| Translations of Māra | |
|---|---|
 The demons of Mara,palm leaf manuscript,Nalanda, Bihar | |
| English | Mara; Demon |
| Sanskrit | मार, Māra |
| Pali | Māra |
| Burmese | မာရ်နတ် (MLCTS:Marnat) |
| Chinese | 天魔; 魔羅; 魔罗 (Pinyin:Tiānmó; Móluó; Móluó) |
| Indonesian | Mara; Setan; Iblis |
| Japanese | 魔羅; マーラ; 天魔 (Rōmaji:Mara; Māra; Tenma) |
| Khmer | មារ (UNGEGN:Méru) |
| Korean | 마라 (RR:Mara) |
| Sinhala | මාරයා (Mārayā) |
| Tibetan | བདུད (Wylie: bdud) |
| Thai | มาร (RTGS:Māra) |
| Vietnamese | Thiên Ma |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
Mara,[note 1] inBuddhism, is a malignant celestialAsura king who tried to stopPrince Siddhartha from Awakening by trying to seduce him with his celestial Army and a vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters.[1]
InBuddhist cosmology, Mara is associated with death, rebirth and desire.[2]Nyanaponika Thera has described Mara as "the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment."[3]
He isYama's fearsome persona and all beings associated with him, darkness and death, become forces of Mara. These forces consist ofAsuras,Rakshasa,Pisacas, Aratis and animals.[4]
His name is first mentioned in theAtharva Veda (1200 BCE–1000 BCE) asMrtyu and Agha Mara, the evil slayer. He is called the "evil one who kills" and "Papiyan", denoting a being which is not only morally bad but intertwined with sorrow, pain and misfortune.[5]
While Mara's origin is of Hindu nature, the development of the symbolism of Mara was spread by Buddhism.[6]
The wordMāra comes from the Sanskrit form of the verbal rootmṛ. It takes a present indicative formmṛyate and a causative formmārayati (with strengthening of the root vowel from ṛ to ār).Māra is a verbal noun from the causative root and means 'causing death' or 'killing'.[7] It is related to other words for death from the same root, such as:maraṇa andmṛtyu. The latter is a name for death personified and is sometimes identified withYama.
The rootmṛ is related to theIndo-European verbal root*mer meaning "die, disappear" in the context of "death, murder or destruction". It is "very wide-spread" inIndo-European languages suggesting it to be of great antiquity, according to Mallory and Adams.[8]
In traditional Buddhism, four or five[citation needed] metaphorical forms of Māra are given:[9]
Early Buddhism acknowledged both a literal and psychological interpretation of Mara.[10][11]
Mara is described both as an entity having an existence inKāma-world,[12] just as are shown existing around the Buddha, and also is described inpratītyasamutpāda as, primarily, the guardian ofpassion and the catalyst for lust, hesitation and fear that obstructsmeditation among Buddhists. TheDenkōroku refers to him as the "One Who Delights in Destruction", which highlights his nature as a deity among theParinirmitavaśavartidevas.[13]
"Buddha defying Mara" is a common pose ofBuddha sculptures.[14][15] The Buddha is shown with his left hand in his lap, palm facing upwards and his right hand on his right knee. The fingers of his right hand touch the earth, to call the earth as his witness for defying Mara and achieving enlightenment. This posture is also referred to as thebhūmisparśa "earth-witness" mudra.
In certain Sri Lankan traditions, the mount of Mara is said to beGirimekhala, a gargantuan elephant with black hide, and reaching 250yojana in height.
In some accounts of the Buddha's enlightenment, it is said that the demon Māra did not send his three daughters to tempt but instead they came willingly after Māra's setback in his endeavor to eliminate the Buddha's quest for enlightenment.[16] Mara's three daughters are identified asTaṇhā (Thirst),Arati (Aversion, Discontentment), andRāga (Attachment, Desire, Greed, Passion).[15][17] For example, in theSamyutta Nikaya'sMāra-saṃyutta, Mara's three daughters were undressing in front of the Buddha; but failed to entice him:
The three daughters of Māra were inspired by Aratis, a type of feminine goblin that was associated with avarice.[19][clarification needed]
The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp and theDenkoroku both contain a story of Mara's conversion to Buddhism under the auspices of the monkUpagupta.
According to the story, Upagupta journeyed to the kingdom ofMathura and preached the Dharma with great success. This caused Mara's palace to tremble, prompting the deity to use his destructive powers against the Dharma. When Upagupta enteredsamadhi, Mara approached him and slipped a jade necklace around his neck.
Upagupta reciprocated by transforming the corpses of a man, a dog, and a snake into a garland and gifted it to Mara. When Mara discovered the true nature of the gift, he sought the help ofBrahma to remove it. Brahma informed him that because the necklace was bestowed by an advanced disciple of the Buddha, its effects could only be assuaged by taking refuge in Upagupta.
Mara returned to the human world where he prostrated before the monk and repented. At Upagupta's recommendation, he vowed never to do harm to the Dharma and took refuge in theThree Jewels.[20]
Mara appears inRoger Zelazny's 1967 novelLord of Light as a god of illusion.[21]
Mara has appeared as a recurring Demon in theMegami Tensei franchise, as well as in its spinoffs. Here, Mara takes the appearance of a giant penis riding a golden chariot. Mara has consistently been one of the most popular demons in the series, even reaching #1 popularity on some demon popularity polls.[22]
In 2020, the singer-songwriterJack Garratt released a song entitled "Mara". Inspired by the story of Mara's distraction of the Buddha, "Mara" describes Garratt's experience ofintrusive thoughts.[23]
In the manga/anime,Record of Ragnarok, the character Hajun (Papiyas in the English translation) was inspired by Mara and becomes an enemy to Buddha in the sixth round of the Ragnarok tournament.
InNaruto,Madara Uchiha’s plans of keeping human beings in an eternal genjutsu are similar to Mara’s plans of trapping humans in theSamsara of life through the temptation of pleasure. Madara was never liked by people as they feared and dreaded his presence, similar to the hatred and detest Mara received from people of his time. Another similarity between the two is their use of manipulation and lies to gain followers, since neither one could understand the true meaning of compassion.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
.svg)
