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Preta

In Hinduism and Buddhism, a preta (Sanskrit: प्रेत, meaning "departed" or "ghost") refers to a restless spirit or supernatural being associated with the afterlife, often characterized by torment due to unfulfilled desires or improper rites following death.^[1] In Hindu tradition, the preta is the temporary state of the soul immediately after death, viewed as an unsettled and potentially malevolent entity that lingers in impurity until pacified through specific rituals known as preta-karma and śrāddha, which facilitate its transformation into a pitṛ (ancestral spirit) and integration into the cosmic order.^[1] These rites, typically spanning 12 to 13 days and involving offerings like piṇḍa (rice balls), address karmic residues to ensure the soul's safe passage toward rebirth or liberation (mokṣa) within the cycle of saṃsāra.^[1] In Buddhist cosmology, pretas constitute one of the six realms of rebirth (gati), embodying beings driven by intense greed or miserliness in previous lives, resulting in perpetual suffering from insatiable hunger and thirst.^[2] They are classically depicted with emaciated bodies, bloated bellies, and minuscule mouths or "flaming mouths" that prevent satisfaction from food or drink, symbolizing the karmic fruits of attachment and stinginess.^[2]^[3] Preta narratives in Sanskrit and Pāli texts, such as those explored in early Buddhist literature, serve not merely as moral cautionary tales but as foundational elements for constructing cosmological frameworks and ethical teachings, illustrating the interconnectedness of actions, rebirth, and ethical conduct.^[3] This shared Indic concept underscores themes of impermanence, karma, and the need for ethical living to avert such tormented existences.

Terminology

Etymology

The term preta originates from Sanskrit, derived from the past participle of the root pra-i (pra + √i, "to go"), literally meaning "departed," "gone forth," or "gone away," which refers to the soul or spirit that has left the body after death.^[4]^[5] This etymological sense underscores its initial connotation as a neutral designation for the deceased, akin to a transitional state before ancestral integration, rather than implying torment or malevolence. In classical Sanskrit lexicography, such as the Monier-Williams dictionary, preta is defined as "a dead person" or "spirit of the dead," particularly one awaiting obsequial rites to transition to the realm of the pitṛ (ancestral spirits).^[5] In the historical linguistics of Indo-Aryan languages, preta exhibits shifts from its Vedic roots, where it broadly denoted the "dead" or "departed ones" (preta as euphemism for the deceased), to more specialized usages in post-Vedic and classical periods. These evolutions reflect broader patterns in Old Indo-Aryan, where terms for post-mortem states connected to ancestral veneration (pitṛ-loka) incorporated ritual contexts, influencing Middle Indo-Aryan forms like Pāli peta, which retained the sense of a wandering spirit. The connection to Vedic terms for ancestral spirits is evident in its association with pitṛ, as the preta phase precedes full ancestral status after funerary rituals, marking a liminal stage in the soul's journey.^[6]^[5] Earliest attestations of preta occur in Vedic texts of the late Vedic period, such as the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (part of the Yajurveda), where it signifies a generic "dead man" or departed spirit in ritual contexts, without the later connotations of a tormented entity. Although the Rigveda, the oldest Vedic collection, primarily focuses on living and divine realms, the term's Vedic usage establishes it as a foundational concept for ancestral and post-death linguistics in Indo-Aryan traditions.^[5]^[7] In English translations, preta is often rendered as "hungry ghost," though this emphasizes later Buddhist interpretations over its original departed sense.^[8]

Names and Variations

In Sanskrit, the term preta (प्रेत) serves as the primary designation for these beings, with synonyms such as piśāca (पिशाच), which often refers to more demonic or flesh-eating variants, and bhūta (भूत), denoting general ghosts or ancestral spirits.^[7] These terms appear in Hindu texts like the Śivapurāṇa and Buddhist scriptures, highlighting subtle distinctions in connotation. In Pali, the language of the Theravāda Buddhist canon, preta is translated as peta, emphasizing the departed state of the deceased.^[9] Across East Asian Buddhist traditions, the concept is rendered as èguǐ (饿鬼, literally "hungry ghost") in Chinese, reflecting its adoption in Mahāyāna sutras like the Ullambana Sūtra.^[10] In Japanese, it becomes gaki (餓鬼), a term used in rituals such as the Segaki to appease these entities.^[11] Tibetan Buddhism employs yi dwags (ཡི་དྭགས་), as seen in texts describing the six realms of rebirth.^[12] In modern Indian languages, regional adaptations include bhūt (भूत) in Hindi, derived from the Sanskrit bhūta and commonly used for haunting spirits in North Indian folklore, and pret (প্রেত) in Bengali, appearing in literature and oral traditions to signify unrestful souls.^[7]

Characteristics

Physical Appearance

In traditional Buddhist iconography, pretas are portrayed as emaciated, skeletal figures with enormously distended bellies, symbolizing their insatiable hunger, and needle-thin necks or throats that prevent them from swallowing food.^[13] Their withered limbs and sunken, mummified skin further emphasize their deprived state, often appearing naked and frail in depictions from the Wheel of Life (Bhavacakra).^[14] These features are rooted in early texts like the Petavatthu, where petas are described with visible ribs, veins, and a perpetually weakened form.^[15] Variations in preta depictions include mouths as small as the eye of a needle or emitting flames, known as "flaming mouths" (ulkāmukha), which render nourishment impossible even when available.^[2] In some ritual paintings and sculptures, such as those associated with nectar offerings, pretas exhibit grotesque, tattered forms with large, repulsive bodies and occasionally multiple heads or arms, particularly in representations of preta kings like Ulkāmukha Pretarāja.^[16] Dangling tongues and exaggerated facial features also appear in certain East Asian adaptations to heighten their pitiful expression.^[16] Artistic renderings often employ color schemes like ashen, green, or bluish skin tones to convey decay and torment, as seen in Japanese ukiyo-e prints and Tibetan thangka paintings of the six realms. These physical manifestations, including parched and bloated features from unquenchable thirst, underscore the pretas' role in cosmological illustrations without delving into their behavioral sufferings.^[14]

Torments and Behaviors

Pretas endure perpetual torment characterized by insatiable hunger and thirst, a condition exacerbated by their physical forms featuring needle-thin throats and distended bellies that prevent any sustenance from providing relief.^[17] In Buddhist lore, such as the Avadānasataka (2nd–4th centuries CE), these beings are depicted as desperately seeking food and water, only to find that what appears nourishing transforms into foul substances like pus, blood, or flames upon consumption, leading to endless frustration and agony.^[17] Similarly, in the Hindu Garuda Purana, pretas are described as bodiless entities tortured by unrelenting hunger and thirst, wandering in despair without respite until karmic debts are addressed.^[18] Their behaviors are driven by karma-induced delusions, compelling them to scavenge refuse, feces, or unclean remnants in futile attempts to satiate their cravings.^[17] Pretas often haunt charnel grounds, cremation sites, or human habitations, lurking invisibly near feasts or offerings in hopes of illusory nourishment, as outlined in Buddhist texts where they occupy the same physical space as humans but remain unseen and unfulfilled.^[19] In Hindu traditions, these spirits roam erratically, drawn to places associated with death or impurity, their actions reflecting the greed and stinginess accumulated in prior lives.^[20] Psychologically, pretas suffer profound isolation, barred from the joys of higher realms and condemned to observe human abundance without participation, fostering deep envy and remorse.^[19] This mental anguish is heightened by their awareness of past misdeeds—such as refusal of alms or exploitative greed—that led to this state, yet they remain powerless to escape, embodying a cycle of self-inflicted torment as described in the Avadānasataka.^[17] In both Buddhist and Hindu contexts, this envy toward the living underscores the preta's existential separation, where even momentary glimpses of relief are denied by their karmic burdens.^[21]

Cosmological Role

Causes of Rebirth

In Buddhist and Hindu doctrines, rebirth as a preta is primarily attributed to negative karma accumulated through greed, stinginess, and the misuse of resources during a previous human life. These actions create unresolved attachments that bind the consciousness to a state of perpetual deprivation. Scriptural examples illustrate this causal link vividly. In the Sūtra of the Foundations of Mindfulness of the True Law (Zhengfa nianchu jing), pretas emerge from specific transgressions related to offerings, such as a woman who withholds food from monks and is reborn with a needle-like mouth that prevents eating, symbolizing her past denial of alms.^[22] This karmic foundation can be amplified by additional factors, such as improper funeral rites, which hinder the soul's transition and prolong the preta condition. In Hindu texts like the Dharmashāstras, neglecting ancestral offerings (pindadāna) during the post-death period leaves the departed in a vulnerable preta limbo, exacerbating hunger due to incomplete rites that fail to sever earthly ties. Buddhist narratives, such as those in the Abhidharmakośa, echo this by noting that unresolved attachments at death—compounded by inadequate merit transfer—intensify the suffering, trapping the being in the preta realm adjacent to the human world within samsaric cosmology.^[7]

Place in the Six Realms

In Buddhist cosmology, the preta realm, also known as the realm of hungry ghosts, holds the fifth position among the six realms of samsara, situated below the realms of humans and animals but above the hell realms (naraka). This hierarchy reflects a progression from higher states of relative bliss and opportunity for practice to lower states dominated by suffering, with pretas embodying the consequences of karma rooted in greed and attachment.^[23] The preta realm is distinguished by its predominant theme of suffering induced by insatiable desires, where beings experience perpetual torment from hunger, thirst, and unfulfilled cravings that define their existence. Unlike the deva realms, which offer sensory pleasures and longevity due to virtuous karma, the pretas' karmic inferiority bars them from such elevations, confining them to a state of deprivation that underscores the karmic separation between realms. However, the preta realm maintains a notable proximity to the human world within the cosmological structure, facilitating potential overlaps where preta influences might manifest in the human domain.^[24]^[13]^[25] Existence in the preta realm can span potentially vast eons, far exceeding the brevity of human lifespans, until the accumulated negative karma dissipating through endured suffering allows for rebirth elsewhere. This extended duration amplifies the realm's role as a site of profound karmic expiation, contrasting sharply with the more transient human experience that provides opportunities for ethical cultivation and liberation.^[26]

Human Interactions

Relations and Encounters

In Indian folklore, pretas are commonly encountered near cremation grounds, where they are believed to linger and cause disturbances to the living as they seek alms or express their unquenched desires. These hauntings often manifest as eerie sounds, sudden chills, or unexplained movements in the vicinity of smasans (cremation sites), reflecting the spirits' restless state following improper transitions after death. During festivals associated with ancestral veneration, such as those in Buddhist-influenced traditions, pretas are said to roam more freely, approaching humans to beg for sustenance and occasionally creating chaos if their pleas are ignored. In East Asian Buddhist folklore, for instance, the Hungry Ghost Festival sees these beings emerging en masse, leading to reports of nocturnal disturbances like flickering lights or whispers that unsettle communities.^[27] Similarly, in Burmese tales from regions like Bagan, pretas haunt agricultural lands, suffering when human activities like plowing inadvertently disturb their ethereal forms, yet evoking pity rather than fear among locals who view them as karmic cautionary figures.^[28] Pretas are perceived to exert subtle influences on humans, including minor possessions that can cause illness or disturbances, particularly among those emotionally vulnerable after a loss.^[29] In poignant folklore examples, pretas mimic deceased relatives to elicit aid, appearing in visions to a grieving family member—such as a great-grandfather consoling a young girl in Buddhist tales—to beg for water or food, blending sorrow with supernatural plea.^[14] These encounters underscore the preta's role as a bridge between the living and the departed, often resolved through brief rituals to mitigate further interactions.^[29]

Rituals and Offerings

In folklore across Indic traditions, humans appease pretas through simple offerings of food, water, or incense when encounters occur, such as providing alms to spirits appearing as relatives to relieve their torment.^[13] During festivals like the Hungry Ghost Festival, communities perform communal rituals including burning joss paper and scattering food to feed roaming pretas and prevent disturbances.^[27] In Buddhist tales, such as those in the Petavatthu, offerings mediated through the sangha transfer merit to pretas, easing their suffering without direct contact.^[30] These practices emphasize compassion and karmic reciprocity, bridging the living and the restless dead.

In Hinduism

Scriptural References

The Garuda Purana, a key Vaishnava text, provides extensive descriptions of the preta state as an immediate post-death condition where the soul, detached from the body, experiences acute hunger, thirst, and torment while wandering toward Yama's realm.^[31] In its Preta Khanda, the text details how the preta is formed from subtle elements and suffers agonies such as being dragged by Yama's messengers, beaten, burned, or pierced during the journey to the underworld, emphasizing the soul's vulnerability without proper rites.^[32] The purana outlines a 13-day transitional period following death, during which family members perform daily pinda (rice-ball) offerings for the first ten days to construct a subtle body for the preta, culminating on the eleventh day with shraddha rituals and on the thirteenth day with the preta's departure to join the ancestors or face judgment.^[31] In the Mahabharata, pretas appear as wandering spirits in narratives concerning improper funeral rites and ancestral obligations, such as in the Anushasana Parva where unappeased souls linger as restless pretas due to neglected shraddha, haunting the living and disrupting cosmic order. Doctrinally, pretas occupy an intermediate ontological position in Hindu cosmology, serving as transient ghosts between the pitrs—benevolent ancestral spirits who reside in pitriloka and receive offerings—and more malevolent entities like bhutas or pishachas, which embody chaotic, harmful forces due to prolonged neglect or grave sins.^[33] This liminal role highlights the preta's temporary nature, resolved through the sapindikarana rite around the twelfth day, which integrates the soul into the pitr lineage and averts descent into vengeful spectral forms.^[30]

Pitru Paksha Practices

Pitru Paksha, the fortnight dedicated to ancestors, is observed over a 15-day lunar period during the Krishna Paksha of the Ashwin month, typically spanning September or October in the Gregorian calendar. This observance centers on honoring pretas—the restless spirits of deceased forebears—through rituals that provide them sustenance and aid their transition from earthly torment. Participants abstain from auspicious activities, such as weddings, housewarmings, or haircuts, to maintain focus on ancestral welfare and avoid distracting the departed souls.^[34] Central to the practices is tarpana, the ritual libation of water mixed with black sesame seeds, barley grains, and blades of kusha grass, offered while chanting specific mantras to quench the thirst of pretas. These offerings are believed to alleviate the hunger and suffering endured by ancestors in their ghostly state. Additionally, pinda daan—the presentation of rice balls cooked with ritual purity—symbolizes physical nourishment for the departed. Such customs are performed daily or on designated days corresponding to the lunar tithi of an ancestor's death, emphasizing precision to maximize spiritual efficacy.^[35] A key custom involves feeding Brahmins, who serve as living proxies for the pretas, receiving vegetarian meals including rice, lentils, and sweets prepared without onion, garlic, or salt to uphold purity. This act transfers the satisfaction of the repast to the ancestors, fulfilling their unmet needs from life. For amplified merit, tarpan is conducted on the ghats of sacred rivers like the Ganges, where the flowing waters are thought to carry the offerings directly to the ethereal realm, purifying the souls further. Pilgrimages to sites such as Prayagraj or Varanasi during this period are common for those seeking heightened blessings.^[36]^[37] Underlying these rituals is the belief that proper observance liberates pitrs from preta-yoni, the tormented ghost form marked by insatiable hunger, enabling their elevation to pitru loka—a realm of contentment and ancestral authority. This transition not only grants peace to the departed but also averts curses or doshas that could hinder family prosperity, ensuring descendants' health, wealth, and lineage continuity. These practices draw brief scriptural sanction from texts like the Garuda Purana, which outline the soul's journey and the redemptive power of offerings.^[38]^[39]

In Buddhism

Theravada Interpretations

In Theravada Buddhism, the concept of the preta, or hungry ghost, is primarily elaborated in the Pali Canon, particularly through the Petavatthu ("Stories of Ghosts"), a collection of 51 verse tales within the Khuddaka Nikaya. These narratives depict pretas as beings tormented by insatiable hunger and thirst, a direct karmic retribution for unwholesome actions in previous lives, such as greed, stinginess, and avarice. For instance, stories illustrate how individuals who hoarded wealth or denied alms to the needy are reborn with emaciated bodies, tiny mouths, and bloated bellies, unable to consume even the offerings made on their behalf, emphasizing the profound suffering arising from selfish deeds.^[40]^[41] Cosmologically, the preta realm (peta-loka) is integrated as one of the four woeful states (apaya) within the sensuous world (kama-loka), alongside hells, animal realms, and asura domains, where beings endure deprivation and frustration in their futile pursuit of sensual pleasures. This placement underscores the impermanence (anicca) of all existence, as preta suffering is temporary, lasting only until the exhausting of the responsible kamma, after which rebirth may occur elsewhere based on residual actions.^[42]^[43] The Petavatthu stories convey key ethical lessons, serving as cautionary tales against avarice and attachment to material possessions, which propel beings into this realm of torment. Pretas are generally invisible to ordinary humans, dwelling amidst the human world in forests, mountains, or cemeteries, but they may be perceived by those who have developed the divine eye (dibba-cakkhu) through meditation or, occasionally, if the pretas themselves choose to manifest.^[41]^[43] The Theravada preta thus shares foundational characteristics with the Hindu notion of a restless departed spirit afflicted by past misdeeds.^[44]

Mahayana Developments

In Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of pretas evolved from earlier Indian traditions into a more elaborate framework emphasizing diverse classifications of suffering, reflecting karmic variations in the hungry ghost realm. Chinese Mahayana texts, such as the Sūtra on the Foundations of Mindfulness of the True Law, categorize pretas into thirty-six types based on their afflictions, including those with obstructed throats—often depicted as having needle-like mouths that prevent ingestion of food—and others compelled to consume excrement or filth due to past greed and stinginess.^[26] These depictions underscore the pretas' insatiable hunger and thirst as metaphors for unquenched desire, adapting foundational stories of tormented spirits into vivid illustrations of samsaric suffering while integrating Mahayana's focus on universal compassion.^[45] A key innovation in Mahayana lore involves the integration of preta liberation with bodhisattva paths, portraying the alleviation of hungry ghost suffering as an act of great compassion central to the bodhisattva vow. The Ullambana Sūtra, a seminal Mahayana text, narrates how the disciple Mahāmaudgalyāyana uses his supernatural powers to rescue his mother reborn as a preta tormented by starvation, where offered food transforms into burning coals due to her karma.^[46] The Buddha advises performing rituals on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, including offerings of food and incense to the monastic community, whose collective merit is then transferred to liberate pretas—especially ancestors across seven generations—from their realm, enabling rebirth in higher states.^[46] This practice exemplifies merit transference (patti-dāna) as a bodhisattva expedient, extending filial piety into a broader ethic of benefiting all sentient beings through empathetic intervention.^[47] These doctrinal developments influenced cultural adaptations across East Asia, transforming pretas into redeemable figures through communal rituals. In Japan, pretas became known as gaki, depicted in medieval scrolls like the Gaki Zōshi as emaciated wanderers whose suffering is mitigated via the segaki ceremony, an Ullambana-derived rite involving offerings to feed and guide them toward enlightenment.^[48] Similarly, in Korea, Mahayana traditions adapted the Ullambana festival into practices like Uranbunjae, where merit transfer during the seventh lunar month honors ancestors as pretas, blending Buddhist compassion with Confucian familial duties to redeem their unrest. These shifts highlight pretas not merely as karmic punishments but as opportunities for collective salvation, emphasizing Mahayana's emphasis on interconnected welfare over isolated retribution.^[47]

Cultural Depictions

Art and Iconography

In Indian religious art, pretas are depicted as emaciated figures symbolizing the karmic punishment of insatiable hunger due to greed. These sculptures, often carved in stone or terracotta, portray skeletal forms with distended bellies and protruding ribs. For instance, a 5th–6th century terracotta tile from the Buddhist site at Harwan in Kashmir features nude emaciated ascetics, reflecting preta-like imagery that influenced later iconography in Hindu and Buddhist contexts.^[50] Such representations emphasize moral lessons from scriptural traditions.^[51] East Asian paintings, particularly from the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), illustrate pretas—known as "hungry ghosts" (e'gaki' in Japanese)—in hellish scenes within scroll art and cave murals, often highlighting their torment alongside compassionate figures like the bodhisattva Jizo (Ksitigarbha). In Dunhuang's Mogao Caves, early Tang frescoes depict hungry ghosts in realms of suffering, receiving offerings during rituals to alleviate their thirst and hunger, as part of broader cosmological narratives.^[52] Later Japanese hanging scrolls, such as the 12th-century Scroll of Hungry Ghosts, expand on these motifs, depicting hungry ghosts amid flames and barren landscapes, underscoring themes of salvation.^[53] These works blend Chinese Tang influences with local adaptations, using vivid inks and colors to evoke empathy for the ghosts' plight.^[54] Symbolic motifs of pretas, such as pots of blood or flames emanating from their forms, evolve across Buddhist art from early Indian cave paintings to contemporary Southeast Asian murals, representing unquenchable desires. In the 5th–6th century Ajanta cave paintings, preliminary depictions of emaciated beings in Jataka narratives foreshadow these symbols, with fiery torments illustrating rebirth in the preta realm.^[55] By the modern era, Thai temple murals, like those at Wat Dusitaram in Thonburi, portray pretas with gigantic bellies and needle-thin necks desperately reaching for food, their bodies aflame or consuming impure substances like blood to symbolize eternal deprivation.^[56] These recurring elements, inspired by the ghosts' physical traits of extreme leanness and insatiable cravings, reinforce doctrinal warnings against attachment in visual form.^[57] In contemporary media as of 2025, preta motifs appear in video games and anime, such as the Persona series where hungry ghosts represent psychological shadows of greed, adapting traditional iconography to explore modern themes of consumerism and mental health.

Literature and Folklore

In Buddhist literature, pretas frequently appear in classical tales as cautionary figures illustrating the consequences of unwholesome actions such as greed and stinginess. The Petavatthu, a collection of 51 stories within the Pali Canon, depicts pretas suffering from insatiable hunger and torment due to past misdeeds, serving as moral exemplars to encourage ethical living and merit-making.^[40] For instance, one narrative describes a preta with a bloated belly and needle-thin throat, reborn after hoarding food in life, unable to consume offerings without aid from the living.^[58] Similarly, certain Jataka tales, recounting the Buddha's previous lives, incorporate preta rebirths to underscore karma's inexorability, such as a story where excessive mourning leads to a ghostly existence, highlighting the futility of attachment to the dead.^[44] In Indian folklore, pretas feature prominently in ghost stories that emphasize familial duties and the perils of neglecting rituals, often portraying them as vengeful or pleading spirits seeking resolution. These narratives, passed down orally in rural traditions, depict pretas haunting households to demand pindas (rice balls) or water, with failure to provide leading to misfortune like illness or crop failure.^[59] A common motif involves a preta of an improperly cremated relative who aids the living in exchange for shraddha ceremonies, reinforcing social norms around ancestor veneration.^[60] Chinese legends adapt the preta concept as e gui or hungry ghosts, central to tales surrounding the Zhongyuan Festival (Hungry Ghost Festival), where spirits roam due to unresolved karma. The seminal story of Maudgalyayana (Mulian), from the Ullambana Sutra, recounts a monk discovering his mother reborn as a hungry ghost tormented by starvation despite vast food stores that turn to fire or excrement when she approaches; he seeks the Buddha's guidance to liberate her through communal offerings, establishing the festival's practice of feeding ghosts to alleviate suffering.^[61] This legend underscores themes of filial piety and compassion, influencing folklore where hungry ghosts demand appeasement to prevent mischief like crop blights.^[27] In modern cultural narratives, preta motifs persist in films and literature for social commentary on greed and inequality. Japanese horror cinema, drawing from gaki (hungry ghost) lore, features them in works like the 2014 film Gaki: The Hungry Ghost, where a vampire-like spirit embodies eternal dissatisfaction, symbolizing unchecked desire in contemporary society.^[62] In Indian literature, authors adapt preta imagery to critique materialism, as seen in urban ghost stories that portray them as metaphors for the spiritually starved elite, echoing traditional cautionary roles while addressing modern alienation.^[63]

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[29]
Hungry Ghost (Preta) in Burma | USC Digital Folklore Archives
Nov 20, 2011 · Pretas are people, who, when they were alive, were greedy and malicious. Their death is usually caused by a greedy act they brought upon themselves.
[30]
Mental and Physical Illness Can Be Caused by Spirits - FPMT
It could be a preta, a hell being or an animal. There are subtle levels of spirits. For example, nagas are water serpents and snakes. They can cause cancer, ...
[31]
[PDF] The Garuda Purana
The Garuda Purana starts with the details of the afterlife. Following this is an account of funeral procedures, including rituals, the astrological timing of ...
[32]
https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/garuda-purana/d/doc117811.html
[33]
Animals, Creatures associated with Hindu Mythology compiled by by ...
Preta Preta is the Sanskrit name for a type of supernatural being described in some Indian religions as undergoing suffering greater than that of humans ...
[34]
[PDF] the survival of hindu cremation myths and rituals
Preta is a chaotic state of being because it is neither dead, nor alive, and has the impossible status of existence. Preta is both, unharnessed power and.
[35]
THE DOCTRINE OF KARMA AND ŚRĀDDHAS - jstor
concept of preta in Hinduism and Buddhism; in any case the differences are not significant for our study. In actual practice also the custom of offerings to ...
[36]
Pitru Paksha - Vedadhara
The Krishna paksha of the solar month Kanya is called Pitru paksha. During this time, the Sun passes through the stars: Uttara phalguni, Hasta, and Chitra.
[37]
https://guptvrindavandham.org/blogs/pitru-paksha-start-and-end-date/
[38]
The Spiritual Importance of Shradh (Pitru Paksha) in Hindu Culture
Apr 27, 2025 · The sacred River Ganges enhances the power of all spiritual practices performed on its banks. ... Feeding Brahmins and making charitable donations ...
[39]
Pitru Paksha 2025: Start and End Date, Rules, and Rituals
Sep 10, 2025 · iv) Feeding Brahmins and the needful: This is the last ritual in the series of practices of Pitru Paksha. After all the puja ceremonies ...Missing: Ganges | Show results with:Ganges
[40]
Shraadh Karma - Tarpan - Its Significance Among Believers
Feb 27, 2022 · Pitru paksha is seen as a ritual to repay debts to our ancestors. Hindu scriptures like Garuda Puran, Agni Puran and Vayu Puran explain the ...
[41]
Pitru Paksha 2025 Shraddha Importance and Rituals Guide ...
Helps break the cycle of preta yoni (ghostly existence) for souls stuck between worlds. Important Dates for Pitru Paksha 2025. While all days during Pitru ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[42]
Petavatthu: Stories of the Hungry Ghosts - Access to Insight
The Petavatthu contains 51 poems, each explaining how unwholesome deeds led to the rebirth of a being into the miserable realm of the hungry ghosts.
[43]
Petavatthu—Suttas and Parallels - SuttaCentral
The Stories of Hungry Ghosts” contains fifty-one stories in verse that illustrate rebirth as a hungry ghost as a result of bad deeds. It is a counterpart to ...
[44]
The Thirty-one Planes of Existence - Access to Insight
Consists of sixteen realms whose inhabitants (the devas) experience extremely refined degrees of mental pleasure. These realms are accessible to those who have ...Missing: preta position
[45]
Wh462 — Four Planes of Existence - Buddhist Publication Society
The four planes of existence are: the plane of misery, the sensual happy plane, the plane of form, and the plane of the formless.
[46]
Notes | Of Ancestors and Ghosts: How Preta Narratives Constructed ...
Aug 22, 2024 · In these images, the maternal figure appears to mimic the iconography of Hārītī. In a personal communication with Andy Rotman shared with me ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[47]
[PDF] From preta to hungry ghost | The Minding Centre
... pretas as suf- fering from extreme hunger and thirst. Hence, they termed them as “hungry ghosts,” egui, which is not a direct translation of the Sanskrit term.
[48]
[PDF] APOCRYPHAL SCRIPTURES - dBET PDF Version © 2017
If all future disciples of the Buddha are filial to their parents and uphold this Ullambana Sutra, then they will be able to deliver their present parents and ...
[49]
Ghosts and Ancestors in Medieval Chinese Religion: The Yü-lan-p'en Festival as Mortuary Ritual on JSTOR
**Summary of Mahayana Developments on Preta/Hungry Ghost Concepts in Chinese Buddhism and Ullambana Festival:**
[50]
When Ghosts Come Back to Haunt Us - Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
Jul 25, 2021 · ... Buddhism. (Hungry ghosts are called gaki in Japanese and preta in Sanskrit.) Segaki is a time for remembering the dead and resolving our ...<|separator|>
[51]
The Teaching and Practice of Filial Piety in Buddhism - Academia.edu
According to The Korean Buddhist Canon, the Ullambana Sū tra was translated between the second year of Tai Xi and the rst year of Jian Xing, Western Jin ...
[52]
Tile with Impressed Figures of Emaciated Ascetics and Couples ...
This tile decorated the courtyard of an apsidal temple at Harwan, in Kashmir. As this site has a Buddhist affiliation, the presence of emaciated nude ...
[53]
ICONOGRAPHY of Hindu Temple Architecture - Academia.edu
In the context of temple design, Shilpa Shastras were manuals for sculpture and Hindu iconography, prescribing among other things, the proportions of a ...Missing: Preta apotropaic
[54]
Mogao Cave 202 (Early Tang Dynasty)
Just as the Food Supply Ceremony for Hungry Ghosts in the Collection of Yoga says, “The Bodhi will not be attained until all creatures are saved from ...
[55]
Scroll of Hungry Ghosts - ColBase
The Scroll of Hungry Ghosts depicts spirits of those who lived with greed and evil, suffering from hunger and thirst, based on the Pure Land faith.
[56]
Art: Realm of Hungry Ghosts (from The Six Realms of Rebirth)
The hungry ghost motif was common in the religious imagery of Japanese Buddhism, sometimes appearing in series dedicated to all six realms, as is this case here ...
[57]
The Caves of Ajanta - Smarthistory
Ajanta consists of thirty caves, each dedicated to the life of the Buddha. Each cave is filled with sculptures, wall murals, and ceiling paintings.
[58]
[PDF] HELL SCENES IN THAI MURALS - The Siam Society
The Traiphum enumerates each retribution at great length and in minute, gruesome detail. However, some beings who are not born immediately in a hell state are ...<|separator|>
[59]
Preta, A Hungry Ghost, A Buddhist Morality Supporting Figure
Preta, A Hungry Ghost, A Buddhist Morality Supporting Figure. India. About 1150, Pala period (8th–12th century).
[60]
The Book Of Hungry Ghosts - dhamma musings
Feb 22, 2012 · The stories tell of the mean, nasty or immoral things people did which led them to being reborn as a ghost. Without exception these stories are ...<|separator|>
[61]
Folklore's Scariest Creatures: Preta - Writing Werewolf
May 21, 2020 · Pretas can be found in stories from several Asian cultures due to the spread of Buddhism, including India, China, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.Missing: cremation grounds
[62]
Mythical Beings: Pretas and Pitrs - The New Indian Express
Oct 14, 2023 · The literal meaning of the word preta is 'dead' or 'deceased'. ... preta bodies are made up of only two, vayu and akasa. Due to this, they ...
[63]
Buddhist Hungry Ghost Preta Festival: Why it is a Compassionate ...
Buddha taught Mulian in the Ullambana Sutra, also known as Yulanpen Sutra, that making offerings is the main way to alleviate the suffering of loved ones ...
[64]
Gaki: The Hungry Ghost - IMDb
A beautiful Japanese Vampire falls in love with a simple dishwasher- who's brother happens to be a dangerous Yakuza.
[65]
Gaki : The Hungry Ghost - Mythlok
In contemporary literature and cinema, Gaki often symbolize unchecked greed and the repercussions of selfish behavior. These narratives are reinterpreted in ...<|control11|><|separator|>