Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
17 Langhaka. Pinum karayo, 'turners of summersets' in the Sinhalese. See 6rataka I, 431, and above, pp. 31, 191 of the Pali. 8 Vetalika. Vetaliyehi mangalash/aka kiyannawu in V, 5- OF MILINDA THE KING. 2 I I (boxers), corpse burners, casters out of rotten flowers1, savages2, wild men of the woods3, prostitutes, swingers and jumpers4, and the slave girls of bullies — people of many countries, people from Scythia, Bactria, China, and Vilata ; people of Ug^eni, of Bharuka^^a, of Benares, of Kosala, and of the border lands ; people from Magadha, and Saketa, and Sura///£a, and the West ; from Ko/umbara and Madhura, from Alexandria, Kashmir, and Gandhara5, — all these coming to take up their residence there, and finding the new city to be regular, faultless, perfect, and plea- sant, would know : "Able indeed must that architect have been by whom this city was built ! " 5. i Just so, O king, that Blessed One, peerless, unequalled, unapproached, incomparable, admirable beyond all measure by weight or calculation, of infinite virtue, full of virtue and perfection, boundless in wisdom and glory and zeal and power, who, when he had attained to the summit of all the perfections the Sinhalese (Wandi-bha//ayo according to Subhuti on Abhi- dhana Padipika 369). 1 Puppha/^^^adaka. A well-known low caste whose duty it was to remove flowers offered on the shrines of the gods after they had faded. At Thera Gatha, verse 620, this is called one of the meanest of occupations. 2 Vewa. Hina/i-kumbure has 'lute makers/ but this must be wrong. 3 The Sinhalese says simply Weddahs (Weed das), the well- known interesting wild men of Ceylon, 4 Lasika, 'those/ says the Sinhalese, 'who as if intoxicated with joy jump about and leap and dance/ But I think it is con- nected with the ancient usages to which the lascivious swinging of the -Saivites and VallabhaMryas owes its origin. 5 On all these names see the Introduction to part I, pp. xliii, xliv. Aparantaka and Patheyyaka might there have been added, as well as puratthimo ^anapado (from p. 42). P 2 2 I 2 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES V, 6.
25 On all these names see the Introduction to part I, pp. xliii, xliv. Aparantaka and Patheyyaka might there have been added, as well as puratthimo ^anapado (from p. 42). P 2 2 I 2 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES V, 6. of the Buddhas, [332] overthrew Mara and all his hosts, — he, bursting asunder the net of heresy, and casting aside ignorance, and causing wisdom to arise, and bearing aloft the torch of Truth, reached forward to Buddhahood itself, and so, unconquered and unconquerable in the fight, built this city of Righteousness. And the Blessed One's City of Righteousness, O king, has righteousness for its rampart, and fear of sin for its moat, and knowledge for the battlement over its city gate, and zeal for the watch-tower above that, and faith for the pillars at its base, and mindfulness for the watchman at the gate, and wisdom for the terrace above, and the Suttantas for its market-place, and the Abhidhamma for its cross-ways, and the Vinaya (the Canon Law) for its judgment hall, and constant self-possession for its chief street. And in that street, O king, these bazaars are open — a flower bazaar, and a fruit bazaar, and an antidote bazaar, and a medicine bazaar, and an ambrosia bazaar, and a bazaar for precious stones, and a bazaar for all manner of merchandise.' 6. ' But what, venerable Nagasena, is the flower bazaar of the Blessed One, the Buddha ? ' * There are certain subjects for meditation, O king, that have been made known by the Blessed One, by him of knowledge and insight, by the Arahat, the Buddha Supreme. And they are these. The idea of the impermanence (of every thing and of every being), the idea of the absence of any abiding principle (any soul in any thing or any being), the idea of the impurity and the idea of the danger connected with the body, the idea of getting rid of evil dispositions, the idea of freedom from passion, the idea of peace, the idea of dissatisfaction with the V, 6. OF MILINDA THE KING. 213
3OF MILINDA THE KING. 213 things of the world, the idea of the transitory nature of all conditions, the idea of ecstatic trance, the ideas of a corpse in the various stages of decay, the ideas of a place of execution in all its various horrors, the idea of love to all beings, the idea of pity for all beings, the idea of sym- pathy with all beings, the idea of equanimity in all the changing circumstances of life, the idea of death, and the idea of the body \ These, O king, are the subjects for meditation prescribed by the Blessed One. And of these, whoever, longing to be delivered from old age and death, takes any one as the subject of his meditation, by that meditation does he become set free from passion, set free from malice, set free from dullness, set free from pride, set free from wrong views, by that does he cross the ocean of Sawsara, and stem the torrent of cravings, and cleanse himself of the threefold stain2, and destroy within himself all evil ; and so, entering that glorious city, spotless and stainless, pure and white, [333] ageless and deathless, where all is security and calm and bliss — the city of Nirva/za — he emancipates his mind in Arahatship ! And this, O king, is what is called " The Blessed One's bazaar of flowers/' " Take with you Karma as the price, And go ye up to that bazaar, Buy there an object for your thought, Emancipate yourselves. Be free 3! 1 Hina/i-kumbure devotes a paragraph to each of these subjects for meditation. 2 Of raga, dosa, and moha. 3 This stanza has not yet been found in the Pi/akas. In the first line it does not seem quite clear at first sight why Karma, of all things, should be the price. That Indian word being too 214 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES V, 7. 7. 'And what, venerable Nagasena, is the perfume bazaar of the Blessed One, the Buddha ? ' ' There are certain categories of virtue, O king, that have been made known by the Blessed One, and anointed by the perfume of that righteousness the children of the Blessed One fill with the fumes of the fragrant incense of the perfume of goodness the whole world of gods and men, in every direction, and to windward and to leeward, continuing to pervade it again and yet again. And which are those categories ? The virtue of taking refuge \
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.
17 Langhaka. Pinum karayo, 'turners of summersets' in the Sinhalese. See 6rataka I, 431, and above, pp. 31, 191 of the Pali. 8 Vetalika. Vetaliyehi mangalash/aka kiyannawu in V, 5- OF MILINDA THE KING. 2 I I (boxers), corpse burners, casters out of rotten flowers1, savages2, wild men of the woods3, prostitutes, swingers and jumpers4, and the slave girls of bullies — people of many countries, people from Scythia, Bactria, China, and Vilata ; people of Ug^eni, of Bharuka^^a, of Benares, of Kosala, and of the border lands ; people from Magadha, and Saketa, and Sura///£a, and the West ; from Ko/umbara and Madhura, from Alexandria, Kashmir, and Gandhara5, — all these coming to take up their residence there, and finding the new city to be regular, faultless, perfect, and plea- sant, would know : "Able indeed must that architect have been by whom this city was built ! " 5. i Just so, O king, that Blessed One, peerless, unequalled, unapproached, incomparable, admirable beyond all measure by weight or calculation, of infinite virtue, full of virtue and perfection, boundless in wisdom and glory and zeal and power, who, when he had attained to the summit of all the perfections the Sinhalese (Wandi-bha//ayo according to Subhuti on Abhi- dhana Padipika 369). 1 Puppha/^^^adaka. A well-known low caste whose duty it was to remove flowers offered on the shrines of the gods after they had faded. At Thera Gatha, verse 620, this is called one of the meanest of occupations. 2 Vewa. Hina/i-kumbure has 'lute makers/ but this must be wrong. 3 The Sinhalese says simply Weddahs (Weed das), the well- known interesting wild men of Ceylon, 4 Lasika, 'those/ says the Sinhalese, 'who as if intoxicated with joy jump about and leap and dance/ But I think it is con- nected with the ancient usages to which the lascivious swinging of the -Saivites and VallabhaMryas owes its origin. 5 On all these names see the Introduction to part I, pp. xliii, xliv. Aparantaka and Patheyyaka might there have been added, as well as puratthimo ^anapado (from p. 42). P 2 2 I 2 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES V, 6.
25 On all these names see the Introduction to part I, pp. xliii, xliv. Aparantaka and Patheyyaka might there have been added, as well as puratthimo ^anapado (from p. 42). P 2 2 I 2 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES V, 6. of the Buddhas, [332] overthrew Mara and all his hosts, — he, bursting asunder the net of heresy, and casting aside ignorance, and causing wisdom to arise, and bearing aloft the torch of Truth, reached forward to Buddhahood itself, and so, unconquered and unconquerable in the fight, built this city of Righteousness. And the Blessed One's City of Righteousness, O king, has righteousness for its rampart, and fear of sin for its moat, and knowledge for the battlement over its city gate, and zeal for the watch-tower above that, and faith for the pillars at its base, and mindfulness for the watchman at the gate, and wisdom for the terrace above, and the Suttantas for its market-place, and the Abhidhamma for its cross-ways, and the Vinaya (the Canon Law) for its judgment hall, and constant self-possession for its chief street. And in that street, O king, these bazaars are open — a flower bazaar, and a fruit bazaar, and an antidote bazaar, and a medicine bazaar, and an ambrosia bazaar, and a bazaar for precious stones, and a bazaar for all manner of merchandise.' 6. ' But what, venerable Nagasena, is the flower bazaar of the Blessed One, the Buddha ? ' * There are certain subjects for meditation, O king, that have been made known by the Blessed One, by him of knowledge and insight, by the Arahat, the Buddha Supreme. And they are these. The idea of the impermanence (of every thing and of every being), the idea of the absence of any abiding principle (any soul in any thing or any being), the idea of the impurity and the idea of the danger connected with the body, the idea of getting rid of evil dispositions, the idea of freedom from passion, the idea of peace, the idea of dissatisfaction with the V, 6. OF MILINDA THE KING. 213
3OF MILINDA THE KING. 213 things of the world, the idea of the transitory nature of all conditions, the idea of ecstatic trance, the ideas of a corpse in the various stages of decay, the ideas of a place of execution in all its various horrors, the idea of love to all beings, the idea of pity for all beings, the idea of sym- pathy with all beings, the idea of equanimity in all the changing circumstances of life, the idea of death, and the idea of the body \ These, O king, are the subjects for meditation prescribed by the Blessed One. And of these, whoever, longing to be delivered from old age and death, takes any one as the subject of his meditation, by that meditation does he become set free from passion, set free from malice, set free from dullness, set free from pride, set free from wrong views, by that does he cross the ocean of Sawsara, and stem the torrent of cravings, and cleanse himself of the threefold stain2, and destroy within himself all evil ; and so, entering that glorious city, spotless and stainless, pure and white, [333] ageless and deathless, where all is security and calm and bliss — the city of Nirva/za — he emancipates his mind in Arahatship ! And this, O king, is what is called " The Blessed One's bazaar of flowers/' " Take with you Karma as the price, And go ye up to that bazaar, Buy there an object for your thought, Emancipate yourselves. Be free 3! 1 Hina/i-kumbure devotes a paragraph to each of these subjects for meditation. 2 Of raga, dosa, and moha. 3 This stanza has not yet been found in the Pi/akas. In the first line it does not seem quite clear at first sight why Karma, of all things, should be the price. That Indian word being too 214 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES V, 7. 7. 'And what, venerable Nagasena, is the perfume bazaar of the Blessed One, the Buddha ? ' ' There are certain categories of virtue, O king, that have been made known by the Blessed One, and anointed by the perfume of that righteousness the children of the Blessed One fill with the fumes of the fragrant incense of the perfume of goodness the whole world of gods and men, in every direction, and to windward and to leeward, continuing to pervade it again and yet again. And which are those categories ? The virtue of taking refuge \
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.