修 羅(しゅら)

しゅら

noun

carnage; fierce fighting; Asura (Buddhist demon)

literary

1. carnage; fierce conflict; bloodshed

A scene of intense, violent conflict or fighting. Used metaphorically for any situation of extreme turmoil or ferocious competition.

戦場(せんじょう)は修羅(しゅら)と化(か)した。

The battlefield turned into a scene of carnage.

修羅場(しゅらば)をくぐり抜(ぬ)けてきた人間(にんげん)は強(つよ)い。

People who have been through hellish ordeals are strong.

選挙(せんきょ)戦(せん)は修羅(しゅら)のような争(あらそ)いになった。

The election campaign became a brutal battle.

2. Asura; warlike demigod in Buddhist cosmology

One of the six realms of Buddhist rebirth. Asuras are powerful beings consumed by jealousy and rage, perpetually at war.

仏教(ぶっきょう)では修羅(しゅら)は争(あらそ)いの絶(た)えない世界(せかい)とされる。

In Buddhism, the realm of the Asuras is said to be a world of endless conflict.

六道(ろくどう)の一(ひと)つに修羅道(しゅらどう)がある。

The Asura realm is one of the six paths of rebirth.

修羅(しゅら)の如(ごと)き形相(ぎょうそう)で相手(あいて)をにらんだ。

He glared at his opponent with a fearsome, demon-like expression.

Usage

The compound 修羅場(しゅらば) (literally "Asura battlefield") is extremely common in everyday Japanese, meaning a hellish scene, a dramatic confrontation, or a relationship crisis (e.g., being caught cheating). In casual speech 修羅場(しゅらば) is often shortened to シュラバ.

Compounds

修羅場(しゅらば) (hellish scene; dramatic confrontation)
修羅道(しゅらどう) (Asura realm in Buddhism)
阿修羅(あしゅら) (Asura — the full Sanskrit-derived form)

Common collocations

修羅(しゅら)と化(か)す (to turn into carnage)
修羅(しゅら)の如(ごと)く (like a scene of carnage)
修羅場(しゅらば)をくぐる (to go through a hellish ordeal)

general

Added 2026.3.12 18:05 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

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