Mara, in Buddhism, refers to any form of malicious force hindering enlightenment. Both demonic as well as celestial beings are part of Saṃsāra and hence, considered to be under Māra's influence, if they do not follow the message of the Buddha.

In the story of the Awakening of Prince Siddhartha Māra appears as a powerful deva, trying to seduce him with his celestial army and a vision of beautiful maidens (accharā) who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters. In other iterations, Māra is inspired by Hindu myths about asuras, a class of titans or lesser deities. Nyanaponika Thera has described Mara as "the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment."

Origin

thumb|upright|Mara's assault on the Buddha (an [[Aniconism in Buddhism|aniconic representation: the Buddha is only symbolized by his throne), 2nd century, Amaravati Stupa, India]]

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

thumb|upright|Mara, his lustful daughters, and demonic army, attempting to tempt Buddha, on a 10th-century icon from [[Mogao Caves]]

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 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

thumb|Relief fragment of Mara in [[Gandhara style, found in Swat Valley]]

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. 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.

The Great Brahma and the delusion of eternity

According to the Buddhist view, Mara's influence extends into the non-sensual world of God(s) (Brahmāloka). While lower worlds fall into the traps of Mara by giving in to sensual desire, the abode of Brahma is free from such temptation. However, they crave (Taṇhā) eternity, and are ignorant (Aavidyā) of the impermanence of all conditioned existence. As such, the Brahma, and thus the very concept of God, is associated with Mara's delusions, a criticism of the pre-Buddhist Brahmanical theistic beliefs.

While the Brahmanical texts extoll the sanctity and necessity for men to engage in procreation and family life in order to achieve pleasure and symbolic immortality, it is Mara who encourages to rejoice in the goods of life and concealing the impermanent nature of such things. Mara tempts the Buddha "A man with sons delights in sons, one with cattle delights in cattle. Attachments truly are a man's delight; without attachments one does not delight."

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

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.

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.

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

  • The Buddha's Encounters with Mara the Tempter: Their Representation in Literature and Art
  • Taming the Mara (archived 3 February 2009)
  • Mara, the Evil One_99