Preta
A preta is in Buddhist and Hindu lore, a type of Ghost. In the Buddhist scheme of Reincarnation, the realm of the Hungry Ghosts (pretas) is a lower segment of the Wheel of Life, the various levels in which one reincarnates according to one’s karma. Pretas occupy a sort of purgatory between lives of those who have accumulated the bad karma of envy, refusal of alms, greed, etc. They must work off this karma, forgotten by their relatives, in a state of constant hunger and thirst.
The torture continues until the karma has been balanced. Pretas look like burnt trees and have needle-sized throats and mountain-sized bellies. They live in Crossroads, which are a favourite congregating place of spirits, ghosts, witches and deities associated with the underworld. They also gather outside houses and at boundaries. In Hindu belief, the preta is the tiny ghost of the dead, about the size of a thumb, that either resides in the corpse or remains near the home of the deceased for one year after the funeral. When the year is up, rites are performed to send the soul to heaven, where it is rewarded for the good deeds performed on earth.
Without the rites, the soul could not escape its preta condition. Later, the soul enters its final place. Pretas also are ghosts of a cripple or a child.
FURTHER READING:
- Leach, Maria, and Jerome Fried, eds. Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979.
- The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion. Boston: Shambhala, 1989.
SOURCE:
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits– Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – September 1, 2007