Mara, the Buddhist Manifestation of Evil

The figurative way of understanding Mara is not a modern one. For centuries many Buddhists have understood him not only as a mythological character but also as a means of understanding ignorance and evil. For the Buddhist believer it is perfectly adequate to understand Mara as one's own internal vices that prevent one from developing in the Buddhist path. Mara can represent doubt, cowardice, lack of dedication or arrogance.

Mara, as a mythological character, is presented to us as a pathetic, tragic figure. He recognizes that his hold over sentient beings is drawing to a close, and futilely engages in attempts to prevent it. Yet he is hopeless - and he is conquered. Is all hope lost for poor Mara? Not according to Buddhist legend. Following the Buddha's enlightenment Mara was able to gain a small victory over the master, by clouding the minds of his disciples at various times. Later he taunts the Buddhist monk Upagupta by distracting those who would listen to his preaching with money and entertainment with which Buddhist preaching could not compete. Though Mara was quite the scoundrel, the same legend says that Upagupta was later able to ensnare him and convert him to Buddhism. Perhaps Upagupta's victory is even more impressive than Buddha's.

In Mara we find a character that represents evil - ignorance of the traps of sense and desire - in Buddhism. Yet in all accounts he is unable to defeat Buddha and his dharma. His existence serves to illustrate an allegorical point: it is possible for all sentient beings to act as the Buddha did in overcoming the prison of ignorance and desire. He is typical of his type - the personification of evil - in that he is ugly, monstrous and destructive. But he is unique to Buddhist mythology: for the reasons he is ugly and the manner in which he is destructive his myth deserves closer inspection.

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