The Buddha's Life, His Disciples & the Early Sangha
มารชวนพระพุทธเจ้าล้มเลิกความเพียรไปทำบุญ แต่พระพุทธเจ้าเลือกการหลุดพ้น
Summary
In the Canon, on the full-moon night of Vesak before the awakening, the bodhisatta Siddhattha faced Māra, who came to obstruct it.
What Māra offered was not evil. It was to abandon the effort and make merit instead — a proposal that sounds entirely reasonable.
The bodhisatta’s answer was that he had no need of merit at all, because what he had chosen was liberation.
Key points
Māra offers something good, not something evil
That is the sharpest part of the episode: what stands in the way need not be wicked.
Merit and liberation are not the same thing
The answer separates them absolutely, and they are routinely conflated.
The ten armies of Māra are named defilements
Going through them one by one shows the obstacles are identifiable rather than a vague mood.
The victory is by understanding, not force
What defeats Māra here is insight — the same shape as all eight victories in the Bāhuṃ.