The Questions of King Milinda, Part II — SBE Vol. 36 (trans. T. W. Rhys Davids, 1894)

These, O king, are the thirty graces he is adorned withal.

26. 'And was not Sariputta, the Elder, O king, the best man in the whole ten thousand world systems, the Teacher of the world himself alone excepted ? And he who through endless ages had heaped up merit, and had been reborn in a Brahman family, relinquished all the delights of the pleasures of sense, and gave up boundless wealth 3, to enter the Order according to the teaching of the Conqueror, and having restrained his actions, words, and thoughts by these thirteen vows, became in this life of such exalted virtue that he was the one who, after the Master, set rolling on the royal chariot-

1 Abhinita-vâso, 'having the ten ariya-vasas,' says the Sinhalese.

2 Di/Ma-dhammo, 'seen the Four Truths/ says the Sinhalese,

P- 535-

3 For sahkha Hina/i-kumbure has sahassa.

[36] Tp. 2 wheel of the kingdom of righteousness in the religion of Gotama, the Blessed One. So that this was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in that most excellent collection, the Ahguttara Nikaya1:

" I know, O brethren, of no other man who in succession to me sets rolling on the glorious chariotwheel of the kingdom of righteousness so well as Sariputta. Sariputta, O brethren, sets rolling that wheel the best of all." '

' Most excellent, Nagasena ! The whole ninefold word of the Buddha, the most exalted conduct, the highest and best of the attainments to be gained in the world, — all these are wrapped up together in the virtues that result from the keeping of the vows/

Here ends the Ninth Chapter2.

Here ends the Solving of Puzzles,

1 Anguttara I, 13, 7.

2 The ninth, because the numbering of the Vaggas is carried on from the last book. But according to the divisions enumerated at the beginning of the work (translated at p. 4 of the previous volume) it is one of the principal divisions of the book that is here closed, and the chapters ought not to run on*

VII, i, r.

OF MILINDA THE KING.

p. 275

BOOK VII.

opamma-katha-paivho. the similes.

Chapter 1.

1. [363] 'Venerable Nagasena, with how many qualities must a member of the Order (a Bhikshu) be endowed to realise Arahatship ? '

' The brother, O king, who wishes to attain Arahatship must take : —

1. One quality of the ass . . • VII, 1, 2

2. And five of the cock

p. 3

3. And one of the squirrel .

p. 8

4. And one of the female panthe r

p. 9

5. And two of the male panther .

p. 10

6. And five of the tortoise

p. 12

7. And one of the bamboo

p. 17

8. And one of the bow

p. 18

9. And two of the crow

p. 19

10. And two of the monkey .

p. 21

1 1. And one of the gourd

VII

, 2> r

12. And three of the lotus .

p. 2

13. And two of seed .

p. 5

14. And one of the Sal-tree

■ 7

15. And three of a ship

. 8

16. And two of the anchor

1 1

17. And one of the mast

• J3

18. And three of the pilot ,

. 14

1 9. And one of the sailor

• 17

20. And five of the ocean

. 18

21. And five of the earth

. VII

, 3, 1

T 2

p. 276

p. 5

14. And one of the Sal-tree

■ 7

15. And three of a ship

. 8

16. And two of the anchor

1 1

17. And one of the mast

• J3

18. And three of the pilot ,

. 14

1 9. And one of the sailor

• 17

20. And five of the ocean

. 18

21. And five of the earth

. VII

, 3, 1

T 2

p. 276

THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES

p. 1

22. And five of water .

p. 6

23. And five of fire

. 11

24. And five of wind .

. 16

25. And five of rock .

. 21

26. And five of space .

. 26

27. And five of the moon

• 31

28. And seven of the sun

. 36

29. And three of Sakka

. 43

30. And four of a sovran overlord

. 46

31. And one of the white ant

. VII

, 4, 1

32. And two of the cat

p. 2

33. And one of the rat

. 4

34. And one of the scorpion

p. 5

35. And one of the mungoose

. 6

36. [364] And two of the old jackal

p. 7

37. And three of the deer

• 9

38. And four of the bull

. 12

39. And two of the boar

p. 16

40. And five of the elephant

p. 18

41. And seven of the lion

VII

, 5, 1

42. And three of the Aakravaka bird

p. 8

43. And two of the Pe^ahika bird

p. 11

44. And one of the house-pigeon .

p. 13

45. And two of the owl

p. 14

46. And one of the crane

p. 16

47. And two of the bat

p. 17

48. And one of the leech

p. 19

49. And three of the serpent

p. 20

50. And one of the rock-snake

p. 23

51. And one of the road spider .

VII

,6, 1

52. And one of the child at the breast .

p. 2

53. And one of the land tortoise .

p. 3

54. And five of the mountain height

p. 4

55. And three of the tree

p. 9

VII, i, i.

OF MILINDA THE KING.

p. 277

56.

And five of the rain-cloud

p. 12

57-

And three of the jewel .

• 17

58.

And four of the hunter .

. 20

59-

And two of the fisherman

. 24

60.

And two of the carpenter

. 26

61.

And one of the waterpot

p. 1

62.

And two of iron

p. 2

63.

And three of a sunshade

• 4

64.

And three of a rice field .

• 7

65-

And two of medicine

. 10

66.

And three of food .

. 12

67.

And four of the archer * .

And four of the king.

And two of the doorkeeper.

And one of a grindstone.

And two of a lamp.

And two of the peacock.

And two of the steed.

And two of the publican.

And two of a threshold.

And one of a balance.

And two of a sword.

And two of a fish.

[365] And one of a borrower.

And two of a sick man.

And two of a corpse.

And two of a river.

And one of a buffalo.

And two of a road.

And one of a tax-gatherer.

And three of a thief.

• l5

1 The published text carries the details of these similes no further than this. See the remarks in the Introduction, pp. xxiv,

XXV.

p. 278

And one of the hawk.

And one of the dog.

And three of the physician.

And two of a woman with child.

And one of the yak cow.

And two of the hen.

And three of the dove.

And two of the one-eyed man.

And three of the husbandman.

And one of the female jackal \

And two of the dyers' straining-cloth 2.

And one of a spoon.

And one of the negociator of a loan.

And one of a collector.

And one of the yak cow.

And two of the hen.

And three of the dove.

And two of the one-eyed man.

And three of the husbandman.

And one of the female jackal \

And two of the dyers' straining-cloth 2.

And one of a spoon.

And one of the negociator of a loan.

And one of a collector.

And two of a charioteer.

And two of a village headman.

And one of a tailor.

And one of a helmsman.

And two of a bee.'

Here ends the Table of Contents.

1 Gambuka-sigaliya. In (zataka, No. 294, of Fausboll, the jackal is male. The reference therefore here is to a kind of jackal named after the £ambu fruit.

2 iTangavarakassa. See Mag^ima Nikaya I, 142-4, and Gataka V, 186, in both of which passages the Burmese MSS. read £ahka-. The Sinhalese, p. 540, has perahan ka</e.

p. 279

i. The Ass.

2. ' Venerable Nagasena, that one quality of the harsh-voiced ass which you say he ought to take, which is that ? '

' Just, O king, as the ass, wheresoever he may lie down — whether on a dust heap, or in the open space where four roads meet, or three *, or at the entrance to a village, or on a heap of straw — [366] — nowhere is he given to resting long ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort2, wheresoever he may spread out his mat for repose — whether on strewed grass, or leaves, or on a bed of thorns, or on the bare earth — nowhere should he be given to sloth. This is the one quality of the ass he ought to have. For this has been said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods : " Sleeping on pillows of chaff, my disciples, O brethren,

Keep themselves earnest and ardent in strenuous fight V

1 -^atukke and sihgha/ake. I follow Hina/i-kumbure in the distinction he makes between the meaning of these terms — satara and tun maw sandhiyehi (p. 540).

2 Yogi yogava^aro. The rendering of these words is quite inadequate, and has given me much trouble. Neither ' yogee ' nor * devotee ' can be used, for they both have acquired connotations contradictory to what was in our author's mind. He means the Buddhist Bhikshu belonging to that class among the Bhikshus (by no means the majority) who had devoted themselves to a life of systematic effort according to the Buddhist scheme of self-training. But I have found it impossible to put into any English phrase sufficiently short for the constant repetition of the two Pali words any full and accurate representation of all that they imply. See the note above on p. 43 of the Pali, and (-rataka, vol. i, p. 303.

3 Not traced as yet. Mr. Trenckner prints the passage as

p. 280

' And this too, O king, was said by Sariputta, the
Elder, the Commander of the Faith :

" If it but raineth not knee-deep on him When sitting in high meditations plunged — • What cares the man on Arahatship intent for ease l !

2. The Cock.

3. ' Venerable Nagasena, those five qualities of the cock which you say he ought to take, what are they ? '