The realms of the Devas and Asuras (The Intriguing Vedic Universe, ch.9)

How the influence of both devas and asuras affect our planet, how they live and where their planetary systems are situated,

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'The Intriguing Vedic Universe' was my first book on Vedic cosmology, explaining the mysterious universe described in the Srimad Bhagavatam. It describes not just the physical aspects, in a level of detail that rivals modern science, but also the metaphysical aspects, the missing aspect that is missing in the modern perspective.

Chapter 9: The Realms of the Devas and Asuras

The Vedas explain that the Universe is divided into the planetary systems inhabited by the Suras (or Devas), and the planetary systems inhabited by the Asuras. The Suras are evolved beings who are advanced in terms of knowledge, culture, piety, and spirituality. They are in charge of maintaining the universal order and are in direct contact with the divine. The Asuras on the other hand are atheists who are more interested in satisfying their carnal desires. Many Asuras are quite pious and charitable, but their idea is to evolve economically and not spiritually. They are more interested in matter than in what is beyond it.

The Vedic Universe is thus divided between these two categories of beings. The Devas live in the higher planetary systems, where the light of the sun can be seen. The movements of the sun according to the Vedas are more complex than described in modern astronomy, involving annual ascending and descending cycles. These cycles correspond to the days and nights of the Devas on the higher planets.

Our days and nights are connected with the movements of the sun and the earth, and thus our days and nights have only 24 hours, but the days and nights of the Devas are connected with these larger cycles, and thus a day and night for the Devas have a total of 360 days of our time (a full lunar year). Similarly, 360 of such days correspond to one year for them, and they live for 10,000 of such years. Their lifespan is thus calculated as 3.6 million years of our time. Extraordinarily long.

As Srila Prabhupada mentions on SB 3.32.3: "Life on the moon is said to last ten thousand years according to the calculation of the demigods. The demigods' time is calculated in such a way that one day (twelve hours) is equal to six months on this planet."

Just like there is a gradation in the superior planetary systems, with the most spiritually advanced groups living in the upper levels and the ones who are more engrossed with matter living on the lower floors, the realm of the Asuras is also divided into several levels. The higher levels are paradisiacal places called Bila-svarga, where pious demons live. They are good-mannered and charitable, but they are not interested in spirituality at all. Because they are self-centered, many are propense to become angry when upset. The lower levels however are the home of races of envious and violent beings who abandon all kinds of moral values.

These descriptions of the different levels of planetary systems described in the Vedas are based on the levels of consciousness of the inhabitants of different planets of the universe. In our dimension, planets inhabited by Suras and Asuras are spread over the cosmos, therefore we can’t see any clear division when we look at the sky. Srila Prabhupada explains this point in a letter to Rupanuga from 20 December, 1968:

“Regarding your question of the planetary systems, the planets are arranged in each universe in layers like the petals of a lotus. But in each layer there is mixed both heavenly, hellish and middle planets. On the outside layer there are these three kinds of planets, on the middle layers there are the three kinds of planets and on the inner-most layer there are found these three kinds of planets. Above these layers, in the center, is the Brahmaloka where Lord Brahma, the creator is residing. So the earth planet and the moon planet are both on the same layer but the earth is middle planet and the moon is heavenly planet.”

However, in the dimension where the demigods live, the realms inhabited by beings of similar levels of consciousness appear to be close together. The model of the universe described in the Vedas is based on how the universe appears from their point of view, that’s why it looks different from the universe we observe when we look at the sky.

Our planet is located exactly in the middle of the reams of the Devas and Asuras. Just like smaller countries are frequently the stage of proxy wars between bigger countries fighting for hegemony, our planet is also the stage of a perpetual dispute between the two sides.

In Satya-yuga, the first era of the cosmic cycle, there is a greater influence of the Devas, and our planet is almost exclusively inhabited by pious and enlightened souls. This is a time when everyone lives in peace and disease, wars and famine are unheard of. During the ages of Treta-yuga and Dwapara-yuga things gradually decline and in Kali-yuga, the age we live, the influence of the Asuras is much stronger. In this age, many Asuras take the opportunity to take birth on our planet and advance their exploitative agendas, while others try to influence us by subtle means.

It's said that in Satya-yuga Suras and Asuras live on different planets. In Treta-yuga they live in different continents (like Bharata and Lanka, as described in the Ramayana), in Dwapara-yuga they live in different cities, but in Kali-yuga, our age, the same person may act like a Deva or an Asura in different situations. There is a constant struggle between these two frequencies of consciousness inside our own heads.

The influence of the Devas can be felt like a push in the direction of spirituality, pious life, non-violence, living a natural life, etc. while the Asuras push humanity to the other extreme, in direction of a materialistic and artificial lifestyle, consumerism, environmental degradation, etc.

Usually, persons more in sync with the Devas tend to be spiritualists, who try to live a simple and pious life, while persons more influenced by the Asuras want to live a more artificial lifestyle, in the direction of consumerism and materialism. The first group tends to evolve in the direction of the higher planetary systems or go to the transcendental realm, while the second group tends to slide down to the planets of the Asuras in the lower realms, or to animal life.

As mentioned before, the Asuras live in subterraneous realms, where there is no sun. All the light in their realms comes from other sources, like different types of artificial lights, fire, or special jewels. Naturally, in our plane jewels simply reflect light from other sources, but it’s described that in their plane special jewels are used for illumination.

The fact they live under the ground doesn’t mean that their lives are miserable though. Asuras are quite intelligent and they are experts in manipulating matter. Since they are interested only in matter, and not in developing higher consciousness, like the Devas, their attention is entirely focused on economic development, and thus their standard of living is actually even higher. It's described that the higher Asuras live in celestial abodes, with palaces, parks, fountains, and so on. They have an incredible ability in terms of handcraft, and thus they can create the most intricate objects and possess all kinds of mystical perfections, just like advanced yogis.

Although also living in very comfortable positions, the Asuras in the Bila-svarga constantly resent the Devas because they live in the higher abodes, and sometimes there are great wars between the two groups. Such cosmic wars normally happen on the higher planets, with the Asuras attacking and the Devas defending. Subtle and mystical weapons are used in such disputes, including Brahmastras, a subtle type of nuclear weapon described in the Vedas, where the sound of mantras is used to break the structure of matter and convert it into energy.

Most of the time the Devas defeat the Asuras, but sometimes the Asuras win and the Devas are forced to flee from their abodes. Thus the cosmic order is inverted for some time, until Lord Vishnu comes as an avatar to help the Devas to expel the Asuras back to their realm, reestablishing thus the cosmic order.

It may be difficult to understand how the Devas and Asuras can interact in such ways since the Asuras live in the lower planetary systems, which are lower than our planet. Since we can't see or interact with the Devas, who live in a higher dimension, how can the Asuras?

Normally, the Vedic Universe is depicted with the planetary systems of the Devas on top, the intermediary planets (like our own) in the middle, and the abodes of the Asuras at the bottom. This describes the different levels of spiritual evolution of the inhabitants. However, if we classify in terms of gross or subtle, the asuras in the Bila-swarga or the higher amongst the lower planetary system actually live in a subtle dimension, while the inhabitants of the lowest amongst the lower planetary systems live in a gross dimension, similar to us.

The words “gross” and “subtle” may not precisely convey the idea, but I use them here due to the absence of better terms. For the demigods and Asuras the type of “subtle” matter they have around them looks as solid as the matter we have on our planet looks for us. However, the type of matter that constitutes their words is fundamentally different from the type of matter that makes our planet. Just like water is subtler than earth, in the sense that it’s liquid and transparent, and air is subtler than water in the sense that it is much lighter and more compressible, the type of matter that constitutes the abodes of the devas and asuras is subtle in the sense that we can’t detect using our earthly instruments, or interact with it using our senses. It is similar in principle to the idea of dark matter present in modern physics. One meaning of the word “subtle” is something that is mysterious and not easily understood, and another is as something refined, while “gross” applies to something lower, that lacks such refinement. I use these words here in these senses.

In any case, the relationship between the Devas and Asuras becomes easy to understand if we imagine the higher and lower planetary systems side by side, instead of on top and bottom. When we see it in this way, the relationship becomes more obvious.

When observed from this perspective, the highest amongst the lower planets fit in a similar level to Swargaloka, the abode of the Devas, and the lowest in a similar level to us. In other words, the higher Asuras live in the same subtle dimension inhabited by the Devas, and this explains the interactions between the two groups.

In the previous ages, Satya-Yuga, Treta-Yuga, and Dvapara-Yuga, human beings also lived in a subtler dimension, therefore interactions between human beings, Devas, and Asuras are also possible. In the Mahabharata, it's described how Arjuna was capable of traveling to the higher planetary systems and assisting the Devas in their fight against the Asuras, and how during their exile Bhima fought and defeated a powerful rakshasa from Bhuvarloka. However, in our current age, Kali-Yuga, we live in a gross dimension and thus such interactions are not possible. We live on a different frequency from both groups.

In our age, Devas and Asuras influence humanity by subtle means, or sometimes by taking birth here. It's believed that the powerful Madhvacarya, who appeared in India in the 13th century, was an incarnation of the Deva Vayu, for example.

Another interesting point is that we live in the same gross dimension as the lower Asuras. These are Asuras who are impious and more absorbed in gross matter. Instead of mystical perfections, they use technology to maintain an artificial lifestyle. Due to their advanced technology, these races are capable of traveling in spaceships. Books like “The War of the Words” and “Ender's Game” depict scenarios where our world is invaded by hostile, more advanced civilizations. In reality, however, if the lower Asuras would try to invade us with their advanced technology, there would be little we could do to protect ourselves. Fortunately, there are higher forces in the Universe that prevent this.

Another example of beings of the lower planets who can sometimes interact with human beings are the Nagas. Some Nagas are pious, like Udupi who kidnapped Arjuna to marry him, but others are not very good people to hang out with.

Although both the Devas and the high Asuras live in great material opulence, there is a great difference in the path chalked by both groups. The high Asuras are exhausting the good karma they accumulated by doing good deeds in previous lives, thus paving their way to a gradual descent into the lower realms, while the Devas are following an upward path, that leads to the upper planetary systems and gradually to transcendence.

After Swargaloka, the heavenly realms where the Devas live, there is a sequence of highly evolved planets inhabited by great sages, including the realms of Marloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka, and Brahmaloka. The inhabitants of these planetary systems live for extremely long periods and have almost complete knowledge about the workings of the Universe. Different from the Devas and Asuras, however, they are solely interested in transcendence, and therefore rarely get involved in their affairs.

In other words, the high Asuras are in a comfortable position now but they are on a descending path, while the Devas are exhausting their previous karma, satisfying their remaining material desires and preparing to go higher into the subtler realms.

Human beings are essentially in the middle and we choose which path to follow according to our actions in this life. The Vedas are knowledge transmitted by transcendental sources to help humanity to progress on the upward path. For the ones interested in joining the Devas in the celestial planets there is the path of karma-kanda, which consists of pious life and religious rituals, and for the ones who are interested in ascending to the transcendental realm, there are the paths of Karma-yoga, Jnana-yoga, and Bhakti-yoga, explained in the Bhagavad-Gita.

The path of materialism and hedonistic life, however, leads to nothing but suffering in the realms of the lower Asuras or the animal kingdom. This may be a tempting path of instant gratification, but the ones who take it just go down into further ignorance, creating a descending spiral that leads to dangerous consequences.

Different from animals, human beings are gifted with a higher intelligence that can be used to find the best path and to progress spiritually. One who misuses this higher intelligence for just achieving immediate gratification is a very unfortunate person.

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