In Buddhism

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

Source: academia.edu: A Study and Translation of the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā

Mārakāyika (मारकायिक) refers to the “followers of Māra”, according to the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: the eighth chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (a collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtras).—Accordingly, “Then, immediately after these words of knowledge-mantras were pronounced by the Bodhisattva Gaganagañja, the world system of three thousandfold worlds was shaken in six ways. The five hundred evil ones, who were without faith and clinging to the non-dharma, heard this sound from open space: ‘The Māra, his sons, or his followers (mārakāyika), who do not produce the thought of awakening and do not give up the works of the Māra after having heard these words of the knowledge-mantras, the crowns of their heads will be destroyed by the lighting and blazing thunderbolt of the Yakṣa Vajrapāṇi’. Then, having looked up at the sky, the sons of the Māra saw five hundred Vajrapāṇis holding blazing thunderbolt, and produced the thought of awakening from the fear and terror”.

Source: De Gruyter: A Buddhist Ritual Manual on Agriculture

Mārakāyika (मारकायिक) refers to the “retinue of Māra”, according to the Vajratuṇḍasamayakalparāja, an ancient Buddhist ritual manual on agriculture from the 5th-century (or earlier), containing various instructions for the Sangha to provide agriculture-related services to laypeople including rain-making, weather control and crop protection.—Accordingly, [after the Bhagavān reached the lotus-lake near Aḍakavatī], “Then Vairambhaka, a Yakṣa leader belonging to the retinue of Māra (mārakāyika), uttered a voice and sounded a cry in the Triple Thousand Great Thousand Universe, ‘Great dangers have arisen in the world, there is the conflagration of the aeon in seven days. There is nothing here that will not burn completely from the highest point of the universe to Avīci’”.

context information

Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.

Languages of India and abroad

Pali-English dictionary

Source: BuddhaSasana: Concise Pali-English Dictionary

mārakāyika : (adj.) belonging to the group of Māra deities.

Source: Sutta: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

Mārakāyika refers to: a class of gods Miln. 285; KvuA 54.

Note: mārakāyika is a Pali compound consisting of the words māra and kāyika.

context information

Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Mārakāyika (मारकायिक).—adj. (= Pali id.), belonging to the entourage of Māra, regularly with deva(-putra) or devatā, also as subst. without noun (Māro vā Mārakāyiko vā Mahāvastu ii.263.7): Saddharmapuṇḍarīka 421.1; 474.7; Lalitavistara 46.22; 300.4; Mahāvastu i.220.1 = ii.22.2; ii.163.14; Avadāna-śataka i.215.7; Bodhisattvabhūmi 116.20.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mārakāyika (मारकायिक):—[=māra-kāyika] [from māra] mfn. belonging to the retinue or attendants of Māra, [Lalita-vistara]

[Sanskrit to German]

Marakayika in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Kayika, Mara.

Starts with: Marakayika Devi.

Full-text: Kayika, Mararaja, Migalandika.

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Search found 2 books and stories containing Marakayika, Mārakāyika, Mara-kayika, Māra-kāyika; (plurals include: Marakayikas, Mārakāyikas, kayikas, kāyikas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)

Bodhisattva quality 12: having passed beyond the works of Māra < [Chapter X - The Qualities of the Bodhisattvas]

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A Dictionary Of Chinese Buddhist Terms (by William Edward Soothill)

Part 21 - Twenty-one Strokes

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