dev- / Devil

[Aditya, the Cheerful Hindu Skeptic]

Raveen Satkurunathan <tawady at YAHOO.COM> has written as follows:

>Dear Aditya
>
>Arabian Nights has Basra as its center, a region which was Arabised after
>Islamic conquest but originally Iranian. In Avestan Iran Deivo were the bad
>gods and Asuras were the good ones, a reversal of role compared to Indo-
>Aryans. Many speculate  that had to do with some ancient conflicts between
>Iranian and Indian branch of the once very closely related Aryan people.
>Because using Indo-European linguitics Dev is what everybody else
>maintained as God except the Iranians. Hence the Iranians deliberately
>changed the order of hierachy under intense conflict with their neibhours
>(in Caucus, Central Asia ???)
I totally agree with your observation.

I was responding originally to the reference made in Chapter 16 of Gita
about the practices that were ascribed to Asurs and thereby misrepresenting
Asurs.  Obviously writer of Gita should have known better if it was the
omniscient god. Even with the contemptuous tone of the Chapter 16, there are
many admirable qualities of a supposed Asur which can be challenged as being
better than what the writer of Gita considered as virtues.


Have a peaceful and joyous day.
Aditya Mishra
Primary email: a018967t at bc.seflin.org
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