Dr. Ananda W.P. Guruge (Univ. of the West); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The Buddha's Encounters with Mara the Tempter in Literature and Art
I. Introduction
In his Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, Professor G.P. Malalasekera introduces Mara as "the personification of Death, the Evil One, the Tempter (the Buddhist counterpart of the Devil or Principle of Destruction)."
He continues: "The legends concerning Mara are, in the books [ancient Buddhist texts], very involved and defy any attempts at unraveling them" [Note 1].
Analyzing a series of allusions to Mara in the commentarial literature, he further elaborates on his definition with the following observations:
"In the latest accounts, mention is made of five Maras — Khandha-mara, Kilesa-mara, Abhisa"nkhara-mara, Maccu-mara, and Devaputta-mara. Elsewhere Mara is spoken of as one, three, or four" [2].
"The term Mara, in the older books, is applied to the whole of the worldly existence, the five khandhas [Five Aggregates], or the realm of rebirth, as opposed to Nibbana [nirvana]" [3].
Commentaries speaking of three Maras specify them as Devaputta-mara, Maccu-mara, and Kilesa-mara. When four Maras are referred to, they appear to be the five Maras mentioned in (i) above less Devaputta Mara.
Prof. Malalasekera proceeds to attempt "a theory of Mara in Buddhism," which he formulates in the following manner:
"The commonest use of the word was evidently in the sense of Death. From this it was extended to mean 'the world under the sway of death' (also called Maradheyya, e.g. AN IV 228) and the beings therein.
"Thence, the kilesas (defilements) also came to be called Mara in that they were instruments of Death, the causes enabling Death to hold sway over the world. All temptations brought about by the kilesas were likewise regarded as the work of Death.
"There was also evidently a legend of a devaputta of the Vasavatti world called Mara, who considered himself the head of the Kamavacara-world [the Sensual Realm] and who recognized any attempt to curb the enjoyment of sensual pleasures as a direct challenge to himself and to his authority.
"As time went on these different conceptions of the word became confused one with the other, but this confusion is not always difficult to unravel" [4].
What follows from this statement, even though Prof. Malalasekera did not elucidate enough, is that the term Mara, when it occurs in Buddhist literature, could signify any one of the following four:
An anthropomorphic deity ruling over a heaven in the sensual sphere (kamavacara-deva-loka), namely, Paranimmita-Vasavatti. He is meant when Mara is called kamadha-turaja (the king of the sensual realm).
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In this position, he is as important and prestigious as Sakka and Maha Brahma in whose company he is often mentioned in the canonical literature. This Mara, or Mara Devaputta, is not only a very powerful deity but is also bent on making life difficult for spiritual persons.
The Pali canon also speaks of (a) Maras in the plural as a class of potent deities (e.g., in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta) and (b) of previous — hence, logically future — Maras (e.g., in the Maratajjaniya Sutta).
According to Tibetan texts, the ascetic Siddhartha could have, with the instructions given by Alara Kalama, become a Sakka, a Brahma, or a Mara [5].
A personification of Death is also called the Lord of Death (Maccu-raja), the exterminator (Antaka), the great king (maha-raja), and the inescapable (Namuci).
The preoccupation of the Buddhist quest for liberation is consistently stressed as escaping the phenomenon of death (and death again), which presupposes rebirth.
The entire range of existence falls within the realm of Mara (Maradheyya) on account of the ineluctable presence of death. (Cf. Schopenhauer's concept of "Morture" [6].)
All states of existence, including the six heavenly worlds of the Sensual Sphere, are said to return to the power of Mara, which means into the power of death [7].
Allegorical?
Mara can also be seen as an allegory, with almost immediate personification of the power of temptation, the tendency towards evil (doing harm), moral conflict, and the influence of such factors as indolence, negligence, and miserliness.Similar to Satan in Jewish [inheriting its lore from Sumerians], Christian, and Islamic thinking and the devil Ahriman in Avestan thought, though in no way identical, this Mara is described as Papima (i.e., the "Evil One," or simply the Evil) [8].
Pamattabandhu ("Kinsman of Dalliance"), Pisuna ("Calumnious" or "Malicious"), and Kanha (the "Black"). Grimm calls this Mara "the prince and bestower of all worldly lust" and distinguishes him from Lucifer in the Bible on the grounds that this personification "always remains apparent" [9].
Where the Buddha's encounters with Mara are analyzed as they are presented in literature and art, the main concern with Mara here is as a personification of temptation [i.e., with (iv) above], but also briefly examined is how other concepts are sometimes subsumed under this and how the literary description and the artistic representation of Mara is conditioned by the merger of three separate concepts as well as by the general body of Indian mythology.
Cupid
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