The Eight Group of Beings

The Eight Group of Spiritual Beings
That Are 'Human But Not Human'

Gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas:

The eight groups of Vedic or Brahmanic ‘human but not human’ spiritual beings in The Lotus Sutra and other Sutras:

#	Group	Description
1	Devas	Gods, celestial beings, inhabitants of the Realm of Heaven. Also called ‘Suras’ (those with the ambrosia of heaven - soma). The lowest heavens (the realm of the Four Heavenly Kings) protect the heavens from the Asuras and evil forces. Next is the heaven of the 33 gods (Trayastrimsas) where Sakra Devendra (Indra) and his 32 Gods rule the secular world of desire. Then there are the heavens of Yama (Judge of the afterlife), Tusita (the world of innocent bliss before entry into the womb), Pleasant Transformations (where all desires are attained), and the Devil (Mara) the lord and master of Desire, who uses desire to control others. Above this is the Heaven of Brahma (the religious world pure of desire), including the Four Heavens of Meditation in the Realm of Form and the Fourfold Realm of Formlessness.The gods (Devas) are also known as the ‘Suras’ ('those having the ambrosia')
2	Asuras	Demons, enemies of the gods (Devas) and Sakra Devendra (the lord of heaven in the realm of desire who personifies the ‘will of heaven’) with whom they are forever at war. They are the furies, the fighting and contesting spirits that are ever competing for dominance and thriving on ambition, anger and jealousy. They represent our personal demons, our competitive & assertive tendencies and our will for survival and victory in the ever changing and ever challenging realm of mortal existence that we live in. Their abode is said to be the ocean (the gods being of the sky). The ocean here can mean literally the sea, but it can also mean the atmosphere (that between heaven & earth), wherever the currents or winds swirl and keep everything in a constant state of turmoil or flux. The are said to be in four classes, according to their manner of rebirth: #1 egg-born #2 womb-born #3 metamorphosis born #4 water/spawn born‘Asura’ literally means ‘those without wine’, or more precisely ‘those without the ambrosia of heaven (soma)’. Asuras are said to generally include such groups of demons as the Nagas (serpents), Daityas (genies), Dasyus (barbarians), Kalakanjas (stellar spirits), Kalejas (demons of time), Khalins (threshers), Nivata-kavacas (wearers of armor), Pisacas (flesh eaters), Raksasas (night wandering vampires), Putanas (fever spirits), Kumbhandas (devourers of vitality), Yaksas (earth spirits), and many other groups.
3	Yaksas	Originally Asuras and malignant demons from the earth, they were later accepted by the gods (Suras). They are guardians of the earth’s treasures and protectors of the gates & moats of their king Kuvera (the God of Wealth), one of the four Kings of Heaven.
4	Gandharvas	Gods of fragrance & music, celestial musicians of Sakra Devendra (Indra), with the King of Heaven Dhritarastra (Protector of the Nation - The Strong) as their lord. They are said to feed on fragrance and cause ecstasy. They are erotic and are the patrons of marriageable girls.
5	Nagas	The Dragons, or Serpents (Nagas): These are spirits associated with water. They control rivers, lakes and seas, and they dwell deep in the ocean. In spring they take to the sky and in winter they enter into the ground. They include the cyclonic forces of nature, whether they are material or spiritual. They control storms and the wild & instinctive forces of nature.
6	Garudas	The king of birds, with golden wings, living below heaven but above the highest trees of the earth. It is associated with the legends of the Roc and the Phoenix, and it is said to be able to travel a hundred thousand miles in a single day. It is the enemy and devourer of serpents (Nagas). The name means 'Wings of Speech', and it represents the spiritual power and magic of the spoken word, which conquers nature, invokes and inspires the mind and carries it far and wide. The god of knowledge (Vishnu) is said to ride on its back and it carries the 'Wish-Fulfilling (Cintamani) Gem' around its neck.
7	Kinnaras	The Kinnaras are the musicians of Vaisravana, also known as Kuvera (God of Wealth), with men’s bodies & horses’ heads. They are the same as the Kentauros (Centaurs) of Greek mythology - in fact the words Kinnaras and Kentauros have the same Indo-European origin. They are called the ‘doubtful (mythical) spirits’ and ‘human but not human’. The males have horns & play on lutes, and the females sing & dance. They rank below Gandharvas - the music of the Kinnaras is like popular ('pop') music compared to the classical, heavenly music of the Gandharvas. The Kinnaras are first of all entertainers.
8	Mahoragas	Demons shaped like boas or pythons, with large bellies; ‘human but not human’

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