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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
170, 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.’
2A 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. xlvii INTRODUCTION. Name. Page of the Pali Text. Lakanaka 377 Lagkaka 137, 242, 256, 362 Langhako 34, 191, 331 Lekhaniyo 172 Mamkata 384 Manthayati 173 Manibhaddé . 1g! Nasthayiko 201 Néréfa . 105 Niyyamaka 194, 376 Okassa . 210 Pabbata 191 Pakkhanno 144, 390 Parimaggaké . 343 Parimutti 112 Parirafgita 15 Parisanha 198 Pariyoga’ 118 Pafisalliyati . 139 Pafsisaka go Penahik4 402 Pifaka . 18, &c. Pimsati . 43 Ratani* 85 Sakkika 226 SAmayiko 22 Supfna. 147 Tamyatha I Thala . 62 Tipesako . - go Ukkhadeti 241 (see 315) Uhana . 32 Ukkalati 143 Uparama 41, 44 Viggadharo . 153, 200 Yogivakaro . 43, 400 and foll. Yogin . . 2, 400 foll. Note. 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.
355. 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
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
170, 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.’
2A 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. xlvii INTRODUCTION. Name. Page of the Pali Text. Lakanaka 377 Lagkaka 137, 242, 256, 362 Langhako 34, 191, 331 Lekhaniyo 172 Mamkata 384 Manthayati 173 Manibhaddé . 1g! Nasthayiko 201 Néréfa . 105 Niyyamaka 194, 376 Okassa . 210 Pabbata 191 Pakkhanno 144, 390 Parimaggaké . 343 Parimutti 112 Parirafgita 15 Parisanha 198 Pariyoga’ 118 Pafisalliyati . 139 Pafsisaka go Penahik4 402 Pifaka . 18, &c. Pimsati . 43 Ratani* 85 Sakkika 226 SAmayiko 22 Supfna. 147 Tamyatha I Thala . 62 Tipesako . - go Ukkhadeti 241 (see 315) Uhana . 32 Ukkalati 143 Uparama 41, 44 Viggadharo . 153, 200 Yogivakaro . 43, 400 and foll. Yogin . . 2, 400 foll. Note. 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.
355. 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
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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