ORIENTAL SERIES.

ASRAMAASURA. 27
sunari," which represent Ptolemy, Antigonus, Magas, and Alex-
"
ander. The date of Asoka is not exactly that of Antiochus
the Great, but it is not very far different ; and the corrections
required to make it correspond are no more than the inexact
manner in which both Brahrnanical and Buddhist chronology
is preserved may well be expected to render necessary." See
Wilson's note in the Yishmi Puram, his article in the Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society, voL xii, Max Muller's Ancient
Sanskrit Literature, and an article by Sir E. Perry in voL iii. of
the Journal of the Bombay Asiatic Society.
A$KAMA. There are four stages in the life of a Brahman
which are called by this name. See Brahman.
ASTIKA. An ancient sage, son of Jarat-karu by a sister of
the great serpent Yasuki. He saved the life of the serpent
Takshaka when Janamejaya made his great sacrifice of serpents,
and induced that king to forego his persecution of the serpent race.
ASUKA. *
7
Spiritual, divine. In the oldest parts of the Rig
veda this term is used for the supreme spirit, and is the same as
the Ahura of the Zoroastrians. In the sense of c
god '
it was
applied to several of the chief deities, as to Indra, Agni, and
Yaru?ia. It afterwards acquired an entirely opposite meaning,
and came to signify, as now, a demon or enemy of the gods.
The word is found with this signification in the later parts of the
.Z&g-veda, particularly in the last book, and also in the Atharvaveda.
The Brahmawas attach the same meaning to it, and
record many contests between the Asuras and the gods. Accord-
ing to the Taittiriya Brahmana, the breath (asu) of Prajapati
became alive, and "with that breath he created the Asuras."
In another part of the same work it is said that Prajapati " became
pregnant. He created Asuras from his abdomen." The
Satapatha BrahmaTia accords with the former statement, and
states that "he created Asuras from his lower breath." The
Taittiriya Arawyaka represents that Prajapati created "gods,
men, fathers, Gandharvas, and Apsaxases " from water, and that
the Asuras, Eakshasas, and Pisachas sprang from the drops
which were spilt. Manu's statement is that they were created
by the Prajapatis, According to the Vislmu Purana, they were
produced from the groin of Brahma (Prajapati). The account
of the Yayu Purawa
"
is : Asuras were first produced as sons
from his
(Prajapati's) groin. Asu is declared by Brahmans to