Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1of the Buddha’s word in three months, and after a single recital, so far as the letter (that is, knowing the words by heart) was concerned. And in three months more he mastered the spirit (that is, the deeper meaning of the sense of the words). But at the end of that time the venerable Dham- 1 Pifakas, This expression is not used in the sacred books of the canon itself. When it first came into use is unknown. This is the earliest passage in which it has hitherto been found in the technical sense of a division of the Scriptures. It was in full use at the time of Buddhaghosa (see the Sumangala Vildsint, pp. 15, 16, 17, 18, &c., and the Samanta PAsddik4, printed in Oldenberg’s ‘Vinaya Pifaka,’ vol. iii, p. 293). The tertium quid of the comparison is not the basket or the box as a receptacle for preservation, but as a means of handing on (as Eastern navvies removing earth put it into baskets and pass these latter on from hand to hand). So the expression ‘three baskets’ means not ‘the three collections,’ but ‘the three bodies of oral tradition as handed down from teacher to teacher.’ See Trenckner’s decisive argument in his ‘Pali Miscellanies,’ pp. 67-69. I, 36. NAGASENA GAINS NIRVANA. 29 ma-rakkhita addressed him, and said: ‘ Just, N4gasena, as a herdsman tends the cows, but others enjoy their produce, so thou too carriest in thy head the whole three baskets of the Buddha's word, and still art not yet a partaker of the fruit of Samazaship.’ ‘Though that be so, holy one, say no more,’ was the reply. And on that very day, at night, he attained to Arahatship and with it to the fourfold power of that Wisdom possessed by all Arahats (that is to say: the realisation of the sense, and the appreciation of the deep religious teaching contained in the word, the power of intuitive judgment, and the power of correct and ready exposition)". And at the moment of his penetrating the truth all the gods shouted their approval, and the earth thundered, and the Brahma gods clapped their hands, and there fell from heaven a shower of sweet-scented sandal dust and of Mandarava flowers. 36. Now at that time the innumerable company of the Arahats at the Guarded Slope in the Himélaya mountains sent a message to him to come, for they were anxious to see him. And when he heard the message the venerable Nagasena vanished from the Asoka Park and appeared before them. And they said: ‘ Nagasena, that king Milinda is in the habit of harassing the brethren by knotty questions and by argumentations this way and that. Do thou, Nagasena, go and [19] master him,’ ‘Not only let king Milinda, holy ones, but let all the kings of India, come and propound questions to 1 The four Pa‘isambhid4s, which form the subject of one of the books of the Sutta Pifaka. 30 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, 37: me. I will break all those puzzles up and solve them. You may go fearlessly to Sagala.’
230 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, 37: me. I will break all those puzzles up and solve them. You may go fearlessly to Sagala.’ ‘Then all the Elders went to the city of S4gala, lighting it up with their yellow robes like lamps, and bringing down upon it the breezes from the heights where the sages dwell’. 237. At that time the venerable Ayup4la was living at the Saikheyya hermitage. And king Milinda said to his counsellors: ‘ Beautiful is the night and pleasant! “Who is the wandering teacher or Brahman we can visit to night to question him who will be able to converse with us and to resolve our doubts ?’ And the five hundred Yonakas replied: ‘ There is the Elder, Lord, named Ayupala, versed in the three baskets, and in all the traditional lore. He is living now at the Sankheyya hermitage. To him you might go, O king, and put your questions to him.’ ‘Very well, then. Let the venerable one be informed that we are coming.’ 1 Isi-vatam parivatam (nagaram) akamsu. The meaning of this phrase, which has not been found elsewhere, is doubtful. Trenckner renders ‘making it respire the odour of saints.’ The literal translation would be ‘making it blown round about by Rishi-wind.’ Perhaps it may be meant to convey the idea of “scented with the sweet breath of the wise.’ But in any case the connotation is intended to be a pleasant one. Calling to mind the analogous phrase viganavatam 4ramam, ‘a hermitage with breezes from the desert.’ (Mahavagga I, 22, 17=Xullavagga VI, 4, 8.) I venture to suggest the rendering adopted above. Hfna/ikumburé (p. 24) has Rrshiwarayange gaman4gamanayem ganita wa kivara watayem pratiwataya kalahuya. ‘They set its air in commotion produced by the waving of the robes of the coming and going Rrshis.’ 3 We here take up the original episode of Milinda as interrupted at § 15 (or if there is an interpolation at § 10). I, 38. AvurALA SILENCED, 31 Then the royal astrologer sent a message to Ayupala to the effect that king Milinda desired to call upon him. And the venerable one said: ‘ Let him come.’ So Milinda the king, attended by the five hundred Yonakas, mounted his royal chariot and proceeded to the Sankheyya hermitage, to the place where Ayup4la dwelt, and exchanged with him the greetings and compliments of friendship and courtesy, and took his seat respectfully apart. And then he said to him: 38. ‘Of what use, venerable Ayupila, is the renunciation of the world carried out by the members of your Order, and in what do you place the summum bonum??’ ‘Our renunciation, O king,’ replied the Elder, ‘is for the sake of being able to live in righteousness, and in spiritual calm.’ ‘Is there, Sir, any layman who lives so ?’
3‘Yes, great king, there are such laymen. At the time when the Blessed One set rolling the royal chariot wheel of the kingdom of righteousness at Benares, at the Deer Park, [20] eighteen ko/is of the Brahma gods, and an innumerable company of other gods, attained to comprehension of the truth '. And not one of those beings, all of whom were laymen, had renounced the world. And again when the Blessed One delivered the Mah&é Samaya discourse?, and the discourse on the ‘Greatest Blessing 3,’ 1 See my ‘Buddhist Suttas,’ pp. 153-155. There is nothing about the eighteen ko/is in the Pifaka text referred to. * No. 20 in the Digha NikAya. * In the Mah& Mangala, translated in my ‘Buddhism,’ pp. 125-127. 32 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, 38. and the Exposition of Quietism?, and the Exhortation to Rahula?, the multitude of gods who attained to comprehension of the truth cannot be numbered. And not one of those beings, all of whom were laymen, had renounced the world 3’ ‘Then, most venerable Ayupdla, your renunciation is of no use. It must be in consequence of sins committed in some former birth, that the Buddhist Samazas renounce the world, and even subject themselves to the restraints of one or other of the thirteen aids to purity‘! Those who remain on one seat till they have finished their repast were, forsooth, in some former birth, thieves who robbed other men of their food. It is in consequence of the Karma of having so deprived others of food that they have now only such food as they can get at one sitting ; and are not allowed to eat from time to time as they want. It is no virtue on their part, no meritorious abstinence, no righteousness of life. And they who live in the open air were, forsooth, in 1 Sama-Aitta-pariyaya Suttanta. It is not certain which Sutta is here referred to. Trenckner identifies it with a short Sutta in the Anguttara (II, 4, 5). It is true that the ten short Suttas in A. II, 4 are (in the Burmese MSS. only) called collectively Samakitta Vagga. But the separate Suttas have no separate titles; the title of the Vagga is not found in the Simhalese MSS., and is probably later than the text; and it is not, after all, identical with the title here given. ? There are several Suttas of this name in the P4li Pisakas. The one referred to here (and also, it may be added, in the Asoka Edicts) is probably the shorter one (fila Rahulovada Sutta) found both in the Magghima (No. 147) and in the Samyutta (XXXIV, 120). See Trenckner’s note on this passage. * This way of looking at gods as laymen, still ‘in the world,’ is thoroughly Buddhist. * The dhutangas, enumerated by Childers sub voce, I, 39- AYUPALA SILENCED. 33
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.
1of the Buddha’s word in three months, and after a single recital, so far as the letter (that is, knowing the words by heart) was concerned. And in three months more he mastered the spirit (that is, the deeper meaning of the sense of the words). But at the end of that time the venerable Dham- 1 Pifakas, This expression is not used in the sacred books of the canon itself. When it first came into use is unknown. This is the earliest passage in which it has hitherto been found in the technical sense of a division of the Scriptures. It was in full use at the time of Buddhaghosa (see the Sumangala Vildsint, pp. 15, 16, 17, 18, &c., and the Samanta PAsddik4, printed in Oldenberg’s ‘Vinaya Pifaka,’ vol. iii, p. 293). The tertium quid of the comparison is not the basket or the box as a receptacle for preservation, but as a means of handing on (as Eastern navvies removing earth put it into baskets and pass these latter on from hand to hand). So the expression ‘three baskets’ means not ‘the three collections,’ but ‘the three bodies of oral tradition as handed down from teacher to teacher.’ See Trenckner’s decisive argument in his ‘Pali Miscellanies,’ pp. 67-69. I, 36. NAGASENA GAINS NIRVANA. 29 ma-rakkhita addressed him, and said: ‘ Just, N4gasena, as a herdsman tends the cows, but others enjoy their produce, so thou too carriest in thy head the whole three baskets of the Buddha's word, and still art not yet a partaker of the fruit of Samazaship.’ ‘Though that be so, holy one, say no more,’ was the reply. And on that very day, at night, he attained to Arahatship and with it to the fourfold power of that Wisdom possessed by all Arahats (that is to say: the realisation of the sense, and the appreciation of the deep religious teaching contained in the word, the power of intuitive judgment, and the power of correct and ready exposition)". And at the moment of his penetrating the truth all the gods shouted their approval, and the earth thundered, and the Brahma gods clapped their hands, and there fell from heaven a shower of sweet-scented sandal dust and of Mandarava flowers. 36. Now at that time the innumerable company of the Arahats at the Guarded Slope in the Himélaya mountains sent a message to him to come, for they were anxious to see him. And when he heard the message the venerable Nagasena vanished from the Asoka Park and appeared before them. And they said: ‘ Nagasena, that king Milinda is in the habit of harassing the brethren by knotty questions and by argumentations this way and that. Do thou, Nagasena, go and [19] master him,’ ‘Not only let king Milinda, holy ones, but let all the kings of India, come and propound questions to 1 The four Pa‘isambhid4s, which form the subject of one of the books of the Sutta Pifaka. 30 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, 37: me. I will break all those puzzles up and solve them. You may go fearlessly to Sagala.’
230 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, 37: me. I will break all those puzzles up and solve them. You may go fearlessly to Sagala.’ ‘Then all the Elders went to the city of S4gala, lighting it up with their yellow robes like lamps, and bringing down upon it the breezes from the heights where the sages dwell’. 237. At that time the venerable Ayup4la was living at the Saikheyya hermitage. And king Milinda said to his counsellors: ‘ Beautiful is the night and pleasant! “Who is the wandering teacher or Brahman we can visit to night to question him who will be able to converse with us and to resolve our doubts ?’ And the five hundred Yonakas replied: ‘ There is the Elder, Lord, named Ayupala, versed in the three baskets, and in all the traditional lore. He is living now at the Sankheyya hermitage. To him you might go, O king, and put your questions to him.’ ‘Very well, then. Let the venerable one be informed that we are coming.’ 1 Isi-vatam parivatam (nagaram) akamsu. The meaning of this phrase, which has not been found elsewhere, is doubtful. Trenckner renders ‘making it respire the odour of saints.’ The literal translation would be ‘making it blown round about by Rishi-wind.’ Perhaps it may be meant to convey the idea of “scented with the sweet breath of the wise.’ But in any case the connotation is intended to be a pleasant one. Calling to mind the analogous phrase viganavatam 4ramam, ‘a hermitage with breezes from the desert.’ (Mahavagga I, 22, 17=Xullavagga VI, 4, 8.) I venture to suggest the rendering adopted above. Hfna/ikumburé (p. 24) has Rrshiwarayange gaman4gamanayem ganita wa kivara watayem pratiwataya kalahuya. ‘They set its air in commotion produced by the waving of the robes of the coming and going Rrshis.’ 3 We here take up the original episode of Milinda as interrupted at § 15 (or if there is an interpolation at § 10). I, 38. AvurALA SILENCED, 31 Then the royal astrologer sent a message to Ayupala to the effect that king Milinda desired to call upon him. And the venerable one said: ‘ Let him come.’ So Milinda the king, attended by the five hundred Yonakas, mounted his royal chariot and proceeded to the Sankheyya hermitage, to the place where Ayup4la dwelt, and exchanged with him the greetings and compliments of friendship and courtesy, and took his seat respectfully apart. And then he said to him: 38. ‘Of what use, venerable Ayupila, is the renunciation of the world carried out by the members of your Order, and in what do you place the summum bonum??’ ‘Our renunciation, O king,’ replied the Elder, ‘is for the sake of being able to live in righteousness, and in spiritual calm.’ ‘Is there, Sir, any layman who lives so ?’
3‘Yes, great king, there are such laymen. At the time when the Blessed One set rolling the royal chariot wheel of the kingdom of righteousness at Benares, at the Deer Park, [20] eighteen ko/is of the Brahma gods, and an innumerable company of other gods, attained to comprehension of the truth '. And not one of those beings, all of whom were laymen, had renounced the world. And again when the Blessed One delivered the Mah&é Samaya discourse?, and the discourse on the ‘Greatest Blessing 3,’ 1 See my ‘Buddhist Suttas,’ pp. 153-155. There is nothing about the eighteen ko/is in the Pifaka text referred to. * No. 20 in the Digha NikAya. * In the Mah& Mangala, translated in my ‘Buddhism,’ pp. 125-127. 32 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, 38. and the Exposition of Quietism?, and the Exhortation to Rahula?, the multitude of gods who attained to comprehension of the truth cannot be numbered. And not one of those beings, all of whom were laymen, had renounced the world 3’ ‘Then, most venerable Ayupdla, your renunciation is of no use. It must be in consequence of sins committed in some former birth, that the Buddhist Samazas renounce the world, and even subject themselves to the restraints of one or other of the thirteen aids to purity‘! Those who remain on one seat till they have finished their repast were, forsooth, in some former birth, thieves who robbed other men of their food. It is in consequence of the Karma of having so deprived others of food that they have now only such food as they can get at one sitting ; and are not allowed to eat from time to time as they want. It is no virtue on their part, no meritorious abstinence, no righteousness of life. And they who live in the open air were, forsooth, in 1 Sama-Aitta-pariyaya Suttanta. It is not certain which Sutta is here referred to. Trenckner identifies it with a short Sutta in the Anguttara (II, 4, 5). It is true that the ten short Suttas in A. II, 4 are (in the Burmese MSS. only) called collectively Samakitta Vagga. But the separate Suttas have no separate titles; the title of the Vagga is not found in the Simhalese MSS., and is probably later than the text; and it is not, after all, identical with the title here given. ? There are several Suttas of this name in the P4li Pisakas. The one referred to here (and also, it may be added, in the Asoka Edicts) is probably the shorter one (fila Rahulovada Sutta) found both in the Magghima (No. 147) and in the Samyutta (XXXIV, 120). See Trenckner’s note on this passage. * This way of looking at gods as laymen, still ‘in the world,’ is thoroughly Buddhist. * The dhutangas, enumerated by Childers sub voce, I, 39- AYUPALA SILENCED. 33
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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