Mara (demon)

Mara,, '; ; or ; ; also マーラ, ''Māra'' or 天魔, ''Tenma''; ; ; Tibetan Wylie: ''bdud''; ; ; ; in Buddhism, is a malignant celestial Asura king who tried to stop Prince 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.

In Buddhist cosmology, Mara is associated with death, rebirth and desire. Nyanaponika Thera has described Mara as "the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment."

He is Yama's fearsome persona and all beings associated with him, darkness and death, become forces of Mara. These forces consist of Asuras, Rakshasa, Pisacas, Aratis and animals.

Origin

His name is first mentioned in the ''Atharva Veda'' (1200 BCE–1000 BCE) as Mrtyu 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.

While Mara's origin is of Hindu nature, the development of the symbolism of Mara was spread by Buddhism.

Etymology

The word ''Māra'' comes from the Sanskrit form of the verbal root ''mṛ''. It takes a present indicative form ''mṛyate'' and a causative form ''mārayati'' (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'. It is related to other words for death from the same root, such as: ''maraṇa'' and ''mṛtyu''. The latter is a name for death personified and is sometimes identified with Yama.

The root ''mṛ'' is related to the Indo-European verbal root ''*mer'' meaning "die, disappear" in the context of "death, murder or destruction". It is "very wide-spread" in Indo-European languages suggesting it to be of great antiquity, according to Mallory and Adams.

Four types of Māra

In traditional Buddhism, four or five metaphorical forms of Māra are given:
* ''Kleśa-māra'' – Māra as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions, such as greed, hate and delusion.
* ''Mṛtyu-māra'' – Māra as death.
* ''Skandha-māra'' – Māra as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence.
* ''Devaputra-māra'' – the deva of the sensuous realm, who tried to prevent Gautama Buddha from attaining liberation from the cycle of rebirth on the night of the Buddha's enlightenment.

Character

Early Buddhism acknowledged both a literal and psychological interpretation of Mara.

Mara is described both as an entity having an existence in Kāma-world, just as are shown existing around the Buddha, and also is described in pratītyasamutpāda as, primarily, the guardian of passion and the catalyst for lust, hesitation and fear that obstructs meditation among Buddhists. The Denkōroku refers to him as the "One Who Delights in Destruction", which highlights his nature as a deity among the Parinirmitavaśavarti devas.

"Buddha defying Mara" is a common pose of Buddha sculptures. 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 the bhūmisparśa "earth-witness" mudra.

In certain Sri Lankan traditions, the mount of Mara is said to be Girimekhala, a gargantuan elephant with black hide, and reaching 250 yojana in height.

Three daughters

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. Mara's three daughters are identified as (Thirst), ''Arati'' (Aversion, Discontentment), and ''Rāga'' (Attachment, Desire, Greed, Passion). For example, in the Samyutta Nikaya's ''Māra-sayutta'', Mara's three daughters were undressing in front of the Buddha; but failed to entice him:
:They had come to him glittering with beauty –
:Taṇhā, Arati, and Rāga –
:But the Teacher swept them away right there
:As the wind, a fallen cotton tuft.
The three daughters of Māra were inspired by Aratis, a type of feminine goblin that was associated with avarice.

Mara's conversion

'' The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp'' and the ''Denkoroku'' both contain a story of Mara's conversion to Buddhism under the auspices of the monk Upagupta.

According to the story, Upagupta journeyed to the kingdom of Mathura 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 entered samadhi, 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 of Brahma 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 the Three Jewels.

In popular culture

Mara appears in Roger Zelazny's 1967 novel '' Lord of Light'' as a god of illusion.

Mara has appeared as a recurring Demon in the Megami 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.

In 2020, the singer-songwriter Jack Garratt released a song entitled "Mara". Inspired by the story of Mara's distraction of the Buddha, "Mara" describes Garratt's experience of intrusive thoughts.

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.

Naruto, Madara Uchiha’s plans of keeping human beings in an eternal genjutsu are similar to Mara’s plans of trapping humans in the Samsara 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.

Notes

References

Sources

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Further reading

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External links

The Buddha's Encounters with Mara the Tempter: Their Representation in Literature and Art

Taming the Mara
(archived 3 February 2009)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mara (Demon)
Demons in Buddhism
Buddhism and death
Destroyer gods
Evil gods