara there were over 90 sects in Hinduism. Shankaracharya wiped out all the unwanted bad practices and made ‘six- god worship’ Shanmatha.

Later several reformers like Dayananda of Arya Samaj established a new sect. Very recently we saw Hare Krishna movement and its founder Bhakti Vedanta Prabhupada showed Lord Shiva as Demi god.

In Egypt, King Eka Nathan= One God, Akhnaton introduced Monotheism and revolted against the domination of the priests. This was due to Hindu influence.

Tamil Alvars and Nayanmars projected either Vishnu or Siva as the greatest god. Saints like Vallalar and Narayana guru created new practices and new temples.

In recent times Guru Nanak formed Sikh religion to control the atrocities committed by Muslim rulers.

Muslims called non Muslims as kafirs and Christians called non Christian s as pagan. Both the religions split into several sects

So schism is seen in every religion including Buddhism and Jainism. It is no wonder it happened in the oldest and longest religion.

When did happen in Hinduism during Vedic period is undecided. There are many theories. When Max Muller said Parsis migrated from India into Iran, Martin Haug said it happened the other way around. It is always debatable. No one knew even the date of the Vedas. It ranged from 6000 BCE to 1500 BCE!

Xx Subham xxx

TAGS– Asura, Asuri, Asuri metres, Zend Avesta, Gatha, Aitareya Brahmana, Story