Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Rather would it become to a certainty even more stainless than before.’ ‘Just so, O king, is the glorious doctrine of the Conqueror stainless by nature, and altogether free from the dust and dirt of evil. And if the children of the Buddha cleanse it by the virtue arising from the shaking off, the eradication of evil, from the practice of duty and virtue and morality and purity of life, then will this glorious doctrine endure for long, and the world will not be bereft of Arahats. It was in reference to this that the Blessed One spake when he said: “ But if, Subhadda, in this system the brethren continue in righteousness of life, then will not the world be bereft of Arahats.” For the teaching of the Master, O king, has its root in conduct, has conduct as its essence, and stands fast so long as conduct does not decline '.’ 1 There is a paragraph here in the Simhalese not found in the Pali. 190 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 1, 61. 61. ‘Venerable Nagasena, when you speak of the disappearance of the good law, what do you mean by its disappearance ?’ ‘There are three modes of the disappearance, O king, of a system of doctrine. And what are the three? The decline of attainment to an intellectual grasp of it, the decline of conduct in accordance with it, and the decline of its outward form?. [184] When the attainment of it ceases, then even the man who conducts himself aright in it has no clear understanding of it. By the decline of conduct the promulgation of the rules of discipline ceases, only the outward form of the religion remains. When the outward form has ceased, the succession of the tradition is cut off. These are the three forms of the disappearance of a system of doctrine.’ ‘You have well explained, venerable NAgasena, this dilemma so profound, and have made it plain. You have loosed the knot; you have destroyed the arguments of the adversary, broken them in pieces, proved them wrong—you, O best of the leaders of schools !.’ [Here ends the dilemma as to the duration of the faith.] [THE BUDDHA'S SINLESSNESS. ] 62. ‘Venerable Nagasena, had the Blessed One, when he became a Buddha, burnt out all evil in himself, or was there still some evil remaining in him ?’ 1 Linga, possibly ‘uniform.’ Either the Order or the yellow robe, for instance, if the system were Buddhism. See below, IV, 3, 2. IV, 1, 63. KARMA. 19! '*He had burnt out all evil. There was none left.’ ‘But how, Sir? Did not the Tath4gata get hurt in his body ?’ ‘Yes, O king. At Ragagaha a splinter of rock pierced his foot!, and once he suffered from dysentery 2, and once when the humours of his body were disturbed a purge was administered to him °, and once when he was troubled with wind the Elder who waited on him (that is Ananda) gave him hot water ‘.
2At Ragagaha a splinter of rock pierced his foot!, and once he suffered from dysentery 2, and once when the humours of his body were disturbed a purge was administered to him °, and once when he was troubled with wind the Elder who waited on him (that is Ananda) gave him hot water ‘. ‘Then, Sir, if the Tathagata, on his becoming a Buddha, has destroyed all evil in himself—this other statement that his foot was pierced by a splinter, that he had dysentery, and so on, must be false. But if they are true, then he cannot have been free from evil, for there is no pain without Karma. All pain has its root in Karma, it is on account of Karma that suffering arises®. This double-headed dilemma is put to you, and you have to solve it.’ 63. ‘No, O king. It is not all suffering that has its root in Karma. There are eight causes by which sufferings arise, by which many beings suffer pain. And what are the eight ? Superabundance of wind, [185] and of bile, and of phlegm, the union of these humours, variations in temperature, the avoiding of 1 See Kullavagga VII, 3, 9. ? See Mah4parinibbana Sutta IV, 21. 5 Mahavagga VIII, 1, 30-33. ‘ This is, no doubt, the occurrence recounted in the Mahavagga VI, 17, 1-4. Childers translates vit&badha by ‘rheumatism,’ but I adhere here to the translation adopted there. It is said in the Mah4vagga that Ananda gave him, not hot water, but gruel. But the two are very similar, and in the Theri Gatha 185, referring to the same event, it is hot water that is mentioned. 5 That is, there can be no suffering without sin. Compare the discussion in St. John’s Gospel, ch. ix. 192 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 1, 63. dissimilarities, external agency, and Karma. From each of these there are some sufferings that arise, and these are the eight causes by which many beings suffer pain. And therein whosoever maintains that it is Karma that injures beings, and besides it there is no other reason for pain, his proposition is false.’ ‘But, Sir, all the other seven kinds of pain have each of them also Karma as its origin, for they are all produced by Karma.’
3And therein whosoever maintains that it is Karma that injures beings, and besides it there is no other reason for pain, his proposition is false.’ ‘But, Sir, all the other seven kinds of pain have each of them also Karma as its origin, for they are all produced by Karma.’ ‘If, O king, all diseases were really derived from Karma then there would be no characteristic marks by which they could be distinguished one from the other. When the wind is disturbed, it is so in one or other of ten ways—by cold, or by heat, or by hunger, or by thirst, or by over eating, or by standing too long, or by over exertion, or by walking too fast, or by medical treatment, or as the result of Karma, Of these ten, nine do not act in a past life or in a future life, but in one’s present existence. Therefore it is not right to say that all pain is due to Karma. When the bile, O king, is deranged it is so in one or other of three ways—by cold, or by heat, or by improper food. When the phlegm is disturbed it is so by cold, or by heat, or by food and drink. When either of these three humours are disturbed or mixed, it brings about its own special, distinctive pain. Then there are the special pains arising from variations in temperature, avoidance of dissimilarities, and external agency?. And there is the act that has Karma as its fruit, and the pain so brought about arising from the act done. So what ’ As was pointed out above, IV, 1, 33, many of these medical terms are very doubtful. IV, 1, 65. . KARMA. 193 arises as the fruit of Karma is much less than that which arises from other causes. And the ignorant go too far [186] when they say that every pain is produced as the fruit of Karma. No one without a Buddha’s insight can fix the extent of the action of Karma.’ 64. ‘ Now when the Blessed One’s foot was torn by a splinter of rock, the pain that followed was not produced by any other of the eight causes I have mentioned, but only by external agency. For Devadatta, O king, had harboured hatred against the Tathagata during a succession of hundreds of thousands of births’. It was in his hatred that he seized hold of a mighty mass of rock, and pushed it over with the hope that it would fall upon his head. But two other rocks came together, and intercepted it before it had reached the Tathagata ; and by the force of their impact a splinter was torn off, and fell upon the Blessed One’s foot, and made it bleed. Now this pain must have been produced in the Blessed One either as the result of his own Karma, or of some one else’s act. For beyond these two there can be no other kind of pain. It is as when a seed does not germinate—that must be due either to the badness of the soil, or to a defect in the seed. Or it is as when food is not digested— that must be due either to a defect in the stomach, or to the badness of the food.’ 65. ‘But although the Blessed One never suffered pain which was the result of his own Karma, or brought about the avoidance of dissimilarity?, yet
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.
1Rather would it become to a certainty even more stainless than before.’ ‘Just so, O king, is the glorious doctrine of the Conqueror stainless by nature, and altogether free from the dust and dirt of evil. And if the children of the Buddha cleanse it by the virtue arising from the shaking off, the eradication of evil, from the practice of duty and virtue and morality and purity of life, then will this glorious doctrine endure for long, and the world will not be bereft of Arahats. It was in reference to this that the Blessed One spake when he said: “ But if, Subhadda, in this system the brethren continue in righteousness of life, then will not the world be bereft of Arahats.” For the teaching of the Master, O king, has its root in conduct, has conduct as its essence, and stands fast so long as conduct does not decline '.’ 1 There is a paragraph here in the Simhalese not found in the Pali. 190 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 1, 61. 61. ‘Venerable Nagasena, when you speak of the disappearance of the good law, what do you mean by its disappearance ?’ ‘There are three modes of the disappearance, O king, of a system of doctrine. And what are the three? The decline of attainment to an intellectual grasp of it, the decline of conduct in accordance with it, and the decline of its outward form?. [184] When the attainment of it ceases, then even the man who conducts himself aright in it has no clear understanding of it. By the decline of conduct the promulgation of the rules of discipline ceases, only the outward form of the religion remains. When the outward form has ceased, the succession of the tradition is cut off. These are the three forms of the disappearance of a system of doctrine.’ ‘You have well explained, venerable NAgasena, this dilemma so profound, and have made it plain. You have loosed the knot; you have destroyed the arguments of the adversary, broken them in pieces, proved them wrong—you, O best of the leaders of schools !.’ [Here ends the dilemma as to the duration of the faith.] [THE BUDDHA'S SINLESSNESS. ] 62. ‘Venerable Nagasena, had the Blessed One, when he became a Buddha, burnt out all evil in himself, or was there still some evil remaining in him ?’ 1 Linga, possibly ‘uniform.’ Either the Order or the yellow robe, for instance, if the system were Buddhism. See below, IV, 3, 2. IV, 1, 63. KARMA. 19! '*He had burnt out all evil. There was none left.’ ‘But how, Sir? Did not the Tath4gata get hurt in his body ?’ ‘Yes, O king. At Ragagaha a splinter of rock pierced his foot!, and once he suffered from dysentery 2, and once when the humours of his body were disturbed a purge was administered to him °, and once when he was troubled with wind the Elder who waited on him (that is Ananda) gave him hot water ‘.
2At Ragagaha a splinter of rock pierced his foot!, and once he suffered from dysentery 2, and once when the humours of his body were disturbed a purge was administered to him °, and once when he was troubled with wind the Elder who waited on him (that is Ananda) gave him hot water ‘. ‘Then, Sir, if the Tathagata, on his becoming a Buddha, has destroyed all evil in himself—this other statement that his foot was pierced by a splinter, that he had dysentery, and so on, must be false. But if they are true, then he cannot have been free from evil, for there is no pain without Karma. All pain has its root in Karma, it is on account of Karma that suffering arises®. This double-headed dilemma is put to you, and you have to solve it.’ 63. ‘No, O king. It is not all suffering that has its root in Karma. There are eight causes by which sufferings arise, by which many beings suffer pain. And what are the eight ? Superabundance of wind, [185] and of bile, and of phlegm, the union of these humours, variations in temperature, the avoiding of 1 See Kullavagga VII, 3, 9. ? See Mah4parinibbana Sutta IV, 21. 5 Mahavagga VIII, 1, 30-33. ‘ This is, no doubt, the occurrence recounted in the Mahavagga VI, 17, 1-4. Childers translates vit&badha by ‘rheumatism,’ but I adhere here to the translation adopted there. It is said in the Mah4vagga that Ananda gave him, not hot water, but gruel. But the two are very similar, and in the Theri Gatha 185, referring to the same event, it is hot water that is mentioned. 5 That is, there can be no suffering without sin. Compare the discussion in St. John’s Gospel, ch. ix. 192 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 1, 63. dissimilarities, external agency, and Karma. From each of these there are some sufferings that arise, and these are the eight causes by which many beings suffer pain. And therein whosoever maintains that it is Karma that injures beings, and besides it there is no other reason for pain, his proposition is false.’ ‘But, Sir, all the other seven kinds of pain have each of them also Karma as its origin, for they are all produced by Karma.’
3And therein whosoever maintains that it is Karma that injures beings, and besides it there is no other reason for pain, his proposition is false.’ ‘But, Sir, all the other seven kinds of pain have each of them also Karma as its origin, for they are all produced by Karma.’ ‘If, O king, all diseases were really derived from Karma then there would be no characteristic marks by which they could be distinguished one from the other. When the wind is disturbed, it is so in one or other of ten ways—by cold, or by heat, or by hunger, or by thirst, or by over eating, or by standing too long, or by over exertion, or by walking too fast, or by medical treatment, or as the result of Karma, Of these ten, nine do not act in a past life or in a future life, but in one’s present existence. Therefore it is not right to say that all pain is due to Karma. When the bile, O king, is deranged it is so in one or other of three ways—by cold, or by heat, or by improper food. When the phlegm is disturbed it is so by cold, or by heat, or by food and drink. When either of these three humours are disturbed or mixed, it brings about its own special, distinctive pain. Then there are the special pains arising from variations in temperature, avoidance of dissimilarities, and external agency?. And there is the act that has Karma as its fruit, and the pain so brought about arising from the act done. So what ’ As was pointed out above, IV, 1, 33, many of these medical terms are very doubtful. IV, 1, 65. . KARMA. 193 arises as the fruit of Karma is much less than that which arises from other causes. And the ignorant go too far [186] when they say that every pain is produced as the fruit of Karma. No one without a Buddha’s insight can fix the extent of the action of Karma.’ 64. ‘ Now when the Blessed One’s foot was torn by a splinter of rock, the pain that followed was not produced by any other of the eight causes I have mentioned, but only by external agency. For Devadatta, O king, had harboured hatred against the Tathagata during a succession of hundreds of thousands of births’. It was in his hatred that he seized hold of a mighty mass of rock, and pushed it over with the hope that it would fall upon his head. But two other rocks came together, and intercepted it before it had reached the Tathagata ; and by the force of their impact a splinter was torn off, and fell upon the Blessed One’s foot, and made it bleed. Now this pain must have been produced in the Blessed One either as the result of his own Karma, or of some one else’s act. For beyond these two there can be no other kind of pain. It is as when a seed does not germinate—that must be due either to the badness of the soil, or to a defect in the seed. Or it is as when food is not digested— that must be due either to a defect in the stomach, or to the badness of the food.’ 65. ‘But although the Blessed One never suffered pain which was the result of his own Karma, or brought about the avoidance of dissimilarity?, yet
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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