Canto 30

Asura kings attack and conquer all the worlds and completely take over the wealth,  and the women of the worlds that the conquer.  Typically there is a phase in time when the asuras reign supreme and there is a period when the devas,  headed by Indira and supported by the Paramathma,  defeat the asuras.

The asuras are always looking to plunder.   They devas, left to themselves, are always dharmic and at peace.  Indira becomes aggressive only when he senses a threat to his domain.

In the battle between the asuras and the devas,  the asuras always win.  The devas survive only with the help of the Paramathma. 

The greedy aspect within us always disturbs the peace.  It plunders the wealth generated by the devas in the form of gnanam, bhakti and karma.  Just as the devas invoke the help of the Paramathma,  to defeat the asura,  we also begin to invoke the Paramathma within us to quell the asuric forces from arising within us.  The asuric forces within us have to always be kept in check. Much as we may try,  unless we obtain sanyas,  the forces of this world will bring out our asuric nature within us and completely destroy our spiritual fabric. 

Asura demons employ the weapon of deceit by appearing in the form of Putana,  who tries to feed poisonous milk to the Paramathma,  or by taking on the form of cows that mingle with the rest of the herd.  By taking on the form of mules and donkeys,  or appearing as a typhoon etc. 

The Paramathma has various ways of bringing the asuras to their knees.  Direct battle, between dharma and adharma,  as in Kurukshetra,  or the killing of Kamsa,  Shishupala,  the destruction of different demons that Kamsa sends to destroy Him as a child,  involve physical battle. 

Likewise,  when necessary,  the Paramathma also takes on forms that disguise His true ientity.  In the previous Canto, the Paramathma employs the weapon of seductive temptation as Mohini.  In this Canto,  the Paramathma assumes the form of Vamana.

If the Paramathma made a direct appearance in His true form,  the asuras will immediately either scatter/run away or completely surrender.  That would defeat the purpose,  since their true nature will be temporarily hidden by the veil of fear thrown by the Paramathma.  But once the Paramathma accepts their surrender and withdraws,  the asuras true nature will re-emerge.  There will be no evolution.   The process will keep going in circles.

When the asura within us gets out of hand,  we cannot possibly engage in a physical battle.  Our dharmic nature is overcome and defeated by temptations and greed.  We will succumb. When we succumb,  there is little that can be done.  Our only recourse is to surrender to the Paramathma.  At this point of surrender,  the Paramathma,  is not faced with physical enemies.  He has to quell the asura with illusions. 

The strategy followed is that asura is presented with the bait,  but the hurdles to attaining the objective are set higher than the capabilities.  So the asura decides that the target can be attained only by invocation of the Paramathma.  The asura within is enticed to perform tapas,  so that unlimited wealth can be his!!!!

So by a process of deceit,  enticement and temptation,  the Paramathma reins in the uncontrolled asura within us. 

Once on the road of tapas,  the asuric nature within us is made to lose its way and get involved in the production of amrutham,  which is marketed by the Paramathma as something that will bestow immortality on the consumer. Amrutham is understood by the asura as something that will bestow ultimate power which will enable him to destroy and conquer everyone else.  So the asuric energy within us is deployed into productive action by the maya of the Paramathma. The sleight of hand, the illusion and the tools deployed to keep the asura engaged and busy,  allows the opportunity for the deva to consume the amrutham of the combined effort and strengthen their position in our inner world. 

The asura is eased out of power by an emboldened and strengthened deva.

In our everyday lives,  we have to use the asuric power productively,  but always with the intent that we will only enhance the power of the deva within us.  Life is structured to bring out both aspects within us and by our evolution,  we learn to develop controls to ensure that the balance is maintained between the two forces, with the ultimate victory for dharma.

In this Canto,  the Paramathma appears in the diminutive form of the Vamana,  to test and show the asura king Bali,  the vast and infinite power that is supporting the Devas. 

May we live fearlessly in the assurance of the Paramathma support for the deva within us