Danu (Asura)
Dānu, a Hindu primordial goddess, is mentioned in the Rigveda, mother of the Danavas. The word Danu described the primeval waters which this deity perhaps embodied. In the Rigveda (I.32.9), she is identified as the mother of Vrtra, the demonic serpent slain by Indra. In later Hinduism, she becomes the daughter of Daksha and the consort of Kasyapa.
As a word for "rain" or "liquid", dānu is compared to Avestan dānu "river", and further to river names like Don, Danube, Dneiper, Dniestr, etc. There is also a Danu river in Nepal. The "liquid" word is mostly neuter, but appears as feminine in RV 1.54.
See also
References
Danu
The name Danu can mean:
Popular culture
Acronym DANU
Danu (Irish goddess)
In Irish mythology, Danu ([ˈdanu]; modern Irish Dana [ˈd̪ˠanˠə]) is a hypothetical mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Old Irish: "The peoples of the goddess Danu"). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land.
Name
The nominative form of the name, Danu, is not found in any medieval Irish text, but is rather a reconstruction by modern scholars based on the genitive Danann (also spelled Donand or Danand), which is the only form attested in the primary sources (e.g. in the collective name of the Irish gods, Tuatha De Danann "Tribe of the Gods of Danu").
The etymology of the name has been a matter of much debate since the 19th century, with some earlier scholars favoring a link with the Vedic water goddess Danu, whose name is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dhenh2- "to run, to flow", which may also lie behind the ancient name for the river Danube, Danuuius (perhaps of Celtic origin, though it is also possible that it is an early Scythian loanword in Celtic).
Danú
Danú is an Irish traditional music band.
The founding members of Danú (Donnchadh Gough, Dónal Clancy, Daire Bracken, and Benny McCarthy) met in Waterford in Ireland in 1994, and consolidated as a band after performing in the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in 1995.
Their second album, Think Before You Think (2000) was voted Best Overall Traditional Act by Dublin's magazine Irish Music. They are the only band to have been voted Best Traditional Group twice in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, in 2001 and again in 2004 when their version of Tommy Sands's "County Down" also won Best Original Song.
Members
Benny McCarthy is a founding member of Danú; he manages and performs with the band and plays button accordion and melodeon. Benny won the All Ireland Oireachtas in 1994 on both button accordion and melodeon. He is the driving force of Danú and is a key member of several other bands including Raw Bar Collective, The Tin Sandwich Band and Rattle The Boards. He is also one of the leading directors with Whobeganit Theatre Company who created the show Mag Mell in 2012-13.
Asura
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are mythological lord beings in Indian texts who compete for power with the more benevolent devas (also known as suras). Asuras are described in Indian texts as powerful superhuman demigods with good or bad qualities. The good Asuras are called Adityas and are led by Varuna, while the malevolent ones are called Danavas and are led by Vrtra.
In the earliest layer of Vedic texts Agni, Indra and other gods are also called Asuras, in the sense of them being "lords" of their respective domains, knowledge and abilities. In later Vedic and post-Vedic texts, the benevolent gods are called Devas, while malevolent Asuras compete against these Devas and are considered "enemy of the gods" or demons.
Asuras are part of Indian mythology along with Devas, Yaksha (nature spirits) and Rakshasas (ghosts, ogres), and Asuras feature in one of many cosmological theories in Hinduism.
Etymology and history
Monier-Williams traces the etymological roots of Asura (असुर) to Asu (असु), which means life of the spiritual world or departed spirits. In the oldest verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, the Asuras are any spiritual, divine beings including those with good or bad intentions, and constructive or destructive inclinations or nature. In later verses of the Samhita layer of Vedic texts, Monier Williams states the Asuras are "evil spirits, demon and opponent of the gods". Asuras connote the chaos-creating evil, in Hindu mythology about the battle between good and evil.
Asura (2012 film)
Asura (Japanese: アシュラ, Hepburn: Ashura) is a 2012 Japanese anime film directed by Keiichi Sato and based on a manga of the same name by George Akiyama. Asura tied for the Audience Award for Best Animated Feature at the 16th Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.
Plot
Mid 15th-century Japan. Flood, drought and famine have transformed the landscape of Kyoto into a barren wasteland. More than 80,000 people perished between 1459 and 1461. This desolate state serves as the backdrop to the beginning of the country's greatest civil war. In this era, a boy is born a beast - Asura. Abandoned as an infant, an eight-year-old boy wandered around the world with his axe and was forced to learn the means of surviving in the wild. In time, he learns to kill and eat humans as well. He stumbled upon a monk who he intended to eat but the monk repelled him. The monk gave him temporary shelter and food because he sees Asura within this boy, naming him Asura. He teaches Asura the Buddha chant hoping one day Asura would understand it and leaves the boy on the side of the road.
Asura (disambiguation)
The Asuras are a race of power-seeking deities in Hinduism.
Asura may also refer to:
Podcasts:
