Mara – the Buddhist Satan

In my last Blog, we read about the Devil or Satan in the Christian and Islamic mythologies. This does not mean that the Satan in some form or the other did not exist in any other mythologies or cultures. Let us look at Mara, the Satan in Buddhist mythology.

It would be pertinent to mention that Mara is not a permanent devilish character in Buddhist mythology. He presents himself at an important juncture and shows its presence and thereafter, Mara manifests itself in the form of temptation and other vices for mankind, which again is a common form of the Devil.

Mara seems to have tried to lure Buddha many times in different forms. The first time it tried when Gautam (who was not the Buddha then) was leaving the gates of his city after renouncing the world. Mara offered to make him the monarch of the entire universe if he changed his mind of renouncing the world, but Gautam did not heed and carried on his pursuit.

The next time we see Mara in a more determined and fuller form. Just before Gautam attained enlightenment, Mara was determined to break Gautam’s firm resolution. Mara decided to attack Gautam with his full army with him atop an elephant. Mara’s followers were armed with weapons and in frightening forms. They hurled their weapons, but the same turned into flowers and dropped on the ground. Next Mara sent whirlwinds and earthquakes, but nothing stirred Gautam. Seeing him frustrated his children asked him the cause of such worry. Mara explained that there was a frail man under the tree who had no weapons, no army, nothing, but still managed to threaten the mighty Mara with his resolution of attaining something. This could lead to his decimation, which he could not allow, but he seemed to be unable to make any difference.

He then sent his three daughters to seduce Gautam and lead him into a world of temptation, but Gautam did not even feel their presence. As a final try, Mara claimed that the place that Gautam was sitting for his penance was his and Gautam should vacate the place immediately. As witness, Mara got his followers to echo his statement. Gautam had no witness to his claim, so he simply let his middle finger touch the ground, to which Mother earth roared back saying that she stood as a witness to Gautam’s right to the spot.

Seeing this, Mara knew that he had lost. However, not the one to give up easily, it is said that Mara called for rains to pour down heavily on Gautam. But the king of serpents who wanted Gautam to succeed came to his rescue. It coiled down under him to raise him above the mud and waters and spread its broad hood above Gautam to allow him to meditate. With this Mara knew that he had lost and he left the place with his followers.

 

A 12th Century Cambodian Bronze depicting Buddha sheltered by the Naga

It is said that Gautam was now at peace and his meditation continued for about forty-nine days, after which he attained enlightenment and he became the Buddha.

The concept of an evil being in mythology is a common factor. The intense clash with the devil or evil beings in mythology helps to refine the hero’s character and the glory at the end of it aids in the process of deification. In the case of Mara, he is personification of all the negative elements in human life, prime among them being temptation. According to Buddhists texts, Mara also means the end of spiritual life or spirituality.

In one of the texts detailing the above event, Mara’s army is said to consist of lust, hunger, thirst, craving, doubt, cowardice, etc. His three daughters who were sent to seduce Gautam had the ability to take different forms to lure and charm. Some texts have mentioned five daughters of Mara, whose names meant, attraction, aversion, delusion, pride and fear. Here Mara is nothing but the different temptations which lead man to all sorts of trouble.

Another interesting aspect of this myth is the support Buddha gets from the earth and the serpent, both of which are prominent Hindu deities. Many feel that the character of Mara was based on the Vedic demon, Namuci. This entire episode in the life of Buddha, blends well with the mythological tract of a hero’s clash with the evil, as well as blend with the Hindu elements of aid coming from other minor Hindu deities in the quest for enlightenment.

An interesting myth on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, today!

Was Gandhiji an Avatar?

On the day of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Martyrs' Day, the above question comes to mind, which is also the very basis of what we call the ‘deification of a hero’ in the studies of Comparative Mythology.

Would generations after a few hundred years believe, that a man managed to unite a diverse and large country, which was many small countries by itself, achieved freedom from British and that too on the principles of ahimsa or non-violence? Many historians and scholars have found people in villages to believe that Gandhiji was an avatar of god – how else could a person perform such enormous task of throwing the British out, when they were firm for more than two hundred years?

Many have compared Gandhiji with Gautam Buddha, probably for the glaring similarities between the two – 

• Both were born in families which were well off – Gandhiji was born in a well-to-do Gujarati family of a businessman and Gautam was born to a King.
• Both had a happy childhood and were educated – Gandhiji went on to become a lawyer and Buddha got princely education
• Both were married and had children
• Both had events which led them to their individual quest – Gandhiji had his experience while working in South Africa, while Gautam experienced the four sights, both of which were turning points for them individually
• Gandhiji returned to India in his quest for swaraj, while Gautama left his kingdom to seek nirvana
• Both were against violence and proposed simple living
• Both were against the caste system and worked for the downtrodden and the untouchables
• Both had followers who have fought later – in the case of Gandhiji, a nation got divided and in the case of Buddha, his faith was divided as differences crept in, in the form of Mahayana, Hinayana and even the Tibetan Buddhism.

Just what am I up to, is what many might wonder. Why am I hell-bent on deifying an individual from History?

The whole idea is to show how heroes of the past have got deified. This is exactly how many of the ‘gods’ could have got deified in the course of the development of civilization. Miracles and unbelievable deeds get credited to them; halo’s appear in their pictures. The classic example in mythology is that of Indra from the Vedic times, where many believe that Indra was a mortal hero who got deified during the Vedic times. Many also feel that the epics Mahabharata & Ramayana could have some roots in reality and many characters actually existed.

The following pictures have become part of the lore. The picture below is titled as “Gandhiji ki Swaryatra” – Gandhiji’s journey to heaven, by Narottam Narayan Sharma in 1948 where Gandhiji is shown above Nehru and Sardar Patel and being taken in some sort of celestial carrier by two garlanding apsaras after his death. Many other leaders are shown mourning.

The following picture shows a pensive Gandhiji being blessed by Lord Ram, a deity Gandhiji used to worship, made more famous by his last words “He Ram”. This image, set up in modern times (modern buildings and manicured lawns) with Lord Ram in his traditional attire is also seen as the ‘appropriation of Gandhiji in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism’.

Besides the above, there are many such pictures which deify Gandhiji and many other freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhash Bose to name a few.

What is interesting is that this theory of deification of heroes is not new. I would rather say, that it has only slowed down in the modern times. What were once mortals have either been raised to the status of gods or changing times have made their deeds so unbelievable, that such deeds could only be the domain of deified heroes.

To conclude, I would like to quote what Albert Einstein had to say about Gandhiji on his 70^th birthday - “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”.

As lawyers would say – I rest my case!

As mathematicians would say – Q.E.D.!!!

Picture Courtesy - 'Photos of the Gods': The Printed Image and Political Struggle in India

Vishnu’s Dashavatar & Charles Darwin – Part 2

Yesterday, we read about the similarities of the first five avatars of dashavatar with Darwin’s theory of evolution. Let us now go through the other five avatars to trace the cultural evolution of mankind.

The sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu was Parashuram, a rugged primitive warrior with a battle axe. This form could be a symbol of the cave-man stage of evolution and his usage of the axe could be seen as man’s evolution from the stone age to the iron age. Man had learnt the art of using tools and weapons and exploit the natural resources available to him.

The next avatar is that of Rama, a king who obeyed all the norms of the society as laid down, even at the cost of his personal discomfort. This form also displays a sense of altruism that was expected from a man amongst men – who was to set the ideals of living and even set an example of exemplary ethical standards. This also shows that society had started forming norms and rules and the life of savagery and might-is-right was over. Kings, government, rules and a distinct class system was beginning to fall in place.

This brings us to the next avatar of Lord Krishna, who was shown as a philosopher who taught the methods to deal with the contradictions of the society. He gave mankind the novel ways of handling ethics and evils both in an objective manner. Showing Lord Krishna’s childhood as a cowherd also depicts the fact that man had learnt the domestication of animals and had learnt to make use of the animal resources available to him and respect the same. Along with Krishna, is his brother Balarama, who is depicted with a plough, which goes on to show that man had also begun to depend on agriculture and had learnt to make use of land and earn from it. This also puts an end to the nomadic life style of the uncivilized man.

During the times of Rama and Krishna, there are a number of concepts introduced to man, which shows that man had begun to even think in a creative manner. The earlier avatars dealt with and depicted the baser instincts of man. But these two avatars had started giving wings to man’s thought process. Thus in Ramayana we find the mention of Pushpak Vimana (a flying machine), crossing of seas by Hanuman, sanjivani-buti (life saving drugs), etc. Similarly, in Mahabharata, which also deals with the life and times of Krishna, we see the evils of the society, games played by the people (chaupar), Sanjay relaying the battle from a distance through divya-drishti (divine-vision), mention and occasional usage of weapons of mass-destruction (brahmastra and divyastra), births which were not normal and which needed external help, all akin to modern methods of aided-reproduction, etc. (Please note that I am not saying that people had the ‘technology’ then; all I am saying is that man had evolved to a stage where he could allow his creative thoughts to think of such aspects of life – which too is a stage in the cultural evolution of mankind).

This brings us the ninth avatar of Lord Vishnu, i.e. Lord Buddha. The story of Buddha symbolizes the emergence of non-violence and human rights as viable doctrines. Till the stage of Rama and Krishna we have seen man thinking of rules and norms of living in a society. We have seen aspects of politics and forms of governing and the life of battles and its repercussions. Buddha gives man a meaning of existence. He gave man the ideals of a class-less society and that all were equal, irrespective of status. Buddha taught man to think beyond material comforts of life. He introduced the concept of Moksha and Nirvana, and made them the ultimate goals of life. We are supposedly still in this stage of evolution and each one of us are seeking our own ways of achieving individual Moksha, though we have not quite found the formula of world-peace!

This completed the entire evolution of man, which started from nothing, to an evolved evolution.

The tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu, i.e. Kalki, is an imaginary incarnation and is still awaited. Kalki depicts a warrior mounted on a flying horse with a sword who is ready to fight any extra terrestrial invader. The symbolism here is not very clear. Different scholars have opined different regarding this avatar, some say that this avatar will bring a complete destruction which will take us back to where we started, whereas some say that this could be the idea of a single leader who will unify the world under a single rule/ruler. (We will have to wait and watch and if something happens during my lifetime, please be ready to find it in this Blog!).

To conclude – it is important to understand that Lord Vishnu’s dashavatar came much before Darwin propounded his theory of evolution. However, this does not undermine Darwin’s efforts in any way, as his theory is more granular and with a lot of scientific evidence that our rational mind has got used to. On behalf of Charles Darwin, I would also like to mention that he had never read the Hindu scriptures and in no way did he use this to formulate his theory of evolution!

Vishnu’s dashavatar has definitely eliminated some stages of evolution, but one can’t overlook the beauty of presenting what today is scientifically an acceptable theory. Moreover, Darwin stopped at the evolution of man, but the dashavatar goes beyond the physical evolution of man, it traces man’s cultural and cerebral evolution too. Needless to say, that the theory has some overlaps, like Parashuram making an appearance during the times of Rama and Krishna, but if you leave such things to the theorists and as aspects of ‘creative indulgence’, then one can’t help but agree that this is definitely one of the best theories of evolution. 

Finally, my favourite statement, (at the cost of repetition) – all that we read in mythology is not without meaning and every aspect has more to it than what meets the eye!

The Birth of Lord Buddha

On Buddha Purnima, let us understand the myth of the Birth of Lord Buddha.

King Suddhodana was the ruler of a Himalayan kingdom. One day his wife, Queen Maya, had a strange dream. As per her dream, some angels carried her high into the snow-capped mountains and draped her in flowers. Then a magnificent white elephant carrying a white lotus approached her and walked around her thrice. The elephant then struck her on her right side with its trunk and entered into her from her right side.

The Queen woke up very perplexed and when she related the dream to her husband, the King summoned Brahmins to interpret the dream. The Brahmins then told the King that the Queen would give birth to a son, who would grow up to be a great ‘conqueror’.

When the time for delivery came closer, she took leave of her husband to travel to her own town. On her way to her town, she came across the Lumbini grove which was in full bloom. The Queen decided to take some rest in the grove and with the help of her attendants went in the centre of the grove. When she reached the spot, she developed labour. She held the branches of a Sal tree and delivered the child in a standing position. Later the Queen returned to her kingdom, but died within seven days and Gautama was raised by her mother’s sister, who in due course of time got married to the King.

This is an interesting myth associated with a historical person. There is historical evidence of the birth of Gautama, but has mythical connotations to his birth. The white elephant is a symbol of fertility and the white lotus is a symbol of enlightenment in Buddhist art and mythology. In mythology, the birth of a hero always has magical circumstances or unnatural events preceding or succeeding the birth, needless to say at times the birth itself.

Scholars have found parallels of the birth with the birth of Vedic Indra, who too was considered to be a mortal hero, who got deified later. Indra too was born from the side of his mother and there were earthquakes during his birth. The association of a white elephant is also found in myths of Indra, as his vahana was the mighty Airavata, a powerful elephant. Many scholars feel that the birth of Gautama could have been drawn from the Vedic references of the birth of Indra, except that there have been no major battles associated with Buddha, as is found in the case of Indra. However, Buddha ‘fought’ a lot of personal battles like vices and temptation to achieve Nirvana. If we are to compare this aspect too, then Indra fought his battles outside himself, whereas Buddha fought his battles inside to achieve Enlightenment.