NARRATIVE OF BUDDHA’S CONFRONTATION WITH MARA IN CONTEMPORARY MEDIA: TRANSMISSION OF TEACHING TRADITIONAL LITERATURE

Abstract

The objective of this 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 focused on the narrative on the Buddha’s Confrontation with the Mara in eight risky events appeared in the Buddhist Chanting Stanzas on the Eight Auspicious Victories so-called Bahungmahaka (Phra Gatha Bahung in Thai). The stanzas were reproduced and totally found in seventeen versions of contemporary printed media. The result of 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 including: 1) direct instruction; 2) infusion instruction by inserting the author’s view or teaching; 3) questioning instruction on Dhamma; and 4) role-playing instruction from the actors’ behavior and speech. In addition, the narrative of the Buddha’s Confrontation with Mara reflected the existence and dynamics of the important episodes of Buddhist literature as a story that was reproduced in the contemporary and universal media resulting that the narrative of the Buddha’s Confrontation with Mara was perceived in a broader level.