Not traced. ” ” . Sutta Nipata (not traced '). » on TIL, 11, 43.
Not traced.
Now the Pali Pitakas consist of the following twentynine books:
Title. Neo ee ares
1. The Sutta Vibhanga . 617*
2. The Khandhakas . 668* a. Mahavagga 360 Tue Vinaya b. Xullavagga , 308 PI7aka.
3. The Parivara . ee 226* Total. . . 1511*
4. The Digha Nikaya . 750 Tue Sutra
5. The Magghima Nikaéya . 1000 PITAKA
6. The Samyutta Nikdya . . 1250 ;
4. The Anguttara Nikdya . 1500 j (The four great Total . . 4500 Nikéyas.)
8. The Khuddaka Pasha 10* g. The Dhammapadas 40°
10. The Udanas . 80*
11. The Iti-vuttakas 100* Tue Kuuppaka t2. The Sutta Nipata 200* NixAya.
13. The Vimana Vatthu 85* (The repeaters of
14. The Peta Vatthu go* the Digha add
15. The Thera-Gatha . 100* these to the Sut-
16. The Theri-Gatha 35" ta Pifaka. The
17. The Gatakas . 70 repeaters of the t8. The Niddesa . 300 Magghima add tg. The Pafisambhida . " 400 them to the Abhi- 20, The Apadanas 400 dhamma Pi/aka.)
21. The Buddha Vansa 60*
a2. The Kariya Pitaka. . . 30*
Total
p. 2000
1 Mr. Trenckner gives no reference, and I have searched through the Sutta
Nip4ta, which has no index, in vain.
INTRODUCTION. XXXVII
23. The Dhamma Sangani . 260*
24. The Vibhanga . . . . 325
25. The Katha Vatthu . . . 440
26. The Puggala Pafifatti. . 75*
27. The Dhatu KathA . . . 100 } THE ABHIDHAMMA
28. The Yamakas . . . . 400 Pr7axa.
29. The Pavfhina . . . . 600
Total Abhidhamma . —— 2200
10,211
This shows the total extent of the three Pifakas to be about 10,000 pages 8vo. as printed, or to be printed, by the Pali Text Society). If our English Bible, in the older authorised version, were to be printed in the same manner and type and on the same size of page, it would occupy about 5,0co pages. So that the Buddhist Bible without its repetitions (some of which are very frequent, and others very long), would only occupy about double the space of the English Bible. This would not have been a literature too large to be familiarly known to our author. What is the conclusion which can fairly be drawn, from a comparison of the last list with those preceding it, as to his knowledge of those books now held, by living Buddhists, to be canonical ?
This would not have been a literature too large to be familiarly known to our author. What is the conclusion which can fairly be drawn, from a comparison of the last list with those preceding it, as to his knowledge of those books now held, by living Buddhists, to be canonical ?
The answer to this question will be of some importance for another reason beyond the help it will afford towards settling the date of the original ‘Questions of Milinda.’ As is well known, Asoka, in the only one of his edicts, addressed specially to the members of the Buddhist Order of mendicants, selects seven portions of the Buddhist Scriptures, which he mentions by name, and expresses his desire that not only the brethren and sisters of the Order, but also the laity, should constantly learn by heart and reflect upon those seven. Now not one of the seven titles which occur in the edict is identical with any of the twenty-nine in the last list. Whereupon certain Indianists have rejoiced at being able to score a point, as they think, against these
1 This estimate excludes the space occupied by notes. The books marked with an asterisk in the foregoing list have already been printed.
XXXVili THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
Whereupon certain Indianists have rejoiced at being able to score a point, as they think, against these
1 This estimate excludes the space occupied by notes. The books marked with an asterisk in the foregoing list have already been printed.
XXXVili THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
unbrahmanical Buddhists, and have jumped to the conclusion that the Buddhist canon must be late and spurious; and that the Buddhism of Asoka’s time must have been very different from the Buddhism of the Pali Pitakas. That would be much the same as if a Japanese scholar, at a time when he knew little or nothing of Christianity, except the names of the books in the Bible, were to have found an open letter of Constantine’s in which he urges both the clergy and laity to look upon the Word of God as their only authority, and to constantly repeat and earnestly meditate upon the Psalm of the Shepherd, the words of Lemuel, the Prophecy of the Servant of the Lord, the Sermon on the Mount, the Exaltation of Charity, the Question of Nicodemus, and the story of the Prodigal Son—and that our Oriental critic should jump to the conclusion that the canonical books of the Christians could not have been known in the time of Constantine, and that the Christianity of Constantine was really quite different from, and much more simple than the Christianity of the Bible. As a matter of fact the existence of such a letter would prove very little, either way, as to the date of the books in the Bible as we now have them. If our Japanese scholar were to discover afterwards a Christian work, even much later than the time of Constantine, in which the canonical books of the Christians were both quoted and referred to, he would have much surer ground for a sounder historical criticism. And he would possibly come to see that the seven portions selected for special honour and commendation were not intended as an exhaustive list even of remarkable passages, much less for an exhaustive list of canonical books, but that the number seven was merely chosen in deference to the sacred character attaching to that number in the sacred literature.
Such a book is our Milinda. It is, as we have seen, later than the canonical books of the Pali Pivakas, and on the other hand, not only older than the great commentaries, but the only book, outside the canon, regarded in them as an authority which may be implicitly followed. And I venture to think that the most simple working hypothesis
INTRODUCTION. XXXIX
And I venture to think that the most simple working hypothesis
INTRODUCTION. XXXIX
by which to explain the numerous and varied references and quotations it makes, as shown in the preceding lists, from the Pifakas as a whole, and from the various books contained in them, is that the Pali Pitakas were known, in their entirety, and very nearly, if not quite, as we now have them, to our author. For out of the twenty-nine books of the Pizakas, we find in the lists of works referred to by him the three Pitakas as a whole, the Vinaya Pitaka as a whole, and all of its component books except the Parivara (which was composed in Ceylon), the Sutta Pitaka and each of the four great Nikdyas, the Abhidhamma Pifaka and each of its seven component books, and the Khuddaka Nikaya as a whole and several of its separate books. And when we further recollect the very large number of quotations appearing in my lists as not yet traced in the Pitakas, we see the necessity of being very chary in drawing any argument ex silentio with respect to those books not occurring in the lists.
To sum up.—It may be said generally that while the Sutta Vibhanga and the Khandhakas, the four great Nikayas, and the Abhidhamma were certainly known to our author, he very likely had no knowledge of the Parivara; and it remains to be seen how far his knowledge of the Khuddaka Nik4ya, which he happens to mention once! as a whole by name, did actually extend. At present it is only clear that he knew the Khuddaka Patha, the Dhammapada collection of sacred verses, the Sutta Nipata, the Thera and Theri-gatha, the GAatakas, and the Kariya Pitaka. I hope to return to this question in the Introduction to my second volume, only pointing out here that the doubtful books (those concerning which our author is apparently silent) would occupy about two thousand pages octavo, out of the ten thousand of which the three Pifakas would, if printed, consist: and that those two thousand pages belong, for the most part, precisely to that part of the Pifakas which have not yet been edited, so that there they may very likely, after all, be quoted in one or other
1 Page 342 of the printed text.
xl THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
of the numerous quotations entered as ‘not traced’ in my lists 1.
Such being the extent, so far as can at present be shown, of our author’s knowledge of the three Pizakas, the question arises as to the degree and accuracy of his knowledge. In the great majority of cases his quotations or references entirely agree with the readings shown by our texts. But there are a few exceptions. And as these are both interesting and instructive, it will be advisable to point them out in detail.
In the great majority of cases his quotations or references entirely agree with the readings shown by our texts. But there are a few exceptions. And as these are both interesting and instructive, it will be advisable to point them out in detail.
The reference to the Avi#i Hell as being outside the earth, if not at variance with, is at least an addition to the teaching of the Pisakas as to cosmogony?. But there is some reason to believe that the passage may be an interpolation, and the difference itself is not only doubtful but also of no particular importance.
The description of the contents of the Puggala Pa#“atti given in I, 26, does not really agree with the text. The book, in its first section, sets out six different sorts of discrimination or distinction. One paragraph only is devoted to each of the first five discriminations, and the author or authors then proceed, in the rest of the book, to deal with the details of the last of the six. Our author gives the six as the divisions of the book itself.
But I think it is clear that so far as the description is inaccurate, the error is due, not to any difference between the text as he had it and that which we now possess, but simply to our author laying too great a stress upon the opening paragraphs of the book.
In the reference to the Buddha’s first sermon, the Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness (in I, 38), our author says that ‘eighteen ko¢is of Brahma gods, and an innumerable company of other gods, attained to compre-
' About half of the canonical books, besides a considerable number of the uncanonical works, have already been edited in the last few years, chiefly owing to the Pali Text Society’s labours.
2 See the passages quoted in my note at p. 9.
INTRODUCTION. xli
hension of the truth.’ There is no statement of the kind in the Pisaka account of this event (see my translation in ‘Buddhist Suttas,’ pp. 146-155). But it is not inconsistent with the Pali, and is doubtless added from some edifying commentary.
There is a difference of reading between the lines put into Sariputta’s mouth, at II, 2, 4, and those ascribed to Sariputta in the Thera Gatha (1002, 1003). If the Milinda reading is not found in some hitherto unpublished passage, we have here a real case of divergence.
There is a difference of reading between the lines put into Sariputta’s mouth, at II, 2, 4, and those ascribed to Sariputta in the Thera Gatha (1002, 1003). If the Milinda reading is not found in some hitherto unpublished passage, we have here a real case of divergence.
Perhaps the most important apparent variation between our author and the Pitaka texts is the statement put by him, in IV, 4, 9, into the mouth of the Buddha, that a deliberate lie is one of the offences called ParAgika, that is, involving exclusion from the Order. Now in the old Canon Law there are only four Paragika offences—breach of chastity, theft, murder, and a false claim to extraordinary spiritual powers (see my translation in vol. i, pp. 1-5 of the ‘ Vinaya Texts’); and falsehood is placed quite distinctly under another category, that of the Pa#ittiyas, offences requiring repentance (see p. 32 of the same translation). If our author was a member of the Order, as he almost certainly was, it would seem almost incredible that he should make an error in a matter of such common knowledge, and of such vital importance, as the number and nature of the Paragikas. And indeed, in the immediate context, he refers to the Pakittiya rule, though not in the exact words used in the text of the Patimokkha. I think that he must have known very well what he was talking about. And that a passage, not yet traced, will be found in the unpublished parts of the Pitakas, in which the Buddha is made to say that falsehood is a Paragika—just as a Christian might maintain that falsehood is forbidden in the Ten Commandments, and yet be perfectly aware of the exact phraseology of the Ten Words.
In IV, 4, 26, our author identifies the learned pig in the Takkha-sikara Gataka with the Bodisat. He differs here from the Gataka Commentary, in which the Bodisat is identified with the tree-god, who acts as a kind of Greek chorus in the story. And the summaries in IV, 4, 28 of xlii TIE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
Ruru Gataka, and in IV, 4, 30 of the Sabba-datha GAtaka, do not exactly agree with Professor Fausbdll’s text. But the commentary is not the text; and it is well known that there are numerous such light variations in the different expansions of the verses, which latter alone form the actual text.
In IV, 4, 44 we find our author giving a version of a well-known incident in the Buddhist Gospel story different from the oldest version of it in the Pisaka texts. This is another instance of an expansion of the original adopted from some unknown commentator, and does not argue an ignorance of the text as we have it.
This is another instance of an expansion of the original adopted from some unknown commentator, and does not argue an ignorance of the text as we have it.
I have noticed in the untranslated portion of our author, four or five cases of readings apparently different from the Pizaka texts he refers to. These I hope to deal with in my next volume. But I may notice here that two stanzas, given on p. 414 of the text, and said on p. 413 to be ‘in the Sutta Nipta, are not found in Professor Fausbdll’s edition of that work ; and we have there, in all probability, another case of real divergence. But the reading in the Milinda may possibly be found to be incorrect.
The general result of this comparison, when we remember the very large number of passages quoted, will be held, I trust, to confirm the conclusion reached above, that our author knew the Pitakas practically as we now have them, that is as they have been handed down in Ceylon.
Outside the Pi/akas there are unfortunately no references to actual books. But there are several references to countries and persons which are of importance, in as much as they show a knowledge in our author of places or occurrences not mentioned in the sacred books. It will be most convenient to arrange these passages first in an alphabetical list, and then to make a few remarks on the conclusions the list suggests. They are as follows :—
It will be noticed that the only names of persons, besides
Saka-yavana (the countries of) ) 327, 331- Sankheyya (parivenam) 1g, 22. Sabbadinna or Dinna (Y onako) 29, 56. Sagala (nagaram) . I, 3) 5) 14, 22. Sura/ha (nigamo) 359, men of, 331. Suvazna-bhimi (? Burma) 359- Sonuttara (brdhmano) . 9.
It will be noticed that the only names of persons, besides those occurring in the story itself, are, in one passage, Asoka and Bindumati the courtesan, and in another Kandragupta and Bhaddasila who fought against him. Of places, besides those in the story, we have a considerable number of names | referring to the Panj4éb, and adjacent countries; and besides these the names only of a few places or countries on xliv THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
the sea coast. The island Alasanda in the Indus, and the town of Kalasi situated in that island, have been discussed above. The country of the Sakas and Yavanas, Gandhara, Kashmir, Bharukaké/a, Surat, and Madhura, explain themselves. Nikumba and Viléta were probably in the same neighbourhood, but these names have not been met with elsewhere, and I can suggest no identification of them. The places on the sea coast, to which a merchant ship could sail, mentioned on p. 359, are mostly well known. Kolapattana must, I think, be some place on the Koromandel coast, and Suvaz#a-bhimi be meant for the seaboard of Burma and Siam. The author mentions no places in the interior south of the Ganges.
At four places he gives lists of famous rivers. In three out of the four he simply repeats the list of five—Gang4, Yamuna, A&iravati, SarabhQ, and Mahi—so often enumerated together in the Pifakas'. In the fourth passage (p. 114) he adds five others—the Sindhu, the Sarassati, the Vetravati, the Vitaszs4, and the Kandabh4g4. Of these the first two are well known. Professor Eduard Miiller suggests” that the Vitawsa is the same as the Vitast4 (the Hydaspes of the Greeks and the modern Bihat). The Vetravati is one of the principal affluents of the Jumna; and the Kandrabhaga rises in the North-West Himalayas, and is not unfrequently referred to as the Asikni of the Vedas, the Akesines of the Greek geographers, the modern Kinab ’.
The list is meagre enough. An ethical treatise is scarcely the place to look for much geographical or historical matter. But unless our author deliberately concealed his knowledge, and made all the remarks he put into the mouth of Nagasena correspond with what that teacher might fairly be expected to have known, the whole list points to the definite conclusion that the writer of the ‘Questions of Milinda’ resided in the far North-West of
1 See pp. 70, 87, 380 of the Pali text.
* « Journal of the Pali Text Society,’ 1888, p. 87.
* See Lassen, ‘Indische Alterthumskunde,’ vol. i, p. 43 (first edition, p. 55 of the second edition), and the passages there quoted.
INTRODUCTION. xlv
70, 87, 380 of the Pali text.
* « Journal of the Pali Text Society,’ 1888, p. 87.
* See Lassen, ‘Indische Alterthumskunde,’ vol. i, p. 43 (first edition, p. 55 of the second edition), and the passages there quoted.
INTRODUCTION. xlv
India, or in the Panjab itself. And this is confirmed by the great improbability of any memory of Menander having survived elsewhere, and more especially in Ceylon, where we should naturally look for our author's residence if he did not live in the region thus suggested.
As my space is here limited, I postpone to the next volume the discussion as to how far the knowledge displayed by our author, the conditions of society with which he shows himself acquainted, and the religious beliefs he gives utterance to, afford evidence of his date. I will only say here that on all these points his-work shows clear signs of being later than the Pitaka texts. And in the present state of our knowledge, or rather of our ignorance, of Pali, there is very little to be drawn from the language used by our author. In the first place we do not know for certain whether we have the original before us, or a translation from the Sanskrit or from some Northern dialect. And if, as is probably the case, we have a translation, it would be very difficult to say whether any peculiarity we may find in it is really due to the translator, or to the original author. No doubt a translator, finding in his original a word not existing in Pali, but formed according to rules of derivation obtaining in Pali, would coin the corresponding Pali form. And in doing so he might very likely be led into mistake, if his original were Prakrit, by misunderstanding the derivation of the Prakrit word before him. Childers in comparing Buddhist Sanskrit with P4li, has pointed out several cases where such mistakes have occurred, and has supposed that in every case the Sanskrit translator misunderstood a Pali word before him'. As I have suggested elsewhere it is, to say the least, quite as likely that the Sanskrit Buddhist texts are often founded on older works, not in Pali, but in some other Prakrit*. And it may be possible hereafter to form some opinion as to what that dialect was which the Sanskrit writers must have had be-
1 See the articles in his‘ Pali Dictionary,’ referred to under note 3, p. xi of the Introduction. 2 See the note on pp. 178, 179 of my ‘ Buddhist Suttas.’
xlvi THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
fore them, to lead them into the particular blunders they have made. In the same way an argument may be drawn from the words found exclusively in Milinda as to the dialect which he spoke, and in which he probably wrote. A list of the words our author uses, and not found in the Pitakas, can only be tentative, as we have not as yet the whole of the Pisaka texts in print. But it will be useful, even now, to give the following imperfect list of such as I have noted in my copy of Childers’ ‘ Dictionary.’
A list of the words our author uses, and not found in the Pitakas, can only be tentative, as we have not as yet the whole of the Pisaka texts in print. But it will be useful, even now, to give the following imperfect list of such as I have noted in my copy of Childers’ ‘ Dictionary.’
Word. Page of the Pali Text. Note. Alaka . 418 See ‘Journal,’ 1886, p. 158. Anekamsikata 93 » ” » p-123. Anfpako 147 Peon, officer. Anikastha 234 Sentinel. Anughayati 343 Trace by smell. Anuparivattati 204, 253, 307 Turn towards. Antobhaviko . 95 ‘Journal,’ 1886, p. 124. Avapana 279 wo » = Pe 157. Asip4s4 1g! A caste so called. Anupeseti . 31, 36 Send after. As&daniyam . 205 Injury. Ajona'. 191 Professional beggars. Aythito 181 Busy. Ayfhako 207 Busy.
Bhaddiputta? 1gI .
{ Bhasfputta 133 ba caste so called. Bhavatiha - 92, 93, 342 Introducing verses. Kandakanta . 118 A kind of gem. Kavaka 156, 200 Wretch. Dhamadhamfyati . 117 To blow. Ekaniko 402 On the one true path. Ghanik& 1gI Musicians. Gilanako 14 A sick man, a patient. Hiriyati 171 Is made afraid of sin. Issatthako 419 Archer. Galdpika 407 Leech. Kali-devata Ig! Worshippers of Kali. Kafumika 78, 79 Reminding. Kummiga 346 Animal.
1 Hinasi-kumburé (p. 252) reads anadnayo. 3 The Simhalese has bhaddiputrayo.
Anchor. Epithet of the Nikayas. Tumbler. Sharp (of medicine). Done by me. Churn. A caste so called. (?) Farmer. The weapon so called. Pilot. Rudely. A caste so called. Lost, fallen. Touchers of. Release. Marked over. Subtle. Cauldron. To be secluded. Chignon. A bird so called. See my note to p. 28. Compound (a medicine). Cubit. True. Learned in doctrine. Dog. See Trenckner’s ‘ Pali Mis-
cellany,’ p. 55. Gong. Who knows the Pifakas. Perfume the body. Synthesis. Revoke. Cessation. Magician. See my note on p. 68. Ascetic.
' This word has been found in the Pitakas ‘e.g. Magehima I, 480) in the sense of ‘ practice.’
2 The Pitaka form is ratana.
xl viii THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
55. Gong. Who knows the Pifakas. Perfume the body. Synthesis. Revoke. Cessation. Magician. See my note on p. 68. Ascetic.
' This word has been found in the Pitakas ‘e.g. Magehima I, 480) in the sense of ‘ practice.’
2 The Pitaka form is ratana.
xl viii THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
This list might be considerably extended if words were included which differ from those used in the Pitakas only by the addition of well-known suffixes or prefixes—such, for instance, as viparivattati, at p. 117, only found as yet elsewhere in the Tela Ka¢aha Gatha, verse 37. But such words are really only a further utilisation of the existing resources of the language, and would afford little or no ground for argument as to the time and place at which our author wrote. I have thought it best, therefore, to omit them, at least at present.
If we turn from isolated words to the evidence of style it will be acknowledged by every reader that the Milinda has a marked style of its own, different alike from the formal exactness of most of the Pitaka texts, and from the later manner of any other Pali or Sanskrit-Buddhist authors as yet published. It is no doubt the charm of its style which has been one of the principal reasons for the great popularity of the book. Even a reader who takes no interest in the points that are raised, or in the method in which the questions are discussed, will be able, I trust, to see, even through the dark veil of a lame and wooden translation, what the merits of the original must be. And to a devout Buddhist, in whose eyes the book he was reading offered a correct solution of the most serious difficulties in religion, of the deepest problems of life,—to whose whole intellectual training and sympathies the way in which the puzzles are put, and solved, so exactly appealed—to such a reader both the easy grace of the opening dialogue, as of a ship sailing in calm waters, and the real eloquence of occasional passages, more especially of the perorations by which the solutions are sometimes closed, must have been a continual feast. I venture to think that the ‘Questions of Milinda’ is undoubtedly the master-piece of Indian prose; and indeed is the best book of its class, from a literary point of view, that had then been produced in any country. Limits of space prevent the discussion of this last proposition, however interesting: and it would be, no doubt, difficult to prove that anything from India was better than the corresponding thing produced by our noble selves, or by those
INTRODUCTION. xlix
Limits of space prevent the discussion of this last proposition, however interesting: and it would be, no doubt, difficult to prove that anything from India was better than the corresponding thing produced by our noble selves, or by those
INTRODUCTION. xlix
whose Karma we inherit. But in ancient Indian literature there are only two or three works which can at all compare with it. It ought not to seem odd that these also are Buddhist and Pali; that is, that they come from the same school. And while the Digha Nikdya may be held to excel it in stately dignity, the Visuddhi Magga in sustained power, and the Gataka book in varied humour, the palm will probably be eventually given to the ‘Questions of Milinda’ as a work of art.
I am aware that this conclusion is entirely at variance with the often repeated depreciation of Buddhist literature. But the fact is that this depreciation rests upon ignorance, and is supported by prejudice. As a critical judgment it will not survive the publication and translation of those great Buddhist works which it overlooks or ignores. Some Sanskrit scholars, familiar with the Brahmin estimate of matters Indian, and filled with a very rational and proper admiration for the many fine qualities which the old Brahmins possessed, may find it hard to recognise the merits of sectarian works written in dialects which violate their most cherished laws of speech. But the historical student of the evolution of thought, and of the rise of literature in India, will more and more look upon the question as a whole, and will estimate at its right value all Indian work, irrespective of dialect or creed.
T. W. RHYS DAVIDS. ‘TEMPLE, August, 1889.
(35) d
THE QUESTIONS
OF
KING MILINDA.
THE QUESTIONS
OF
KING MILINDA.
REVERENCE BE TO THE BLESSED ONE, THE ARAHAT, THE SAMMA-SAMBUDDHA.
BOOK I.
THE SECULAR NARRATIVE |,
1. King Milinda, at Sagala the famous town of yore, To NA&gasena, the world famous sage, repaired. (So the deep Ganges to the deeper ocean flows.) To him, the eloquent, the bearer of the torch Of Truth, dispeller of the darkness of men’s minds, Subtle and knotty questions did he put, many, Turning on many points. Then were solutions
given Profound in meaning, gaining access to the heart, Sweet to the ear, and passing wonderful and
strange.
For NAgasena’s talk plunged to the hidden depths
Of Vinaya and of Abhidhamma (Law and Thought)
1 Bahira-kathé, literally ‘ outside talk ;’ so called in contradistinction to the religious character of the subjects treated of in the remaining books.
(35] B
p. 2
Unravelling all the meshes of the Suttas’ net,
Glittering the while with metaphors and reasoning high.
Come then! Apply your minds, and let your hearts rejoice,
And hearken to these subtle questionings, all grounds
Of doubt well fitted to resolve.
I, 2.
Unravelling all the meshes of the Suttas’ net,
Glittering the while with metaphors and reasoning high.
Come then! Apply your minds, and let your hearts rejoice,
And hearken to these subtle questionings, all grounds
Of doubt well fitted to resolve.
2. Thus hath it been handed down by tradition— There is in the country of the Yonakas! a great centre of trade*, a city that is called Sagala, situate in a delightful country well watered and hilly, abounding in parks and gardens and groves and lakes and tanks, a paradise of rivers and mountains and woods. Wise architects have laid it out’, and its people know of no oppression, since all their enemies and adversaries have been put down. Brave is its defence, with many and various strong towers and ramparts, with superb gates and entrance archways; and with the royal citadel in its midst, white walled and deeply moated. Well laid out are its streets, squares, cross roads, and market places‘. Well displayed are the innumerable sorts of costly merchandise [2] with which its shops are filled. It is richly adorned with hundreds of almsp. 3halls of various kinds ; and splendid with hundreds of thousands of magnificent mansions, which rise aloft like the mountain peaks of the Himalayas. Its streets are filled with elephants, horses, carriages, and foot-passengers, frequented by groups of handsome men and beautiful women, and crowded by men of all sorts and conditions, Brahmans, nobles, artificers, and servants. They resound with cries of welcome to the teachers of every creed, and the city is the resort of the leading men of each of the differing sects. Shops are there for the sale of Benares muslin, of Ko¢umbara stuffs}, and of other cloths of various kinds; and sweet odours are exhaled from the bazaars, where all sorts of flowers and perfumes are tastefully set out. Jewels are there in plenty, such as men’s hearts desire, and guilds of traders in all sorts of finery display their goods in the bazaars that face all quarters of the sky. So full is the city of money, and of gold and silver ware, of copper and stone ware, that it is a very mine of dazzling treasures. And there is laid up there much store of property and corn and things of value in warehouses—foods and drinks of every sort, syrups and sweetmeats of every kind. In wealth it rivals Uttara-kuru, and in glory it is as A/akamandé, the city of the gods *.
1 That is Ionians, the P&li word for Baktrian Greeks.
*? N4n4-pu/a-bhedanam, literally ‘the distributing place of parcels of merchandise of many kinds.’ Trenckner renders it ‘surrounded with a number of dependent towns,’ but surely entrep6t is the idea suggested.
* Sutavanta-nimmitam; which Trenckner renders ‘ pious are its people.’ But I prefer the Simhalese interpretation.
* This list recurs at pp. 34, 330 of the text. See below, p. 53.
3. Having said thus much we must now relate the previous birth history of these two persons (Milinda
In wealth it rivals Uttara-kuru, and in glory it is as A/akamandé, the city of the gods *.
3. Having said thus much we must now relate the previous birth history of these two persons (Milinda
1 It is worth noting, as there is a doubt about the spelling, that Hinaf-kumburé reads Kofumbara, not Kodumbara.
2 Here follow in Hinasi-kumburé’s version two pages of introductory matter, explaining how he came to undertake his translation.
B2
p. 4
and Nagasena) and the various sorts of puzzles’. This we shall do under six heads :—
1. Their previous history (Pubba-yoga).
2. The Milinda problems.
3. Questions as to distinguishing characteristics.
4. Puzzles arising out of contradictory statements.
5. Puzzles arising out of ambiguity.
6. Discussions turning on metaphor.
And of these the Milinda problems are in two divisions—questions as to distinctive characteristics, and questions aiming at the dispelling of doubt; and the puzzles arising out of contradictory statements are in two divisions—the long chapter, and the problems in the life of the recluse. .
THEIR PREVIOUS HISTORY (PUBBA-YOGA).
4. By Pubba-yoga is meant their past Karma (their doings in this or previous lives). Long ago, they say, when Kassapa the Buddha was promulgating the faith, there dwelt in one community near the Ganges a great company of members of the Order. There the brethren, true to established rules and duties, rose early in the morning, and taking the long-handled brooms, would sweep out the courtyard and collect the rubbish into a heap, meditating the while on the virtues of the Buddha.
5. One day a brother told a novice to remove the heap of dust. But he, as if he heard not, went about his business; and on being called a second time, and a third, still went his way as if he had not heard. Then the brother, angry with so intractable a novice, dealt him a blow with the broom stick.
1 These six words are added from Hina/i-kumburé.
p. 5
[3] This time, not daring to refuse, he set about the task crying; and as he did so he muttered to himself this first aspiration: ‘May I, by reason of this meritorious act of throwing out the rubbish, in each successive condition in which I may be born up to the time when I attain Nirv4za, be powerful and glorious as the midday sun!’
6. When he had finished his work he went to the river side to bathe, and on beholding the mighty billows of the Ganges seething and surging, he uttered this second aspiration: ‘May I, in each successive condition in which I may be born till I attain Nirvana, possess the power of saying the right thing, and saying it instantly, under any circumstance that may arise, carrying all before me like this mighty surge!’ .
7. Now that brother, after he had put the broom away in the broom closet, had likewise’ wandered down to the river side to bathe, and as he walked he happened to overhear what the novice had said. Then thinking: ‘If this fellow, on the ground of such an act of merit, which after all was instigated by me, can harbour hopes like this, what may not I attain to?’ he too made his wish, and it was thus: ‘In each successive condition in which I may be born till I attain Nirvaza, may I too be ready in saying the right thing at once, and more especially may I have the power of unravelling and of solving each problem and each puzzling question this young man may put—carrying all before me like this mighty surge!’
8. Then for the whole period between one Buddha and the next these two people wandered from existence to existence among gods and men. And our Buddha saw them too, and just as he didp. 9 to the son of Moggalt and to Tissa the Elder, so to them also did he foretell their future fate, saying : ‘Five hundred years after I have passed away will these two reappear, and the subtle Law and Doctrine taught by me will they two explain, unravelling and disentangling its difficulties by questions put and metaphors adduced.’
9. Of the two the novice became the king of the city of Sagala in India, Milinda by name, learned, eloquent, wise, and able; and a faithful observer, and that at the right time, of all the various acts of devotion and ceremony enjoined by his own sacred hymns concerning things past, present, and to come. Many were the arts and sciences he knew— holy tradition and secular law ; the Sankhya, Yoga, Nydya, and Vaiseshika systems of philosophy; arithmetic; music; medicine; the four Vedas, the Purdsas, and the Itihasas ; astronomy, magic, causation}, and spells; the art of war; poetry; conveyancing ?— in a word, the whole nineteen °.
[4] As a disputant he was hard to equal, harder
’ Hetu, literally ‘cause.’ Trenckner has ‘logic (?);’ Hinasikumburé repeats the word.
* Mudd, literally ‘seal-ring.’ The meaning of the term (which recurs in similar lists at Digha I, 1, 25; I, 2,14; and below, Pp. 59 Of the text) is quite clear, but the exact details of the ‘art’ are unknown. I follow Buddhaghosa’s comment on those passages. Trenckner leaves the word untranslated, and Hina/i-kumburé says, ‘ Engillen cel-wima,’ that is, ‘adhering with the finger,’ which I do not understand, unless it means the sealing of a document. At IV, 3, 25, the context makes it probable that ‘law of property’ would be the best rendering.
’ The number of the Sippas (Arts and Sciences) is usually given as eighteen. In the Gataka (p. 58, 1. 29, Professor Fausbéll’s edition) it is twelve.
p. 7
At IV, 3, 25, the context makes it probable that ‘law of property’ would be the best rendering.
’ The number of the Sippas (Arts and Sciences) is usually given as eighteen. In the Gataka (p. 58, 1. 29, Professor Fausbéll’s edition) it is twelve.
p. 7
still to overcome ; the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. And as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India. Hewas rich too, mighty in wealth and prosperity, and the number of his armed hosts knew no end.
10. Now one day Milinda the king proceeded forth out of the city to pass in review the innumerable host of his mighty army in its fourfold array (of elephants, cavalry, bowmen, and soldiers on foot). And when the numbering of the forces was over, the king, who was fond of wordy disputation, and eager for discussion with casuists, sophists?, and gentry of that sort, looked at the sun (to ascertain the time), and then said to his ministers: ‘The day is yet young. What would be the use of getting back to town so early? Is there no learned person, whether wandering teacher? or Brahman, the head of some school or order, or the master of some band of pupils (even though he profess faith
1 Lokayatas and Vitanadas. Other P4li passages, where they are mentioned, are Xullavagga V, 3, 2; Anguttara III, 58, 1; Sumangala Vildsini, 96, 247; and below, § 22 (p. 17). See also Weber, ‘ Bhagavati,’ II, 246; Muir, ‘Sanskrit Texts,’ III, 95; Deussen, ‘Das Vedinta-System,’ 310.
* Samana. There is no expression in English corresponding to this common word in P4li texts. It means any ‘ religious’ (in the technical meaning of that word) who is not a recluse according to the orthodox Brahman rules. It includes therefore many who were not Buddhists, and also even Brahmans if they had joined the Buddhists or Gains, or any other of the non-conforming bodies. The Samanas remained in one place during the rains, and for the rest of the year wandered from place to place, promulgating their particular views. They were not necessarily ascetics in any strict use of that term; though they were usually celibates.
8 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. T,us.
in the Arahat, the Supreme Buddha), who would be able to talk with me, and resolve my doubts ?’
11. Thereupon the five hundred Yonakas said to Milinda the king: ‘There are the six Masters, O king !—Pfraza Kassapa, Makkhali of the cowshed}, the Nigawtha of the Nata clan, Sa#gaya the son of the Bela¢éha woman, Agita of the garment of hair, and Pakudha Kaééayana. These are well known as famous founders of schools, followed by bands of disciples and hearers, and highly honoured by the people. Go, great king! put to them your problems, and have your doubts resolved 3.’
These are well known as famous founders of schools, followed by bands of disciples and hearers, and highly honoured by the people. Go, great king! put to them your problems, and have your doubts resolved 3.’
12. So king Milinda, attended by the five hundred Yonakas, mounted the royal car with its splendid equipage, and went out to the dwellingplace of Piraza Kassapa, exchanged with him the compliments of friendly greeting, and took his seat courteously apart. And thus sitting he said to
2 So called because he was said to have been born in a cowshed. See the Sumangala, p. 143. All these six teachers were contemporaries of the Buddha, and lived therefore about five hundred years before Milinda.
* All this is a mere echo of the opening paragraphs in the Sama#fa-phala (D. 2), where Ag&tasattu is described as visiting these six famous sophists. And the plagiarism is all the more inartistic as the old names are retained, and no explanation is given of their being born twice at an interval of five hundred years. One may indeed ask what is a glaring anachronism to our good Buddhist romancer compared with the advantage of introducing the stockenames when he has to talk of heretics? But the whole book is so full of literary skill, that it is at least strange that its author should have made this blunder; and there are other reasons for thinking the whole episode an interpolation. (See note on §§ 13, 15.) So that probably our § 15 came originally immediately after § 10, and then (after the episode in §§ 15-36) § 37 takes up the narrative interrupted at the end of § 10.
p. 9
him: ‘ Who is it, venerable Kassapa, who rules the world ?’
‘The Earth, great king, rules the world!’
‘But, venerable. Kassapa, if it be the Earth that rules the world, how comes it that some nien go to the Avi4i hell, thus getting outside the sphere of the Earth?’ [5]
When he had thus spoken, neither could Piraza Kassapa swallow the puzzle, nor could he bring it up; crestfallen, driven to silence, and moody %, there he sat.
13. Then Milinda the king said to Makkhali of the cowshed*: ‘Are there, venerable Gosdla, good and evil acts? Is there such a thing as fruit, ultimate result, of good and evil acts ?’
‘There are no such acts, O king; and no such fruit, or ultimate result. Those who here in the world are nobles, they, O king, when they go to the
Is there such a thing as fruit, ultimate result, of good and evil acts ?’
‘There are no such acts, O king; and no such fruit, or ultimate result. Those who here in the world are nobles, they, O king, when they go to the
* Avthi (probably ‘the Waveless’). The mention of this particular hell as being outside the earth is noteworthy. One would expect to find the Lok4ntarika hell so described. Spence Hardy indeed goes so far as to say that the Avifi is seven hundred miles directly under the great Bo Tree at Budh Gaya (Manual, p. 26), which would be within the sphere of the earth. But there is nothing in the Pali texts yet published as to its position, See Xullavagga VII, 4, 8; Anguttara III, 56; Gataka I, 71, 96; Pa#tka Gati Dipana, 20. There is a list of the hells at Sutta Nipata III, ro, but the Avi4i is not one of them. This blunder, improbable in a writer so learned as our author elsewhere shows himself, is another reason for thinking these sections to be an interpolation.
2 Pattakkhando paggh4yanto. See my note on Kullavagga IV, 4, 7, and compare Anguttara III, 73, 4.
* This, again, is most clumsy, as the rival teachers must have dwelt far apart. And it will be seen that, notwithstanding the parade of the six names at the beginning of this episode, the remaining four are no further mentioned.
ce) THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. T, 14- other world, will become nobles once more. And those who are Brahmans, or of the middle class, or workpeople, or outcasts here, will in the next world become the same. What then is the use of good or evil acts? ?’
‘Tf, venerable Gosdla, it be as you say then, by parity of reasoning, those who, here in this world, have a hand cut off, must in the next world become persons with a hand cut off, and in like manner those who have had a foot cut off or an ear or their nose!’
And at this saying Makkhali was silenced.
14. Then thought Milinda the king within himself?; ‘All India is an empty thing, it is verily like chaff! There is no one, either recluse or Brahman, capable of discussing things with me, and dispelling my doubts.’ And he said to his ministers: ‘ Beautiful is the night and pleasant! Who is the recluse or Brahman we can visit to-night to question him, who will be able to converse with us and dispel our doubts*?’ And at that saying the counsellors remained silent, and stood there gazing upon the face of the king.
15. Now at that time the city of Sdgala had for twelve years been devoid of learned men, whether Brahmans, Samazas, or laymen. But wherever the king heard that such persons dwelt, thither he would
1 This is quite in accord with the opinions attributed to Makkhali Gosdla in the Samafffa-phala (D. 2, 20), and in the Sumangala Vildsini on it (see especially p. 166).
® See below, p. 30.
* This is an echo of the words in the corresponding passage of the Samaf#a-phala Sutta (D. 2, 1).
I, 16. ASSAGUTTA. II
2, 20), and in the Sumangala Vildsini on it (see especially p. 166).
® See below, p. 30.
* This is an echo of the words in the corresponding passage of the Samaf#a-phala Sutta (D. 2, 1).
I, 16. ASSAGUTTA. II
go and put his questions to them!. [6] But they all alike, being unable to satisfy the king by their solution of his problems, departed hither and thither, or if they did not leave for some other place, were at all events reduced to silence. And the brethren of the Order went, for the most part, to the Him4laya mountains.
16. Now at that time there dwelt, in the mountain region of the Himalayas, on the Guarded Slope, an innumerable company of Arahats (brethren who, while yet alive, had attained Nirvama). And the venerable Assagutta, by means of his divine power of hearing, heard those words of king Milinda. And he convened an assembly of the Order on the summit of the Yugandhara mountain, and asked the brethren: ‘Is there any member of the Order able to hold converse with Milinda the king, and resolve his doubts ?’
Then were they all silent. And a second and a third time he put the same question to them, and still none of all the number spake. Then he said to the assembled Order: ‘ There is, reverend Sirs, in the heaven of the Thirty-three 2, and east of the Vegayanta palace, a mansion called Ketumatt, wherein dwells the god Mahdsena. He is able to hold converse with Milinda the king, and to resolve his doubts.’ And the innumerable company of
} This paragraph is so unnecessary after what has been said in the preceding episode, and at the same time so contradictory to the fact of two teachers at least living in or near the city, that it would really seem probable that it (or perhaps § 14) came originally directly after § 10, the rest being an interpolation, and a clumsy one.
2 These are the principal gods of the Vedic pantheon.
p. 17
Arahats vanished from the summit of the Yugandhara mountain, and appeared in the heaven of the Thirty-three.
17, And Sakka, the king of the gods, beheld those brethren of the Order as they were coming from afar. And at the sight of them he went up to the venerable Assagutta, and bowed down before him, and stood reverently aside. And so standing he said to him: ‘Great, reverend Sir, is the company of the brethren that has come. What is it that they want? Iam at the service of the Order. What can I do for you ?’
And the venerable Assagutta replied: ‘ There is, O king, in India, in the city of Sagala, a king named Milinda. As a disputant he is hard to equal, harder still to overcome, he is the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. He is in the habit of visiting the members of the Order and harassing them by questions of speculative import.’
As a disputant he is hard to equal, harder still to overcome, he is the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. He is in the habit of visiting the members of the Order and harassing them by questions of speculative import.’
Then said Sakka, the king of the gods, to him: ‘That same king Milinda, venerable one, left this condition to be born as a man. And there dwells ° in the mansion Ketumatt a god, Mahdsena by name, who is able to hold converse with him and to resolve his doubts. [7] That god we will beseech to suffer himself to be reborn into the world of men.’
18. So Sakka, the king of the gods, preceded by the Order, entered the Ketumatt mansion; and when he had embraced Mahdsena the god, he said to him : ‘ The Order of the brethren, Lord, makes this request of you—to be reborn into the world of men.’
‘I have no desire, Sir, for the world of men, so overladen with action (Karma). Hard is life as ap. 13 man. It is here, Sir, in the world of the gods that, being reborn in ever higher and higher spheres, I hope to pass away!’
And a second and a third time did Sakka, the king of the gods, make the same request, and the reply was still the same. Then the venerable Assagutta addressed Mahdsena the god, and said: ‘On passing in review, Lord, the worlds of gods and men, there is none but thee that we find able to succour the faith by refuting the heretical views of Milinda the king. The whole Order beseeches thee, Lord, saying: “Condescend, O worthy one, to be reborn among men, in order to lend to the religion of the Blessed One thy powerful aid.”’
Then was Mahdasena the god overjoyed and delighted in heart at the thought that he would be able to help the faith by refuting the heresy of Milinda; and he gave them his word, and said: ‘Very well then, venerable ones, I consent to be reborn in the world of men.’
19. Then the brethren, having thus accomplished the task they had taken in hand, vanished from the heaven of the Thirty-three, and reappeared on the Guarded Slope in the Him4laya mountains. And the venerable Assagutta addressed the Order, and said: ‘Is there, venerable ones, any brother belonging to this company of the Order, who has not appeared in the assembly?’
Thereupon a certain brother said there was, that Rohana had a week previously gone into the mountains, and become buried in meditation, [8] and suggested that a messenger should be sent to him. And at that very moment the venerable Rohana aroused himself from his meditation, and was awarep. 20 that the Order was expecting him?. And vanishing from the mountain top, he appeared in the presence of the innumerable company of the brethren.
And the venerable Assagutta said to him: ‘ How now, venerable Rohana! When the religion of the Buddha is in danger of crumbling away, have you no eyes for the work of the Order ?’
‘It was through inadvertence, Sir,’ said he.
And the venerable Assagutta said to him: ‘ How now, venerable Rohana! When the religion of the Buddha is in danger of crumbling away, have you no eyes for the work of the Order ?’
‘It was through inadvertence, Sir,’ said he.
‘Then, venerable Rohana, atone for it.’
‘What, Sir, should I do?’
‘There is a Brahman village, venerable Rohana, called Kagangala*, at the foot of the Himalaya mountains, and there dwells there a Brahman called Sozuttara. He will have a son called NAgasena. Go to that house for alms during seven years and ten months. After the lapse of that time thou shalt draw away the boy from a worldly life, and cause him to enter the Order. When he shall have abandoned the world, then shalt thou be free of the atonement for thy fault.’
‘ Let it be even as thou sayest,’ said the venerable Rohana in assent.
20. Now Mahdsena the god passed away from the world of the gods, and was reborn in the womb of the wife of the Brahman Sozuttara. And at the moment of his conception three strange, wonderful things took place :—arms and weapons became all
* Pafimaneti. Childers does not give this meaning to the word. But it is the usual one. Compare Sumangala, vol. i, pp. 276, 280; Vinaya Pifaka IV, 212; Kullavagga VI, 13, 2; GAtaka LI, 423.
* This is a famous place in Buddhist story. It is at the extreme limit, to the East, of the Buddhist Holy Land, the ‘ Middle Country.’ See Sumangala Vil4sini on D. 2, 40 (p. 173); MahAvagga V, 13,12; Gataka I, 49.
I, a1. MAHASENA THE GOD. 15
ablaze, the tender grain became ripe in a moment, and there was a great rain (in the time of drought). And the venerable Rohana went to that house for alms for seven years and ten months from the day of Mah4sena’s re-incarnation, but never once did he receive so much as‘a spoonful of boiled rice, or a ladleful of sour gruel, or a greeting, or a stretching forth of the joined hands, or any sort of salutation. Nay rather it was insults and taunts that fell to his share: and there was no one who so much as said, ‘ Be so good, Sir, as to go on to the next house.’
But when all that period had gone by he one day happened to have those very words addressed to him. And on that day the Brahman, on his way back from his work in the fields, [9] saw the Elder as he met him on his return, and said: ‘ Well, hermit, have you been to our place ?’
‘Yes, Brahman, I have.’
‘ But did you get anything there ?’
‘Yes, Brahman, I did.’
And he was displeased at this, and went on home, and asked them: ‘ Did you give anything to that hermit ?’
‘We gave him nothing,’ was the reply.
21. Thereupon the Brahman, the next day, seated himself right in the doorway, thinking to himself: ‘To-day I'll put that hermit to shame for having told a lie.” And the moment that the Elder in due course came up to the house again, he said: ‘ Yesterday you said you had got something at my house, having
1 This is the ordinary polite formula used by an Indian peasant when he wishes to express his inability (or his disinclination) to give food to a mendicant friar,p. 22 all the while got nothing! Is lying allowed to you fellows ?’
And the Elder replied: ‘Brahman, for seven years and ten months no one even went so far as to suggest politely that I should pass on. Yesterday this courtesy was extended to me. It was to that that I referred.’
The Brahman thought to himself: ‘ If these men, at the mere experience of a little courtesy, acknowledge in a public place, and with thanks, that they have received an alms, what will they not do if they really receive a gift!’ And he was much struck by this, and had an alms bestowed upon the Elder from the rice and curry prepared for his own use, and added furthermore : ‘Every day you shall receive here food of the same kind.’ And having watched the Elder as he visited the place from that day onwards, and noticed how subdued was his demeanour, he became more and more pleased with him, and invited him to take there regularly his midday meal. And the Elder gave, by silence, his consent; and daily from that time forth, when he had finished his meal, and was about to depart, he would pronounce some short passage or other from the words of the Buddha’.
22. Now the Brahman’s wife had, after her ten months, brought forth her son; and they called his name Nagasena. He grew up in due course till he became seven years old, and his father said to the child : ‘Do you want, [10] dear Nagasena, to study the learning traditional in this Brahmanical house of ours ?’
+ This custom is a rule with the mendicant friars. It is their way of ‘returning thanks,’ as we should say. See below, p. 25.
p. 17
‘What is it called, father ?’ said he.
‘The thtee Vedas are called learning (Sikkhéa), other kinds of knowledge are only arts, my dear.’
‘Yes, I should like to learn them, father,’ said the boy.
Then Sozuttara the Brahman gave to a Brahman teacher a thousand pieces as his teaching fee, and had a divan spread for him aside in an inner chamber, and said to him: ‘Do thou, Brahman, teach this boy the sacred hymns by heart.’
So the teacher made the boy repeat the hymns, urging him to get them by heart. And young Nagasena, after one repetition of them, had learnt the three Vedas by heart, could intone them correctly, had understood their meaning, could fix the right place of each particular verse’, and had grasped the mysteries they contained?, All at once there arose in him an intuitive insight into the Vedas, with a knowledge of their lexicography, of their prosody, of their grammar, and of the legends attaching to the characters in them. He became a philologist and grammarian, and skilled alike in casuistry and in the knowledge of the bodily marks that foreshadow the greatness of a man*®,