MARA One of the two transcedent powers in Indian lore, Mara is the master magician of illusion, and became in Buddhist belief the Evil One. It was he who assailed the original Buddha, Gautama, as the priest lay in meditation under the Bo Tree. But Gautama gathered the gods to him, and Mara, shamed, retired. It is believed that he waits on the edge of the world, waiting to seize the souls of the dying.