The Two Faces of Deva

The Mara/Brahma Tandem

Authors

  • Michael Nichols Northwestern University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v3i1.45

Keywords:

Brahmin/Buddhist relations, Buddhism and evil, Buddhist mythology, Pali literature, social dimensions of early Buddhism

Abstract

In this paper, I demonstrate how a comparison of the portrayals of Brahmadevas with the figure of Mara in Buddhist Pali texts can tell us a great deal about Indian Buddhist sociology that has been overlooked previously. This coordination of Brahma and Mara clearly serves to hierarchize human Brahmins as either potential allies in religious practice or demonic impediments, showing a direct link between Buddhist mythic narrative and conceptualizations of social categories. This paper demonstrates how attention to connections between mythic narrative and social interaction sheds light on the complexities of Indian Buddhist attitudes toward their Brahmanical competitors.

Author Biography

  • Michael Nichols, Northwestern University

    MICHAEL NICHOLS is a PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. USA and will receive his doctorate in June 2010. His research interests include Buddhist-Brahmanical interactions in ancient Indian literature, Indian mythology, and cross-cultural comparison of symbols of evil. Northwestern University 633 Clark Street Evanston, Illinois 60208 USA

References

Sources in Pali and Sanskrit

Anguttara Nikaya III. 1885–1900. R. Morris and E. Hardy (ed.). London: Pali Text Society.

The Digha Nikaya. 1947–69. T. W. Rhys Davids and J. Estlin Carpenter (eds.). London: Luzac and Company (Pali Text Society), vols. I–III.

The Mahabharata. 1933–1959. Vishnu S. Sukthankar Poona. 19 vols. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.

The Majjhima Nikaya. 1960–1974. V. Trenckner (ed.). London: Luzac and Company (Pali Text Society).

The Samyutta Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. 1960. M. Léon Feer (ed.). London: Luzac and Company (Pali Text Society).

Secondary Sources in the English Language

Bailey, Greg. 1983. The Mythology of Brahma. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bailey, Greg, and Mabbett, Ian. 2003. The Sociology of Early Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511488283

Black, Brian. 2007. The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upanisads. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Bronkhorst, Johannes. 2007. Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004157194.i-416

Chakravarti, Uma. 1987. The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Collins, Steven. 1982. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511621499

Flores, Ralph. 2008. Buddhist Scriptures as Literature: Sacred Rhetoric and the Uses of Theory. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Gombrich, Richard. 1996. How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. London: Athlone Press.

Jurewicz, Joanna. 2000. ‘Playing with Fire: The Pratityasamutpada from the Perspective of Vedic Thought.’ Journal of the Pali Text Society 26: 77–103.

Manné, Joy. 1990. ‘Categories of Sutta in the Pali Nikayas and their Implications for our Appreciation of the Buddhist Teaching and Literature.’ Journal of the Pali Text Society XV: 29–87.

— 1992. ‘The Digha Nikaya Debates: Debating Practices at the Time of the Buddha.’ Buddhist Studies Review 9 (2): 117–36.

Olivelle, Patrick. 1992. Samnyasa Upanisads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Rhys Davids, T. W., and Stede, William. 1997. Pali-English Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass (reprint).

Tsuchida, Ryutaro. 1991. ‘Two Categories of Brahmins in the Early Buddhist Period.’ Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko. No. 49. Tokyo: Toyo Bunko.

Wagle, Narendra K. 1996. Society at the Time of the Buddha. Bombay: Prakashan.

Published

2010-05-22

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Nichols, M. (2010). The Two Faces of Deva: The Mara/Brahma Tandem. Religions of South Asia, 3(1), 45-60. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v3i1.45

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