The Buddha’s Encounters with Måra the Tempter Their Representation in Literature and Art by

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Ajåtasattu shows a painting on cloth of major events in the Buddha’s life. On the

left upper corner is Måra’s Assault, represented in miniature with tremendous

economy of space and figures but with a telling effect. In a tenth century fresco of

Tun-huang

is a highly Sinocized version of Måra’s Assault, but Måra’s hosts

have been represented as described in literature. The two fully dressed Chinese

damsels standing by the seat of the future Buddha could be two of Måra’s

daughters. If they are in the process of luring the ascetic, they seem to be doing so

only by song! The imposing figure of a Chinese warlord, standing behind them,

could be Måra himself.

In Borobudur,

we see the continuation of the Indian tradition of sculpture,

and the panels depicting Måra’s Assault and the Temptation by Måra’s daughters

reflect the Lalitavistara accounts most faithfully. Of special interest is the

representation of Måra with his thousand arms, wielding a bow. The theme

persists in Southeast Asia. From Angkor Thom

comes a relief which depicts not

an attack on the person of the future Buddha as elsewhere, but a war between two

armies: the hosts of Måra pitted against the army of påramitås of the Buddha. A

book cover

from Nepal depicts the daughters of Måra in demure poses and a

wood carving of the 16th century

shows the future Buddha in the bhËmisparßa-

mudrå, the earth-touching posture, surrounded by the hosts of Måra.

In a gradual process to abstract representation of Måra’s Assault, the bhËmi-

sparßa-mudrå becomes a short-hand way of recalling the event. From Pagan

comes an example where the additional element of the Temptation by Måra’s

daughters is portrayed discreetly on the pedestal with three dancing girls and two

playing musical instruments. Perhaps the same interpretation would apply to the

Nålandå sculpture in which three female figures on the pedestal have grotesque

faces, possibly suggesting the association of Måra as a yakΣa or demon.

But the

three female figures do not appear in all cases. The Buddha statue in the earth-

touching posture (as in the case of the one from Bihar of the 8th or 9th century)

ultimately becomes identified as one of the Dhyåni Buddhas of the Mahåyåna

tradition with the specific name AkΣobhya, meaning imperturbable—an instance

where the quality of steadfastness which the temptations of Måra brought out in

the Buddha becomes personified as a separate entity.

Just as the mode of presentation of the Temptation scenes underwent change

over the centuries, the concept of Måra too changed in the eyes of the people. As

late as the eleventh century, Sri Lankan Buddhists—as seen from a representation

of vanquished and retreating Måra in the murals of the Mahiyangana StËpa relic

chamber—seemed to have considered Måra to be a devaputta, a god.

But as

time went on, he came to be depicted exactly like his hideous-looking hosts and

his god-like appearance was replaced by what was traditionally ascribed to a

yakΣa or demon.

This change is further seen on the cover of an ola book which

depicts Måra not in a temptation scene but in a Jåtaka.

The prevalence of this

concept is further attested by examples from Thailand where a picture of the

Great Departure drawn in the eighteenth century represents Måra as a demon.

The final evolution of Måra’s transformation may perhaps be seen in the Tibetan

Yamåntaka, who is iconographically represented as a fierce looking demon with

multiple arms.

Conclusion

HIS

examination reveals that the temptations of Måra as allegorical

representations of the mental torment, conflict, and crisis experienced by

the Buddha as well as his disciples are as old as Buddhism itself and the

imagery could have originated in the Buddha’s own graphic poetical expressions.

The early compilers of the life of the Buddha did not make a conscious effort to

deal systematically with individually recorded instances of such temptations. As

such, there is a fair amount of confusion as regards the nature and the timing of

the related events. Eventually, however, the Great Departure, the Victory over

Måra, and the Temptation by Måra’s daughters came to be singled out for detailed

treatment in literature and art. Embellishments and variations were freely allowed

according to the writer’s or artist’s conception of the situation, as the allegorical

aspect was considered the more significant. The historical or factual aspect of the

related events was secondary and the diversity of presentation made a definite

contribution to the enrichment of both literary and artistic creativity.

What both literature and art show very clearly is that Måra’s personality as

conceived by Buddhist writers and artists underwent a marked change with the

spread of Buddhist culture. In India, in earlier times, Måra was yet a devaputta, in

fact the handsome God of Love with all his traditional characteristics. Later on,

closer to modern times, in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia,

he becomes more and more pronouncedly demonic.

This analysis has been limited to those of Måra’s encounters with the Buddha

which have a predominant character of temptation, i.e. where Måra is allegorized

and personified. Other aspects of Måra as a devaputta and a personification of

death await similar analysis. An effort made in this direction could be invaluable

especially to answer the many questions which Malalasekera had raised in his

article in the Dictionary of Påli Proper Names.

Notes

G.P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (1937: reprint Luzac,

London, 1960), 2:611.

Ibid. The five terms mean: Måra as the five aggregates, Måra as the defilements,

Måra as kammic constructions, Måra as Death, and Måra as a young deity.

(Ed.)

Malalasekera., 2:612.

Ibid., 2:613.

W.W. Rockhill, The Life of the Buddha and the Early History of His

Order—derived from the Tibetan Works in Bkah-hgyur and Bstan-hgyur

(1884: reprint Orientalia Indica, Delhi, 1972), p.27.

George Grimm, The Doctrine of the Buddha: The Religion of Reason and

Meditation (Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1958), p.98.

Bhikkhun¥-saµyutta, No. 7 (SN I 133).

Grimm, p.331.

Ibid.

E.J. Thomas, The Life of the Buddha as Legend and History (Routledge and

Kegan Paul, London, 3rd ed.,, 1949), p.68. See too MN Suttas No. 26

(Ariyapariyesana), No. 85 (Bodhiråjakumåra), and No. 100 (Sa∫gårava).

Ibid., p.68.

Bhikkhu Ñåˆamoli, The Life of the Buddha (Buddhist Publication Society,

Kandy, 1972), p.19.

Malalasekera, 2:615: “Hence we have practically all the elements in the later

elaborated versions.”

Ñåˆamoli, p.20. (In line 5, “Sloth and Accidy” has been amended by me to

“Sloth and Torpor.”)

Ibid., p.20.

Ibid., p.21. I read the third line, taµ te paññåya bhecchåmi. The reading

gacchåmi is preferred by Helmer Smith, who also suggests vechchåmi (from

the root vyadh).

Lord Chalmers, Buddha’s Teachings being the Sutta Nipåta or Discourse

Collection (Harvard Oriental Series, Cambridge, 1932), pp.104–105.

Ibid., p.105.

Ñåˆamoli, p.36.

Ibid., p.263.

Malalasekera, 2:617.

Maurice Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, Vol. II (Motilal

Banarsidass, Delhi, 1983), p.56.

Ñåˆamoli, p.64.

From Rhys Davids’ article on Buddha in Encyclopaedia Britannica, quoted in

Malalasekera, 2:615.

Ibid., 2:614.

Compare with Måra-saµyutta Nos. 24–25 where this event is said to have taken

place seven years after the Enlightenment. AßvaghoΣa in his Buddha-carita

(Chap. XV) dates it in the fourth week, as does the AvidËre Nidåna of the

Jåtaka.

27

Spence Hardy and Bigandet, basing their works on Sinhala and Burmese

traditions, have these names as Taˆhå, Rati, and Ra∫ga; Rockhill, p.31.

M®gajå is the name in Sanskrit sources for Kisågotam¥ of the Påli sources. It is

she who uttered the lines ‘Nibbutå nËna så måtå’.

Rockhill, pp.27–34.

Samuel Beal, The Romantic Legend of Sakya Buddha (London, 1875), p.207.

E.B. Cowell (tr.), The Buddhacarita or Life of Buddha by AßvaghoΣa (Cosmo,

New Delhi, 1977) p.137.

Ibid., p.146.

Ibid., p.147.

Anil de Silva-Vigier, The Life of the Buddha retold from Ancient Sources

(Phaidon, London, 1955), plate 69. The riderless horses (four moving towards

the right and one moving in the opposite direction) represent action as is usual

in the synoptic technique of storytelling in ancient Buddhist sculpture. The

horses going to the right are represented as carrying the Bodhisatta, whose

presence is symbolized by a royal parasol held above them. The returning

horse is led by a sorrowing Channa.

Heinrich Zimmer, The Art of Indian Asia: Its Mythology and Transformation

(Bollingen Series No. 29; Pantheon, New York, 1955), plate 12, north gate rear

view central architrave; Anil de Silva-Vigier, plate 69. The majestic seated

figure (slightly off the centre to the left) could be that of Måra, conceived, as

AßvaghoΣa did, as the Indian God of Love. This panel depicts the Assault and

is dated by some art critics to the early first century B.C. The scene of Måra’s

Defeat is found on the west gateway. Sir John Marshall, The Buddhist Art of

Gandhåra (Department of Archaeology of Pakistan, Cambridge, 1960), fig. 7.

Måra could be the figure on the elephant holding a bow—again symbolizing

the God of Love by his traditional weapon.

Zimmer, plate 89.

Ibid., plate 88.

A. Grunwedel, Buddhist Art in India (London, 1901), p.98; illustration 50.

Ibid., p.99; illustration 51.

Ibid., pp.92, 94.

Ibid., p.88; fig. 5 in illustration 42.

Ibid., p.96; illustration 48.

Ibid., p.101; illustration 53.

Marshall, plate 43; fig. 67.

Ibid., plate 44; fig. 68.

Zimmer, plate 92 (b). Note the lower square represents the Great Departure. See

also The Way of the Buddha (Government of India, Delhi, 1955), plate 52

(Nagarjunikonda).

Ibid., plate 96. In both examples from Amaravati, the Buddha is depicted with

the abhaya-mudrå rather than with the bhËmi-sparßa-mudrå.

Anil de Silva-Vigier, plates 71 and 72. No figure is readily identifiable as that

of Måra, though he may be the imposing figure holding a sword, to the

Buddha’s right, or the one to the left with a swaying mace in hand.

Basil Gray, Buddhist Cave Paintings at Tun-Huang (Faber and Faber, London,

1959), plate 19, which gives a detail from a mural in Cave 254 (dated 475–500

A.C.). Måra is represented as an imposing personage, i.e. a devaputta with a

halo, to the left of the Buddha.

The ceiling painting at Dambulla is of such dimensions as to preclude the

possibility of a photographic reproduction. The current efforts under the Sri

Lanka UNESCO Cultural Triangle Programme to document the cave paintings

of Dambulla are expected to enable this important painting to be reproduced

for wider appreciation.

Jean Boisselier, Ceylon (Archaeologia Mundi, Nagel, Geneva), plate 78. Måra

is depicted as a demon with many arms, riding a multitusked elephant.

Zimmer, plate 612.

Anil de Silva-Vigier, plate 73.

Ibid., plate 68, and Zimmer, plate 486 (b).

David L. Snellgrove (ed.), The Image of the Buddha (Vikas/UNESCO, New

Delhi, 1978), p.329; plate 252.

W. Zwalf, Buddhism: Art and Faith (British Museum, London, 1985) p.119,

plate 172.

Snellgrove, p.347, plate 272.

Zimmer, plate 471 (d).

Ibid., plate 380.

Ibid., plate 381.

Snellgrove: “Thus often only an inscription or a still living Buddhist tradition in

the places where archaeological pieces are found can distinguish … a

Såkyamuni in his victory over Måra (Måravijaya) from AkΣobhya.” See plates

206, 207, 208, and 210 (pp. 278–280). Plate 206 is significant in that the

Buddha is crowned to distinguish him as the supreme Buddha.

D.B. Dhanapala: The Story of Sinhalese Painting (Saman, Maharagama,

undated), p.23 (explanation on p.18).

Siri Gunasinghe, An Album of Buddhist Paintings from Sri Lanka

(Ceylon)—Kandyan Period (National Museum, Colombo, 1978), plate 39.

Also see Boisselier, plate 78.

Zwalf, plate 217, p.155.

Grunwedel, p.102; illustration 54.

Zimmer, plates 603 and 605.

See in particular Malalasekera, 2:615, 618, and 619.

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