![]() The demons helped them to churn the oceans with the promise that they would be entitled for their share. Then, at the suggestion of Brahma, gods managed to secure elixir(amrit) by churning the oceans. The celestial wars between gods and demonsĪccording to the Puranic lore, in the beginning all the children of Brahma Prajapati were mortals. Since one cannot rule out the possibility, human beings have to be careful in their dealings and relationship with others, so that they may not unintentionally incur sinful karma by disrespecting any divinity in a human body. Due to the influence of Maya, they themselves may not know that they are gods. It means that in the mortal world there may be some humans who may be gods in disguise. Neither gods nor demons have the opportunity, unless they descend into the mortal world as humans and work for their liberation. Of the three classes of beings, humans have the unique opportunity to become one with Brahman and attain liberation. According to their actions, past karma and the predominance of desires, we may either cultivate divine qualities and ascend to the immortal world of Brahman or develop demonic nature and fall down into the darkest hell. Therefore, we have both good and evil tendencies. Humans are the intermediaries, who partake the qualities of both gods and demons. The worlds of gods are filled with light, of demons with darkness, while the human world is subject to the duality of both light and darkness. Gods live in the upper regions of the manifested worlds, humans live upon earth, and demons live in the lower regions (patala) or the nether worlds. The embodied souls (jivas), could ascend or descend to any of these worlds during their transmigration, according to their deeds and purity.Īccording to the Vedic theories of creation, Brahma, the supreme lord of heaven, created gods (devas), humans (manavas) and demons (rakshasas, asuras, danavas, or daityas). The others existed for the duration of the cycle of creation. Of them, only the last one was eternal and indestructible. Early Vedic cosmology identified five worlds only, the mortal world of humans, the world of ancestors, the heaven of gods, the underworld of demons and the immortal world of Brahman. ![]()
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