Slokam 10

Vasuki, under the tremendous stress of the churning emanates poisonous fumes from his mouth.  If the devas had been holding the head, they would have perished. The asuras, took up the position because of their ‘superior’ attitude.  However,  even they were in pain.  The Paramathma,  seeing that help was needed,  intervenes to shower rain to cool everyone and to subdue the poisonous fumes so that these did not spread over a large area and decapacitate everyone.  However,  the rain was arranged to fall only on the side of the devas, who needed it most.  The asuras, being physically much stronger could survive the ordeal on their own, although not without suffering. 

The Paramathma knows exactly how much and when everyone of us needs His help.  We can rest assured that although we may be allowed to suffer just a bit,  there will be no let down.   The toil of labor, mental or physical will always have its painful side.  It is a test of our resolve and commitment as well as conviction to attain the ultimate objective of moksham.   Our effort and our dedication will be of varying degrees.  However,  the events of life are so intricately engineered by the Paramathma,  that each one of us will be set on the correct path, by the sequence of events and occurrences.

Although we could be broadly categorized as asuras and devas, in reality,  each of us is an unique story that has no other parallel. Consequently we have our own abilities,  weaknesses or a mix of them that is unique.  The Paramathma is the universal teacher that has designed a unique tutoring program for each one of us,  and that program is our life, and its events.

Although the asura and deva are directly opposed,  the Paramathma brings them together to work on a common objective.  He always supports the dharmic devas and opposes the adharmic asuras.  But that is because of the advantages that have been granted to them in terms of physical strength, numbers,  a barbarous nature to overcome opposition and an unlimited desire for conquest and domination. 

Ultimately he channels their energies to the dharmic way by His unfathomable Maya.  He primarily uses the asura to build and construct the physical world but gives the power over rulership of the three worlds to the devas.  It is only when the devas become corrupted by material wealth, that He allows the asuras to ascend, to reset the devas outlook and perspective.

This balancing act is an ongoing and continuous process for which the Paramathma takes direct charge.  The best among the Asura kings are given the opportunity to become His devout Bhaktas. Prahalada and Mahabali are the classic examples.  It is not that the asuras do not know where their poweris coming from.  Duryodhana tells the Paramathma,  that He knows all of His teachings, but because of His nature,  is unable to follow them. 

The devas resolve to not deviate from their assigned path, by the realization that an asura cannot aspire for immortality simply because the  will be inclined to misuse the endowment.

At our individual level,  the deva part of our inner self realizes the torment that it is subject to when the asuric part begins to dominate.  That knowledge of consequences makes us determined to cultivate and nurture our dharmic deva aspect of our inner self.

So it is not meant to physically delineate the asuras from the devas.  Both these are aspects of all of us.  The orientation and balance can change.  An asura may progress into a deva,  but a deva generally does not generally degenerate by allowing the asuric nature to take control of the three worlds within us.

May we always retain and enhance our dharmic qualities in line with the guidance of the Paramathma.