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Māra
Māra. The Buddhist ‘devil’. Technically a god (deva), Māra is the enemy of the Buddha and constantly tries to disrupt his teaching in order to prevent beings reaching nirvāṇa where they would be beyond his grasp. He makes two main appearances in the Buddha's life, one just before he gains enlightenment (bodhi) and the other shortly before his death. On the first occasion, accompanied by his daughters (see Māra's daughters) he tries alternately to tempt and frighten the Buddha, but to no avail. On the second occasion he tries to persuade the Buddha to pass away into parinirvāṇa, but the Buddha delays his passing for a time. More abstractly, Māra, whose name literally means ‘death’, symbolizes all that is connected with the realm of rebirth (saṃsāra) and opposed to nirvāṇa. There are said to be four forms of Māra: (1) Māra of the aggregates (skandha-māra), or Māra as a symbol of human mortality; (2) Māra as the Lord of Death (mṛtyu-māra); (3) Māra as the vices and moral defilements (kleśa-māra); and (4) the gods in the retinue of Māra (devaputra-māra).
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Cite this article
DAMIEN KEOWN. "Māra." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAMIEN KEOWN. "Māra." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Mra.html DAMIEN KEOWN. "Māra." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Mra.html |
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Māra
Māra. A Hindu god of pestilence and mortal disease, lord of the kāma-dhātu: it is the attraction of sensual pleasure which makes humans reckless in what they do. Māra is better known in Buddhism, being the opponent of the Buddha. He is also known as Namuci, the tempter. A collection of stories about Māra is in the Māra-Saṃyutta of Saṃyutta Nikāya.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Māra." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Māra." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Mra.html JOHN BOWKER. "Māra." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Mra.html |
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Mara
Mara ♀ Of biblical origin, from Hebrew Mara ‘bitter’, a name referred to by Naomi when she went back to Bethlehem because of the famine in the land of Moab and the deaths of her husband and two sons: ‘Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me’ (Ruth 1:20).
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Cite this article
PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Mara." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Mara." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Mara.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Mara." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Mara.html |
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Mara
Mara [Heb.,=bitter], in the Bible, punning name taken by Naomi out of sorrow. |
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Cite this article
"Mara." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Mara." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Mara.html "Mara." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Mara.html |
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