Asura
E448889
class of supernatural beings
figure in Buddhist mythology
figure in Hindu mythology
figure in Jain mythology
mythological being
Asura is a class of powerful, often antagonistic supernatural beings in Indian religions, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism, frequently depicted as rivals of the gods (Devas).
All labels observed (5)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Asuras | 9 |
| Asura canonical | 3 |
| Aghasura | 1 |
| asura | 1 |
| the asuras | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4514066 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Asura Context triple: [Varuna, epithet, Asura]
-
A.
Yamaraja
Yamaraja is the Hindu god of death and justice, who judges the souls of the dead and presides over the afterlife.
-
B.
Saartha
Saartha is a renowned Kannada novel by S. L. Bhyrappa that explores philosophical, cultural, and spiritual themes through a journey set in ancient India.
-
C.
Yasa'ur
Yasa'ur was a Mongol prince and military leader who played a significant role in the politics and conflicts of the Chagatai Khanate during the early 14th century.
-
D.
Apedemak
Apedemak is a lion-headed war and fertility god venerated in the ancient Nubian kingdom of Meroë, often associated with royal power and protection.
-
E.
Boorga
Boorga is a small rural locality within the Hay Shire local government area in New South Wales, Australia.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Asura Target entity description: Asura is a class of powerful, often antagonistic supernatural beings in Indian religions, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism, frequently depicted as rivals of the gods (Devas).
-
A.
Yamaraja
Yamaraja is the Hindu god of death and justice, who judges the souls of the dead and presides over the afterlife.
-
B.
Saartha
Saartha is a renowned Kannada novel by S. L. Bhyrappa that explores philosophical, cultural, and spiritual themes through a journey set in ancient India.
-
C.
Yasa'ur
Yasa'ur was a Mongol prince and military leader who played a significant role in the politics and conflicts of the Chagatai Khanate during the early 14th century.
-
D.
Apedemak
Apedemak is a lion-headed war and fertility god venerated in the ancient Nubian kingdom of Meroë, often associated with royal power and protection.
-
E.
Boorga
Boorga is a small rural locality within the Hay Shire local government area in New South Wales, Australia.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (55)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
class of supernatural beings
ⓘ
figure in Buddhist mythology ⓘ figure in Hindu mythology ⓘ figure in Jain mythology ⓘ mythological being ⓘ |
| appearsInReligion |
Buddhism
ⓘ
Hinduism ⓘ Jainism ⓘ early Vedic religion ⓘ |
| appearsInText |
Buddhist sutras
ⓘ
Mahabharata ⓘ Puranas ⓘ Ramayana ⓘ Rigveda ⓘ |
| hasAttribute |
desire for power
ⓘ
great strength ⓘ magical powers ⓘ shape-shifting ability ⓘ |
| hasCosmicFunction |
opponent of cosmic order
ⓘ
tester of gods and humans ⓘ |
| hasEtymologyLanguage | Sanskrit ⓘ |
| hasEtymologyRoot | Sanskrit word "asura" ⓘ |
| hasGeneralNature |
often antagonistic being
ⓘ
powerful being ⓘ supernatural being ⓘ |
| hasMoralValence |
often malevolent
ⓘ
sometimes morally ambiguous ⓘ |
| hasNotableMember |
Hiranyakashipu
ⓘ
Hiranyaksha ⓘ Mahabali ⓘ
linked to:
King Mahabali
Namuci ⓘ Rahula (in some Buddhist traditions) ⓘ
linked to:
Rāhula
Ravana ⓘ Shukra (Shukracharya) ⓘ Vritra ⓘ |
| hasRoleIn |
Buddhist cosmology
ⓘ
Hindu cosmology ⓘ Jain cosmology ⓘ |
| influences | later demonology in South Asian religions ⓘ |
| inhabitsRealm |
lower heavenly realms
ⓘ
netherworlds ⓘ |
| isContrastedWith | Deva ⓘ |
| isDepictedInArtForm |
Buddhist temple painting
ⓘ
Hindu temple sculpture ⓘ |
| isObjectOf |
fear and propitiation in later Hindu traditions
ⓘ
worship in some early Vedic contexts ⓘ |
| isOftenDepictedAs |
demon-like being
ⓘ
enemy of the gods ⓘ proud and ambitious being ⓘ warlike being ⓘ |
| isRelatedConcept |
Asura realm in Buddhism
ⓘ
Deva-Asura dichotomy ⓘ demon in Hinduism ⓘ |
| isRivalOf | Deva ⓘ |
| undergoesReinterpretation | shift from positive to negative connotations in later Vedic period ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Asura Description of subject: Asura is a class of powerful, often antagonistic supernatural beings in Indian religions, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism, frequently depicted as rivals of the gods (Devas).
Referenced by (15)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Asura
linked to: Asura
linked to: Asura
linked to: Asura
linked to: Asura
linked to: Asura
linked to: Asura
linked to: Asura