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Sutta Piṭaka · Khuddaka Nikāya

Māra (the tempter, death)

English · sourceSinhala translation · pending
RefsDhp 7–8, 34, 37, 40, 46, 57, 105, 175 (across the Dhammapada); Sn 3.2 (cited; not yet ingested) (Padhāna Sutta — the temptation of the Bodhisatta); SN 4 (Mārasaṁyutta) (cited; not yet ingested); MN 49 (cited; not yet ingested) (Brahmanimantanika Sutta)
Page details
Pali
māra
Sanskrit cognate
māra
Part of speech
proper noun / noun (m.)
Root
√mṛ ("to die, cause to die"); māra literally "the killer, the deadly one"
English
Māra; the tempter; death personified; (Sujato) often preserved as "Māra"
Type
glossary
Last updated
2026-04-14

Definition: Māra names the force opposed to liberation — personified as a deity-tempter in narrative suttas, analysed as a fivefold category in the commentaries (khandha-māra, kilesa-māra, abhisaṅkhāra-māra, maccu-māra, devaputta-māra). In the Dhammapada māra is predominantly the first four — the mortality, defilement, and conditioning that keep beings in samsara — though the narrative deity-sense also appears.

Canonical usage

Dhp 7 (dhp7:5)
Taṁ ve pasahati māro, vāto rukkhaṁva dubbalaṁ.

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English (Sujato): Māra overpowers that person, as the wind a weak tree.
Dhp 46 (dhp46:1–46:4)
Pheṇūpamaṁ kāyamimaṁ viditvā, / Marīcidhammaṁ abhisambudhāno; / Chetvāna mārassa papupphakāni, / Adassanaṁ maccurājassa gacche.

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English (Sujato): Seeing that this body is like foam, understanding it's a mirage, cutting off Māra's flowers, one may escape the sight of the King of Death.
Dhp 57 (dhp57:4)
Māro maggaṁ na vindati.

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English (Sujato): Māra cannot find their path.

Nuances and translation notes

  • Sujato: usually preserves "Māra" untranslated — the name carries narrative weight no English word matches
  • Buddharakkhita: "Māra"
  • Norman (PTS): "Māra" / occasionally "the Evil One"
  • de Zoysa (Sinhala): මාර — direct cognate

The commentarial fivefold scheme — five māras, of which one is a literal deity and four are structural — is essential to reading the Dhammapada's māra-verses correctly. "Māra" at Dhp 7, 47, 48 refers predominantly to maccu-māra (death) and kilesa-māra (defilement); the devaputta-māra (the tempter-deity) is more prominent at Dhp 40. (commentary — not canonical)

Related concepts

  • maccu — death; māra's core meaning (pending)
  • kilesa — defilement; one of the fivefold māras (pending)
  • pāpa — evil, unskillful (pending)
  • sekha — the trainee who still faces māra; contrasted at Dhp 57

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