Māra and Śiva: Tricksters of Illusion, Teachers of Liberation
Journal of Asian Linguistic Anthropology 2025 DOI: 10.47298/jala.v7-i1-a1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that trickster figures such as Śiva, Krishna, Nārada, and Māra embody a non-dualist mode of consciousness in which disruption, illusion, and mischief are constitutive of knowledge rather than opposed to it. Proposes that trickster logic operates abductively, as lateral, vibrational movement, and that sound, rhythm, and play enact a sacred destabilization of dualism, pointing toward knowing through resonance rather than systematization. |
Abstract
This paper explores the trickster as a philosophical and sonic modality of consciousness through the figures of Śiva, Krishna, Nārada, and Māra. Moving beyond Western binaries of good and evil, truth and deception, it engages non-Abrahamic ontologies in which disruption, illusion, and mischief are not oppositional to knowledge, but constitutive. Trickster logic unfolds abductively—neither inductively from part to whole nor deductively from whole to part, but as lateral motion, a vibration without fixed destination. Through myth, music, and philosophical reflection, the essay argues that sound, rhythm, and play enact a sacred destabilization of dualism—an epistemic architecture that divides the world into oppositional forms. Against this logic of separation, the tricksters of Hindu and Buddhist traditions embody an intelligence attuned to liminality, ambiguity, and transformation. Their presence compels us to rethink the foundations of knowing, being, and becoming—not through systematization, but resonance.