Dialogues with Death
Mara, Yama, and Coming to Terms with Mortality in Classical Hindu and Indian Buddhist Traditions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v6i1.13Keywords:
death, Kaṭha Upaniṣad, Māra, rebirth, Sāvitrī, YamaAbstract
This article compares Hindu and Buddhist narratives involving debate or contest with the gods representing death in each respective tradition. In Hinduism, this is Yama, judge and god of the underworld, while in Buddhism, death, as well as the concept of rebirth and, more broadly, samsara itself, is represented by the malign figure Mara. Through a comparison of Buddhist Pali Canon texts to the Hindu Katha Upanisad, the Savitri episode in the Mahabharata, and brief excerpts of Puranas, I argue that both traditions employed a common trope of debate and contest with a god of death, but used that shared device to emphasize doctrinal beliefs and perspectives unique to their respective traditions. This strongly suggests a shared literary heritage between the two traditions of these mythic figures.
References
Acharya Jagadisalal Sastri (ed.). 1983. The Bhagavata Puranawith the Commentary ‘Bhavarthabodhini’. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.
Andersen, Dines, and Helmer Smith (eds). 1948. Sutta-Nipata. Oxford: Oxford University Press (for the Pali Text Society).
Bailey, Greg, and Ian Mabbett. 2003. The Sociology of Early Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511488283
Bhattacharji, Sukumari. 1970. The Indian Theogony: A Comparative Study of the Indian Mythology from the Vedas to the Puranas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bhattacharyya, N. N. 2000. Indian Demonology. Delhi: Manohar.
Black, Brian. 2007. The Character of the Self in Ancient India. Albany: SUNY Press.
— 2009. ‘Rivals and Benefactors: Encounters between Buddhists and Brahmins in the Nikayas.’ Religions of South Asia 3(1): 24–43.
— 2011. ‘Ambattha and Shvetaketu: Literary Connections between the Upanishads and Early Buddhist Narratives.’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion 79(1): 136–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfq058
Blackburn, Stuart. 1985. ‘Death and Deification: Folk Cults in Hinduism.’ History of Religions 24(3): 255–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/462999
Bond, George. 1980. ‘Theravada Buddhism’s Meditations on Death and the Symbolism of Initiatory Death.’ History of Religions 19(3): 237–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/462847
Bronkhorst, Johannes. 2007. Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India. Leiden: Brill. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004157194.i-416
Chakravarti, Uma. 2009. ‘Of Binaries and Beyond: The Dialectics of Buddhist-Brahmanical Relations in India.’ Religions of South Asia 3(1): 7–23.
Cowell, E. B. (ed.). 1970. [Buddha-carita:] The Buddha-Karita or Life of Buddha by Asvaghosha. Amsterdam: Philo Press.
Cowell, E. B., and Robert Neil. 1970. The Divyavadana, a Collection of Early Buddhist Legends. Amsterdam: Philo Press.
DeCaroli, Robert. 2004. Haunting the Buddha. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/0195168380.001.0001
Dimock, Edward, et al. (eds). 1974. The Literatures of India: An Introduction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Fausbøll, V. (ed.). 1962. The Jataka, Together with its Commentary. London: Luzac and Company (for the Pali Text Society).
Freer, M. Leon. 1960. The Samyutta Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. London: Luzac and Company (for the Pali Text Society).
Gambhirananda, Swami (ed.). 2004. Katha Upanisad, with the Commentary of Sankaracarya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama.
Helfer, James. 1968. ‘The Initiatory Structure of the “Kathopanisad”.’ History of Religions 7(4): 348–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/462571
Joshi, K. L. (ed.). 2008. Kurma Mahapuranam, with an English translation by Shantilal Nagar. Delhi: Parimal Publications.
Kaelber, Walter. 1978. ‘The “Dramatic” Elements in Brahmanic Initiation: Symbols of Death, Danger, and Difficult Passage.’ History of Religions 18(1): 54–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/462806
Killingley, Dermot. 1997. ‘The Paths of the Dead and the Five Fires.’ In Peter Connolly and Sue Hamilton (eds), Indian Insights: Buddhism, Brahmanism and Bhakti: Papers from the Annual Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions: 1–20. London: Luzac Oriental.
Kumar, Pushpedra. 2005. Markandeya Mahapuranam. Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers.
Mahadevashastri, E. 1985. Taittiriya Brahmana. Delhi: Motilala Banarasidasa.
Morris, R., and E. Hardy (eds). Anguttara Nikaya. London: Pali Text Society, 1885–1900.
O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. 1976. The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Oldenberg, Hermann. 1991. The Doctrine of the Upanisads and the Early Buddhism, translated into English by Shridhar B. Shrotri. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Oldenberg, Hermann, and Richard Pischel (eds). 1966. The Thera- and Theri-Gatha. London: Luzac and Company (for the Pali Text Society).
Olivelle, Patrick. 1996. The Upanisads: A New Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
— 1997. ‘Amrta: Women and Indian Technologies of Immortality.’ Journal of Indian Philosophy 25: 427–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1004246824600
Rhys-Davids, C. A. F. (ed.). The Visuddhi-Magga of Buddhaghosa. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul for Pali Text Society, 1975.
Rhys Davids, T. W., and J. Estlin Carpenter (eds). 1947–69. The Digha Nikaya. London: Luzac and Company (for the Pali Text Society).
Senart, E. 1882–1897. Mahavastu,3 vols. Paris: Societe Asiatique.
Shastri, J. L. 1980. Linga Purana. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Siklós, Bulcsu. 1994. ‘The Evolution of the Buddhist Yama.’ In Tadeusz Skorupski (ed.), The Buddhist Forum,Vol. 4: 165–90. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
Silva, Lily de (ed.). 1970. Dighanikayatthakathatika. London: Luzac and Company (for the Pali Text Society).
Sukthankar, Vishnu S. 1933–1959. The Mahabharata. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
Tsuchida Ryutaro. 1991. ‘Two Categories of Brahmins in the Early Buddhist Period.’ Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 49: 51–95. Tokyo: Toyo Bunko.
Vaidya, P. L. 1958. Lalitavistara. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute.
Van Nooten, Barend A., and Gary B. Holland (eds). 1994. Rig Veda, a Metrically Restored Text with an Introduction and Notes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wayman, Alex. 1959. ‘Studies in Yama and Mara.’ Indo-Iranian Journal 3: 4–73, 112–31.
