Question: What are asuras?

Sri Chinmoy: Asuras are like powerful gorillas. Their eyes are very big. They are very strong, stout and fit, like jungle men or monkeys. Asuras can attack you most powerfully. A great spiritual Master was once asked, “You are divine. What can the hostile forces do to you?” The Master mentioned two or three of his closest disciples and said that the hostile forces could take them away. That is true. These forces can take away the Master’s absolutely dearest disciple. Inside a tiny little fly, you can see a huge hostile force. A thought is tiny, but it takes months to get rid of the hostile force inside it.