Description
Mara (Sanskrit: मार, Māra ; Sinhala: මාරයා; Chinese: 天魔; pinyin: Tiānmó or traditional Chinese: 魔羅; simplified Chinese: 魔罗; pinyin: Móluó ; Japanese: 魔羅, romanized: Mara ; also マーラ, Māra or 天魔, Tenma ; Korean: 마라, romanized: Mara ; Vietnamese: Thiên Ma ; Tibetan Wylie: bdud ; Khmer: មារ; Burmese: မာရ်နတ်; Thai: มาร; Tagalog: Mara ), in Buddhism, is a malignant celestial king who tried to stop Prince Siddhartha from achieving Enlightenment by trying to seduce him with his celestial Army and the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters.
In Buddhist cosmology, Mara is associated with death, rebirth and desire. Nyanaponika Thera has described Mara as "the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment."
