3
of Måra (Måradheyya) 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 Måra, which means into the power of death.
7
(iv) Måra can also be seen as an allegorization, with almost immediate
personification, of the power of temptation, the tendency towards evil,
moral conflict, and the influence of such factors as indolence, negligence,
and niggardliness. Similar to Satan in Judeo-Christian and Islamic
thinking and Ahriman in Avestan thought, though in no way identical,
this Måra is described as Påpimå (i.e. the Evil One, or simply the Evil),
8
Pamattabandhu (Kinsman of Dalliance), Pisuˆa (Calumnious or
Malicious), and Kaˆha (the Black). Grimm calls this Måra “the prince
and bestower of all worldly lust” and distinguishes him from Lucifer of
the Bible on the ground that this personification “always remains
apparent.”
9
In this paper, where the Buddha’s encounters with Måra are analyzed as they
are presented in literature and art, the main concern will be with Måra as a
personification of temptation (i.e. with (iv) above), but we will also briefly
examine how the other concepts are sometimes subsumed under this, and how the
literary description or the artistic representation of Måra is conditioned by the
merger of three separate concepts as well as by the general body of Indian
mythology. It has to be noted that Måra is another name for the Indian God of
Love, known also as Kåma or Kåmadeva (Lust, or God of Lust), Manmatha
(Tormentor of Minds), Ana∫ga (Body-less), Kusumåyudha (Flower-weaponed),
Pañcabåˆa (Of Five Arrows), and Makaradhvaja (Dragon-flagged).
4
II
Måra Legends in Canonical Texts
HE
Påli Canon includes several accounts attributed to the Buddha
himself on his quest for deliverance and these have obviously provided
the raw material for the reconstruction of his biography. Among them,
the most comprehensive as regards the details of the discipline and training which
the Buddha followed is the Mahåsaccaka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikåya (No. 36).
It elaborates the circumstances leading to the renunciation, the Great Departure,
as the term Abhinikkhamana is usually translated; the period of studentship under
Ó¬åra Kålåma and Uddaka Råmaputta; the austerities he practiced for six years;
the process of meditation and contemplation and the progressive spiritual
attainments; and the final achievement of Enlightenment. The entire statement has
a ring of authenticity—a purposeful recollection of the highlights of his life and
career. But, as E.J. Thomas has pointed out, “the most remarkable feature in this
recital is the entire absence of any temptation by Måra.”
10
The same comment would also apply to the Bhayabherava Sutta (No. 4 of the
Majjhima Nikåya), where the Buddha recounts the doubts and fears which he
encountered in the days of his austerities in the forest. Nor does the
Dvedhåvitakka Sutta (No. 19) of the same Nikåya, which analyses the Buddha’s
thought process prior to the Enlightenment and how it led to his Enlightenment,
digress from the philosophical treatment of the theme to refer to temptations by
Måra. Thomas’s explanation is “that later authorities put additional events in
different places.”
11
But a more reasonable explanation, to my mind, is that
poetical imagery or allegorization is more the domain of poetry and hence not to
be expected in prose sermons. That is precisely why almost all the accounts of
Måra’s temptations in the Påli Canon are in verse, fully or partially, and the
conversations with Måra invariably are recorded in verse.
The most important among them is the Padhåna Sutta in the Sutta-nipåta (vv.
425 ff.) of the Khuddaka Nikåya. Here, Måra is presented as Namuci and
T
5
described as a person who approached the striving Bodhisatta speaking kind
words (karuˆaµ våcaµ bhåsamåno). The words attributed to him are as follows:
“O you are thin and you are pale,
And you are in death’s presence too;
A thousand parts are pledged to death,
But life still holds one part of you.
Live, Sir! Life is the better way;
You can gain merit if you live,
Come, live the Holy Life and pour
Libations on the holy fires,
And thus a world of merit gain.
What can you do by struggling now?
The path of struggling too is rough
And difficult and hard to bear.”
12
The reply which the Buddha gave Måra has the makings of the entire concept
of the allegorization or personification of temptation and psychological conflict.
We find here all the ingredients which, in course of time, fired the imagination of
countless writers, poets, painters, and sculptors all over Asia for over two
millennia.
13
The Buddha recognizes the speaker of these “kind” words and is conscious of
Måra’s hidden agenda. So he rebukes him as Pamattabandhu (the Friend of
Heedlessness), Påpimå (the Evil One), and Kaˆha (the Black One). The hosts of
Måra are also identified:
“Your first squadron is Sense-Desires,
Your second is called Boredom, then
Hunger and Thirst compose the third,
And Craving is the fourth in rank,
The fifth is Sloth and Torpor
While Cowardice lines up as sixth,
Uncertainty is seventh, the eighth
Is Malice paired with Obstinacy;
Gain, Honor and Renown, besides,
And ill-won Notoriety,
Self-praise and Denigrating Others:
These are your squadrons, Namuci.”
14
Dostları ilə paylaş: |