The War of the Gods In Vedic Religion

There are memories of the War of the Gods In Vedic Religion, just like in Sumerian, Norse, Greek, Celtic, Egyptian, and Abrahamic religions as well. Within the Vedic traditions (including Hindu beliefs and the scriptures that are not specifically the Vedas) there are a number of references to a war of the gods.

The same passage from the Chandogya Upanishad that tells us that all the Vedic gods, goddesses, and demons are the descendants of Prajapati — that they are an extended tribe of some sort — also alludes to internal conflict.

“The Gods and goddesses and the demons are both children of Prajapati, yet they fought among themselves.” — 1.2.1 Chandogya Upanishad

The phrase “yet they fought among themselves” is a statement of conflict. Perhaps even an allusion to war. It also speaks to an even deeper division between what we might refer to as a civilization, evidenced as much by the division between the Asuras and Devas — Demons and Gods respectively — as anything else.

Vedic Memories of an Ancient War

The significance of the existence of Vedic “War In Heaven” traditions should not be ignored. What we have here is the framework of the same story that exists in Mesopotamian Religion (Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Judaism) and Indo-European Religions (Vedic, Greek, Norse, and Celtic).

The exact rendition of the traditions is obviously different (although fundamentally the same) in both we have a clear reference to an advanced civilization and an ancient war, in addition to many other details in common.

What is more is that the age of these traditions, and the fact of shared traditions, indicates a probably ancient connection. Leading us again to the Ancestral Tradition theory.