yet separated. [352] Certain important
contrasts between the ancient Zoroastrian and Vedic religions have
led to the theory that the separation was the result of a religious
and political schism. The words Deva and Asura have an exactly
opposite significance in the two religions. Deva [353] is the term
invariably used for the gods of the Hindus in the whole Vedic and
Brahmanical literature. In the Zend-Avesta, on the other hand, Deva
(Pers. _div_) is the general name of an evil spirit, a fiend, demon
or devil, who is inimical to all that is good and comes from God. The
part of the Avesta called the Vendidad, consisting of a collection
of spells and incantations, means _vi-daevo-data_ or given against
the Devas or demons. The Devas, Dr. Haug states, are the originators
of all that is bad, of every impurity, of death; and are constantly
thinking of causing the destruction of the fields and trees, and of
the houses of religious men. "Asura, occurring as Ahura in the first
part of Ahura-Mazda (Hormazd), is the name of God among the Parsis;
and the Zoroastrian religion is distinctly called the Ahura religion,
in strict opposition to the Deva religion. But among the Hindus Asura
has assumed a bad meaning, and is applied to the bitterest enemies
of their Devas (gods), with whom the Asuras are constantly waging
war. This is the case throughout the whole Puranic literature and
as far back as the later parts of the Vedas; but in the older parts
of the Rig-Veda Sanhita we find the word Asura used in as good and
elevated a sense as in the Zend-Avesta. The chief gods, such as Indra,
Varuna, Agni, Savitri, Rudra or Siva, are honoured with the epithet
'Asura,' which means 'living, spiritual,' and signifies the divine
in its opposition to human nature.

"In a bad sense we find Asura only twice in the older parts of the
Rig-Veda, in which passages the defeat of the 'sons or men of the
Asura' is ordered or spoken of; but we find the word more frequently in
this sense in the last book of the Rig-Veda (which is only an appendix
to the whole made in later times), and in the Atharva-Veda, where the
Rishis are said to have frustrated the tricks of the Asuras and to have
the power of putting them down. In the Brahmanas or sacrificial books
belonging to each of the Vedas we find the Devas always fighting with
the Asuras. The latter are the constant enemies of the Hindu gods,
and always make attacks upon the sacrifices offered by devotees. To