Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Most marvellous is it, that even as those * Dhamménumaggana-samApatti-varena: which the Simhalese merely repeats. For Anumaggand see the text above, p- 62, and Sumangala Vildsini, p. 65. * See the full description in the Book of the Great Decease, VI, 11-13. (‘ Buddhist Suttas, pp. 115, 116.) The Simhalese is here greatly expanded (pp. 230-233). ® So our author must have thought that the nine Anupubba- viharas occurred also after the alms given to Gotama before he sat under the Bo Tree, but I know of no passage in the Pifakas which would support this belief. Compare the note 2 in vol. i, p. 74 of the ‘ Vinaya Texts,’ and the passages there quoted. * Buddha-khette dénam, ‘gifts which had the Buddha as the field in which they were bestowed, or sown.’ 246 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 3, 24. nine successive conditions are glorious, even so are those gifts made, by their glory, [177] of greater fruit, and of greater advantage than any others. Very good, Nagasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’ (Here ends the dilemma as to the Buddha’s last illness. ] [ADORATION OF RELICS.] 24. ‘Venerable Nagasena, the Tathagata said: “ Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of the Tathd4gata?.” And on the other hand he said: “ Honour that relic of him who is worthy of honour, Acting in that way you go from this world to heaven *.” ‘ Now if the first injunction was right the second must be wrong, and if the second is right the first must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem now put to you, and you have to solve it.’ 25. ‘Both the passages you quote were spoken by the Blessed One. But it was not to all men, it was to the sons of the Conqueror ® that it was said : “Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of the Tath4gata‘.” Paying reverence is not the work of the sons of the Conqueror, [178] but rather the grasping of the true nature of all Book of the Great Decease, V, 24. Not found in any of the Pifaka texts as yet published. Gina-puttanam. That is, the members of the Order. Here again Hinafsi-kumburé goes into a long account of the attendant circumstances (pp. 233, 234): 1 3 8 4 IV, 3, 26. ADORATION OF RELICS. 247 compounded things, the practice of thought, contemplation in accordance with the rules of Satipatth4na, the seizing of the real essence of all objects of thought, the struggle against evil, and devotion to their own (spiritual) good. These are things which the sons of the Conqueror ought to do, leaving to others, whether gods or men, the paying of reverence?’
2These are things which the sons of the Conqueror ought to do, leaving to others, whether gods or men, the paying of reverence?’ 26. ‘And that is so, O king, just as it is the business of the princes of the earth to learn all about elephants, and horses, and chariots, and bows, and rapiers, and documents, and the law of property ?, to carry on the traditions of the Khattiya clans, and to fight themselves and to lead others in war, while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas.—Or just as the business of Brahmins and their sons is concerned with the Rig-veda, the Yagur-veda, the Sama-veda, the Atharva-veda, with the knowledge of lucky marks (on the body), of legends °, Purdzas, lexicography *, prosody, phonology, verses, grammar, etymology, astrology, interpretation of omens, and of dreams, and of signs, study of the six Vedangas, of eclipses of the sun and moon, of the prognostications to be drawn from the flight of comets, the thunderings of the gods, the junctions of planets, the fall of meteors, earthquakes, conflagrations, and signs in the heavens and on the earth, the study of arithmetic, of cas- 1 This is really only an expansion and a modernisation of the context of the passage quoted. ® Lekha-mudd4&. See the note above on I, 1, ro. 5 Itihdsa, ‘the Bharata and the Ramfyaza,’ says the Simhalese. « «Of names of trees and so on,’ says Hinafi-kumburé. 248 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 3, 27. uistry, of the interpretation of the omens to be drawn from dogs, and deer, and rats, and mixtures of liquids, and the sounds and cries of birds—while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas. So it was, O king, in the sense of “Devote not yourselves to such things as are not your business, but to such things as are so” that the TathA4gata was Speaking [1'79] when he said: “Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of the Tathagata.” And if, O king, he had not said so, then would the Bhikkhus have taken his bowl and his robe, and occupied themselves with paying reverence to the Buddha through them?!’ ‘Very good, Nagasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’ [Here ends the dilemma as to reverence to relics.] [THE SPLINTER OF ROCK.] 27. ‘Venerable Nagasena, you Bhikkhus say that: “When the Blessed One walked along, the earth, unconscious though it is, filled up its deep places, and made its steep places plain *.” And on the other hand you say that a splinter of 1 This certainly looks as if our author did not know anything of the worship paid to the supposed bowl of the Buddha, or of the feast, the Patta-maha, held in its honour. The passage may therefore be used as an argument for the date of the book. F4- Hien saw this bowl-worship in full force at Peshawar about 400 a.p. See Chapter xii of his travels (Dr. Legge’s translation, pp. 35-37): * Not found as yet in the Pifakas.
3The passage may therefore be used as an argument for the date of the book. F4- Hien saw this bowl-worship in full force at Peshawar about 400 a.p. See Chapter xii of his travels (Dr. Legge’s translation, pp. 35-37): * Not found as yet in the Pifakas. IV, 3, 29. THE SPLINTER OF ROCK. 249 rock grazed his foot’. When that splinter was falling on his foot why did it not, then, turn aside ? If it be true that the unconscious earth makes its deep places full and its steep places plain for him, then it must be untrue that the splinter of rock hurt his foot. But if the latter statement be true, then the first must be false. This too is a doubleedged problem now put to you, and you have to solve it.’ 28. ‘Both statements, O king, are true. But that splinter of rock did not fall of itself*, it was cast down through the act of Devadatta. Through hundreds of thousands of existences, O king, had Devadatta borne a grudge against the Blessed One®. It was through that hatred that he seized hold of a mighty mass of rock, and pushed it over with the hope that it would fall upon the Buddha’s head. But two other rocks came together, and intercepted it before it reached the Tathagata, and by the force of their impact a splinter was torn off, and fell in such a direction that it struck [180] the Blessed One’s foot.’ 29. ‘But, Nagasena, just as two rocks intercepted that mighty mass, so could the splinter have been intercepted.’ ‘But a thing intercepted, O king, can escape, slip through, or be lost—as water does, through the fingers, when it is taken into the hand—or milk, or buttermilk, or honey, or ghee, or oil, or fish curry, 1 Kullavagga VII, 3, 9. Compare the Samyutta Nik4ya I, 4, 8; IV, 2, 3 (pp. 27 and 110 of M. Léon Feer’s edition for the Pali Text Society). * Attaro dhammatéya. ® So above, IV, 2, 64, and below, IV, 4, 41. 250 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 3, 30. or gravy—or as fine, subtle, minute, dusty grains of sand do, through the fingers, if you close your fist on them—or as rice will escape sometimes when you have taken it into your fingers, and are putting it into your mouth.’ 30. ‘ Well, let that be so, Nagasena. I admit that the rock was intercepted. But the splinter ought at least to have paid as much respect to the Buddha as the earth did.’
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.
1Most marvellous is it, that even as those * Dhamménumaggana-samApatti-varena: which the Simhalese merely repeats. For Anumaggand see the text above, p- 62, and Sumangala Vildsini, p. 65. * See the full description in the Book of the Great Decease, VI, 11-13. (‘ Buddhist Suttas, pp. 115, 116.) The Simhalese is here greatly expanded (pp. 230-233). ® So our author must have thought that the nine Anupubba- viharas occurred also after the alms given to Gotama before he sat under the Bo Tree, but I know of no passage in the Pifakas which would support this belief. Compare the note 2 in vol. i, p. 74 of the ‘ Vinaya Texts,’ and the passages there quoted. * Buddha-khette dénam, ‘gifts which had the Buddha as the field in which they were bestowed, or sown.’ 246 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 3, 24. nine successive conditions are glorious, even so are those gifts made, by their glory, [177] of greater fruit, and of greater advantage than any others. Very good, Nagasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’ (Here ends the dilemma as to the Buddha’s last illness. ] [ADORATION OF RELICS.] 24. ‘Venerable Nagasena, the Tathagata said: “ Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of the Tathd4gata?.” And on the other hand he said: “ Honour that relic of him who is worthy of honour, Acting in that way you go from this world to heaven *.” ‘ Now if the first injunction was right the second must be wrong, and if the second is right the first must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem now put to you, and you have to solve it.’ 25. ‘Both the passages you quote were spoken by the Blessed One. But it was not to all men, it was to the sons of the Conqueror ® that it was said : “Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of the Tath4gata‘.” Paying reverence is not the work of the sons of the Conqueror, [178] but rather the grasping of the true nature of all Book of the Great Decease, V, 24. Not found in any of the Pifaka texts as yet published. Gina-puttanam. That is, the members of the Order. Here again Hinafsi-kumburé goes into a long account of the attendant circumstances (pp. 233, 234): 1 3 8 4 IV, 3, 26. ADORATION OF RELICS. 247 compounded things, the practice of thought, contemplation in accordance with the rules of Satipatth4na, the seizing of the real essence of all objects of thought, the struggle against evil, and devotion to their own (spiritual) good. These are things which the sons of the Conqueror ought to do, leaving to others, whether gods or men, the paying of reverence?’
2These are things which the sons of the Conqueror ought to do, leaving to others, whether gods or men, the paying of reverence?’ 26. ‘And that is so, O king, just as it is the business of the princes of the earth to learn all about elephants, and horses, and chariots, and bows, and rapiers, and documents, and the law of property ?, to carry on the traditions of the Khattiya clans, and to fight themselves and to lead others in war, while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas.—Or just as the business of Brahmins and their sons is concerned with the Rig-veda, the Yagur-veda, the Sama-veda, the Atharva-veda, with the knowledge of lucky marks (on the body), of legends °, Purdzas, lexicography *, prosody, phonology, verses, grammar, etymology, astrology, interpretation of omens, and of dreams, and of signs, study of the six Vedangas, of eclipses of the sun and moon, of the prognostications to be drawn from the flight of comets, the thunderings of the gods, the junctions of planets, the fall of meteors, earthquakes, conflagrations, and signs in the heavens and on the earth, the study of arithmetic, of cas- 1 This is really only an expansion and a modernisation of the context of the passage quoted. ® Lekha-mudd4&. See the note above on I, 1, ro. 5 Itihdsa, ‘the Bharata and the Ramfyaza,’ says the Simhalese. « «Of names of trees and so on,’ says Hinafi-kumburé. 248 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 3, 27. uistry, of the interpretation of the omens to be drawn from dogs, and deer, and rats, and mixtures of liquids, and the sounds and cries of birds—while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas. So it was, O king, in the sense of “Devote not yourselves to such things as are not your business, but to such things as are so” that the TathA4gata was Speaking [1'79] when he said: “Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of the Tathagata.” And if, O king, he had not said so, then would the Bhikkhus have taken his bowl and his robe, and occupied themselves with paying reverence to the Buddha through them?!’ ‘Very good, Nagasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’ [Here ends the dilemma as to reverence to relics.] [THE SPLINTER OF ROCK.] 27. ‘Venerable Nagasena, you Bhikkhus say that: “When the Blessed One walked along, the earth, unconscious though it is, filled up its deep places, and made its steep places plain *.” And on the other hand you say that a splinter of 1 This certainly looks as if our author did not know anything of the worship paid to the supposed bowl of the Buddha, or of the feast, the Patta-maha, held in its honour. The passage may therefore be used as an argument for the date of the book. F4- Hien saw this bowl-worship in full force at Peshawar about 400 a.p. See Chapter xii of his travels (Dr. Legge’s translation, pp. 35-37): * Not found as yet in the Pifakas.
3The passage may therefore be used as an argument for the date of the book. F4- Hien saw this bowl-worship in full force at Peshawar about 400 a.p. See Chapter xii of his travels (Dr. Legge’s translation, pp. 35-37): * Not found as yet in the Pifakas. IV, 3, 29. THE SPLINTER OF ROCK. 249 rock grazed his foot’. When that splinter was falling on his foot why did it not, then, turn aside ? If it be true that the unconscious earth makes its deep places full and its steep places plain for him, then it must be untrue that the splinter of rock hurt his foot. But if the latter statement be true, then the first must be false. This too is a doubleedged problem now put to you, and you have to solve it.’ 28. ‘Both statements, O king, are true. But that splinter of rock did not fall of itself*, it was cast down through the act of Devadatta. Through hundreds of thousands of existences, O king, had Devadatta borne a grudge against the Blessed One®. It was through that hatred that he seized hold of a mighty mass of rock, and pushed it over with the hope that it would fall upon the Buddha’s head. But two other rocks came together, and intercepted it before it reached the Tathagata, and by the force of their impact a splinter was torn off, and fell in such a direction that it struck [180] the Blessed One’s foot.’ 29. ‘But, Nagasena, just as two rocks intercepted that mighty mass, so could the splinter have been intercepted.’ ‘But a thing intercepted, O king, can escape, slip through, or be lost—as water does, through the fingers, when it is taken into the hand—or milk, or buttermilk, or honey, or ghee, or oil, or fish curry, 1 Kullavagga VII, 3, 9. Compare the Samyutta Nik4ya I, 4, 8; IV, 2, 3 (pp. 27 and 110 of M. Léon Feer’s edition for the Pali Text Society). * Attaro dhammatéya. ® So above, IV, 2, 64, and below, IV, 4, 41. 250 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 3, 30. or gravy—or as fine, subtle, minute, dusty grains of sand do, through the fingers, if you close your fist on them—or as rice will escape sometimes when you have taken it into your fingers, and are putting it into your mouth.’ 30. ‘ Well, let that be so, Nagasena. I admit that the rock was intercepted. But the splinter ought at least to have paid as much respect to the Buddha as the earth did.’
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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