DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0247
Demon-worship and Spirit-worship. 235
to Hindu ideas, the corporeal organization of the generality
of demons stands midway between that of men and gods.
For it is must be borne in mind that, in accordance with the
theory before explained, even the gods have forms, composed
of material atoms requiring the support of daily food (see
pp. 22, 28, Bhagavad-gita III. 11), that they are capable of
undergoing austerities (see Manu XI. 243, 244), that they are
liable to passions and affections like men and animals, and
that all, not excepting the one Supreme Personal God, are
subject to the inexorable law of disintegration and ultimate
absorption into the universal and sole eternal Essence. In
short, gods, demons, and men are so closely connected and
inter-related that it is difficult to draw any line of demarcation
between them. All three are subject to distinctions of sex ;
all three have bodies made up of gross elementary (sthula)
particles—only these are ethereal in the case of gods, less
ethereal in the case of demons, and earthly in the case of
men. It is noticeable, too, that all men living on the earth
are said to fall under two categories, those who have divine
(daiva) natures, and those who have demoniacal (asura), and
that instances are recorded of demons allying themselves with
mortal women. These ideas are quite in keeping with the
theory of transmigration (pp. 26-29).
Moreover, it is to be observed that as it is common to find
the bodies of even secondary deities possessed of an extra
number of hands and arms, the same is true of the demons.
Again, as all the gods have the power of assuming any shape
they like and of moving through the air in all directions, so
also have the generality of demons. In epic poetry the bodies
of the gods are described as very similar to those of men.
They differ only in the power of walking above the surface of
the ground, in being shadowless, in being free from per-
spiration, in having eyes that never wink, and flowery orna-
ments that never wither (Nala V. 24). Whether these latter
attributes belong also to all demon-frames is not so clear.
to Hindu ideas, the corporeal organization of the generality
of demons stands midway between that of men and gods.
For it is must be borne in mind that, in accordance with the
theory before explained, even the gods have forms, composed
of material atoms requiring the support of daily food (see
pp. 22, 28, Bhagavad-gita III. 11), that they are capable of
undergoing austerities (see Manu XI. 243, 244), that they are
liable to passions and affections like men and animals, and
that all, not excepting the one Supreme Personal God, are
subject to the inexorable law of disintegration and ultimate
absorption into the universal and sole eternal Essence. In
short, gods, demons, and men are so closely connected and
inter-related that it is difficult to draw any line of demarcation
between them. All three are subject to distinctions of sex ;
all three have bodies made up of gross elementary (sthula)
particles—only these are ethereal in the case of gods, less
ethereal in the case of demons, and earthly in the case of
men. It is noticeable, too, that all men living on the earth
are said to fall under two categories, those who have divine
(daiva) natures, and those who have demoniacal (asura), and
that instances are recorded of demons allying themselves with
mortal women. These ideas are quite in keeping with the
theory of transmigration (pp. 26-29).
Moreover, it is to be observed that as it is common to find
the bodies of even secondary deities possessed of an extra
number of hands and arms, the same is true of the demons.
Again, as all the gods have the power of assuming any shape
they like and of moving through the air in all directions, so
also have the generality of demons. In epic poetry the bodies
of the gods are described as very similar to those of men.
They differ only in the power of walking above the surface of
the ground, in being shadowless, in being free from per-
spiration, in having eyes that never wink, and flowery orna-
ments that never wither (Nala V. 24). Whether these latter
attributes belong also to all demon-frames is not so clear.