The Daityas and the Danavas are both called Asuras. But there is a
radical difference between the two classes.
The Daityas are opposed to the A-dityas. The root verb _da_ means to cut
to pieces, to separate. _Diti_ is that which separates. _Aditi_ is that
which does not separate. Jivatma is the same in all beings. One life
principle animates all the forms of creation. The idea of separateness
did not exist from before. The elementals that began life in this Kalpa
from the spiritual plane, have hardly any idea of separate existence.
The Devas and Pitris are described as classes (_ganas_), and not as
individuals. In the Mineral Kingdom, again, there is no individual
existence. Individuality has to be worked out, and the sons of Diti
bring about this great work in the evolution of life forms.
When we have the sense of separate existence strong in us, we become
capable of further evolution. By our individual experiences, we know
what is right and what is wrong, what is pleasurable and what is
painful. Things that give joy give pain as well. It is the measure of
pleasure or pain that teaches us what to covet and what to shun. Then we
have the fact that by our very existence we have duties to perform. The
teachings of other ages that are revealed to the Rishis and proclaimed
by them, give us a better idea of things, and they tell us more than we
can know of by our own experience. The Asuras lead us on and on, till we
reach the highest point that, with a sense of individuality, we may
attain.
When the individual soul gathers all experience that may be acquired by
the idea of separateness, it traces back its way to that spiritual home
whence it came. In the return journey, it is helped by the Adityas, who
gradually efface the idea of separateness, by an ever increasing
infusion of Satva: Vishnu himself became Aditya and taught men the unity
of all souls.
The Adityas who guided the early elementals had to be crushed, so that
separateness might grow. Pushan and Bhaga were therefore overpowered by
the attendants of Siva at the sacrifice of Daksha.
The Adityas who guide humanity in their return to spirituality are
themselves high spiritual energies, the highest Devas of our Triloki.
Our evolution is thus two-fold -- individual and non-individual. When we
work as individuals, we are under the influence of Daityas. When we want
to cast off separateness, we are under the influence of the Adityas.
In both cases, however, it is the bliss element in us that is worked on
by the Daityas and A-dityas. This bliss element is our eternal heritage
from Ishvara, and it is this element that saves us in our contact with
manifold matter. The measure of bliss, (_ananda_), enables us to judge
what matter to accept and what not.
Individuality developed under Hiranyakasipu, and all sorts of blissful
experiences were acquired. The sons of Hiranyakasipu were all called
Bliss (Hrada), but the perfection of Bliss (Pra-Hrada) was in Prahlada,
He found out that the worldly joys were unreal, and that the real joy
could be had only from Him above, who was joy itself.
But Prahlada did not realise that there was one life underlying all
beings, and that all beings were essentially one and the same. He was
separate in his devotion, though unselfish to the extreme. He knew that
men had separate existences, and while he attained perfection, others
did not. It was therefore his duty to raise others to his level. With
all unselfishness and devotion, Prahlada was an Asura, because he worked
from the stand point of individual life. The foster-father of Sri
Krishna was Nanda, the word meaning also bliss. But the bliss of Gopas
and Gopis consisted in forgetting self altogether. The bliss that was
then evolved will draw humanity to the highest level of spirituality in
our Kalpa.