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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1It must be a Bhikkhu, under no disability, who is in full communion, and a co-resident 2.’ ‘And what Karma does a schismatical person gain ?’ ‘A Karma that continues to act for a Kalpa (a very long period of time).’ ‘What then, Nagasena! Was the Buddha aware that Devadatta after being admitted to the Order would raise up a schism, and having done so would suffer torment in purgatory for a Kalpa ?’ ‘Yes, the Tathagata knew that.’ ‘But, NAgasena, if that be so, then the statement that the Buddha was kind and pitiful, that he sought after the good of others, that he was the remover of that which works harm, the provider of that which works well to all beings—that statement must be wrong. If it be not so—if he knew not that Deva- 1 Hinasi-kumburé takes kula as an ablative. 2 These are all termini technici in Buddhist canon law. The meaning is that other divisions in the Order do not amount technically to schism. See the Xullavagga VII, 1, 27, &c. M2 164 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. _IV,1, 29. datta after he had been admitted to the Order would stir up a schism—then he cannot have been omniscient, This other double-pointed dilemma is put to you. Unravel this tough skein, break up the argument of the adversaries. In future times it will be hard to find Bhikkhus like to you in wisdom. Herein then show your skill!’ 29. ‘The Blessed One, O king, was both full of mercy and had all knowledge. It was when the Blessed One in his mercy and wisdom considered the life history of Devadatta that he perceived how, having heaped up Karma on Karma, he would pass for an endless series of Kalpas from torment to torment, and from perdition to perdition. And the Blessed One knew also that the infinite Karma of that man would, because he had entered the Order, become finite, and the sorrow caused by the previous Karma would also therefore become limited. [109] But that if that foolish person were not to enter the Order then he would continue to heap up Karma which would endure for a Kalpa. And it was because he knew that that, in his mercy, he admitted him to the Order.’ ‘Then, Nagasena, the Buddha first wounds a man and then pours oil on the wound, first throws a man down a precipice and then reaches out to him an assisting hand, first kills him and then seeks to give him life, first gives pain and then adds a subsequent joy to the pain he gave.’ ‘The Tathagata, O king, wounds people but to their good, he casts people down but to their profit, he kills people but to their advantage. Just as mothers and fathers, O king, hurt their children and even knock them down, thinking the while of their IV, 1, 30. DEVADATTA. 165
2Just as mothers and fathers, O king, hurt their children and even knock them down, thinking the while of their IV, 1, 30. DEVADATTA. 165 good; so by whatsoever method an increase in the virtue of living things can be brought about, by that method does he contribute to their good. If Devadatta, O king, had not entered the Order, then as a layman he would have laid up much Karma leading to states of woe, and so passing for hundreds of thousands of Kalpas from torment to misery, and from one state of perdition to another, he would have suffered constant pain. It was knowing that, that in his mercy, the Blessed One admitted Devadatta to the Order. It was at the thought that by renouncing the world according to His doctrine Devadatta’s sorrow would become finite that, in his mercy, he adopted that means of making his heavy sorrow light. 30. ‘As a man of influence, O king, by the power of his wealth or reputation or prosperity or birth, when a grievous penalty has been imposed by the king on some friend or relative of his, would get it made light by the ability arising from the trust reposed in him; [110] just so did the Blessed One, by admitting him to the Order, and by the efficacy of the influence of righteousness and meditation and wisdom and emancipation of heart, make light the heavy sorrow of Devadatta, who would have had to suffer many hundreds of thousands of Kalpas. Asa clever physician and surgeon, O king, would make a grievous sickness light by the aid of a powerful medicinal drug, just so did the Blessed One, in his knowledge of the right means to an end, admit Devadatta to the Order and thus make his grievous pain light by the aid of the medicine of the Dhamma, strong by the power of mercy’. Was then, O king, 1 K4ruadaabalopatthaddha. Compare GAtaka, vol. i, verse 267, and Sutta Vibhanga I, 10, 7. 166 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. _IV,1, 31. the Blessed One guilty of any wrong in that he turned Devadatta from being a man of much sorrow into being a man of less sorrow ?’ ‘No indeed, Sir. He committed no wrong, not even in the smallest degree.’ ‘Then accept this, great king, to the full as the reason for which the Blessed One admitted Devadatta to the Order.’
3He committed no wrong, not even in the smallest degree.’ ‘Then accept this, great king, to the full as the reason for which the Blessed One admitted Devadatta to the Order.’ 31. ‘Hear another and further reason, O king, for the Blessed One’s having admitted Devadatta. Suppose men were to seize and hurry before the king some wicked robber, saying: “ This is the wicked robber, your Majesty. Inflict upon him such punishment as you think fit!” And thereupon the king were to say to them: ‘“ Take this robber then, my men, outside the town, and there on the place of execution cut off his head.” And they in obedience to his orders were to take that man accordingly towards the place of execution. And some man who was high in office near the king, and of great reputation and wealth and property, whose word was held of weight?, and whose influence was great, should see him. And he were to have pity on him, and were to say to those men: “Stay, good fellows. What good will cutting off his head do to you? Save him alive, and cut off only a hand ora foot. I will speak on his behalf to the king.” And they at the word of that influential person were to do so. Now would the officer who had acted so towards him have been a benefactor to that robber ?’ * Gadd@hanam pi. It is the Sanskrit dadraghna. * Adeyya-vakano. See my note, Xullavagga VI, 4, 8, and also Puggala Pa#fatti III, 12, and Pa#éa Gati Dipana, 98. IV, 1, 32. DEVADATTA. 167 ‘He would have saved his life, Sir. And having done that, what would he not have done ?’ ‘ But would he have done no wrong on account of the pain the man suffered [111] when his hand or foot was cut off ?’ ‘The pain the thief suffered, Sir, was his own fault. But the man who saved his life did him no harm.’ ‘Just so, great king, was it in his mercy.that the Blessed One admitted Devadatta, with the knowledge that by that his sorrow would be mitigated.’ 32. ‘And Devadatta’s sorrow, O king, was mitigated. For Devadatta at the moment of his death took refuge in Him for the rest of his existences when he said: “In him, who of the best is far the best}, The god of gods, the guide of gods and men, Who see’th all, and bears the hundred marks Of goodness,—'tis in him I refuge take Through all the lives that I may have to live.” 2*If you divide this Kalpa, O king, into six parts, it was at the end of the first part that Devadatta created schism in the Order. After he has suffered the other five in purgatory he will be released, and will become a Passeka-Buddha*® under the name of Ad¢hissara.’ ‘Great is the gift bestowed, Nagasena, by the Blessed One on Devadatta. In that the Tathagata 1 Literally, ‘is the best of these eight ’—the eight being those walking in the Excellent Way, the four magga-samangino and the four phala-samangino. See Puggala Pa##atti VIII, 1. * The Simhalese inserts a paragraph here not found in Mr. Trenckner’s text. 5 See above, p. 158. - 168 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 1, 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.
1It must be a Bhikkhu, under no disability, who is in full communion, and a co-resident 2.’ ‘And what Karma does a schismatical person gain ?’ ‘A Karma that continues to act for a Kalpa (a very long period of time).’ ‘What then, Nagasena! Was the Buddha aware that Devadatta after being admitted to the Order would raise up a schism, and having done so would suffer torment in purgatory for a Kalpa ?’ ‘Yes, the Tathagata knew that.’ ‘But, NAgasena, if that be so, then the statement that the Buddha was kind and pitiful, that he sought after the good of others, that he was the remover of that which works harm, the provider of that which works well to all beings—that statement must be wrong. If it be not so—if he knew not that Deva- 1 Hinasi-kumburé takes kula as an ablative. 2 These are all termini technici in Buddhist canon law. The meaning is that other divisions in the Order do not amount technically to schism. See the Xullavagga VII, 1, 27, &c. M2 164 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. _IV,1, 29. datta after he had been admitted to the Order would stir up a schism—then he cannot have been omniscient, This other double-pointed dilemma is put to you. Unravel this tough skein, break up the argument of the adversaries. In future times it will be hard to find Bhikkhus like to you in wisdom. Herein then show your skill!’ 29. ‘The Blessed One, O king, was both full of mercy and had all knowledge. It was when the Blessed One in his mercy and wisdom considered the life history of Devadatta that he perceived how, having heaped up Karma on Karma, he would pass for an endless series of Kalpas from torment to torment, and from perdition to perdition. And the Blessed One knew also that the infinite Karma of that man would, because he had entered the Order, become finite, and the sorrow caused by the previous Karma would also therefore become limited. [109] But that if that foolish person were not to enter the Order then he would continue to heap up Karma which would endure for a Kalpa. And it was because he knew that that, in his mercy, he admitted him to the Order.’ ‘Then, Nagasena, the Buddha first wounds a man and then pours oil on the wound, first throws a man down a precipice and then reaches out to him an assisting hand, first kills him and then seeks to give him life, first gives pain and then adds a subsequent joy to the pain he gave.’ ‘The Tathagata, O king, wounds people but to their good, he casts people down but to their profit, he kills people but to their advantage. Just as mothers and fathers, O king, hurt their children and even knock them down, thinking the while of their IV, 1, 30. DEVADATTA. 165
2Just as mothers and fathers, O king, hurt their children and even knock them down, thinking the while of their IV, 1, 30. DEVADATTA. 165 good; so by whatsoever method an increase in the virtue of living things can be brought about, by that method does he contribute to their good. If Devadatta, O king, had not entered the Order, then as a layman he would have laid up much Karma leading to states of woe, and so passing for hundreds of thousands of Kalpas from torment to misery, and from one state of perdition to another, he would have suffered constant pain. It was knowing that, that in his mercy, the Blessed One admitted Devadatta to the Order. It was at the thought that by renouncing the world according to His doctrine Devadatta’s sorrow would become finite that, in his mercy, he adopted that means of making his heavy sorrow light. 30. ‘As a man of influence, O king, by the power of his wealth or reputation or prosperity or birth, when a grievous penalty has been imposed by the king on some friend or relative of his, would get it made light by the ability arising from the trust reposed in him; [110] just so did the Blessed One, by admitting him to the Order, and by the efficacy of the influence of righteousness and meditation and wisdom and emancipation of heart, make light the heavy sorrow of Devadatta, who would have had to suffer many hundreds of thousands of Kalpas. Asa clever physician and surgeon, O king, would make a grievous sickness light by the aid of a powerful medicinal drug, just so did the Blessed One, in his knowledge of the right means to an end, admit Devadatta to the Order and thus make his grievous pain light by the aid of the medicine of the Dhamma, strong by the power of mercy’. Was then, O king, 1 K4ruadaabalopatthaddha. Compare GAtaka, vol. i, verse 267, and Sutta Vibhanga I, 10, 7. 166 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. _IV,1, 31. the Blessed One guilty of any wrong in that he turned Devadatta from being a man of much sorrow into being a man of less sorrow ?’ ‘No indeed, Sir. He committed no wrong, not even in the smallest degree.’ ‘Then accept this, great king, to the full as the reason for which the Blessed One admitted Devadatta to the Order.’
3He committed no wrong, not even in the smallest degree.’ ‘Then accept this, great king, to the full as the reason for which the Blessed One admitted Devadatta to the Order.’ 31. ‘Hear another and further reason, O king, for the Blessed One’s having admitted Devadatta. Suppose men were to seize and hurry before the king some wicked robber, saying: “ This is the wicked robber, your Majesty. Inflict upon him such punishment as you think fit!” And thereupon the king were to say to them: ‘“ Take this robber then, my men, outside the town, and there on the place of execution cut off his head.” And they in obedience to his orders were to take that man accordingly towards the place of execution. And some man who was high in office near the king, and of great reputation and wealth and property, whose word was held of weight?, and whose influence was great, should see him. And he were to have pity on him, and were to say to those men: “Stay, good fellows. What good will cutting off his head do to you? Save him alive, and cut off only a hand ora foot. I will speak on his behalf to the king.” And they at the word of that influential person were to do so. Now would the officer who had acted so towards him have been a benefactor to that robber ?’ * Gadd@hanam pi. It is the Sanskrit dadraghna. * Adeyya-vakano. See my note, Xullavagga VI, 4, 8, and also Puggala Pa#fatti III, 12, and Pa#éa Gati Dipana, 98. IV, 1, 32. DEVADATTA. 167 ‘He would have saved his life, Sir. And having done that, what would he not have done ?’ ‘ But would he have done no wrong on account of the pain the man suffered [111] when his hand or foot was cut off ?’ ‘The pain the thief suffered, Sir, was his own fault. But the man who saved his life did him no harm.’ ‘Just so, great king, was it in his mercy.that the Blessed One admitted Devadatta, with the knowledge that by that his sorrow would be mitigated.’ 32. ‘And Devadatta’s sorrow, O king, was mitigated. For Devadatta at the moment of his death took refuge in Him for the rest of his existences when he said: “In him, who of the best is far the best}, The god of gods, the guide of gods and men, Who see’th all, and bears the hundred marks Of goodness,—'tis in him I refuge take Through all the lives that I may have to live.” 2*If you divide this Kalpa, O king, into six parts, it was at the end of the first part that Devadatta created schism in the Order. After he has suffered the other five in purgatory he will be released, and will become a Passeka-Buddha*® under the name of Ad¢hissara.’ ‘Great is the gift bestowed, Nagasena, by the Blessed One on Devadatta. In that the Tathagata 1 Literally, ‘is the best of these eight ’—the eight being those walking in the Excellent Way, the four magga-samangino and the four phala-samangino. See Puggala Pa##atti VIII, 1. * The Simhalese inserts a paragraph here not found in Mr. Trenckner’s text. 5 See above, p. 158. - 168 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 1, 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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