THE demonology of the Pāli Canon is dominated by the single
figure of Māra, the Evil One. Long passages are devoted to
teaching about the Evil One, especially in the Majjhima,
Aṅguttara and Saṃyutta-Nikāyas. Some of this teaching is
given in openly didactic form; elsewhere it occurs in the semi-
disguised form of legend, that is, stories of encounters with
Māra by the Buddha and his followers. This legendary material
nevertheless may be seen to have a didactic import, and it is
this material which must now first be brought together and
considered.

The principal sources for the Māra legend are: the Padhāna
Sutta (Sn); the collection contained in the Māra-Saṃyutta and
the Bhikkhunī-Saṃyutta (S); the Māratajjaniya Sutta (M);
the Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta (D, A, S, and Ud); and the
Mahāvagga of the Vinaya Piṭaka. There are also certain minor
references in the Vinaya, and in the Sutta Nipāta and the Jāta-
kas. (The Theragāthā and Therīgāthā are not taken into
account at this point, since only the verses are strictly canonical,
and these give little, if any, indication of the circumstances,
and there is thus practically no legendary material in these
collections).

In all these instances the mythological figure of Māra is
seen as an important feature in stories which purport to des-
cribe episodes in the life of the Buddha and the lives of the early
Buddhists. In addition, there are certain passages where Māra
appears in what may be called a supra-mundane context, as,
for example, in the Mahāsamaya Suttanta (D), the Brahma-
nimantanika Sutta (M), and sutta 10 of the Nānātitthiya Vagga
(S).

The first general comment to be made is upon the extent of
this material; from this survey alone it is clear that the Pāli
Canon is by no means lacking in mythology; even though this

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