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''Not to be confused with the Portuguese word for black (feminine gender)'' Preta is the Sanskrit name for a type of supernatural being described in some Indian religions as undergoing suffering greater than that of humans, particularly an extreme level of hunger and thirst. Preta is often translated into English as "hungry ghost" from the Chinese adaptation. In early sources such as the ''Petavatthu'', they are much more varied. The descriptions below apply mainly in this narrower context. Pretas are believed to have been false, corrupted, compulsive, deceitful, jealous or greedy people in a previous life. As a result of their karma, they are afflicted with an insatiable hunger for a particular substance or object. Traditionally, this is something repugnant or humiliating, such as cadavers or feces, though in more recent stories, it can be anything, however bizarre.〔Garuda Purana 2.7.92-95, 2.22.52-55〕 ==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. 〔http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/〕 The Sanskrit term was taken up in Buddhism to describe one of six possible states of rebirth. The Chinese term egui (餓鬼), literally "starving ghost", is thus not a literal translation of the Sanskrit term. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Preta」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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