Rank

Class of Beings

2 figures in this corpus are recorded as class of beings. Rank here is a claim made by a particular text rather than a property of the figure, so the same name can hold different ranks in different sources — and where it does, the profile shows the disagreement instead of picking one.

2 figures3 texts assign it

Which texts assign this rank?

The Avesta

c. 1000-400 BCE · 1 entry

Rigveda

c. 1500-1200 BCE · 1 entry

The Pali Canon

c. 100 BCE, from oral tradition · 1 entry

Who holds the rank of class of beings?

The Asuras

Class of Beings · Vedic

In the earliest Rigveda a title of honour for the highest gods; by the later Vedic period, the demonic opponents of the devas. The same word, inverted within one tradition.

DisputedVedicc. 1400 BCE

3 sources3 powers

The Preta

Class of Beings · Buddhist

Beings with enormous stomachs and throats too narrow to swallow. Not a species of demon: a condition you can be reborn into, and eventually leave.

DisputedBuddhistc. 100 BCE

2 sources2 powers