Dialogues with Death

Mara, Yama, and Coming to Terms with Mortality in Classical Hindu and Indian Buddhist Traditions

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12908577
AutoresMichael Nichols (Saint Joseph's College, autor de correspondencia)
Año2012
Volumen6
Número1
Páginas13-32
Fecha de publicación2012-11-23
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReligions of South Asia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1751-2689 • E-ISSN: 1751-2697
EditorialEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/rosa.v6i1.13
OpenAlexW2040343711
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas13

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

Art · Buddhism · CONTEST · Hinduism · Literature · Narrative · Theology · Trope (literature · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Indian History and Philosophy · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices