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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1It was with reference to that, O king, that he said : " A Brahman am I, O brethren, devoted to self- sacrifice, pure-handed at every time ; this body that I bear with me is my last, I am the supreme Healer and Physician/' 10. ' Now one man, O king, may be of good birth, and another may be wealthy, and another full of wisdom, and another well educated, and another brave, and another adroit ; but a king, surpassing all these, is reckoned supreme. Just in that way, O king, is the Blessed One the highest, the most worthy of respect, the best of all beings. And in so far as the venerable Bakkula was healthy in body, that was by reason of an aspiration (he had formed in a pre- vious birth) \ For, O king, when Anoma-dassf, the Blessed One, was afflicted with a disease, with wind in his stomach, and again when Vipassi, the Blessed One, and sixty-eight thousand of his disciples, were afflicted with a disease, with greenness of blood 2, he, 1 See, for other instances of such aspirations, above, vol. i, p. 5. 2 Ti«a-pupphaka-roga. There is a flower called tiwa- puppha, and this may be a skin disease named after it. But pupphakaat G&taka III, 541, means blood, and the disease may IV, 5, ii. OF MILINDA THE KING. II being at those times an ascetic, had cured that disease with various medicines, and attained (there- by) to such healthiness of body (in this life) that it was said of him : " The chief, O brethren, among those who are disciples of mine, in the matter of bodily health, is Bakkula." ii.' But the Blessed One, O king, whether he be suffering, or not suffering, from disease ; whether he have taken, or not taken, upon himself the observance be so called because the blood was turned by it to the colour of grass (tizza). Hina/i-kumbure (who gives these legends of the previous births of Bakkula at much greater length, adding others from the time of the Buddhas Padumuttara and Kassapa, and giving the story also of his present birth) says that the disease arose from contact with wind which had been poisoned through blowing over a Upas tree (p. 296 of the Sinhalese version). But he does not explain the name of the disease, which occurs only here. In his present birth Bakkula is said to have been born at Kosambi, in a wealthy family. His mother, understanding that to bathe a new-born child in the Jumna would ensure him a long life, took him down to the river. Whilst he was there being bathed, a huge fish swallowed him. But the fish, caught at Benares, was sold to a wealthy but childless man there, and on being cut open, the babe was found in it unhurt.
2Whilst he was there being bathed, a huge fish swallowed him. But the fish, caught at Benares, was sold to a wealthy but childless man there, and on being cut open, the babe was found in it unhurt. The mother hearing the news of this marvel, went in great state and with haste to Benares and claimed the child. Thereupon an inter- esting lawsuit arose, and the king of Benares, thinking it unjust to deprive the purchaser of a fish of anything inside it, and also unjust to deprive a mother of her child, decided that the child belonged equally to both. So he became the heir of both families, and was therefore called Bak-kula, * the two-family-one ' (Bak=Ba=Dva). On the real derivation of Bakkula, see Dr. Morris in the ' Journal of the Pali Text Society/ 1886, pp. 94-99. We need not quarrel with a false etymology which shows us so clearly the origin of the legend. Then Bakkula enjoys great prosperity in the orthodox three palaces, and at eighty years of age, being still in vigorous health, enters the Order. 12 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 5,11. of special vows 1, — there is no being like unto the Blessed One. [217] For this, O king, has been said by the Blessed One, the god of gods, in the most excellent Sa^yutta Nikaya2 : " Whatsoever beings, O brethren, there may be — whether without feet, or bipeds, or four-footed things, whether with a body, or without a body, whether conscious or unconscious, or neither conscious nor not — the Tathagata is acknowledged to be the chief of all, the Arahat, the Buddha Supreme/' ' ' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say V [Here ends the problem as to the superiority of Bakkula to the Buddha.] 1 The Dhutangas, enumerated below, p. 351 (of the Pali text). 2 Sa^yutta Nikaya XLIV, 103. 3 This piece of casuistry is not so entirely at variance with the context of the second passage (quoted from the Anguttara I, 14) as would seem at first sight. The answer practically amounts to this, that though each of many disciples may be superior to the Buddha in certain bodily qualities, or even in the special vows known as Dhutangas, yet he surpasses them in the * weightier matters of the law/ It is true that one of the instances given, that of the Mana-^ankamika, is not included in the list of Dhutangas, and in the long enumeration in the Angut- tara of those of the disciples who were ' chief in any way, ' weightier matters of the law' are not overlooked. But 'meditation on foot' is of the same nature as the acknowledged Dhutangas, and none of the five special points in which Nagasena places especially the superiority of the Buddha (uprightness, &c), is mentioned in the Anguttara. Nevertheless the logical reply to the problem proposed would have been that in the Anguttara the superiority spoken of is over other disciples, and not over the Buddha. I^5»J3* 0F MILINDA THE KING. 1 3 [dilemma THE FORTY-FOURTH. THE ORIGINALITY OF THE BUDDHAS TEACHING.]
3Nevertheless the logical reply to the problem proposed would have been that in the Anguttara the superiority spoken of is over other disciples, and not over the Buddha. I^5»J3* 0F MILINDA THE KING. 1 3 [dilemma THE FORTY-FOURTH. THE ORIGINALITY OF THE BUDDHAS TEACHING.] 12. ' Venerable Nagasena, it has been said by the Blessed One : " The Tathagata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme1, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown 2." * But on the other hand he said : " Now I perceived, O brethren, the ancient way, the ancient path, along which the previous Buddhas walked V * If, Nagasena, the Tathagata be the discoverer of a way not previously found out, then it must be wrong that it was an ancient way that he perceived, an ancient path along which previous Buddhas walked. But if the way he perceived were an ancient way, then the statement that it was unknown must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve/ 13. ' Both the quotations you make, O king, are accurate. And both the statements so made are correct. When the previous Tathagatas, O king, had disappeared, then, there being no teacher left, their way too disappeared. And it was that way — though then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, no longer passable, quite lost to view — [218] that the Tathagata, having gained a 1 Supreme, that is, in comparison with the Pa^eka Buddhas, ' Buddhas for themselves alone : ' whereas the ' altogether Buddha ' can not only see the truth for himself, but also persuade others of it. 2 These two quotations are from the Sawyutta Nikaya XXI, 58 and X, 2, 65, says Mr. Trenckner, but I cannot trace them in M. Feer's edition. 14 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 5, 14. thorough knowledge of it, saw by the eye of his wisdom x, (and knew it) as the way that previous Buddhas trod. And therefore is it that he said : " Now I perceived, O brethren, the ancient way, the ancient path along which previous Buddhas walked." ' And it was a way which — there being, through the disappearance of previous Tathagatas, no teacher left — was a way then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, and lost to view, that the TatMgata made now passable again. And therefore is it that he said : " The Tathagata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown." 14. ' Suppose, O king, that on the disappearance of a sovran overlord, the mystic Gem of Sovranty lay concealed in a cleft on the mountain peak, and that on another sovran overlord arriving at his supreme dignity, it should appear to him. Would you then say, O king, that the Gem was produced by him 2 ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! The Gem would be in its original condition. But it has received, as it were, a new birth through him.' * Just so, O king, is it that the Blessed One, gaining a thorough knowledge of it by the eye of
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.
1It was with reference to that, O king, that he said : " A Brahman am I, O brethren, devoted to self- sacrifice, pure-handed at every time ; this body that I bear with me is my last, I am the supreme Healer and Physician/' 10. ' Now one man, O king, may be of good birth, and another may be wealthy, and another full of wisdom, and another well educated, and another brave, and another adroit ; but a king, surpassing all these, is reckoned supreme. Just in that way, O king, is the Blessed One the highest, the most worthy of respect, the best of all beings. And in so far as the venerable Bakkula was healthy in body, that was by reason of an aspiration (he had formed in a pre- vious birth) \ For, O king, when Anoma-dassf, the Blessed One, was afflicted with a disease, with wind in his stomach, and again when Vipassi, the Blessed One, and sixty-eight thousand of his disciples, were afflicted with a disease, with greenness of blood 2, he, 1 See, for other instances of such aspirations, above, vol. i, p. 5. 2 Ti«a-pupphaka-roga. There is a flower called tiwa- puppha, and this may be a skin disease named after it. But pupphakaat G&taka III, 541, means blood, and the disease may IV, 5, ii. OF MILINDA THE KING. II being at those times an ascetic, had cured that disease with various medicines, and attained (there- by) to such healthiness of body (in this life) that it was said of him : " The chief, O brethren, among those who are disciples of mine, in the matter of bodily health, is Bakkula." ii.' But the Blessed One, O king, whether he be suffering, or not suffering, from disease ; whether he have taken, or not taken, upon himself the observance be so called because the blood was turned by it to the colour of grass (tizza). Hina/i-kumbure (who gives these legends of the previous births of Bakkula at much greater length, adding others from the time of the Buddhas Padumuttara and Kassapa, and giving the story also of his present birth) says that the disease arose from contact with wind which had been poisoned through blowing over a Upas tree (p. 296 of the Sinhalese version). But he does not explain the name of the disease, which occurs only here. In his present birth Bakkula is said to have been born at Kosambi, in a wealthy family. His mother, understanding that to bathe a new-born child in the Jumna would ensure him a long life, took him down to the river. Whilst he was there being bathed, a huge fish swallowed him. But the fish, caught at Benares, was sold to a wealthy but childless man there, and on being cut open, the babe was found in it unhurt.
2Whilst he was there being bathed, a huge fish swallowed him. But the fish, caught at Benares, was sold to a wealthy but childless man there, and on being cut open, the babe was found in it unhurt. The mother hearing the news of this marvel, went in great state and with haste to Benares and claimed the child. Thereupon an inter- esting lawsuit arose, and the king of Benares, thinking it unjust to deprive the purchaser of a fish of anything inside it, and also unjust to deprive a mother of her child, decided that the child belonged equally to both. So he became the heir of both families, and was therefore called Bak-kula, * the two-family-one ' (Bak=Ba=Dva). On the real derivation of Bakkula, see Dr. Morris in the ' Journal of the Pali Text Society/ 1886, pp. 94-99. We need not quarrel with a false etymology which shows us so clearly the origin of the legend. Then Bakkula enjoys great prosperity in the orthodox three palaces, and at eighty years of age, being still in vigorous health, enters the Order. 12 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 5,11. of special vows 1, — there is no being like unto the Blessed One. [217] For this, O king, has been said by the Blessed One, the god of gods, in the most excellent Sa^yutta Nikaya2 : " Whatsoever beings, O brethren, there may be — whether without feet, or bipeds, or four-footed things, whether with a body, or without a body, whether conscious or unconscious, or neither conscious nor not — the Tathagata is acknowledged to be the chief of all, the Arahat, the Buddha Supreme/' ' ' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say V [Here ends the problem as to the superiority of Bakkula to the Buddha.] 1 The Dhutangas, enumerated below, p. 351 (of the Pali text). 2 Sa^yutta Nikaya XLIV, 103. 3 This piece of casuistry is not so entirely at variance with the context of the second passage (quoted from the Anguttara I, 14) as would seem at first sight. The answer practically amounts to this, that though each of many disciples may be superior to the Buddha in certain bodily qualities, or even in the special vows known as Dhutangas, yet he surpasses them in the * weightier matters of the law/ It is true that one of the instances given, that of the Mana-^ankamika, is not included in the list of Dhutangas, and in the long enumeration in the Angut- tara of those of the disciples who were ' chief in any way, ' weightier matters of the law' are not overlooked. But 'meditation on foot' is of the same nature as the acknowledged Dhutangas, and none of the five special points in which Nagasena places especially the superiority of the Buddha (uprightness, &c), is mentioned in the Anguttara. Nevertheless the logical reply to the problem proposed would have been that in the Anguttara the superiority spoken of is over other disciples, and not over the Buddha. I^5»J3* 0F MILINDA THE KING. 1 3 [dilemma THE FORTY-FOURTH. THE ORIGINALITY OF THE BUDDHAS TEACHING.]
3Nevertheless the logical reply to the problem proposed would have been that in the Anguttara the superiority spoken of is over other disciples, and not over the Buddha. I^5»J3* 0F MILINDA THE KING. 1 3 [dilemma THE FORTY-FOURTH. THE ORIGINALITY OF THE BUDDHAS TEACHING.] 12. ' Venerable Nagasena, it has been said by the Blessed One : " The Tathagata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme1, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown 2." * But on the other hand he said : " Now I perceived, O brethren, the ancient way, the ancient path, along which the previous Buddhas walked V * If, Nagasena, the Tathagata be the discoverer of a way not previously found out, then it must be wrong that it was an ancient way that he perceived, an ancient path along which previous Buddhas walked. But if the way he perceived were an ancient way, then the statement that it was unknown must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve/ 13. ' Both the quotations you make, O king, are accurate. And both the statements so made are correct. When the previous Tathagatas, O king, had disappeared, then, there being no teacher left, their way too disappeared. And it was that way — though then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, no longer passable, quite lost to view — [218] that the Tathagata, having gained a 1 Supreme, that is, in comparison with the Pa^eka Buddhas, ' Buddhas for themselves alone : ' whereas the ' altogether Buddha ' can not only see the truth for himself, but also persuade others of it. 2 These two quotations are from the Sawyutta Nikaya XXI, 58 and X, 2, 65, says Mr. Trenckner, but I cannot trace them in M. Feer's edition. 14 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 5, 14. thorough knowledge of it, saw by the eye of his wisdom x, (and knew it) as the way that previous Buddhas trod. And therefore is it that he said : " Now I perceived, O brethren, the ancient way, the ancient path along which previous Buddhas walked." ' And it was a way which — there being, through the disappearance of previous Tathagatas, no teacher left — was a way then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, and lost to view, that the TatMgata made now passable again. And therefore is it that he said : " The Tathagata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown." 14. ' Suppose, O king, that on the disappearance of a sovran overlord, the mystic Gem of Sovranty lay concealed in a cleft on the mountain peak, and that on another sovran overlord arriving at his supreme dignity, it should appear to him. Would you then say, O king, that the Gem was produced by him 2 ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! The Gem would be in its original condition. But it has received, as it were, a new birth through him.' * Just so, O king, is it that the Blessed One, gaining a thorough knowledge of it by the eye of
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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