This is certainly a contrived derivation, a device common to the commentaries. In any case there doesn’t seem to be any further reference to the later drinking habits of the asuras, so it is not possible to determine if such hung-over declarations have any more weight among asuras than they do among humans.
At the bottom of Mt Sineru a ten-thousand yojana realm arose for the asuras to live in, by the force of their kamma, the asurabhavana (SN-a 11:1). The principal feature of this realm is the Cittapāṭali (“trumpet-flower”) Tree which grows there and lasts for an entire kappa (AN-a 1: 322). When this tree flowered, the asuras knew by the difference in its blossoms that this was not the deva’s Pāricchattaka Tree and that they were no longer in Tāvatiṃsa (MN-a 37 & SN-a 11:1). This would indicate that otherwise the asurabhavana resembled the original appearance of Tāvatiṃsa. (It should be noted that many of the defining features of that realm such as the Nandana Grove, the Vejayanto Palace and the Sudhamma Hall arose after the expulsion of the asuras by the force of kamma generated by Magha-Sakka and his companions).436 The asurabhavana is located at the very bottom of Mt Sineru, under the ocean, (Sn-a 3: 11) and the asuras had to cleave the waters of the sea in two in order to ascend Mt Sineru and attack the devas (SN-a 11:1). The asuras are also said to keep pavilions (maṇḍapādi) by the shore beside the place where Mt Sineru rises from the ocean which they use for enjoyment (Ud-a 5:5).
It should not be thought that the asuras are in any sense aquatic beings.437 The waters of the ocean are for them only a gateway to their realm, as we saw in the case of the nāgas. It is not only that their realm resembles the deva’s world, but the asuras themselves are said to be like the devas in life-span, appearance, essence (rasa, lit. “taste”), power and wealth (SN 11:1). Therefore, we might imagine the devas looking down from Tāvatiṃsa and seeing the asura realm as if it were their own distorted mirror image reflected in the surface of the great ocean. The devas embody the epitome of worldly sensuality, and the asuras represent the opposite defilements of hatred, jealously and anger, with the human realm mid-way between the two (Sn-a 3: 11).
Having woken up in the asura-realm, the asuras at first did not realize that they weren’t in Tāvatiṃsa anymore, but when they did, immediately went to war in order to try and win back their old home.
(Seeing the Cittapāṭali Tree and not recognizing the blossoms) the asuras said to one another, “This is not the deva-city! There are the coral-tree (pāricchattaka) flowers, here there are trumpet-flowers (cittapāṭali). The old Sakka438 has deceived us, making us drink liquor. We will seize the deva-city, let us go there and make war!”
Mounting elephants, horses and chariots, taking up shields of gold, silver and gems they made ready for battle. Sounding the asura-drum they cleaved the waters of the great ocean in two and rose up. They poured up the slope of Mt Sineru like ants up an ant-hill. (SN-a 11:1)
Sakka, having heard, “The asuras are rising up!” went forth to the surface of the ocean to do battle. There he was defeated and began to flee in the one yojana and a half long Chariot of Victory along the southern face of the sea. Then the chariot, rising from the ocean entered into the Simbali Grove (the dwelling place of the supaṇṇas). The progress of the chariot cut down the Simbali Grove like so many reeds and the trees tumbled into the ocean. The young of the supaṇṇas falling to their destruction in the ocean let out a great cry.
Sakka asked Mātali (the charioteer), “Dear Mātali, what sound is that, which rouses such great compassion?”
“Sire, the passage of your chariot is cutting and tossing down the Simbali Grove and the young supaṇṇas are making that cry in fear of death.”
Sakka replied, “Dear Mātali, I will not be the cause of their misery. Let us not for the sake of dominion (issariyaṃ nissāya) cause the destruction of life. For their sake, we will give up even our lives, surrendering to the asuras. Turn the chariot around.” Hearing these words, Mātali the charioteer turned around to seek another route back to the deva world.
The asuras, seeing the chariot of Sakka turn around, said, “Surely Sakkas from other world-systems (aññehi cakkavālehi) are coming. Having received reinforcement, they are making the chariot turn around!” In fear of death, they fled back to the asura-realm. (Jāt 31)
After the victory of the devas, the Vejayanta (“Victory”) Palace arose in Tāvatiṃsa by the force of the devas’ good kamma. At this time too, Sakka established the five lines of defence against the asuras. First were the nāgas, to guard the approach through the ocean, then the supaṇṇas on the lower slopes of Sineru followed by the kumbhaṇḍas, the yakkhas and finally, the Four Great Kings. Only if the asuras managed to fight through all of these would Sakka himself, or one of his sons, come forth to do battle (SN-a 11:1). As a final safe-guard, Sakka had placed around the deva-city statues of himself as Inda wielding the thunder-bolt weapon. These are sufficient to terrify the asuras into fleeing back to their own city (AN-a 9, 39).
The war of the asuras against the devas is a perpetual one, it breaks out into active hostilities whenever the Cittapāṭali Tree flowers and reminds the asuras of what they have lost (MN-a 37). It is, however, a hopeless struggle. The two cities of the devas and of the asuras are said to be impregnable. When the asuras are stronger, the devas flee into their city and close the gates and “even hundreds of thousands” of asuras cannot storm the walls, likewise when the devas are stronger they cannot force their way into the asura city (SN-a 11:1). Despite the ferocious appearance and angry nature of the asuras, these wars are very low in casualties.
However, these battles are not fought with the cutting of skin or hide, or the flowing of blood. They fight only like young forest rams do, seeking to raise fear and trembling in their foes (ibid.). They make war like cow-herd boys, beating one another with sticks. (AN-a 9:39)
In any case, according to the Abhidharmakośa, the devas are hard to kill. They can only be killed by cutting off their heads, or cutting them in half through the waist. If their arms or legs are cut off, they can regenerate. The same passage states that devas never kill one another.439 It is not stated whether these rules apply to the asuras as well.
The behaviour of humans can have an effect on the outcome of these wars. When human morality is generally good, more people take a higher rebirth and “swell the ranks of the deva host.” However, during times when human behaviour is shameless and immoral more become reborn in the asura realm, increasing the size of their army (DN 18 & 19). At such times, the devas are disappointed because there are not enough of them to play a game of “constellation” (nakkhatta).440
On rare occasions, the asura-deva wars may impinge on the human realm.
At one time a certain man was sitting on the bank of the Sumāgadhāya Lotus Pond, near Rājagaha. While he was sitting there, he saw a four-fold army (infantry, elephants, cavalry and chariots) enter into a lotus plant. “I must be mad! I must be insane! I have seen that which does not exist in the world!” (SN 56:41)
Speaking of this incident, the Buddha explained that the man was not mad, that what he saw was actually so. The devas had defeated the asuras in a battle and the asuras in their terror had fled back to the asura realm through the lotus plant, to the utter confusion of the devas (ibid.). Sometimes the impact of the asura wars on humans is more direct, and harmful. It is said that there are seers living by the shores of the great ocean, and that when the asuras are defeated in battle and fleeing back to their own realm they pass through the hermitages of these seers. The asuras believe that the seers are devotees of Sakka, and assist him with their advice. Being enraged, the asuras on their way through destroy the leaf-huts, walk-ways and fruit-trees of the seers (SN 11:10).
3:3:24 ASURINDA—LORDS OF THE ASURA
Three asuras are particularly named in the texts and called asurajeṭṭhaka “elders of the asuras” and asurinda, “lords of the asuras.” These are Vepacitti, Rāhu and Pahārāda (AN-a 8:19).
Vepacitti is said to be the most senior
of all the asuras (asurānaṃ sabbajeṭṭhako) (SN-a 11:4). His name might be rendered as “broken mind.”441 Originally, his name was Sambara:
Once, at a time when the asuras were making ready for war, some righteous seers living near the ocean approached Sambara lord of the asuras, to ask for a promise of safety (abhayadakkhiṇaṃ, lit. “a gift of no fear”). Sambara replied that he would not give safety to the seers, calling them wicked partisans of Sakka. He said he would give them only fear.
The seers therefore cursed Sambara and left. After receiving their curse, Sambara was seized by terror three times during the night (SN 11:10). Each time, he sprung up screaming as if he were struck by a hundred spears. The commotion was heard all over the ten thousand yojana wide realm of the asuras, and they all wondered “what has happened?” Sambara told them that nothing had happened, and they comforted him, “Do not fear, great king,” and stayed with him until dawn. From that night he suffered from the sickness of a broken mind (cittaṃ vepati) and therefore was given the name Vepacitti (SN-a, 11:10).
Vepacitti is possessed of a powerful magic spell, called the Sambari Spell (sambarimāya). Exactly what this spell does is unclear, but the commentary says it was the Sambari Spell which was used when the asura army escaped through a lotus plant (SN-a 56:41). It is also associated with fraud and deceit (SN-a 11:23) so may be a powerful spell of transformation. Sakka once offered to cure Vepacitti of his madness if he would teach him the Sambari Spell. Vepacitti consulted the other asuras but they forbade him to do so, fearing that Sakka who was already causing them enough trouble, would become even more powerful (SN 11:23). One oddity of this encounter is that the relevant sutta ends with a stanza spoken by Vepacitti where he tells Sakka that sorcerers go to niraya, as Sambara did, for one hundred years (ibid.). Since, as we have seen, Sambara is a previous name of Vepacitti himself, this verse is hard to explain. Perhaps Vepacitti was speaking figuratively, and meant that his madness was like being in niraya.
Vepacitti and Sakka have an ambiguous relationship. While they are the monarchs of mutually antagonistic realms, often at war, they are also in-laws, Sakka having married Vepacitti’s daughter Sujā. The commentary says that sometimes they are enemies, and sometimes they travel about together (SN-a 11:9). The texts recount several episodes featuring the interaction of these two.
At one time, after the devas had defeated the asuras in battle and captured Vepacitti the asura king, they bound him hand and foot and neck and placed him in the Sudhamma Hall. Whenever Sakka, king of the devas, entered or left the hall Vepacitti abused and reviled him, “You are a thief! An idiot! A fool! A bandit! You are a camel! A cow! A donkey! You are going to hell, to an animal birth! There will be no good destiny for you; you are bound for a lower rebirth! Old Sakka, you will not be victorious forever. One day the asuras will win, and then you shall lie in misery by the door in the asura realm.” (SN-a, 11:4)
The bonds which held Vepacitti were said to be only in his mind, (ibid.) and this is made clear in another similar episode.
After the defeat of the asuras, Vepacitti was bound hand and foot and neck and placed in the Sudhamma Hall. Whenever Vepacitti thought, “The devas are righteous, the asuras are unrighteous” his bonds would be released and he would be furnished with the five sense pleasures. Whenever he thought “The asuras are righteous, the devas are unrighteous” he would once again find himself bound hand and foot (SN 35:201). The bonds of Vepacitti were subtle like lotus thread or spider web, they were not cut by Sakka’s knife or ax, but by Vepacitti’s own mind. By his mind was he bound, by his mind was he freed. (SN-a 35:201)
This story was told by the Buddha with the purpose of comparing Vepacitti’s bondage with that of Māra, which he said is even more subtle. There is one other mention of the magical binding of Vepacitti:
At one time Sakka king of the devas had gone into seclusion and the thought arose in his mind, “I should not do harm even to my enemies.” Vepacitti the king of the asuras knew the thought which had arisen in the deva’s mind. Later, when Sakka saw Vepacitti approaching he cried out, “Stop Vepacitti, you are caught!” and the asuras was bound hand and foot and neck. Vepacitti said, “Dear sir, do not abandon the thought which previously arose in your mind.” Sakka made Vepacitti promise not to do any harm and then released him.442
One instance of the two divine in-laws travelling together concerns their visit to some seers in the forest, and highlights the differences in their character:
Once in the past Sakka and Vepacitti went together to see some righteous seers in the forest. Vepacitti entered the hermitage through the main gate, wearing his sandals with a sword at his side and a parasol over his head, treating those seers with disrespect. Sakka took off his sandals, gave his sword to another and put down his parasol, entering the hermitage through a lesser door. He treated those seers with proper respect. (SN 11:9)
At another time, a war was averted when Vepacitti proposed, and Sakka agreed, to settle matters by a debate, “a victory by good speech” (subhāsita jayo). Each of the two leaders were to speak some stanzas, and the winner would be chosen by a panel (pārisajja) jointly chosen by the devas and the asuras. Sakka insisted that Vepacitti go first, as he was the elder of the two. The commentary says this was a clever ploy by Sakka, because the person who goes last has the advantage in a debate. Vepacitti’s verses spoke about how fools must be punished to restrain them, whereas Sakka spoke in praise of patience saying that restraint in the face of angry abuse is true strength. He was judged the winner (SN 11:5).
Rāhu is a very important cosmological figure, the being that is responsible for eclipses. In the Vedic version, Rāhu was an asura who was caught drinking the gods’ soma and Viṣṇu cut off his head which now periodically swallows the sun or moon in its impotent rage. Rāhu is recognized as the eighth planet in the Hindu astrological system.443 Although this planet is invisible, its movements can be mathematically calculated to predict the occurrence of eclipses.444
The Buddhist Rāhu is a very large and powerful asura with his head still very much on his shoulders. He is called the largest of all beings (AN 4: 15). The Pali says he is first among the attabhāvī, lit. “those possessed of self-being.” The commentary glosses with attabhāvavanta, which might be rendered as meaning that he has the greatest limit to his being, or simply, the greatest size. Rāhu is 8,400 yojana in height. His chest is 1200 yojana across, the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet are 300 yojana wide, his finger joints are each 50 yojana long, the space between his eyebrows is 50 yojana across, his forehead is 300 yojana across and his head is 900 yojana long.445 When Rāhu stands in the great ocean the water comes up only to his knees and he thinks, “They always say this ocean is very deep, but how can it be called deep? The water doesn’t even cover my knees!” (DN-a 15) For a long time, Rāhu avoided going to see the Buddha, thinking that even if he bent down he would not be able to see such a small person. When at last Rāhu did go to visit the Buddha, the Blessed One was lying on a low bed in his perfumed chamber. Rāhu found that he had to bend his neck upward in order to see him, and he was so moved by this display of power that he immediately became one of the Buddha’s followers (DN-a 4 & MN-a 95).
The following is a description of how Rāhu causes eclipses:
Seeing the brilliance of the sun or the moon, Rāhu becomes jealous. Having descended into their path, he stands with his mouth open. For the three-hundred yojana big solar or lunar vimāna, it is as if they were plunged into mahānaraka (“the great hell”).The devatas living in the vimāna are seized with the fear of death and all cry out at once. Sometimes he just covers the vimāna with his hand, or his jaw or touches it with his tongue. Sometimes he holds it in his mouth with his cheeks puffed out, as if to eat it. But Rāhu is not able to obstruct the forward motion of the sun or moon. If he were to try, either the vimāna would break his head into pieces or he would be cast down. So, Rāhu is forced to move along with the sun or moon. (SN-a 2:10)
It may be sur
mised that when Rāhu takes the whole sun or moon in his mouth, a total eclipse occurs and that the other means of covering refer to partial eclipses. The sub-commentary explains that the irresistible force of the sun and moon is because their motion is determined by the law of kamma.446
There are two short back-to-back suttas in the Devaputtasaṃyutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya which describe a lunar and a solar eclipse. Rāhu seizes the moon or the sun and the deva calls on the Buddha for refuge. The Buddha speaks a verse, ordering Rāhu to release his captive. Rāhu does so, then flees in terror to Vepacitti,
(Vepacitti -) Why, Rāhu, did you come in a hurry?
Why did you release Candimā (or Suriya)?
Having come as if in shock,
Why do you stand there frightened?
(Rāhu -) My head would have split in seven parts,
While living I would have found no ease,
If, when chanted over by the Buddha’s verse,
I had not let go of Candimā (or Suriya).447
Rāhu can also affect the weather. Specifically, he is listed among the causes of drought because at times he gathers the rain in his hand and casts it into the sea.448
There is much less to be said about the third asurinda, Pahārāda. The only incident which includes any detail about him states that after the Buddha’s awakening Pahārāda formed an intention to go see him, but procrastinated for twelve years, saying all the time “I will go today, I will go tomorrow.” When at last he did go, the Buddha spoke the Pahārādasutta to him, which concerned the eight wonderful qualities of the ocean in which the asuras find delight, used as metaphors for the eight wonderful qualities of the Dhamma (AN-a 8:19).
The Buddhist Cosmos Page 33