Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1incident is also related at Gataka I, 57. But in both these books there is reference only to the first — not to the second, third, and fourth GMnas, As this is therefore only another instance of the difference between the Pi/akas and the more advanced views of our author, I have not translated the remaining GMnas. As will be seen from the version of them in my ' Buddhist Suttas from the Pali' (S. B.E., vol. xi, p. 272), the idea that a mere baby could have practised these higher meditations would only become possible after the Buddha theory had been much more developed than it is in the Pi/akas. 1 Kusalaw. So it has been already laid down at III, 7, 7 (pp. 83, 84 of the Pali), that merit (puwwaw) is more than demerit. IV, 8, 25. OF MILINDA THE KING. I45 their nose, or their ears and nose, or the Gruel Pot, or the Chank Crown, or the Rahu's Mouth, or the Fire Garland, or the Hand Torch, or the Snake Strips, or the Bark Dress, or the Spotted Antelope, or the Flesh Hooks, or the Penny Cuts, or the Brine Slits, or the Bar Turn, or the Straw Seat, or they are anointed with boiling oil, or eaten by dogs, or are impaled alive, or are beheaded with a sword1. Some of them sin one night and that night expe- rience the fruit of their sin, some sinning by night experience the next day, some sinning one day ex- perience that day, some sinning by day experience that night, some experience when two days or three have elapsed. But all experience in this present visible world the result of their iniquity. And is there any one, Nagasena, who from having pro- vided a meal with all its accessories2 for one, or two, or three, or four, or five, or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand (members of the Order), has enjoyed in this present visible world wealth or fame or hap- piness— (is there any one who) from righteousness of life, or from observance of the Uposatha, (has received bliss even in this life3)?' 25. 'There are [291], O king, four men who by giving gifts, and by the practice of uprightness, and by the keeping of Uposatha, even in their earthly bodies attained to glory in Tidasapura (the city of the gods)/ 1 This is a repetition of the list given above (I, 276-278), where the technical terms are explained. Compare Mr. William Andrews's book, ' Punishments in the Olden Time/ 2 Saparivaraztt dana/#. Pirikara-sahita-wu maha* dan dl, says the Sinhalese, p. 430. 8 The words in brackets are supplied from Hina/i-kumbure. [36] L I46 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 8, 25. 'And who, Sir, were they1?' * Mandhata the king, and Nimi the king, and Sadhina the king, and Guttila the musician2/ i Venerable Nagasena, this happened thousands of births ago, and is beyond the ken of either of us two. Give me, if you can, some examples from that period (of the world) which is now elapsing in which the Blessed One has been alive/
2Give me, if you can, some examples from that period (of the world) which is now elapsing in which the Blessed One has been alive/ ' In this present period, O king, the slave Pu/z/zaka, on giving a meal to Sariputta the Elder, attained that day to the dignity of a treasurer (Se/Mi), and he is now generally known as Pu/z- Tzaka the Se^i. The queen, the mother of Gopala, who (being the daughter of poor peasant folk) sold her hair for eight pennies, and therewith gave a meal to Maha Ka^ayana the Elder and his seven companions, became that very day the chief queen of king Udena. Suppiya, the believing woman, cut flesh from her own thigh to provide broth 3 for a sick Bhikkhu, and on the very next day the wound closed up, and the place became cured, with skin grown over it. Mallika, the queen who (when a poor flower girl) gave the last night's gruel (she had reserved for her own dinner) to the Blessed One, became that very day the chief queen of the king of Kosala4. Sumana, the garland maker, when he had 1 The king himself has already mentioned them, in reverse order, above, I, 172. 2 The legends will be found in full in the (jrataka stones num- bered respectively, in Professor Fausboll's edition, 258, 533, 494, and 243. 3 Pa/iy£/£Mdaniya7tf. See the note on Mahavagga VI, 23, where this curious story is given in full. * See Gataka III, 495, 496 for this story. Abhidosika/ft is not in Childers, but see the Sutta Vibhahga, Para^ika I, 5, 6. IV, 8, 26. OF MILINDA THE KING. 147 presented to the Blessed One eight bunches of jessamine flowers, came that very day into great prosperity. Eka-sa^aka the Brahman, who gave to the Blessed One his only garment, received that very day the office of Sabba^Maka (Minister in general) \ All these, O king, came into the enjoy- ment of wealth and glory in their then existing lives/ ' So then, Nagasena, with all your searching and enquiry you have only found six cases 2 ? ' ' That is so, O king/ 26. ' Then it is vice, Nagasena, and not virtue which is the more powerful. For on one day alone I have seen ten men expiating their crimes by being impaled alive, and thirty even, and forty, and fifty, [292], and a hundred, and a thousand. And further, there was Bhaddasala, the soldier in the service of the royal family of Nanda3, and he waged war against king A^andagutta4. Now in that war, Naga- sena, there were eighty Corpse Dances. For they say that when one great Head Holocaust has taken place (by which is meant the slaughter of ten thousand elephants, and a lac of horses, and five thousand charioteers, and a hundred ko/is of soldiers on foot), then the headless corpses arise and dance in frenzy over the battle-field. And all the men 1 ' Received from the king the great honour (sammana) called sabba/Z^aka/ says Hina/i-kumbure\ p. 431. But we find a par- ticular office so called at Gataka II, 57. (It is true the reading there is sabbatthaka, but Mr. Trenckner's reading is doubtless preferable.)
3And all the men 1 ' Received from the king the great honour (sammana) called sabba/Z^aka/ says Hina/i-kumbure\ p. 431. But we find a par- ticular office so called at Gataka II, 57. (It is true the reading there is sabbatthaka, but Mr. Trenckner's reading is doubtless preferable.) 2 All these cases have already been referred to above, I, 172. 8 ' Nandagutta of the Brahman caste/ says the Sinhalese, p. 431. 4 * Descended from the £akya race/ adds Hina/i-kumbure. L 2 I48 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 8, 27. thus slain came to destruction through the fruit of the Karma of their evil deeds1. And therefore, too, do I say, Nagasena, that vice is more powerful than virtue. And have you heard, Nagasena, that in all this dispensation (since the time of Gotama the Buddha) the giving by the Kosala king has been unequalled ? ' * Yes, I have heard so, O king/ ' But did he, Nagasena, on account of his having given gifts so unequalled, receive in this present life wealth, or glory, or happiness ? ' ' No, O king, he did not.' ' Then, in that case, surely, Nagasena, vice is more powerful than virtue ? ' 27. 'Vice, O king, by reason of its meanness, dies quickly away. But virtue, by reason of its grandeur, takes a long time to die. And this can be further examined into by a metaphor. Just, O king, as in the West Country2 the kind of corn called Kumuda- bhandika, ripening quickly and being garnered in a month, is called Masalu (got in a month) 3, but the rices only come to perfection in six months or five. What then is the difference, what the distinction herein between Kumuda-bha/z^ik£ and rice ? ' The one is a mean plant, O king, the other a grand one. The rices are worthy of kings, meet for 1 The Pali being otherwise unintelligible, the above version has been expanded in accordance with the Sinhalese interpretation. Kavandha as a living headless trunk occurs already in the Sutta Vibhahga, Para^ika IV, 9, 3. 2 Aparante. This may mean merely the western country (as at (xataka I, 98), or may be a specific place name as Aparantika is in the 'Indian Antiquary,' VII, 263. 8 So the Sinhalese, which seems to follow a slightly different reading. IV, 8, 28. OF MILINDA THE KING. 1 49 the kings table ; the other is the food of servants and of slaves. [293] ' Just so, O king, it is by reason of its meanness that vice dies quickly away. But virtue, by its grandeur, takes a long time to die/
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.
1incident is also related at Gataka I, 57. But in both these books there is reference only to the first — not to the second, third, and fourth GMnas, As this is therefore only another instance of the difference between the Pi/akas and the more advanced views of our author, I have not translated the remaining GMnas. As will be seen from the version of them in my ' Buddhist Suttas from the Pali' (S. B.E., vol. xi, p. 272), the idea that a mere baby could have practised these higher meditations would only become possible after the Buddha theory had been much more developed than it is in the Pi/akas. 1 Kusalaw. So it has been already laid down at III, 7, 7 (pp. 83, 84 of the Pali), that merit (puwwaw) is more than demerit. IV, 8, 25. OF MILINDA THE KING. I45 their nose, or their ears and nose, or the Gruel Pot, or the Chank Crown, or the Rahu's Mouth, or the Fire Garland, or the Hand Torch, or the Snake Strips, or the Bark Dress, or the Spotted Antelope, or the Flesh Hooks, or the Penny Cuts, or the Brine Slits, or the Bar Turn, or the Straw Seat, or they are anointed with boiling oil, or eaten by dogs, or are impaled alive, or are beheaded with a sword1. Some of them sin one night and that night expe- rience the fruit of their sin, some sinning by night experience the next day, some sinning one day ex- perience that day, some sinning by day experience that night, some experience when two days or three have elapsed. But all experience in this present visible world the result of their iniquity. And is there any one, Nagasena, who from having pro- vided a meal with all its accessories2 for one, or two, or three, or four, or five, or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand (members of the Order), has enjoyed in this present visible world wealth or fame or hap- piness— (is there any one who) from righteousness of life, or from observance of the Uposatha, (has received bliss even in this life3)?' 25. 'There are [291], O king, four men who by giving gifts, and by the practice of uprightness, and by the keeping of Uposatha, even in their earthly bodies attained to glory in Tidasapura (the city of the gods)/ 1 This is a repetition of the list given above (I, 276-278), where the technical terms are explained. Compare Mr. William Andrews's book, ' Punishments in the Olden Time/ 2 Saparivaraztt dana/#. Pirikara-sahita-wu maha* dan dl, says the Sinhalese, p. 430. 8 The words in brackets are supplied from Hina/i-kumbure. [36] L I46 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 8, 25. 'And who, Sir, were they1?' * Mandhata the king, and Nimi the king, and Sadhina the king, and Guttila the musician2/ i Venerable Nagasena, this happened thousands of births ago, and is beyond the ken of either of us two. Give me, if you can, some examples from that period (of the world) which is now elapsing in which the Blessed One has been alive/
2Give me, if you can, some examples from that period (of the world) which is now elapsing in which the Blessed One has been alive/ ' In this present period, O king, the slave Pu/z/zaka, on giving a meal to Sariputta the Elder, attained that day to the dignity of a treasurer (Se/Mi), and he is now generally known as Pu/z- Tzaka the Se^i. The queen, the mother of Gopala, who (being the daughter of poor peasant folk) sold her hair for eight pennies, and therewith gave a meal to Maha Ka^ayana the Elder and his seven companions, became that very day the chief queen of king Udena. Suppiya, the believing woman, cut flesh from her own thigh to provide broth 3 for a sick Bhikkhu, and on the very next day the wound closed up, and the place became cured, with skin grown over it. Mallika, the queen who (when a poor flower girl) gave the last night's gruel (she had reserved for her own dinner) to the Blessed One, became that very day the chief queen of the king of Kosala4. Sumana, the garland maker, when he had 1 The king himself has already mentioned them, in reverse order, above, I, 172. 2 The legends will be found in full in the (jrataka stones num- bered respectively, in Professor Fausboll's edition, 258, 533, 494, and 243. 3 Pa/iy£/£Mdaniya7tf. See the note on Mahavagga VI, 23, where this curious story is given in full. * See Gataka III, 495, 496 for this story. Abhidosika/ft is not in Childers, but see the Sutta Vibhahga, Para^ika I, 5, 6. IV, 8, 26. OF MILINDA THE KING. 147 presented to the Blessed One eight bunches of jessamine flowers, came that very day into great prosperity. Eka-sa^aka the Brahman, who gave to the Blessed One his only garment, received that very day the office of Sabba^Maka (Minister in general) \ All these, O king, came into the enjoy- ment of wealth and glory in their then existing lives/ ' So then, Nagasena, with all your searching and enquiry you have only found six cases 2 ? ' ' That is so, O king/ 26. ' Then it is vice, Nagasena, and not virtue which is the more powerful. For on one day alone I have seen ten men expiating their crimes by being impaled alive, and thirty even, and forty, and fifty, [292], and a hundred, and a thousand. And further, there was Bhaddasala, the soldier in the service of the royal family of Nanda3, and he waged war against king A^andagutta4. Now in that war, Naga- sena, there were eighty Corpse Dances. For they say that when one great Head Holocaust has taken place (by which is meant the slaughter of ten thousand elephants, and a lac of horses, and five thousand charioteers, and a hundred ko/is of soldiers on foot), then the headless corpses arise and dance in frenzy over the battle-field. And all the men 1 ' Received from the king the great honour (sammana) called sabba/Z^aka/ says Hina/i-kumbure\ p. 431. But we find a par- ticular office so called at Gataka II, 57. (It is true the reading there is sabbatthaka, but Mr. Trenckner's reading is doubtless preferable.)
3And all the men 1 ' Received from the king the great honour (sammana) called sabba/Z^aka/ says Hina/i-kumbure\ p. 431. But we find a par- ticular office so called at Gataka II, 57. (It is true the reading there is sabbatthaka, but Mr. Trenckner's reading is doubtless preferable.) 2 All these cases have already been referred to above, I, 172. 8 ' Nandagutta of the Brahman caste/ says the Sinhalese, p. 431. 4 * Descended from the £akya race/ adds Hina/i-kumbure. L 2 I48 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 8, 27. thus slain came to destruction through the fruit of the Karma of their evil deeds1. And therefore, too, do I say, Nagasena, that vice is more powerful than virtue. And have you heard, Nagasena, that in all this dispensation (since the time of Gotama the Buddha) the giving by the Kosala king has been unequalled ? ' * Yes, I have heard so, O king/ ' But did he, Nagasena, on account of his having given gifts so unequalled, receive in this present life wealth, or glory, or happiness ? ' ' No, O king, he did not.' ' Then, in that case, surely, Nagasena, vice is more powerful than virtue ? ' 27. 'Vice, O king, by reason of its meanness, dies quickly away. But virtue, by reason of its grandeur, takes a long time to die. And this can be further examined into by a metaphor. Just, O king, as in the West Country2 the kind of corn called Kumuda- bhandika, ripening quickly and being garnered in a month, is called Masalu (got in a month) 3, but the rices only come to perfection in six months or five. What then is the difference, what the distinction herein between Kumuda-bha/z^ik£ and rice ? ' The one is a mean plant, O king, the other a grand one. The rices are worthy of kings, meet for 1 The Pali being otherwise unintelligible, the above version has been expanded in accordance with the Sinhalese interpretation. Kavandha as a living headless trunk occurs already in the Sutta Vibhahga, Para^ika IV, 9, 3. 2 Aparante. This may mean merely the western country (as at (xataka I, 98), or may be a specific place name as Aparantika is in the 'Indian Antiquary,' VII, 263. 8 So the Sinhalese, which seems to follow a slightly different reading. IV, 8, 28. OF MILINDA THE KING. 1 49 the kings table ; the other is the food of servants and of slaves. [293] ' Just so, O king, it is by reason of its meanness that vice dies quickly away. But virtue, by its grandeur, takes a long time to die/
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.
No commentary for this page.