Preta ( sa, प्रेत, bo, ཡི་དྭགས་ ''yi dags''), also known as hungry ghost, is the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
name for a type of
supernatural being described in
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
,
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
, and
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
as undergoing
suffering greater than that of humans, particularly an extreme level of hunger and thirst. They have their origins in
Indian religions
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...
and have been adopted into
East Asian religions
In the study of comparative religion, the East Asian religions or Taoic religions, form a subset of the Eastern religions. This group includes Chinese religion overall, which further includes Ancestral Worship, Chinese folk religion, Confuciani ...
via the spread of Buddhism. Preta is often translated into English as "
hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a concept in Buddhism, and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.
The terms ' literally "hungry ghost", are the Chinese translation of the term ''pret ...
" from the Chinese and East Asian adaptations. In early sources such as the ''
Petavatthu
__NOTOC__
The Petavatthu () is a Theravada Buddhist scripture, included in the Minor Collection (''Khuddaka Nikaya'') of the Pali Canon's Sutta Pitaka. It ostensibly reports stories about and conversations among the Buddha and his disciples, an ...
'', they are much more varied. The descriptions below apply mainly in this narrower context. The development of the concept of the preta started with just thinking that it was the soul and ghost of a person once they died, but later the concept developed into a transient state between death and obtaining karmic reincarnation in accordance with the person's fate.
In order to pass into the cycle of karmic reincarnation, the deceased's family must engage in a variety of rituals and offerings to guide the suffering spirit into its next life.
If the family does not engage in these funerary rites, which last for one year, the soul could remain suffering as a preta for the rest of
eternity
Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempit ...
.
Pretas are believed to have been false, corrupted, compulsive, deceitful, jealous or greedy people in a previous life. As a result of their
karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
, they are afflicted with an insatiable hunger for a particular substance or object. Traditionally, this is something repugnant or humiliating, such as
cadaver
A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stud ...
s or
feces, though in more recent stories, it can be anything, however bizarre. In addition to having insatiable hunger for an aversive item, pretas are said to have disturbing visions.
Pretas and human beings occupy the same physical space and while humans looking at a river would see clear water, pretas see the same river flowing with an aversive substance, common examples of such visions include pus and filth.
Through the belief and influence of Hinduism and Buddhism in much of Asia, ''preta'' figure appear prominently in the cultures of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
Names
The Sanskrit term ''preta'' means "departed, deceased, a dead person", from ''pra-ita'', literally "gone forth, departed".
In Classical Sanskrit, the term refers to the spirit of any dead person, but especially before the obsequial rites are performed,
but also more narrowly to a ghost or evil being.
The Sanskrit term was taken up in Buddhism to describe one of six possible states of rebirth.
The Chinese term ''egui'' (), literally "starving ghost", is thus not a literal translation of the Sanskrit term.
Description
Pretas are invisible to the human eye, but some believe they can be discerned by humans in certain mental states. They are described as human-like, but with sunken, mummified skin, narrow limbs, enormously distended bellies and long, thin necks. This appearance is a metaphor for their mental situation: they have enormous appetites, signified by their gigantic bellies, but a very limited ability to satisfy those appetites, symbolized by their slender necks.
Pretas are often depicted in
Japanese art (particularly that from the
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
) as
emaciated
Emaciation is defined as the state of extreme thinness from absence of body fat and muscle wasting usually resulting from malnutrition.
Characteristics
In humans, the physical appearance of emaciation includes thinned limbs, pronounced and protrud ...
human beings with bulging stomachs and inhumanly small mouths and throats. They are frequently shown licking up spilled water in temples or accompanied by
demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
s representing their personal agony. Otherwise they may be shown as
balls of smoke or fire.
In Cambodia, a special female ''preta'' is known as a ''grák,'' a malevolent spirit believed to be the spirit of a corrupt old woman named Yey Plang (យាយប្លង់) who was in charge of preparing food for the royal family and for monks in temples near the
royal palace during the reign of
King Monivong between 1927 and 1941.
Pretas dwell in the waste and desert places of the earth, and vary in situation according to their past
karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
. Some of them can eat a little, but find it very difficult to find food or drink. Others can find food and drink, but find it very difficult to swallow. Others find that the food they eat seems to burst into flames as they swallow it. Others see something edible or drinkable and desire it but it withers or dries up before their eyes. As a result, they are always hungry.
In addition to hunger, pretas suffer from immoderate heat and cold; they find that even the moon scorches them in the summer, while the sun freezes them in the winter.
The types of suffering are specified into two main types of pretas, those that live collectively, and those that travel through space.
Of the former, there are three subtypes, the first being pretas who suffer from external obscurations.
These pretas suffer constant hunger, thirst or temperature insensitivity.
The second type of pretas are those who suffer from internal obscurations, who have small mouths and large stomachs.
Often, their mouths are so small that they cannot eat enough food to fill the large space in their stomachs and thus remain constantly hungry.
The last of the three subtypes are pretas that suffer from specific obscurations like creatures who live on and eat their bodies.
The other broad category of pretas that travel through time and space are always scared and have a tendency to inflict pain on others.
The sufferings of the pretas often resemble those of the dwellers in
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, and the two types of being are easily confused. The simplest distinction is that beings in hell are confined to their subterranean world, while pretas are free to move about.
Relations between pretas and humans
![Bhuta College Square Arnab Dutta 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Bhuta_College_Square_Arnab_Dutta_2010.JPG)
Pretas are generally seen as little more than nuisances to mortals unless their longing is directed toward something vital, such as blood or flesh. However, in some traditions, pretas try to prevent others from satisfying their own desires by means of
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
, illusions, or disguises. They can also turn invisible or change their faces to frighten mortals.
Generally, however, pretas are seen as beings to be pitied. Thus, in some Buddhist monasteries, monks leave offerings of foods, beverages, incenses, lights, fruits or flowers to them before meals.
In addition, there are many festivals around Asia that commemorate the importance of hungry ghosts or pretas and such festivals exist in Tibetan Buddhist tradition as well as Chinese Taoist tradition. Countries such as China, Cambodia, Tibet, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia engage in hungry ghost festivals, and in China this is usually on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month according to their calendar.
Many rituals involve burning symbolized material possessions, such as
joss paper (in the form of money, clothes, gadgets, transportation, estates, accommodation, luxuries, etc) thus linking the concept of the preta with the deceased's materialism in their lifetime.
Though many pretas or hungry ghosts cling to their material possessions during their human lifetime, some other ghosts represented in the festivals long for their loved ones during their human life.
During the festivals, people give offerings to the spirits and hope for blessings from their ancestors in return.
Thus, the hungry ghost festivals commemorating the pretas are a natural part of some Asian cultures and are not limited to only Hindu or Buddhist belief systems.
Hinduism
In
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
pretas are very real beings. They are a form, a body consisting only of ''
vāyu
Vayu (, sa, वायु, ), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine massenger of the gods. In the ''Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of g ...
'' (air) and
''akaśa'' (
aether), two of the
five great elements (
classical element
Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simil ...
s) which constitutes a body on Earth (others being
''prithvī'' arth
Arth is a village, a List of towns in Switzerland, town, and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
The municipality consists of the villages Arth, Oberarth, and Goldau. The four ...
jala ater Ater (Hebrew אֲתַר) is an Old Testament male name.
#A descendant of Hezekiah, who returned from Babylon ;
#An Israelite, who subscribed to Nehemiah
Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in r ...
and
agni
Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...
ire
Ire or IRE may refer to:
Ire
* Extreme anger; intense fury
* Irē, the Livonian name for Mazirbe, Latvia
* A town in Oye, Nigeria
* ''Ire'' (album), a 2015 album by the Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive
* Ire (Iliad), a town mentioned in ...
. There are other forms as per the
karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
or "actions" of previous lives where a soul takes birth in humanoid bodies with the absence of one to three elements. In Hinduism an
Atma or soul/spirit is bound to take rebirth after death in a body composed of five or more elements. A soul in transient mode is pure and its existence is comparable to that of a
deva
Deva may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film
* ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film
* ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film
* Deva (2007 Telugu film)
* ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film
* Deva ...
(god) but in the last form of physical birth. The elements except ''akaśa'' as defined is the common constituent throughout the universe and the remaining four are common to the properties of the planets, stars and afterlife places such as the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
. This is the reason that Pretas cannot eat or drink as the rest of the three elements are missing and no digestion or physical intake is possible for them.
Pretas are crucial elements of Hindu culture, and there are a variety of very specific funerary rituals that the mourning family must engage in to guide the deceased spirit into its next cycle of karmic rebirth. Rice balls, which are said to symbolize the body of the deceased, are offered from the mourning family to the preta
whose spirit is often symbolized by a clay mound somewhere in the house. These rice balls are offered in three sets of 16 over one year, which is the amount of time it takes for a preta to complete its transformation into its next phase of life.
The rice balls are offered to the preta because in this transient state between cremation and rebirth, the preta is said to undergo intense physical suffering. The three stages are the impure sixteen, the middle sixteen and the highest sixteen that occur over the course of the mourning period.
After the physical body of the deceased is cremated, the first six rice balls are offered to ghosts in general, while the next ten are offered specifically to the preta or the spirit of the person who just died.
These ten rice balls are said to help the preta form its new body which is now the length of a forearm.
During the second stage, sixteen rice balls are offered to the preta, as through each stage of grief it is believed that pretas become even hungrier.
At the last and final stage, the preta is said to have a new body, four rice balls are offered and five spiritual leaders of Brahmans are fed so that they can symbolize digesting the sins of the deceased during their life.
While there are specific steps that guide the preta into its new life, during the mourning process, the deceased's family must undergo a series of restrictions to assist the preta and ease its suffering.
In Indian cultures, food and digestion is symbolic as it separates the food essential for digestion from the waste products, and thus the same logic is applied to sins of the deceased in their living relatives eating and digesting the symbolic rice balls.
In engaging in these rituals, the chief mourner of the deceased individual is the symbolic representation of the spirit or preta.
During the period of mourning, the chief mourner can only eat one meal a day for the first eleven days following the death, and also not sleep on a bed, engage in sexual activity or any personal grooming or hygiene practices.
Buddhism
In general in Buddhist tradition, a preta is considered one of the six forms of existence (Gods, demigods, humans, animals, ghosts and hell beings) once a person dies and is reborn.
![Gaki-Zoushi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Gaki-Zoushi.jpg)
In Japan, preta is translated as ''gaki'' ( ja, 餓鬼, "hungry ghost"), a borrowing from
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
''nga
H kjwɨj
X'' (, "hungry ghost").
Since 657, some Japanese Buddhists have observed a special day in mid-August to remember the ''gaki''. Through such offerings and remembrances (''
segaki''), it is believed that the hungry ghosts may be released from their torment.
In the modern
Japanese language
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...
, the word ''gaki'' is often used to mean spoiled child, or brat.
In Thailand, ''pret'' ( th,
เปรต) are
hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a concept in Buddhism, and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.
The terms ' literally "hungry ghost", are the Chinese translation of the term ''pret ...
s of the Buddhist tradition that have become part of the
Thai folklore
Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large ...
, but are described as being abnormally tall, and can emit very high-pitched sound with its tiny mouth, which could be heard only by a monk or a shaman. Many elders often tell their child not to swear or tell bad things at their parents, otherwise they will become Pret afterlife.
In
Sri Lankan culture
The culture of Sri Lanka mixes modern elements with traditional aspects and is known for its regional diversity. Sri Lankan culture has long been influenced by the heritage of Theravada Buddhism passed on from India, and the religion's legacy ...
, like in other Asian cultures, people are reborn as ''preta'' (''peréthaya'') if they desired too much in their life where their large stomachs can never be fulfilled because they have a small mouth.
See also
*
Bhavacakra
The bhavacakra (Sanskrit: भवचक्र; Pāli: ''bhavacakka''; Tibetan: སྲིད་པའི་འཁོར་ལོ, Wylie: ''srid pa'i 'khor lo'') is a symbolic representation of saṃsāra (or cyclic existence). It is found on the ...
*
Bhoot (ghost)
A ''bhoot'' or ''bhuta'' ( sa, भूत, ''bhūta'') is a supernatural creature, usually the ghost of a deceased person, in the popular culture, literature and some ancient texts of the Indian subcontinent. Interpretations of how bhoots come i ...
*
Bon Festival
or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...
*
Buddhist cosmology
*
Chöd
Chöd ( lit. 'to sever') is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism (where it is classed as Anuttarayoga Tantra). Also known as "cutting through the ego, ...
*
Edimmu
The edimmu or ekimmu, were a type of utukku in the Mesopotamian religion of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia, similar in nature to the preta of the Hindu religions or the Jiangshan of Chinese mythology. They were envisioned as the ghosts ...
*
Ganachakra
A ganacakra ( sa, गणचक्र ' "gathering circle"; ) is also known as tsok, ganapuja, cakrapuja or ganacakrapuja. It is a generic term for various tantric assemblies or feasts, in which practitioners meet to chant mantra, enact mudra, ...
*
Ghost Festival
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival (traditional Chinese: 中元節; simplified Chinese: ) in Taoism and Yulanpen Festival () in Buddhism, is a traditional Taoist and Buddhist festival held in certain East Asian countrie ...
*
Ghoul
A ghoul ( ar, غول, ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid. The concept originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. Modern fiction often uses the term to label a cert ...
*
Hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a concept in Buddhism, and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.
The terms ' literally "hungry ghost", are the Chinese translation of the term ''pret ...
*
Jikininki
appear in Lafcadio Hearn's ''Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things'' (1904) as cadaver, corpse-eating spirits. In Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhism, ''jikininki'' ("human-eating ghosts"; pronounced ''shokujinki'' in modern Japanese lan ...
*
Kanjirottu Yakshi
Kanjirottu Yakshi is a folkloric deity of South India. According to the myth, she was born into an affluent Nair tharavad by name Mangalathu at Kanjiracode in Southern Travancore (now in Tamil Nadu). Also known as Chiruthevi, she was a beaut ...
*
Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the ''Lares'', ''Lemures,'' '' Genii'', and ''Di Penates'' as deities ('' ...
*
Maudgalyayana
Maudgalyāyana ( pi, Moggallāna), also known as Mahāmaudgalyāyana or by his birth name Kolita, was one of the Buddha's closest disciples. Described as a contemporary of disciples such as Subhuti, Śāriputra ('), and Mahākāśyapa ( pi, M ...
*
Pitrs
The pitrs () are the spirits of departed ancestors in Hinduism. Following an individual's death, the performance of the antyesti (funeral rites) is regarded to allow the deceased to enter Pitrloka, the abode of one's ancestors. The non-performanc ...
*
Segaki
*
Tingsha
''Tingsha'' (or ''ting-sha'') () are small cymbals used in prayer and rituals by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners. Two cymbals are joined together by a leather strap or chain. The cymbals are struck together producing a clear and high pitched to ...
*
Wendigo
Wendigo () is a mythological creature or evil spirit originating from the folklore of Plains and Great Lakes Natives as well as some First Nations. It is based in and around the East Coast forests of Canada, the Great Plains region of the U ...
References
Further reading
* Firth, Shirley. ''End of Life: A Hindu View''. The Lancet 2005, 366:682-86
* Sharma, H.R. ''Funeral Pyres Report''. Benares Hindu University 2009.
* Garuda Purana. J.L. Shastri/A board of scholars. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1982.
Garuda Purana Ernest Wood
Ernest Egerton Wood (18 August 1883 – 17 September 1965) was a noted English yogi, theosophist, Sanskrit scholar, and author of numerous books, including ''Concentration – An Approach to Meditation'', ''Yoga'' and ''The Pinnacle of Indian ...
, S.V. Subrahmanyam, 1911.
* Monier-Williams, Monier M. Sir. A Sanskrit-English dictionary. Delhi, India : Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1990. .
External links
Firth, Shirley. "End of Life: A Hindu View" ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'', 2005, 366:682–86
Sharma, H. R. Funeral Pyres Report. Benares Hindu University 2009.*
ttp://www.hinduism.co.za/funerals.htm Funerals - assorted quotes
{{Authority control
Ghosts
Japanese ghosts
Non-human races in Hindu mythology
Undead