Dialogues with Death

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

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12908577
AutoresMichael Nichols (Saint Joseph's College, autor correspondente)
Ano2012
Volume6
Fascículo1
Páginas13-32
Data de publicação2012-11-23
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions of South Asia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1751-2689 • E-ISSN: 1751-2697
EditoraEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/rosa.v6i1.13
OpenAlexW2040343711
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências 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