Narrative of Buddha’s Confrontation with Mara in Contemporary Media: Transmission of Teaching Traditional Literature

Abstract

The objective of the academic article was to study the transmission of teaching traditional literature on the narrative of the Buddha’s Confrontation with Mara in contemporary media. The study was stressed on the narrative on the Buddha’s encounter with eight risky events, which appeared in the Buddha''s Chanting Stanzas on the Eight Auspicious Victories, so-called Bahungmahaka (Phra Gatha Bahung in Thai). In addition, the reproduction of the narrative was totally found in seventeen printed versions of contemporary media. The study was found that the narrative of the Buddha’s eight victories in those contemporary printings was distinctly based on the transmission of teaching traditional literature. It was presented through four teaching techniques: direct instruction, infusion instruction by inserting the author’s view or teaching, questioning instruction, and role-playing instruction from the actors’ behaviour and speech. By the way, the narrative of the Buddha’s confrontation with Mara reflected the existence and dynamics of the Buddhist literature, which was said of important episodes of ‘the Life of the Buddha,’ as a story that was reproduced in the contemporary printed matters, regarded as universal media. As a result, the narrative of the Buddha’s Encounter with Mara was perceived on a wider level.