It is not really the case. In Hindu and Vedic mythology, there is a whole hierarchy of spirits of various different natures - Asuras, Yakshas, Vetalas, Rakshasas, Devas, and so on. That man interacts with these beings, or these beings can interact with man, is not something which is unusual in the Hindu mythology. There are even various methods as to how to use such beings to fulfill ones own desires, which is in fact the reason why all these rituals are there in Vedas. So it was not an unusual thing, that one who would be trying to control such entities, a Brahmin priest or a yogi, would be "possessed " by a certain spirit once in a while, and would have to go through a certain ceremony to expel the demon.And just as there is a heaven and a hell in Christianity and Judaism, the same is the case in Hinduism. If you have been living an impure life, then the soul would be sent by Yama, the Lord of Justice, to a Naraka , a kind of hell where the soul receives purification for its sins before it can continue in its evolution.
Indeed, there is a heirarchy of spirits. There is a story of a Yaksha possessing a sage in one of the Upanishads. However, what you are ignoring here is Ayurveda which is the oldest tradition of medicine in the Vedic tradition. You clearly have not read the Sushruta and Charaka Samhita, the two encylopedias of Ayurveda and studied at university on Ayurveda degrees. In Ayurveda three causes for disease are given: 1) Somatic 2) Seasonal and 3) Supernatural.
They are each treated in the same way. First, it is diagnosed which dosha they are affecting, and then a treatment to restore the balance of the dosha is given.
In Ayurveda and the Atharvaveda the word “Rakshasa” is called a demon but it is also a germ. Each Rakshasa is given a name, and in order to treat each one a herb is also given. Other methods mentioned are fumigation, the the sun rays, fire.
Direct citations:
Kaushitaki Brahmana 17, 4: The blood sucking germs are also called Rakshasa"
Shatapata Brahmana 7, 4, 1, 34: These Rakshasas can be killed by fire too
Rig Veda 10, 118.1: Agni, refulgent among men, thou slayest the devouring fiends(Rakshasa) = Agni kills the germs called Rakshasa
In the Charaka Samhita the word Krimi(parasite) is used in place of Rakshasa. 20 of these krimis are described, along with the diseases they cause, descriptions of what they look like and symptoms etc
That the Vedic and Hindu tradition is free from these kinds of superstitions is not really the case, it is filled with all kinds of fictions. There are some rare traditions who have simply seen these various “deities” as different aspects of ones own consciousness as well as being symbolic of certain forces of nature both within and without oneself.
There is nothing rare about it. The Devas and the Asuras are indeed aspects of the mind if you read the proper Sanskrit translation using the Nirukta. The Devas, comes from the root div, which means shining one/luminious and light. They are in the causal plane or swaha. Their effects manifest in the mental plane and the physical plane(triloka) Vedic ontology is idealist, which means that Vedas believe the entire world is actually mind only. It is all occuring in the mind. Yes, there are heaven and hell in the Vedic tradition, but they are mental planes i.e., within us. In the Abrahamic tradition they are actual places in the world, the heavens were thought to be above us. In the Vedic tradition, they are planes of reality that exist in the mind.
Aurobindo and Swami Dayananda Saraswati have given more accurate translations of the Vedas and explain what the Devas and Asuras are. Read their works and get enlightened
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