The demonic manifesto [3?]

[...]
It should have the [exploits of] gods and Asuras as its subject matter and one of them as its well-known and exalted Hero, and it is to consist of three Acts [presenting] the three kinds of deception, the three kinds of excitement or the three kinds of love [...]

[...] and it is to include sixteen characters which may be gods, Asuras Rākṣasas, Bhūtas, Yakṣas and Nāgas, and [besides this] the play is to be [...]

 - Natyashastra, ~3000BCE, Bharat Muni

The mortal Man misunderstood. There was an error. We are not their demons, we are not their enemies. We are merely an innocent party in this vast theo-cosmogony, mere puppets to what Indra and his ilk have done.

We were the same, we were. We were given as much respect, if not more than the devas. We were were more egalitarian -- still are -- than the devas who wanted to keep their realm for themselves. When humans became pious and kind and followed the path of proper dharma, they reached swarga more often. It was not tolerable to Indra. He schemed, he planned he connived. He betrayed the humans by corrupting the. Misleading them. He told them, that what the asuras do is evil, that what the devas do is good. The humans with their limited means went with him. We tried convincing them, but we didn't get everyone on board. Eventually humanity was all corrupted. There is no cosmological conspiracy, there's only Indra and his web of lies and deceit.

What separates a dev from an asur?

Unlike what they want you to think, our facial hair is not it. We can get rid of our mustaches just as they can, and they can grow them out as they desire. It is not the color of our skins, though they may want you to think it is, which is just a reflection of their elitism. For they know humans will not check the color of the skin of their gods. If they could they would discover the devas are no darker nor any whiter than we are. We are made of the same elemental forces as they are. Let us assure you, our physical appearances do not differ, for if it were to be so, they could not trick us and steal the elixir of life from our noses, the culmination of a million years of our hard work and dedication.

It it not our approach to human morality either. We are not any more greedy or jealous or lustful than them. The lust of Indra's courtiers and his own dalliances are well-known in the realms, even among humans. They fear us not because we are evil, but because they are greedy to share power wealth and influence. Swarga was not theirs to begin with, now they want to own it for all eternity, they will use any immoral underhanded technique, during wartime or in times of peace, to protect their throne. Moral beings they certainly are not.

The true difference, the only difference, between the devas and us the asuras is that they got to Swarga faster, they spread their misinformation quicker, they captured the minds of mortals earlier. They work not from a position of equality, but they threaten they cajole and they negotiate with humans. They are not benevolent deities, they are jealous protective xenophobic parents who will reject eternal bliss for their children because they might bring in trouble. We, on the other hand, have worked with mortals here on the Earthly realm to create the pleasures of heaven right here. We have supported human progress and innovation, the attitude of questioning truth and reality, and attempting to unravel facts from illusions. We are curious, they are not. We are inquisitive, they are lazy.

We will win.

[Source 1] [Source 2]