The Devas and Asuras wage perpetual cosmic war, elder and younger siblings locked in an unending struggle for supremacy over the three worlds — a conflict that drives the great Puranic narratives from the churning of the ocean to Vishnu's demon-slaying descents.
⚠ Vishnu Purana 1.5 and Bhagavata Purana 3.20 trace both groups to Brahma, while Mahabharata Adi Parva 65-66 names Kashyapa as their common father through different mothers (Aditi and Diti).
Indra reigns as king of the gods from Svarga atop Mount Meru, commanding the Devas, with Gandharvas and Apsaras serving in his celestial court.
Brahma brought forth the Devas from his mind and body during the act of cosmic creation, assigning them dominion over the forces of nature and the celestial realms.
The Devas count among their number Indra, king of the gods and wielder of the thunderbolt; Agni, the sacred fire who carries offerings to heaven; Surya, who drives his chariot across the sky each day; Vayu, lord of the winds; Varuna, guardian of cosmic order and the waters; and Soma, the divine nectar personified.
The Buddhist Devaputra derive directly from the Vedic Devas — the shining celestial beings who dwell in heavenly realms and war against the Asuras — though Buddhism reframes them as impermanent beings trapped in samsara rather than eternal gods.
Agni, wearied by the burden of consuming endless offerings, fled from the Devas and hid in the waters, but a frog betrayed his hiding place, and the Devas coaxed him back with the promise that the first portion of every sacrifice would forever be his.
The Devas pulled one end of the serpent Vasuki during the churning of the Kshira Sagara, working in uneasy alliance with their enemies the Asuras to extract the Amrita that would restore their lost immortality.
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