Māravijaya and Mārabandhana: The Victory over Māra and the Binding of MāraA lecture by Prof. Dr. Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.

20. Januar 2016

Māra, the Evil One, has a very long and exciting career in Buddhist narratives. Represented as a god of the highest abode of the Sensual Heavenly Realms and interpreted as the personification of evil, defilements and death, in the canonical texts he appears as the evil temptation trying again and again to gain control of the awakened ones even ‘after’ their enlightenment. In post- and extra-canonical texts such as the Buddhacarita, the Lalitavistara and the Nidānakathā of the the Jātakatthakathā he has to take control ‘before’ the Buddha and the Arhats attain enlightenment.   There are two narratives of his defeat that become popular. The first is by the Buddha before his enlightenment, the second is by the Arhat Upagupta at the merit-making ceremony of King Aśoka. At first, the narratives vary on how Māra was defeated. In the Thai tradition, in particular, he was chased away by the flood flowing from the hair of the Earth Goddess. The second time, he was bound and tamed to the point that he became Buddhist and made a firm resolution to become a Buddha in the future.  The first defeat has become the most popular scene depicted in all means of arts: images, mural painting, bas-reliefs etc. The Arhat Upagupta is worshipped as having great magical power defeating and taming Mara.

Prapod Assavavirulhakarn studied Pali, Sanskrit, Sanskrit Epigraphy and Buddhist Studies at Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), at the Université de Paris IV and Berkeley. His master thesis on the term and the concept of “bodhisattva” in Theravāda and Mahāyana Buddhism, a comparative study has been published and used as a textbook at the Faculty of Arts at Chulalongkorn University. His PhD dissertation on the proto-history of Buddhism in Southeast Asia and the ascendency of Theravāda Buddhism was published in 2010. He has been the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University from 2008 to 2015. After his retirement he is currently teaching at the University of Hamburg as the Numata Chair Professor for the winter term 2015/2016.   

His publications comprise:

• The Ascendancy of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Chiang Mai: Silkworm, 2010.
• Buddhism and the Crystallization of Thai Intellect and Intellectuals. Kandy: The International Centre for Ethnic Studies, 1994.  
• “Mahadibbamanta – A Reflection on Thai Chanting Tradition”. In: Jainism and Early Buddhism: Essays in Honor of Padmanabh S. Jaini. Fremont: Asian Humanities Press. 2003.

Date: Wednesday 2o January 2016, 16:15-17:45 h.
Venue: Universität Hamburg, Asien-Afrika Institut, ESA Ost, Room 209.
The lecture will be held in English. The entrance is free.
Flyer: (PDF)