Mara's three daughters — Taṇhā, Arati, and Ragā, personifications of craving, discontent, and passion — were sent by their father to seduce Gautama Buddha after his awakening, but their shape-shifting displays of allure failed against his perfect equanimity.
Mara, lord of desire and death, assaulted Gautama Buddha on the night of his awakening at Bodh Gaya. Mara sent armies of demons and his three daughters to break Gautama Buddha's concentration, but he touched the earth as witness and Mara's forces scattered.
Mara reigns over the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, the highest realm of sensual existence, wielding authority over the entire desire realm and all beings still bound by craving.
Mara marshaled his armies beneath the Bodhi Tree to prevent Siddhartha's awakening, but the earth itself testified against him and his host scattered at dawn — this defeat became the Maravijaya, the supreme moment of victory over temptation and delusion.
Mara entered Moggallana's belly to torment him, but the elder disciple recognized the intruder, rebuked him by name, and drove him out — then revealed that in a past life he himself had been a Mara who once swallowed a Buddha's chief disciple, suffering terrible karmic consequences.
Mara appeared to the Buddha at the Capala shrine months before his death, reminding him of a promise made years earlier to pass away once the Sangha was established, and the Buddha consented, relinquishing his remaining lifespan and setting the parinirvana in motion.
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