Questions of King Milinda (Milindapañha)

BL 1010 .S3 V.35 Milindapa nh a. The questions of King Milinda Oxford University Press Warehouse Amen Corner, E.C. \AU rights reserved '\ ny HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY \^All rights reserved '\ The Sinhalese version of the Milinda ... xii Buddhaghosa's four references to it . . . . xiv MSS. and edition of the text xvi King IMilinda the same as Menander . . . xviii Notices of him in classical writers .... xix His coins ........ xx His birthplace, Kalasi, probably = Karl si . . . xxiii The author not the same as Nagar^uwa . . . xxv Passages in the Pi/akas referred to silently . . xxvii Pali books, &c., referred to by name . . . xxix Pi/aka passages quoted ...... xxxi Length of the Pi/akas ...... xxxvi Results of these comparisons ..... xxxviii Differences between our author and the Pi/akas . xl Proper names outside the Pi/akas .... xliii Differences of language between our author and the The IMilinda as a work of art . . . . xlviii Translation of the Text. Book I. The Secular Narrative Description of Sagala Previous births of Milinda and Nagasena ]\Iilinda's greatness and wisdom and love of disputation Birth story of Nagasena His admission as a novice into the Order His conversion . Plis attainment of Arahatship IMilinda confutes Ayupala . Nagasena arrives ; his character IMilinda goes to him .

Book II. The Distinguishing Characteristics of Ethical Qualities . Individuality and name The chariot simile The riddle of seniority (Interlude) How kings and scholars respectively discuss No soul in the breath .... Aim of Buddhist renunciation Re-incarnation ..... Wisdom and reasoning distinguished . ' Virtue's the base ' . . . . Perseverance ..... Mindfulness ..... Meditation ..... Continued identity and re-individualisation Wisdom and intelligence distinguished Time ..... Origin and development of qualities Is there a soul ? . Thought and sight Contact, sensation, and idea Book III. The Removal of Difficulties Rich and poor ..... Renunciation again .... Nirvawa and Karma ..... Difficulties of various kinds as to transmigration viduality, and the Buddha . The Solving of Dilemmas Milinda finds dilemmas in the Holy Writ And takes the Buddhist vows Third meeting between him and Nagasena ist Dilemma. If the Buddha has really quite passed away, what is the good of paying honour to his 2nd Dilemma. How can the Buddha be omniscient, when it is said that he reflects ? . 3rd Dilemma. Why did he admit Devadatta to the Order, if he knew of the schism he would create ? . 4th Dilemma. Vessantara's earthquake 5th Dilemma. King Sivi .....

7ih Dilemma. Difference in prophecies as to the duration of the faith ..... 8th Dilemma. The Buddha's sinlessness and his sufferings ....... 9th Dilemma. Why should the Buddha have meditated ? I oth Dilemma. Why did the Buddha boast .? nth Dilemma. How could the Buddha revoke regu lations he had made .-* . 1 2th Dilemma. \Miy did the Buddha refuse to answer certain questions ?..... 13th Dilemma. Contradictory statements by the Buddh as to fear ....... 14th Dilemma. How can Pirit cure disease.? 15th Dilemma. How could the evil one turn peopl against the Buddha ? . 1 6th Dilemma. Contradiction as to conscious crime 17th Dilemma. Contradiction as to the Buddha's wish to be the chief ...... 1 8th Dilemma. How could a schism have arisen in the Buddha's life .'' . 19th Dilemma. Why do members of the Order accept 20th Dilemma. The evil results of preaching 22nd Dilemma. Was not the Buddha once angry with Sudinna ? . 23rd Dilemma. The tree talking 24th Dilemma. The Buddha's last meal 25th Dilemma. Adoration of relics 26th Dilemma. The splinter of rock . 27th Dilemma. Contradictory description of the Samawa 28th Dilemma. Buddha's boasting 29111 Dilemma. How can the kind punish others ? 30th Dilemma. Was not the Buddha angry at Aatuma 31st Dilemma. How could Moggallana have had mira

culous powers seeing that he was murdered ? 32nd Dilemma. Why should the rules of the Order be 33rd Dilemma. Contradictions about falsehood . 34th Dilemma. Did not the Omniscient One once doubt ? 270 35th Dilemma. Suicide 273 36th Dilemma. Love to all beings .... 279 37th Dilemma. Wickedness and prosperity . . . 283 38th Dilemma. Women's wiles ..... 294 39th Dilemma. Did not the Arahats once show fear ? . 297 40th Dilemma. Did not the Omniscient One once change his mind? ........ 301 Appendix. Devadatta in the G^atakas .... 303 Addenda et Corrigenda 305 Index of Proper Names 3°? Index of Subjects 3 ^ ^ Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East . The work of which a translation is here, for the first time, presented to the Enghsh reading public, has had a strange and interesting history. Written in Northern India, at or a little after the beginning of the Christian era, and either in Sanskrit itself or in some North Indian Prakrit, it has been entirely lost in the land of its origin, and (so far as is at present known) is not extant in any of the homes of the various sects and schools of the Buddhists, except only in Ceylon, and in those countries which have derived their Buddhism from Ceylon. It is true that General Cunningham says ^ that the name of Milinda ' is still famous in all Buddhist countries.' But he is here drawing a very wide conclusion from an isolated fact. For in his note he refers only to Hardy, who is good evidence for Ceylon, but who does not even say that the ' Milinda ' was known elsewhere.

The Si/zAalese translation, thus introduced to us^ follows the Pali throughout, except that it here and there adds, in the way of gloss, extracts from one or other of the numerous Pi/aka texts referred to, and also that it starts with a pro- phccy, put into the mouth of the Buddha when on his death-bed, that this discussion would take place about 500 years after his death, and that it inserts further, at the point indicated in my note on p. 3 of the present version, an account of how the Si?«halese translator came to write his version. His own account of the matter adds to the details given above that he wrote the work at the Upo- satha Arama of the Maha Wihara near .Sri-wardh a n a - p u r a, 'a place famous for the possession of a temple containing the celebrated Tooth Relic, and a monastery which had been the residence of Wceliwi/aSara;/ankara, the Sawgha-ra^a, and of the famous scholars and commentators Darami/i-pola Dhamma-rakkhita and Madhurasatoi^a Dhammakkhandha.' As Kirtti Sri Rag"a-si;;/ha reigned till 1781^, this would only prove that our Pali work was extant in Ceylon in its present form, and there regarded as of great antiquity and high authority, towards the close of the last century. And no other mention of the work has, as yet, been discovered in any older Si;//halese author. But in the present deplorable state of our ignorance of the varied and ancient literature of Ceylon, the argument ex silentio would be simply of no value. Now that the Ceylon Government have introduced into the Legislative Council a bill for the utilisation, in the interests of education, of the endowments of the Buddhist monasteries, it may be hoped that the value of the books written in those monasteries will not be forgotten, and that a sufficient yearly sum will be put aside for the editing and publication of a literature of such great historical value -. At present we can only deplore the impossibility of tracing the history of the 'Questions of Milinda' in other works written by the scholarly natives of its southern home.

That it will be mentioned in those works there can be ' See Tumour's Mahavansa, p. Ixviii. " I believe that none of the many vernacular literatures of India can compare for a moment with the Siwhalese, whether judged from the point of view of literary excellence, variety of contents, age, or historical value. And yet a few hundreds a year for ten years would probably suffice, on the system followed by the Pali Text Society, for the editing and publication of the whole. xiv THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. but little doubt. For the great Indian writer, who long ago found in that beautiful and peaceful island the best scope for his industrious scholarship, is already known to have mentioned the book no less than four times in his commentaries ; and that in such a manner that we may fairly hope to find other references to it when his writings shall have been more completely published. In his commentary on the Book of the Great Decease, VI, 3, Buddhaghosa refers to the quotation of that passage made in the conversation between Milinda and Nagasena, translated below, at IV, 2, i^. And again, in his commentary on the Amba///^a Sutta (D. Ill, 3, 12) he quotes the words of a conversation between Milinda and Nagasena on the subject he is there discussing. The actual words he uses (they will be found at pp. 275, 276 of the edition of the Sumangala Vilasini, edited for the Pali Text Society by Professor Carpenter and myself) are not the same as those of our author at the corresponding passage of Mr. Trenckner's text (pp. 168, 169 ; IV, 3, 11), but they are the same in substance.

The above two references in Buddhaghosa to our author were pointed out by myself. Dr. Morris has pointed out two others, and in each of those also Buddhaghosa is found to quote words differing from Mr. Trenckner's text. The former of these two was mentioned in a letter to the 'Academy' of the i2th November, 1881. In the Manoratha Pura;n, his commentary on the Anguttara, on the passage marked in Dr. Morris's edition as I, 5, 8, Buddhaghosa says : — 'Imasmi;;/ pan' atthe Milinda-r^^^ dhammakathika-Nagasenattheraw ^wkkh'x: "Bhante Nagasena, ekasmim a/^-^//arakkha«e pavattita-X'ittasa;;zkhara sa>^e rupino assa kiva maha-rasi bhaveyyati ? And he then gives the answer: — 'Vahasatanam kho maha-ra^a vihinaw s.ddh3i-kn\zin kz. v^ha vihi sattammanani dve kdi. tumba eka/^/^/^arakkha;ze 1 This was already pointed out in a note to my translation of the text commented on (' Buddhist Suttas,' vol. xi of the Sacred Books of the East, p. 112). pavattitassa -^'ittassa sarikham pi na upenti kalam pi na upenti kala-bhagam pi na upentiti.' This passage of the Milinda, referred to by Buddhaghosa, will be found on p. 102 of Mr. Trenckner's edition, translated below at IV, i, 19. But the question is not found there at all, and the answer, though much the same in the published text, still differs in the concluding words. Mr. Trenckncr marks the passage in his text as corrupt, and it may well be that Buddhaghosa has preserved for us an older and better reading.

The other passage quoted by Dr. Morris (in the 'Academy' of the nth January, 1881) is from the PaTpauka. Sudani, Buddhaghosa's still unedited Commentary on the Ma^^/nma Nikaya. It is in the comment on the Brahmayu Sultanta, and as it is not accessible elsewhere I give this passage also in full here. With reference, oddly enough, to the same passage referred to above (pp. 168, 169 of the text, translated below at IV, 3, n) Buddhaghosa there says : — 'Vutta?;/ etaw Nagasenattherena Milindara;7/7a pu^///ena: "Na mahara^a Bhagava guyhaw dasseti k/ia.ya.m Bhagava dassetiti."' In this case, as in the other quotation of the same passage, the words quoted are not quite the same as those given in the published text, and on the other hand they agree with, though they are much shorter than, the words as given in the Sumangala Vilasini. It would be premature to attempt to arrive at the reason of this difference between Buddhaghosa's citations and Mr. Trenckner's edition of the text. It may be that Buddhaghosa is consciously summarising, or that he is quoting roughly from memory, or that he is himself translating or summarising from the original work, or that he is quoting from another Pali version, or that he is quoting from another recension of the text of the existing Pali version. We must have the full text of all his references to the 'Questions of Milinda' before us, before we try to choose between these, and possibly other, alternative explanations. What is at present certain is that when

Buddhaghosa wrote his great works, that is about 430 A.D., he had before him a book giving the conversations between Milinda and Nagasena. And more than that. He introduces his comment above referred to on the Amba///^a Sutta by saying, after simply quoting the words of the text he is explaining : ' What would be the use of any one else saying anything on this? For Nagasena, the Elder, himself said as follows in reply to Milinda, the king^' — and he then quotes Nagasena, and adds not a word of his own. It follows that the greatest of all Buddhist writers known to us by name regarded the 'Questions of Milinda' as a work of so great authority that an opinion put by its author into the mouth of Nagasena should be taken as decisive. And this is not only the only book, outside the Pali Pi/akas, which Buddhaghosa defers to in this way, it is the only book, except the previous commentaries, which he is known even to refer to at all. But, on the other hand, he says nothing in these passages to throw any further light on the date, or any light on the authorship, of the work to which he assigns so distinguished, even so unique, a position.

So far as to what is known about our 'Questions of Milinda' in Ceylon. The work also exists, certainly in Pali, and probably in translations into the local dialects, in Burma and Siam. For Mr. Trenckner mentions (Introduction, p. iv) a copy in the Burmese character of the Pali text sent to him by Dr. Rost, there is another copy in that character in the Colombo Museum-, and Mr. J. G. Scott, of the Burmese Civil Service, has sent to England a Burmese Nissaya of the Milinda (a kind of translation, giving the Pali text, word for word, followed by the interpretation of those words in Burmese "). A manuscript of the Pali text, brought from Siam, is referred to in the Siw^halese MSS. in the marginal note quoted by Mr. Trenckner at p. vi of the ^ Kim ettha aw/lena vattabba;«? Vuttam etaw^ Nagasenattheren' eva Milinda-ra;7«a pu////ena .... (Sumangala Vilasini, loc. cit.). ^ See p. 51 of the 'Journal of the Pali Text Society' for 1882. ' This Nissaya is now in the possession of his brother, the Bursar of St. John's College, Cambridge. Introduction to his edition. And there exists in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, a complete MS., in excellent condition, in the Siamese-Pali character \ while there are numerous fragments in the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale of one or more MSS. of the text, in the same Kambojan character used in Siam for the writing of Pali texts ^.

It may be noticed here that there are seven MSS. of the text written in the Ceylon character known to exist in Europe. Two of them (one a very ancient one) are in the Copenhagen University Library, two in the Bibliotheque Nationale^, one in the Cambridge University Library'', and two in the India Office Library^. Three only of these seven have been used by Mr. Trenckner for his very able and accurate edition of the text, published in 1880. That is all the external evidence at present available. What can be inferred from the book itself is about as follows. It consists of the discussion of a number of points of Buddhist doctrine treated in the form of conversations between King Milinda and Nagasena the Elder (Thera). It must be plain to every reader of the following pages that these are not real conversations. What we have before us is really an historical romance, though the didactic aim overshadows the story. Men of straw, often very skilfully put together, are set up for the purpose, not so much of knocking them down again, as of elucidating some points of ethical or psychological belief while doing so. The king himself plays a very subordinate part. The questions raised, or dilemmas stated, are put into his mouth. But the solutions,, to give opportunity for which the questions or dilemmas are invented, are the really important part of the work, and these are put into the mouth of Nagasena. The dialogues are introduced by a carefully constructed

^ By the kindness of the Master and Fellows of the College I have been allowed to collate this MS. in London. 2 See 'Journal of the Prdi Text Society' for 1882, p. 35. ^ See 'Journal of the Pali Text Society' for 1883, p. 146. * See 'Journal of the Pali Text Society' for 1882, p. 119. xviii THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. preliminary story, in which the reader's interest in them is aroused by anticipation. And the abihty of this part of the work is very great. For in spite of the facts that all the praise lavished therein upon both Milinda and Nagasena is in reality only praise of the book itself, and that the reader knows this very well, yet he will find it ahiiost impossible to escape from the influence of the eloquent words in which importance and dignity are lent to the occasion of their meeting ; and of the charm and skill with which the whole fiction is maintained. The question then arises whether the personages were any more real than the conversations. Milinda is supposed % to be the Menander, who appears in the list of the Greek kings of Baktria, since he is described in the book as being a king of the Yonakas reigning at Sagala (the Euthydemia of the Greeks), and there is no other name in the list which comes so near to Milinda. This identification of the two names is certainly correct. For whether it was our author who deliberately made the change in adapting the Greek name to the Indian dialect in which he wrote, or whether the change is due to a natural phonetic decay, the same causes will have been of influence. Indra or Inda is a not uncommon termination of Indian names, and meaning king is so appropriate to a king, that a foreign king's name ending in -ander would almost inevitably come to end in -inda. Then the sequence of the liquids of m-n-n would tend in an Indian dialect to be altered in some way by dissimilation, and Mr. Trenckner adduces seven instances in Pali of 1 taking the place of n, or n of 1, in similar circumstances^.

There remains only the change of the first E in Menander to I. Now in the Indian part of the inscription, on undoubted coins of Menander, the oldest authorities read Minanda as the king's name 2, and though that interpretation has now, on the authority of better specimens, been given up, there is no doubt that Milinda runs more easily 1 ' Pali Miscellany,' part i, p. 55. ^ For instance, Wilson in his ' Ariana Antiqua,' p. 283. from the tongue than Mehnda, and Mil may well have seemed as appropriate a commencement for a Milakkha's name as -inda is for the ending of a king's name. So Men-ander became Mil-inda. It may be added here that other Greek names are mentioned by our author — Devamantiya at I, 42, and the same officer, together with Anantakfiya, Mankura, and Sabbadinna, at II, 3. There is a similar effort in these other Pali forms of Greek words to make them give some approach to a meaning in the Indian dialect : but in each case the new forms remain as really unintelligible to an Indian as Mil-inda would be. Thus Deva-mantiya, which may be formed on Demetrios, looks, at first sight, Indian enough. But if it meant anything, it could only mean ' counsellor of the gods.' And so also both Ananta and Kaya are Indian words. But the compound Ananta-kaya would mean 'having an infinite body,' which is absurd as the name of a courtier. It may possibly be made up to represent Antiochos. What Mankura and Sabbadinna (called simply Dinna at p. 87) may be supposed to be intended for it is difficult to say^. But the identification of Milinda with Menander is as certain as that of A'andagutta with Sandro-

Very little is told us, in the Greek or Roman writers, about any of the Greek kings of Baktria. It is a significant fact that it is precisely of Menander-Milinda that they tell us most, though this most is unfortunately not much. Strabo, in his Geography -, mentions Menander as one of the two Baktrian kings who were instrumental in spreading the Greek dominion furthest to the East into India. He crossed the Hypanis (that is the Sutlej) and penetrated as far as the Isamos (probably the Jumna). Then in the title of the lost forty-first book of Justin's work, Menander and ApoUodotus are mentioned as ' Indian kings.' Finally, Plutarch^ tells us an anecdote of Menander. ' Compare Mr. Trenckner's note at p. 70 of the ' Pali Miscellany.' ^ lidit. Miiller, xi, 11, i. ^ De Repub. Ger., p. Sji. He was, he says, as a ruler noted for justice, and enjoyed such popularity with his subjects, that upon his death, which took place in camp, diverse cities contended for the possession of his ashes. The dispute was only adjusted by the representatives of the cities agreeing that the relics should be divided amongst them, and that they should severally erect monuments {fxrrjixila, no doubt digabas or sthupas) to his memory.

This last statement is very curious as being precisely analogous to the statement in the ' Book of the Great Decease ^,' as to what occurred after the death of the Buddha himself. But it would be very hazardous to draw any conclusion from this coincidence. The only remaining ancient evidence about Menander- Milinda (apart from what is said by our author himself), is "" that of coins. And, as is usually the case, the evidence of the coins will be found to confirm, but to add very little to, what is otherwise known. As many as twenty-two^ different coins have been discovered, some of them in very considerable numbers, bearing the name, and eight of them the effigy, of Menander. They have been found over a very wide extent of country, as far west as K^bul, as far east as Mathura, and one of them as far north as Kashmir. Curiously enough we find a confirmation of this wide currency of Menander-Milinda's coins in the work of the anonymous author of the ' Periplus Maris Erythraei.' He says ^ that Menander's coins, together with those of Apollodotos, were current, many years after his death, at Barygaza, the modern Baroach, on the coast of Gujarat.

The portrait on the coins is very characteristic, with a long face and an intelligent expression, and is sometimes that of a young man, and at other times that of a very old man. It may be inferred therefore that his reign 1 Mahapfirinibbana Suttanta VI, 58-62, translated in my 'Buddhist Suttas' (vol. xi of the Sacred Books of the East), pp. 133-135. " This number would be greatly increased if the differences of the monograms were allowed for. ^ Chapter 47 of Midler's edition. was as long as his power was extensive. All the coins have a legend in Greek letters on one side, and a corresponding legend in Ariano-pali letters on the other side. On twenty-one out of the twenty-two, the inscriptions, according to the latest interpretations from a comparison of the best examples, are respectively, Wilson read^ the last word Minadasa. But when he wrote, in 1840, the alphabet was neither so well known as it is now, nor had such good examples come to hand. So that though the Mi- is plain enough on several coins, it is almost certainly a mere mistake for Me, from which it only differs by the centre vowel stroke being slightly prolonged.

Fifteen of the coins have a figure of Pallas either on one side or the other. A ' victory,' a horse jumping, a dolphin, a head (perhaps of a god)^ a two-humped camel, an elephant goad, a boar, a wheel, and a palm branch are each found on one side or the other of one of the coins ; and an elephant, an owl, and a bull's head each occur twice. These are all the emblems or figures on the coins. None of them are distinctively Buddhist, though the wheel might be claimed as the Buddhist wheel, and the palm branch and the elephant would be quite in place on Buddhist coins. It may be said, therefore, that the bulk of the coins are clearly pagan, and not Buddhist ; and that though two or three are doubtful, even they are probably not Buddhist. One coin, however, a very rare one, diifers, as to its inscription, from all the rest that have the legend. It has on one side Basileos dikaiou Menandrou, and on the other, * See Alfred Von Sallet, ' Die Nachfolger Alexander's des Grossen in Baktrien und ludien,' Berlin, 1879; and Professor Percy Gardiner's ' Catalogue of the Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Baktria and India,' London, 1886.

^ In his ' Ariana Antiqua,' p. 283, London, 1841. 3 The r is a little doubtful and is written, if at all, after the dh, though intended to be pronounced before the m. XXll THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. Is any reference intended here to the Buddhist Dharma as distinct from the ordinary righteousness of kings? I think not. The coin is one of those with the figure of Pallas on the side which bears the Greek legend, and five others of the Baktrian Greek kings use a similar legend on their coins. These are Agathocles, Heliokles, Archebios, Strato, and Zoilos. There is also another coin in the series with a legend into which the word Dharma enters, but which has not yet been deciphered with certainty — that bearing in the Greek legend the name of Sy-Hermaios, and supposed to have been struck by Kadphises I, If there is anything Buddhist in this coin of Menander's, then the others also must be Buddhist. But it is much simpler to take the word dharmikasa in the sense of the word used in the corresponding Greek legend, and to translate it simply 'the Righteous,' or, better still, 'the Just.' Only when we call to mind how frequent in the Pali texts is the description of the ideal king (whether Buddhist or not) as dhammiko dhamma-ra^a, we cannot refuse to see the connection between this phrase and the legend of the coins, and to note how at least six of the Greek kings, one of whom is Menander, are sufficiently desirous to meet the views of their Buddhist subjects to fix upon ' Righteousness ' or ' Justice ' as the characteristic by which they wish to be known. The use of this epithet is very probably the foundation of the tradition preserved by Plutarch, that Menander was, as a ruler, noted for justice ; and it is certainly evidence of the Buddhist influences by which he was surrounded. But it is no evidence at all that he actually became a Buddhist.

To sum up. — Menander-Milinda was one of those Greek kings who carried on in Baktria the Greek dominion founded by Alexander the Great. He was certainly one of the most important, probably the most important, of those kings. He carried the Greek arms further into India than any of his predecessors had done, and everything confirms the view given by our author at I, 9 of his justice and his power, of his ability and his wealth. He must have reigned for a considerable time in the latter part of the second century B.C., probably from about 140 to about 115, or even 1 10 B.c.^ His fame extended, as did that of no other Baktrian king, to the West, and he is the only Baktrian Greek king who has been remembered in India. Our author makes him say, incidentally '\ that he was born at Kalasi in Alasanda ( = Alexandria), a name given to an island presumably in the Indus. And, as was referred to above, Plutarch has preserved the tradition that he died in camp, in a campaign against the Indians in the valley of the Ganges. [It is interesting to point out, in this connection, that the town (gama) of Kalasi has not been found mentioned elsewhere. Now among the very numerous coins of the Baktrian kings there is one, and only one, giving in the legend, not the name of a king, but the name of a city, the city of Karisi. As this coin was struck about 180 B.C. by Eukratides, who was probably the first of these kings to obtain a settlement on the banks of the Indus, it is possible that the two names, one in the Pali form (or more probably in the form of the dialect used by our author), the other in the local form, are identical ; and that the coin was struck in commemoration of the fact of the Greeks having reached the Indus. If that be so, then that they gave the name Alasanda (Alexandria) to the island on which the town was built, and not to the town itself, seems to show that the town was not founded by them, but was already an important place when they took it.]

Beyond this all is conjecture. When our author says that Milinda was converted to Buddhism ^ he may be either relating an actual tradition, or he may be inventing for his own purposes. There is nothing inherently impossible, or even improbable, in the story. We know that all the Baktrians, kings and people alike, eventually became 1 See the chronological table in the Introduction to Professor Gardner's work, quoted helow. ^ See the translation below of III, 7, 5. ^ See p. 420 of the Pali text. Buddhist. But the passage occurs in a part of the book which is open to much doubt. We have to place against it the negative evidence that none of Menander's coins show any decisive signs of his conversion. And the passage in question goes much further. It says that he afterwards gave up the kingdom to his son, and having entered the Buddhist Order, attained to Arahatship. The Si;«halese MSS. add a marginal note to the effect that the whole of this passage with its context was derived from a MS. brought from Siam. Mr. Trenckner is therefore of opinion ^ that it belongs to a spurious supplement. That may be so, in spite of the fact that it is quite in our author's style, and forms an appropriate close to the book. But it is incredible that an author of the literary skill so evident throughout the work should have closed his book deliberately in the middle of a paragraph, without any closing words to round it off. The Siamese MS. may after all have preserved the reading of older and better MSS. than those in Ceylon, and the last leaf of the book may have been lost there. There must have been some conclusion, if not in the manner of the paragraph under discussion, then in some other words which we may not be able to trace. But even if our author actually wrote that Menander did become a Bhikkhu and an Arahat, that is very poor evidence of the fact, unless he not only intended what he states to be taken quite literally, but also wrote soon after the events he thus deliberately records.

Now the opinion has been expressed above that we have to deal with a book of didactic ethics and religious controversy cast into the form of historical romance. If this is correct no one would be more astonished than the author himself at the inconsistency of modern critics if they took his historical statements au grand serieux, while they made light of his ethical arguments. It is true that he would scarcely have been guilty of anything that seemed grossly im.probable, at the time when he wrote, to the readers whom he addressed. But if, as is most probable, he wrote in North- ^ ' Introduction,' pp. v, vi. Western India when the memory of the actual facts of Menander's reign was fading away — that is, some generations after his death — he may wxU have converted him to Buddhism, as the most fitting close to the discussion he records, without intending at all to convey thereby any real historical event. This brings us to the next point of our argument. We have seen that the work must have been written some considerable time before Buddhaghosa, and after the death of Menander. Can its date be determined with greater accuracy than this ? The story of Nagasena introduces to us his father So;aittara, his teachers Roha/^a, Assagutta of the Vattaniya hermitage, and Dhammarakkhita of the Asoka Arama near Pa/aliputta, and there is also mention of a teacher named Ayupala dwelling at the Sahkheyya hermitage near Sagala. None of these persons and none of these places are read of elsewhere in any Buddhist text, whether Sanskrit or Pali. For the Ajvagupta referred to in passing at p. 351 of the Divyavadana has nothing in common (except the name) with our Assagutta, the Roha;/a of Aiiguttara, III, 66, is quite distinct from our Roha;/a, and there is not the slightest reason for supposing Nagasena to be another form of the name Nagai;^;^a, found in both the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist literatures \ and in the Jain lists -. The famous Buddhist scholar so called was the reputed founder of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, Our Nagasena represents throughout the older teaching. If there is any connection at all between the two names, Nagasena must have been invented as a contrast to Nagar^u/m, and not with the least idea of identifying two men whose doctrines are so radically opposed. Even were there any reason to believe this to be the case, it would not help us much, for the date

* See the passages quoted by Dr. Wenzel in the 'Journal of the Pali Text Society' for iS86, pp. 1-4. ^ See Professor Weber in the ' Handschriftenverzeichniss der koniglichen Bibliothek in Berlin,' vol. v, part 2, p. 365, of Nagar^u;/a is quite as much open to dispute as that of the author of the ' Questions of Milinda ^.' I ought to mention here that an opinion of a Nigasena is, according to Burnouf ^, discussed at length in the Abhidharma Koi-a Vyakhya ; and that Schiefner " quotes from a Tibetan work, the Bu-ston, the statement that a schism took place under a Thera Nagasena 137 years after the Buddha's death. It would be very interesting if the former were our Nagasena. And if Schiefner's restoration of the name found in his Tibetan authority be correct, and the authority itself be trustworthy, it is possibly the fading memory of that Nagasena which induced our author to adopt the name as that of the principal interlocutor in his ' Questions of Milinda.' Finally, Professor Kern, of Leiden — who believes that Buddha is the sun, and most of his principal disciples stars — believes also not only that our Nagasena is an historical person, but also that there never was a Buddhist cleric of that name ; and that Nagasena is simply VataiigaW, the author of the Yoga philosophy, under another name. If this is not a joke, it is a strange piece of credulity.

The only reason alleged in support of it is that Pata/T^ali has the epithets of Nagej-a and of Pha;nn. That he was a Hindu who believed in the soul-theory of the current animistic creed, while all the opinions put into Nagasena's mouth are those of a thorough-going Buddhist and nonindividualist, is to count as nothing against this chance similarity, not of names, but of the name on one side with an epithet on the other. To identify John Stuart Mill with Dean Milman would be sober sense compared with this proposal. ^ Compare on this point Dr. Wenzel, loc. cit, with Dr. Burgess in the 'Archaeological Reports for Southern India,' vol. i, pp. 5-9. Dr. Burgess thinks the most probable date of his death is about 200 A. D. The identification of Nagar^u^a and Nagasena was made independently by Major Bird in the ' Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society' for October, 1844 (who was followed by the Rev. R. Spence Hardy at p. 517 of his ' Manual of Buddhism,' published in i860), and by Benfey in his article ' Indien ' in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopedia (who was followed by Burnouf at p. 570 of his ' Introduction,' &c., published in 1844).

^ Loc. cit. ^ Note to his translation of Taranatha, p. 298. But it is deliberately put forward to support an accusation against the Buddhists of having falsely appropriated to themselves every famous man in India ^. Any mud, it would seem, is good enough to pelt the Buddhists with. Yet who is it, after all, who really makes the ' appropriation,' the Buddhists or Professor Kern himself? It would seem, therefore, that most of our author's person and place names are probably inventions of his own ^. But it is quite different with the books quoted by our author. In several passages he has evidently in his mind certain P41i texts which deal with similar matters. So far as yet ascertained the texts thus silently referred to, either in the present volume or in the subsequent untranslated portion of the book, are as follows : Page of this volume. 8 . . Digha Nikaya II, i, 2. 10 . . „ „ II, r. 40 . . Katha Vatthu I, i. 41 . . Ahguttara I, 15, 4-7. 41 . . Digha Nikaya II, 17. 42 . . „ „ II, 26. 59 • • ,. „ XVII. 80 . . INIahavagga I, i, i.

129 . . Various (see my note). 132 . . A'ullavagga IX, I, 4. 163 . . A'ullavagga VII, 1,27. 170 . . Vessantara Cataka. 1 79 . . Sivi G^aiaka. 204 . . Magg/i'imsi Nikaya LXIII. ^ Kern's ' Buddhismus ' (the German translation), vol. ii, p. 443. ^ As these pages were passing through the press I have found Assagutta of the Vattaniya hermitage, mentioned in the last chapter of the Saddhamma Sawgaha, which is passing through the press for the Pali Text Society. Put this is taken no doubt from the Milinda, and is not an independent reference to any such teacher as an historical person. (The Saddhamma Sawgaha was written by Dhamma-kitti in Ceylon, probably in the twelfth century.) Page of this volume. Pa^e of the Pali Text G^ataka (No. 69). Sutta Vibhanga (Par. 4). ^atuma Sutta (No. 67). A'ullavagga IX, i, 3. Mahavagga II, 16, 8. Dhamma-X'akka-pavattana Sutta. Anguttara II, i, i. The 540th Gataka, Amba (?ataka (No. 474). Dummedha Gataka (No. 122). Tittira (?ataka (No. 438). Khantivada C^ataka (No. 313). ^ula-Nandiya Gataka (No. 222). Ta/c/^>^a-sukara Gataka (No. 492). Kariya-pi/aka II, 6. Silava-naga Cataka (No. 72). Sabba-da///a G^ataka (No. 241). Apa«;zaka Gataka (No. i). Nigrodha-miga Gataka (No. 12). Nigrodha Gataka (No. 445). Maha-paduma Gataka (No. 472). Maha-patapa Gataka (No. 358). Ummagga Gataka (No. 546),' .A'ullavagga VII, 3, 11. Anguttara IV, 13.

Gataka, No. 310 (vol. iii, p. 32). Sutta Nipata I, 4. Gataka (vol. i, p. 56). „ (vol. iv, p. 232, line 20). Vessantara Gataka. Gataka (vol. i, p. 57). Cataka (Nos. 258, 541, 494, and 243), Ma^^/;ima Nikaya, No. 75 (p. 502). In several other passages he refers to a Pali book, or a chapter in a Pali book, by name. This is much more valuable for our purposes than the silent, and sometimes doubtful, references in the last list. So far as is yet ascertained, these references are as follows : IMaha Samaya Suttanta (No. 20 in the Digha). Maha Mahgala Suttanta (Sutta Nipata II, 4). Rahulovada Suttanta (No. 147 in the Maggkima). Parabhava Suttanta (Sutta Nipata I, 6). Sa;;zyutta Nikaya (the words quoted are in the Sutta Nipata). The Abhidhamma. The ninefold Scriptures. Moliya Sivaka chapter of the Sawyutta. Ratana Sutta (in the Sutta Nipata II, i). Khandha Paritta (not traced). INIora Paritta ((zataka, Nos. 159, 491). Dha^^-agga Paritta (in the Gataka Book). A/ana/iya Paritta (in the Digha Nikaya). Ahgulimala Paritta (not traced). The Patimokkha. Patimokkha, Vinaya Pi/aka. Dhamma-dayada Sutta of the Ma^^/z'ima Nikaya (vol. i, p. 13). Sa?;?yutta Nikaya (vol. i, p. 67). Dakkhi;/a Vibhahga of the I\Ia^^//ima Nikaya

(No. 142). A'ariya Pi/aka G. 53. Page of this volume. Page of th Pali Text. Page of the Pali Text Maha Rahulovada (in the Ma^^/?ima, No. 147). Maha Mahgala Suttanta (in the Sutta Nipata II, 4). Sama-y('itta Pariyaya (not traced). Parabhava Suttanta (in the Sutta Nipata I, 6). Purabheda Suttanta (Sutta Nipata IV, 10). Kalaha-vivada Suttanta (Sutta Nipata IV, 11). ATila Vyuha Suttanta (Sutta Nipata IV, 1 2). Maha Vyuha Suttanta (Sutta Nipata IV, 13). Tuva/aka Suttanta (Sutta Nipata IV, 14). Sariputta Suttanta (Sutta Nipata IV, 16). Maha-samaya Suttanta (in the Digha, No. 20). Sakkha-paz/ha Suttanta (Digha, No. 21). Tirokufl'r/a Suttanta (in the KhuddakaPa///a,No. 7). Ratana Suttanta (in the Sulta Nipata II, i). Ekuttara Nikaya (=Ahguttara I, 13, 7). Dhaniya-sutta of the Sutta Nipata (I, 2). Kummupama Suttanta of the Sawyutta Nikaya (not yet printed). Vidhura Pu«;/aka G^ataka. Sa/('/{'a Sa;;/yutta of the Sawyutta Nikaya (not yet printed). Dhammapada (verse 327). Sa?;iyutta (55, 7). Sutasoma G'ataka (No. 537). Ka«ha Gataka (No. 440, vol iv, p. i o). Sutta Nipata (I, 12, i). Sa/«yutta Nikaya. Ekuttara Nikaya (=Ahguttara X, 5, 8). Lomahawsana Pariyaya. Sa/z/yutta Nikaya (III, 5, 6, vol i, p. 73). (XVI, I, 3, vol ii, p. 194). A'akkavaka G^ataka (No. 451, vok iv, p. 71). A'ulla Narada Gataka (not traced).

Page of the I'ali Text. . Sa;«yutta Nikaya (not traced). . Lakkha«a Suttanta of the Digha Nikaya (No. 30). . Bhalla/iya Gataka (No. 504, vol. iv, p. 439). . Parinibbana-suttanta of the Digha Nikaya (D, XVI, 5, 24). . Dhammapada (verse 32). . Sawyutta Nikaya (XIV, 16, vol. ii, p. 158). . Sutta Nipata (II, 6, 10). Lastly, our author quotes a large number of passages from the Pi/aka texts, which he introduces (without naming any book) by the formulas : ' It was said by the Blessed One ;' or, 'It is said by you' (you in the plural, you members of the Order) ; or, ' It was said by so and so ' (naming some particular member of the Order). A great many of these quotations have already been traced, either by Mr. Trenckner or myself. Occasionally words thus attributed, by our author, to the Buddha, are, in the Pi/akas, attributed to some one else. Such passages are distinguished in the following list by an asterisk added to the letter B, which marks those of them attributed by our author to the Buddha. The women quoted are distinguished by the title ' Sister.' II, I, i> P- 45II, 1,9, P- 53II, I, 9, P- 54-

II, I, II, P- 57II, I, 13, p. 61. II, 2, 4, p. 69. II, 3, 2, p. 80. III, 4, 3- P- loiIII, 4, 4, p. 104. III, 6, r, p. 114. IV, I, 10, p. 145. IV, I, 13, p. 150. IV, 1,35, p. 170IV, 1, 42, p. 179. B. In the Sutta. Sa?«yutta Nikaya V, 10, 6. „ „ VII, I, 6. ,, ,, Sawyutta Nikaya XXI, 5. Not traced. Magi'-Zilmz Nikaya XXI. „ XVIII. Sa;//yutta Nikaya II, 3, 2. Ahguttara III, 35, 4. Not traced. Digha Nikaya XIV, 6, i. Not traced. A'ullavagga X, i, 6. Digha Nikaya XIV, 5, 62. IV, 1,67, p. 196. IV, I, 67, p. 196. IV, I, 71, p. 199. IV, I, 71, p. 199. IV, 2, I, p. 202. IV, 2, I, p. 202. IV, 2, 4, p. 204. IV, 2, 6, p. 206. IV, 2, 6, p. 206. IV, 2, 15, p. 213. IV, 2, 20, p. 214. IV, 2, 20, p. 214. IV, 2, 27, p. 224. IV, 2, 29, p. 225. IV, 2, 29, p. 225. IV, 2, 31, p. 227. IV, 2,31, p. 227. IV, 3, I, p. 229. IV, 3, I, p. 229. IV, 3, 5, P- 234. IV, 3, 5> P- 234IV, 3, 15, P-238IV, 3, 15. P- 238. IV, 3, 19, P-24I. IV, 3, 19, p. 241. IV, 3, 21, p. 242. IV, 3, 21, p. 243IV, 3, 24, p. 246. IV, 3, 24, P- 246.

IV, 3, IV, 3, IV, 3, IV, 3, IV, 3, IV, 3, IV, 3, IV, 3, IV, 4, IV, 4, IV, 4, IV, 4, IV, 4, 27, p. 248. 27, p. 248. 3I-P-25I3i> P- 25133. P- 25333>P-25335, P- 25438, P- 257- I, p. 261. 4, p. 264. 9, p. 268. II, p. 270. II, p. 271. Digha Nikaya XIV, 3, 60. „ XIV, 3, 63. Not traced. Digha Nikaya XIV, 6, 3. XIV, 2, 32. Dhammapada 129. Not traced. Dhammapada 127, 8. Not traced. Digha Nikaya XIV, 2, 32. Not traced. Various (see note). Agga;7;7a Sutta (Digha). Not traced. Para^-ika I, 5, 11. Cataka III, 24. Gataka IV, 2 1 o. Digha Nikaya XIV, 4, 23. XIV, 4, 57. Not traced. Maha-parinibbana Sutta (D. XVI, 5, 24). Not traced. A'uUavagga VII, 3, 9. Not traced. Brahma^ala Sutta (D. I, i, 5). Sela Sutta (SN. Ill, 7, 7)- The 521st e^ataka. Dhaniya Sutta (SN. I, 2, 2). Ahguttara I, 14, iAhguttara III, 124. Patimokkha (PaX-. i). Not traced. IV, 4, 13, p. 273. IV, 4, 13, p. 273. IV, 4, 16, p. 279. IV, 4, 16, p. 280. IV, 4, 17, p. 283. IV, 4, 42, p. 294. IV, 4, 44, P- 297. IV, 4,46, P-30IThe Pali Text.

B. It is said. B. It is said. B. It is said. You. You. B. You. Sutta Viblianga (Par. 3, 5, 13). Ahguttara XI, 2, 5, and the i69ih Gataka. The 540th Gataka. Not traced. The 536th G'ataka. Not traced. Muni Sutta (SN. I, 12, 3). A'ulkvagga VI, i, 5. Dhammapada 168. Ma^_^//ima Nikaya 77. Not traced. Anguttara I, 14, 4. Sawyutta Nikaya XXI. Not traced. Magg/i'ima Nikaya (No. 87). Sela Sutta (SN. Ill, 7, '33). Sutta Nipata I, 4, 6 = 111, 4, 26. Kapi G^alaka (vol. iii, p. 354). Not traced. Magg/iima. I, p. 1 77 = Vinaya I, p. 8. Maggkima. (No. 86). Ahguttara I, 15, 10. Magg/nma Nikaya (No. 142). Not traced. Sawyutta Nikaya 44. Saw/yutta 6, 14 (vol. i, p. 157) = Thera-gatha 256, 7 = Divyavadana, p. 300. Not traced. XXxiv THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. The Pali Text. P- 333- B. Sariputta. A'ulla Panthaka. B. The Theras who held the Synod (at Ra^-agaha). Sariputta. Upasena. B. Rahula. B. Sariputta. Sariputta. Sariputta. Dhammapada 54-56 (taken in part from Ahguttara III, 79). Sawyutta XX, 8, 5. Thera-gatha 985. Not traced (see S. XII, 63, 8). Thera-gatha 501. Sa;;/yutta 46, 7. Not traced. J, ,, Sutta Nipata I, 2, 12.

Sa?«yutta I, 17, 2 (vol. i, p. 7). Magg/iima. (vol. i, p. 33)- Not traced, Sa?«yutta 55, 7. Not traced. Maha-parinibbana Sutta (D. XVI, 2, 12). Dhammapada 327. Sa;;/yutta 55, 7. Not traced. Sutasoma Gataka (No. 537). Not traced. Ka^ha Gataka (vol. iv, p. 10). (?) Ma^^//ima Nikaya (No. 62). Sutta Nipata I, 12, i. Dhammapada 81. Dhammapada 404 (from SN. HI, 9, 35)- Not traced. Dhammapada 28. Not traced. Ma^^//imaNikaya(vol.i,p.42 4). Sawyutta Nikaya XVI, 3. Ahguttara X, 5, 8. MaggMmo. Nikaya (vol. i, p. 74). Saz?zyutta Nikaya III, 5, 6 (vol. h p. 73)- Saz?/yutta Nikaya XVI, i, 3 (vol. ii, p. 194). ^akkavaka (?ataka (vol. iv, p. 71 ; not in III, 520). Sa.myutta. NikayaVI,2,4 (vol. i, p. 1 54 = Thera-gatha 142). Alilla-narada G^ataka (vol. iv, p. 223). Sa7/'/yutta Nikaya (vol. iii,p. 125). Digha Nikaya XVI, 5, 24. Sa/;/yutta Nikaya XIV, 16 (= Thera-gatha 148, 266). Sutta Nipata II, 6, 10. * That is, not in the Pi/akas. The stanza is found in the commentary on the Dhammapada fFausboU, p. 147), and also in Buddhaghosa's Papa«/ta Sudani (see Trenckner's note)— each time with a variation at the close of the verse. XXXVi THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.

The answer to this question will be of some importance for another reason beyond the help it will afford towards settling the date of the original ' Questions of Milinda.' As is well known, Asoka, in the only one of his edicts, addressed specially to the members of the Buddhist Order of mendicants, selects seven portions of the Buddhist Scriptures, which he mentions by name, and expresses his desire that not only the brethren and sisters of the Order, but also the laity, should constantly learn by heart and reflect upon those seven. Now not one of the seven titles which occur in the edict is identical with any of the twenty-nine in the last list. Whereupon certain Indianists have rejoiced at being able to score a point, as they think, against these ^ This estimate excludes the space occupied by notes. The books marked Avith an asterisk in the foregoing list have already been printed. XXXviii THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. unbrahtnanical Buddhists, and have jumped to the concUision that the Buddhist canon must be late and spurious ; and that the Buddhism of Asoka's time must have been very different from the Buddhism of the Pali Pi/akas. That would be much the same as if a Japanese scholar, at a time when he knew little or nothing of Christianity, except the names of the books in the Bible, were to have found an open letter of Constantine's in which he urges both the clergy and laity to look upon the Word of God as their only authority, and to constantly repeat and earnestly meditate upon the Psalm of the Shepherd, the words of Lemuel, the Prophecy of the Servant of the Lord, the Sermon on the Mount, the Exaltation of Charity, the Question of Nicodemus, and the story of the Prodigal Son — and that our Oriental critic should jump to the conclusion that the canonical books of the Christians could not have been known in the time of Constantine, and that the Christianity of Constantine was really quite different from, and much more simple than the Christianity of the Bible. As a matter of fact the existence of such a letter would prove very little, either way, as to the date of the books in the Bible as we now have them. If our Japanese scholar were to discover afterwards a Christian work, even much later than the time of Constantine, in which the canonical books of the Christians were both quoted and referred to, he would have much surer ground for a sounder historical criticism. And he would possibly come to see that the seven portions selected for special honour and commendation were not intended as an exhaustive list even of remarkable passages, much less for an exhaustive list of canonical books, but that the number seven was merely chosen in deference to the sacred character attaching to that number in the sacred literature.

Such a book is our Milinda. It is, as we have seen, later than the canonical books of the Pali Pi/akas, and on the other hand, not only older than the great commentaries, but the only book, outside the canon, regarded in them as an authority which may be implicitly followed. And I venture to think that the most simple working hypothesis by which to explain the numerous and varied references and quotations it makes, as s'lown in the preceding lists, from the Pi/akas as a whole, and from the various books contained in them, is that the Pali Pi/akas were known, in their entirety, and very nearly, if not quite, as we now have them, to our author. For out of the twenty-nine books of the Pi/akas, we find in the lists of works referred to by him the three Pi/akas as a whole, the Vinaya Pi/aka as a whole, and all of its component books except the Parivara (which was composed in Ceylon), the Sutta Pi/aka and each of the four great Nikayas, the Abhidhamma Pi- /aka and each of its seven component books, and the Khuddaka Nikaya as a whole and several of its separate books. And when we further recollect the very large number of quotations appearing in my lists as not yet traced in the Pi/akas, we see the necessity of being very chary in drawing any argument ex silentio with respect to those books not occurring in the lists.

To sum up.— It may be said generally that while the Sutta Vibhanga and the Khandhakas, the four great Nikayas, and the Abhidhamma were certainly known to ■ our author, he very likely had no knowledge of the Parivara ; and it remains to be seen how far his knowledge of the Khuddaka Nikaya, which he happens to mention once^ as a whole by name, did actually extend. At present it is only clear that he knew the Khuddaka Pa///a, the Dhammapada collection of sacred verses, the Sutta Nipata, the Thera and Theri-gathi, the Catakas, and the Kariya Pi/aka. I hope to return to this question in the Introduction to my second volume, only pointing out here that the doubtful books (those concerning which our author is apparently silent) would occupy about two thousand pages octavo, out of the ten thousand of which the three Pi/akas would, if printed, consist : and that those two thousand pages belong, for the most part, precisely to that part of the Pi/akas which have not yet been edited, so that there they may very likely, after all, be quoted in one or other * Page 342 of the printed text. xl THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.

of the numerous quotations entered as ' not traced ' in my lists ^ Such being the extent, so far as can at present be shown, of our author's knowledge of the three Pi/akas, the question arises as to the degree and accuracy of his knowledge. In the great majority of cases his quotations or references entirely agree with the readings shown by our texts. But there are a few exceptions. And as these are both interesting and instructive, it will be advisable to point them out in detail. The reference to the Avi^i Hell as being outside the earth, if not at variance with, is at least an addition to the teaching of the Pi/akas as to cosmogony^. But there is some reason to believe that the passage may be an interpolation, and the difference itself is not only doubtful but also of no particular importance. The description of the contents of the Puggala Pa;7//atti given in I, 26, does not really agree with the text. The book, in its first section, sets out six different sorts of discrimination or distinction. One paragraph only is devoted to each of the first five discriminations, and the author or authors then proceed, in the rest of the book, to deal with the details of the last of the six. Our author gives the six as the divisions of the book itself.

But I think it is clear that so far as the description is inaccurate, the error is due, not to any difference between the text as he had it and that which we now possess, but simply to our author laying too great a stress upon the opening paragraphs of the book. In the reference to the Buddha's first sermon, the Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness (in I, 38), our author says that ' eighteen ko/is of Brahma gods, and an innumerable company of other gods, attained to compre- ' About half of the canonical books, besides a considerable number of the uncanonical works, have already been edited in the last few years, chiefly owing to the Pali Text Society's labours. ^ See the passages quoted in my note at p. 9. hension of the truth.' There is no statement of the kind in the Pi/aka account of this event (see my translation in 'Buddhist Suttas,' pp. 146-155). But it is not inconsistent with the P^li, and is doubtless added from some edifying commentary. There is a difference of reading between the lines put into Siriputta's mouth, at II, 2, 4, and those ascribed to Sariputta in the Thera Gatha (1003, 1003). If the Milinda reading is not found in some hitherto unpublished passage, we have here a real case of divergence.

Perhaps the most important apparent variation between our author and the Pi/aka texts is the statement put by him, in IV, 4, 9, into the mouth of the Buddha, that a deliberate lie is one of the offences called Para^ika, that is, involving exclusion from the Order. Now in the old Canon Law there are only four Para^ika offences — breach of chastity, theft, murder, and a false claim to extraordinary spiritual powers (see my translation in vol. i, pp. 1-5 of the ' Vinaya Texts ') ; and falsehood is placed quite distinctly under another category, that of the Pi /'it tiy as, offences requiring repentance (see p. 32 of the same translation). If our author was a member of the Order, as he almost certainly was, it would seem almost incredible that he should make an error in a matter of such common knowledge, and of such vital importance, as the number and nature of the Para^ikas. And indeed, in the immediate context, he refers to the Pa/^ittiya rule, though not in the exact words used in the text of the Patimokkha. I think that he must have known very well what he was talking about. And that a passage, not yet traced, will be found in the unpublished parts of the Pi/akas, in which the Buddha is made to say that falsehood is a Para^ika — just as a Christian might maintain that falsehood is forbidden in the Ten Commandments, and yet be perfectly aware of the exact phraseology of the Ten Words.

In IV, 4, 26, our author identifies the learned pig in the TaHV/a-sukara C'ataka with the Bodisat. He differs here from the Cataka Commentary, in which the Bodisat is identified with the tree-god, who acts as a kind of Greek chorus in the story. And the summaries in IV, 4, 28 of xlii TOE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. Ruru G^ataka, and in IV, 4, 30 of the Sabba-da//^a Cataka, do not exactly agree with Professor Fausboll's text\ But the commentary is not the text ; and it is well known that there are numerous such light variations in the different expansions of the verses, which latter alone form the actual text. In IV, 4, 44 we find our author giving a version of a well-known incident in the Buddhist Gospel story different from the oldest version of it in the Pi/aka texts. This is another instance of an expansion of the original adopted from some unknown commentator, and does not argue an ignorance of the text as we have it. I have noticed in the untranslated portion of our author, four or five cases of readings apparently different from the Pi/aka texts he refers to. These I hope to deal with in my next volume. But I may notice here that two stanzas, given on p. 414 of the text, and said on p. 413 to be 'in the Sutta Nipata,' are not found in Professor Fausboll's edition of that work ; and we have there, in all probability, another case of real divergence. But the reading in the Mihnda may possibly be found to be incorrect.

The general result of this comparison, when we remember the very large number of passages quoted, will be held, I trust, to confirm the conclusion reached above, that our author knew the Pi/akas practically as we now have them, that is as they have been handed down in Ceylon. Outside the Pi/akas there are unfortunately no references to actual books. But there are several references to countries and persons which are of importance, in as much as they show a knowledge in our author of places or occurrences not mentioned in the sacred books. It will be most convenient to arrange these passages first in an alphabetical list, and then to make a few remarks on the conclusions the list suggests. They are as follows : — Name. Page of the Pali Text. Anantakaya (Yonako) . . . .29, 30. Asoka (dhamma-ra^a) . . .121. ^ See my notes to the passages quoted. Page of the Pali Text. Assagulta (ay asm a) . . . . Ayupala (ay asm a) Kasmira {x2itth2ini) . . . . Gandhara (ra////a?;/) . . . . Dhamma-rakkhita (ay as ma) . BharukaX'X'/^a (men of) . Madhura (nigamo) . . Rakkhita-tala (in the Himakayas) .

Rohawa (ay asm a) Saka-yavana (the countries of) Sabbadinna or Dinna (Yonako) . . i,3>5. 14, 22. 359, men of, 331. It will be noticed that the only names "of persons, besides those occurring in the story itself, are, in one passage, Asoka and Bindumati the courtesan, and in another A'andragupta and Bhaddasala who fought against him. Of places, besides those in the story, we have a considerable number of names referring to the Panjab, and adjacent countries; and besides these the names only of a few places or countries on xHv THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. the sea coast. The island Alasanda in the Indus, and the town of Kalasi situated in that island, have been discussed above. The country of the Sakas and Yavanas, Gandhara, Kashmir, BharukaHV^a, Surat, and Madhura, explain themselves. Nikumba and Vilata were probably in the same neighbourhood, but these names have not been met with elsewhere, and I can suggest no identification of them. The places on the sea coast, to which a merchant ship could sail, mentioned on p. 359, are mostly well known. Kolapattana must, I think, be some place on the Koromandel coast, and Suva««a-bhumi be meant for the seaboard of Burma and Siam. The author mentions no places in the interior south of the Ganges.

At four places he gives lists of famous rivers. In three out of the four he simply repeats the list of five — Gariga, Yamuna, AZnravati, Sarabhu, and Mahi— so often enumerated together in the Pi/akas^ In the fourth passage (p. 1 14) he adds five others — the Sindhu, the Sarassati, the Vetravati, the Vitawsa, and the A'andabhaga. Of these the first two are well known. Professor Eduard Muller suggests ^ that the Vitawsa is the same as the Vitasta (the Hydaspes of the Greeks and the modern Bihat). The Vetravati is one of the principal affluents of the Jumna ; and the A'andrabhaga rises in the North-West Himalayas, and is not unfrequently referred to as the Asikni of the Vedas, the Akesines of the Greek geographers, the modern Kinab ^. The list is meagre enough. An ethical treatise is scarcely the place to look for much geographical or historical matter. But unless our author deliberately concealed his knowledge, and made all the remarks he put into the mouth of Nagasena correspond with what that teacher might fairly be expected to have known, the whole list points to the definite conclusion that the writer of the ' Questions of Milinda ' resided in the far North-West of

1 See pp. 70, 87, 380 of the Pali text. ' ' Journal of the Pali Text Society,' 1888, p. 87. ' See Lassen, 'Indische Alterthumskunde,' vol. i, p. 43 (first edition, p. 55 of the second edition), and the passages there quoted. India, or in the Panjab itself. And this is confirmed by the great improbability of any memory of Menander having survived elsewhere, and more especially in Ceylon, where we should naturally look for our author's residence if he did not live in the region thus suggested. As my space is here limited, I postpone to the next volume the discussion as to how far the knowledge displayed by our author, the conditions of society with which he shows himself acquainted, and the religious beliefs he gives utterance to, afford evidence of his date. I will only say here that on all these points his workshowsclear signs of being later than the Pi/aka texts. And in the present state of our knowledge, or rather of our ignorance, of Pili, there is very little to be drawn from the language used by our author. In the first place we do not know for certain whether we have the original before us, or a translation from the Sanskrit or from some Northern dialect. And if, as is probably the case, we have a translation, it would be very difficult to say whether any peculiarity we may find in it is really due to the translator, or to the original author. No doubt a translator, finding in his original a word not existing in Pili, but formed according to rules of derivation obtaining in Pali, would coin the corresponding Pali form. And in doing so he might very likely be led into mistake, if his original were Prakrit, by misunderstanding the derivation of the Prakrit word before him. Childers in comparing Buddhist Sanskrit with Pali, has pointed out several cases where such mistakes have occurred, and has supposed that in every case the Sanskrit translator misunderstood a Pali word before him ^. As I have suggested elsewhere it is, to say the least, quite as likely that the Sanskrit Buddhist texts are often founded on older works, not in Pali, but in some other Prakrit ^ And it may be possible hereafter to form some opinion as to what that dialect was which the Sanskrit writers must have had be-

* See the articles in his ' Pali Dictionary,' referred to under note 3, p. xi of the Introduction. 2 See the note on pp. 178, 179 of my ' Buddhist Suttas.' fore them, to lead them into the particular blunders they have made. In the same way an argument may be drawn from the words found exclusively in Milinda as to the dialect which he spoke, and in which he probably wrote. A list of the words our author uses, and not found in the Pi/akas, can only be tentative, as we have not as yet the whole of the Pi/aka texts in print. But it will be useful, even now, to give the following imperfect list of such as I have noted in my copy of Childers' ' Dictionary.' Word. A/aka . Anekawsikata Awapako Anika///za Anughayati Anuparivattati Antobhaviko Ayuhako f Bhaddiputta^ I Bha//iputta Page of the Pali Text . 418 Note. See 'Journal,' 1886, p. 158. „ P-I23. Peon, officer. Sentinel. Trace by smell. Turn towards. 'Journal,' 1886, p. 124. „ P- 157A caste so called. Send after. Injury. Professional beggars. Busy. Busy. A caste so called. A kind of gem. On the one true path. A sick man, a patient.

Is made afraid of sin. 1 Hina/i-kumbure (p. 252) reads an an ay o. ^ The Sinhalese has bhaddiputrayo. Name. Page of the Pali Text. Note. . Epithet of the Nikayas. . Sharp (of medicine). . A caste so called. . The weapon so called. . A caste so called. . To be secluded. . A bird so called. . See my note to p. 28. . Compound (a medicine). . . Learned in doctrine. . . See Trenckner's ' Pali Miscellany/ p. 55. . . Who knows the Pi/akas. . . Perfume the body. . . See my note on p. 68. . 2, 400 foil. * This word has been found in the Pi/akas ^e. g. Ma^^'/ziina I, 480) in the sense of ' practice.' * The Pi/aka form is rat ana. xlvili THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. This list might be considerably extended if words were included which differ from those used in the Pi/akas only by the addition of well-known suffixes or prefixes — such, for instance, as viparivattati, at p. 117, only found as yet elsewhere in the Tela Ka/aha Gatha, verse '^"j. But such words are really only a further utilisation of the existing resources of the language, and would afford little or no ground for argument as to the time and place at which our author wrote. I have thought it best, therefore, to omit them, at least at present.

If we turn from isolated words to the evidence of style it will be acknowledged by every reader that the Milinda has a marked style of its own, different alike from the formal exactness of most of the Pi/aka texts, and from the later manner of any other Pali or Sanskrit-Buddhist authors as yet published. It is no doubt the charm of its style which has been one of the principal reasons for the great popularity of the book. Even a reader who takes no interest in the points that are raised, or in the method in which the questions are discussed, will be able, I trust, to see, even through the dark veil of a lame and wooden translation, what the merits of the original must be. And to a devout Buddhist, in whose eyes the book he was reading offered a correct solution of the most serious difficulties in religion, of the deepest problems of life, — to whose whole intellectual training and sympathies the way in which the puzzles are put, and solved, so exactly appealed, — to such a reader both the easy grace of the opening dialogue, as of a ship sailing in calm waters, and the real eloquence of occasional passages, more especially of the perorations by which the solutions are sometimes closed, must have been a continual feast. I venture to think that the ' Questions of Milinda ' is undoubtedly the master-piece of Indian prose ; and indeed is the best book of its class, from a literary point of view, that had then been produced in any country. Limits of space prevent the discussion of this last proposition, however interesting : and it would be, no doubt, difficult to prove that anything from India was better than the corresponding thing produced by our noble selves, or by those

whose Karma we inherit. But in ancient Indian literature there are only two or three works which can at all compare with it. It ought not to seem odd that these also are Buddhist and Pali ; that is, that they come from the same school. And while the Digha Nikaya may be held to excel it in stately dignity, the Visuddhi Magga in sustained power, and the G^ataka book in varied humour, the palm will probably be eventually given to the ' Questions of Milinda' as a work of art. I am aware that this conclusion is entirely at variance with the often repeated depreciation of Buddhist literature. But the fact is that this depreciation rests upon ignorance, and is supported by prejudice. As a critical judgment it will not survive the publication and translation of those great Buddhist works which it overlooks or ignores. Some Sanskrit scholars, familiar with the Brahmin estimate of matters Indian, and filled with a very rational and proper admiration for the many fine qualities which the old Brahmins possessed, may find it hard to recognise the merits of sectarian works written in dialects which violate their most cherished laws of speech. But the historical student of the evolution of thought, and of the rise of literature in India, will more and more look upon the question as a whole, and will estimate at its right value all Indian work, irrespective of dialect or creed.

Reverence be to the Blessed One, the Arahat, the Samma-sameuddha.

the secular narrative \ I. King Milinda, at Sagala the famous town of yore, To Nagasena, the world famous sage, repaired. (So the deep Ganges to the deeper ocean flows.) To him, the eloquent, the bearer of the torch Of Truth, dispeller of the darkness of men's minds. Subtle and knotty questions did he put, many, Turning on many points. Then were solutions given Profound in meaning, gaining access to the heart, Sweet to the ear, and passing wonderful and strancre. For Nagasena's talk plunged to the hidden depths Of Vinaya and of Abhidhamma (Law and ^ Bahira-katha, literally 'outside talk;' so called in contradistinction to the religious character of the subjects treated of in the remaining books. Unravelling all the meshes of the Suttas' net, Glittering the while with metaphors and reasoning high. Come then ! Apply your minds, and let your hearts rejoice, And hearken to these subtle questionings, all grounds Of doubt well fitted to resolve. 2. Thus hath it been handed down by tradition — There is in the country of the Yonakas ^ a great centre of trade -, a city that is called Sagala, situate in a delightful country well watered and hilly, abounding in parks and gardens and groves and lakes and tanks, a paradise of rivers and mountains and woods. Wise architects have laid it out ^, and its people know of no oppression, since all their enemies and adversaries have been put down. Brave is its defence, with many and various strong towers and ramparts, with superb gates and entrance archways ; and with the royal citadel in its midst, white walled and deeply moated. Well laid out are its streets, squares, cross roads, and market places ■*. Well displayed are the innumerable sorts of costly merchandise [2] with which its shops are filled. It is richly adorned with hundreds of alms-

^ That is lonians, the Pali word for Baktrian Greeks. ^ Nana-pu/a-bhedanaw/, hterally 'the distributing place of parcels of merchandise of many kinds.' Trenckner renders it ' surrounded with a number of dependent towns,' but surely entrepot is the idea suggested. ^ Sutavanta-nimmitam; which Trenckner renders ' pious are its people.' But I prefer the Sinhalese interpretation. * This list recurs at pp. 34, 330 of the text. See below, p. 53. halls of various kinds ; and splendid with hundreds of thousands of magnificent mansions, which rise aloft like the mountain peaks of the Himalayas. Its streets are filled with elephants, horses, carriages, and foot-passengers, frequented by groups of handsome men and beautiful women, and crowded by men of all sorts and conditions, Brahmans, nobles, artificers, and servants. They resound with cries of welcome to the teachers of every creed, and the city is the resort of the leading men of each of the differing sects. Shops are there for the sale of Benares muslin, of Ko/umbara stuffs \ and of other cloths of various kinds ; and sweet odours are exhaled from the bazaars, where all sorts of flowers and perfumes are tastefully set out. Jewels are there in plenty, such as men's hearts desire, and guilds of traders in all sorts of finery display their goods in the bazaars that face all quarters of the sky. So full is the city of money, and of gold and silver ware, of copper and stone ware, that it is a very mine of dazzling treasures. And there is laid up there much store of property and corn and things of value in warehouses — foods and drinks of every sort, syrups and sweetmeats of every kind. In wealth it rivals Uttara-kuru, and in glory it is as A/akamanda, the city of the gods ^.

3. Having said thus much we must now relate the previous birth history of these two persons (Milinda ^ It is worth noting, as there is a doubt about the spelling, that Hina/i-kumbure reads Ko/umbara, not Kodumbara. ^ Here follow in Hina/i-kumbure's version two pages of introductory matter, explaining how he came to undertake his translation. and Nagasena) and the various sorts of puzzles^. This we shall do under six heads : — 1. Their previous history (Pubba-yoga). 2. The Milinda problems. 3. Questions as to distinguishing characteristics. 4. Puzzles arising out of contradictory statements. 5. Puzzles arising out of ambiguity. 6. Discussions turning on metaphor. And of these the Milinda problems are in two divisions — questions as to distinctive characteristics, and questions aiming at the dispelling of doubt; and the puzzles arising out of contradictory statements are in two divisions — the long chapter, and the problems in the life of the recluse. THEIR PREVIOUS HISTORY (pUBBA-YOGa). 4. By Pubba-yoga is meant their past Karma (their doings in this or previous lives). Long ago, they say, when Kassapa the Buddha was promulgating the faith, there dwelt in one community near the Ganges a great company of members of the Order. There the brethren, true to established rules and duties, rose early in the morning, and taking the long-handled brooms, would sweep out the courtyard and collect the rubbish into a heap, meditating the while on the virtues of the Buddha.

5. One day a brother told a novice to remove the heap of dust. But he, as if he heard not, went about his business ; and on being called a second time, and a third, still went his way as if he had not heard. Then the brother, angry with so intractable a novice, dealt him a blow with the broom stick. ^ These six words are added from Hina/i-kumbure. [3] This time, not daring to refuse, he set about the task crying ; and as he did so he muttered to himself this first aspiration : ' May I, by reason of this meritorious act of throwing out the rubbish, in each successive condition in which I may be born up to the time when I attain Nirva;^a, be powerful and glorious as the midday sun ! ' 6. When he had finished his work he went to the river side to bathe, and on beholding the mighty billows of the Ganges seething and surging, he uttered this second aspiration: 'May I, in each successive condition in which I may be born till I attain Nirva;2a, possess the power of saying the right thing, and saying it instantly, under any circumstance that may arise, carrying all before me like this mighty surge ! '

7. Now that brother, after he had put the broom away in the broom closet, had likewise wandered down to the river side to bathe, and as he walked he happened to overhear what the novice had said. Then thinking : ' If this fellow, on the ground of such an act of merit, which after all was instigated by me, can harbour hopes like this, what may not I attain to ? ' he too made his wish, and it was thus : * In each successive condition in which I may be born till I attain Nirvawa, may I too be ready in saying the right thing at once, and more especially may I have the power of unravelling and of solving each problem and each puzzling question this young man may put — carrying all before me like this mighty surge ! ' 8. Then for the whole period between one Buddha and the next these two people wandered from existence to existence among gods and men. And our Buddha saw them too, and just as he did to the son of Moggalt and to Tissa the Elder, so to them also did he foretell their future fate, saying : ' Five hundred years after I have passed away will these two reappear, and the subtle Law and Doctrine taught by me will they two explain, unravelling and disentangling its difficulties by questions put and metaphors adduced.'

9. Of the two the novice became the king of the city of Sagala in India, Milinda by name, learned, eloquent, wise, and able ; and a faithful observer, and that at the right time, of all the various acts of devotion and ceremony enjoined by his own sacred hymns concerning things past, present, and to come. Many were the arts and sciences he knew — holy tradition and secular law ; the Saiikhya, Yoga, Nyaya, and Vai^eshika systems of philosophy; arithmetic; music; medicine; the four Vedas, the Pura/^as, and the Itihasas ; astronomy, magic, causation ^ and spells ; the art of war ; poetry ; conveyancing ^ — in a word, the whole nineteen ^. [4] As a disputant he was hard to equal, harder ^ Hetu, literally 'cause.' Trenckner has ' logic (?);' Hina/ikumbure repeats the word. ^ Mudda, hterally 'seal-ring.' The meaning of the term (which recurs in similar lists at Digha I, i, 25; I, 2, 14; and below, p. 59 of the text) is quite clear, but the exact details of the 'art' are unknown. I follow Buddhaghosa's comment on those passages. Trenckner leaves the word untranslated, and Hina/i-kumbure says, ' ^ngillen oel-wima,' that is, ' adhering with the finger,' which I do not understand, unless it means the sealing of a document. At IV, 3, 25, the context makes it probable that 'law of property ' would be the best rendering.

' The number of the Sippas (Arts and Sciences) is usually given as eighteen. In the G'ataka (p. 58, 1. 29, Professor Fausboll's edition) it is twelve. lo. MILINDA THE KING. Still to overcome ; the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. And as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India. He was rich too, mighty in wealth and prosperity, and the number of his armed hosts knew no end, lo. Now one day Milinda the king proceeded forth out of the city to pass in review the innumerable host of his mighty army in its fourfold array (of elephants, cavalry, bowmen, and soldiers on foot). And when the numbering of the forces was over, the king, who was fond of wordy disputation, and eager for discussion with casuists, sophists \ and gentry of that sort, looked at the sun (to ascertain the time), and then said to his ministers: 'The day is yet young. What would be the use of getting back to town so early ? Is there no learned person, whether wandering teacher- or Brahman, the head of some school or order, or the master of some band of pupils (even though he profess faith

^ Lokayatas and Vitawt/as. Other Pali passages, where they are mentioned, are A'ullavagga V, 3, 2 ; Ahguttara III, 58, i; Sumahgala Vilasini, 96, 247; and below, § 22 (p. 17). See also Weber, ' Bhagavati,' H, 246; I\Iuir, 'Sanskrit Texts,' III, 95; Deussen, 'Das Vedanta-System,' 310. '^ Samara. There is no expression in EngHsh corresponding to this common word in Pali texts. It means any ' religious ' (in the technical meaning of that word) who is not a recluse according to the orthodox Brahman rules. It includes therefore many who were not Buddhists, and also even Brahmans if they had joined the Buddhists or Grains, or any other of the non-conforming bodies. The Samawas remained in one place during the rains, and for the rest of the year wandered from place to place, promulgating their particular views. They were not necessarily ascetics in any strict use of that term ; though they were usuall)- celibates. 8 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, ii. in the Arahat, the Supreme Buddha), who would be able to talk with me, and resolve my doubts ?' 11. Thereupon the five hundred Yonakas said to Milinda the king : ' There are the six Masters, O l^jng I — Pura/za Kassapa, Makkhali of the cowshed \ the Niga/z/Z/a of the Nata clan, Sa;'^^c^aya the son of the Bela////a woman, Afita of the garment of hair, and Pakudha Ka/^Z'ayana. These are well known as famous founders of schools, followed by bands of disciples and hearers, and highly honoured by the people. Go, great king ! put to them your problems, and have your doubts resolved ^.'

12. So king Mihnda, attended by the five hundred Yonakas, mounted the royal car with its splendid equipage, and went out to the dwellingplace of Pura/^a Kassapa, exchanged with him the compliments of friendly greeting, and took his seat courteously apart. And thus sitting he said to ^ So called because he was said to have been born in a cowshed. See the Sumangala, p. 143. All these six teachers were contemporaries of the Buddha, and lived therefore about five hundred years before Milinda. 2 All this is a mere echo of the opening paragraphs in the Sama?7;7a-phala (D. 2), where A^atasattu is described as visiting these six famous sophists. And the plagiarism is all the more inartistic as the old names are retained, and no explanation is given of their being born twice at an interval of five hundred years. One may indeed ask what is a glaring anachronism to our good Buddhist romancer compared with the advantage of introducing the stock-names when he has to talk of heretics ? But the whole book is so full of literary skill, that it is at least strange that its author should have made this blunder; and there are other reasons for thinking the whole episode an interpolation. (See note on §§ 13, 15.) So that probably our § 15 came originally immediately after § 10, and then (after the episode in §§ 15-36) § 37 takes up the narrative interrupted at the end of § lo.

him : ' Who is it, venerable Kassapa, who rules the world ? ' ' The Earth, great king, rules the world ! ' ' But, venerable Kassapa, if it be the Earth that rules the world, how comes it that some men go to the Avi/6i hell \ thus getting outside the sphere of the Earth ? ' [5] When he had thus spoken, neither could Pura;2a Kassapa swallow the puzzle, nor could he bring it up ; crestfallen, driven to silence, and moody ^, there he sat. 13. Then Milinda the king said to Makkhali of the cowshed ^ : ' Are there, venerable Gosala, good and evil acts ? Is there such a thing as fruit, ultimate result, of good and evil acts ? ' ' There are no such acts, O king ; and no such fruit, or ultimate result. Those who here in the world are nobles, they, O king, when they go to the ^ AviZ'i (probably 'the Waveless'). The mention of this particular hell as being outside the earth is noteworthy. One would expect to find the Lokantarika hell so described. Spence Hardy indeed goes so far as to say that the AvWi is seven hundred miles directly under the great Bo Tree at Budh Gaya (Manual, p. 26), which would be within the sphere of the earth. But there is nothing in the Pali texts yet published as to its position. See ^ullavagga VII, 4, 8; Anguttara III, 56; Gataka I, 71, 96; Pa«X'a Gati Dipana, 20. There is a list of the hells at Sutta Nipata in, 10, but the AvU'i is not one of them. This blunder, improbable in a writer so learned as our author elsewhere shows himself, is another reason for thinking these sections to be an interpolation.

^ Pattakkhando pa^^/^ayanto. See my note on A'uUavagga IV, 4, 7, and compare Anguttara III, 73, 4. ^ This, again, is most clumsy, as the rival teachers must have dwelt far apart. And it will be seen that, notwithstanding the parade of the six names at the beginning of this episode, the remaining four are no further mentioned. lO THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. T, 14. Other world, will become nobles once more. And those who are Brahmans, or of the middle class, or workpeople, or outcasts here, will in the next world become the same. What then is the use of good or evil acts ^ ? ' ' If, venerable Gosala, it be as you say then, by parity of reasoning, those who, here in this world, have a hand cut off, must in the next world become persons with a hand cut off, and in like manner those who have had a foot cut off or an ear or their nose ! ' And at this saying Makkhali was silenced. 14. Then thought Milinda the king within himself-: ' All India is an empty thing, it is verily like chaff! There is no one, either recluse or Brahman, capable of discussing things with me, and dispelling my doubts.' And he said to his ministers : ' Beautiful is the night and pleasant ! Who is the recluse or Brahman we can visit to-night to question him, who will be able to converse with us and dispel our doubts " ? ' And at that saying the counsellors remained silent, and stood there gazing upon the face of the king.

15. Now at that time the city of Sagala had for twelve years been devoid of learned men, whether Brahmans, Sama/^as, or laymen. But wherever the king heard that such persons dwelt, thither he would ^ This is quite in accord with the opinions attributed to Makkhali Gosala in the Sama77«a-phala (D. 2, 20), and in the Sumahgala Vilasini on it (see especially p. 166). "^ See below, p. 30. ^ This is an echo of the words in the corresponding passage of the Sama/7;7a-phala Sutta (D. 2, i). I, i6. ASSAGUTTA. I I go and put his questions to them ^ [6] But they all alike, being unable to satisfy the king by their solution of his problems, departed hither and thither, or if they did not leave for some other place, were at all events reduced to silence. And the brethren of the Order went, for the most part, to the Himalaya mountains. 1 6. Now at that time there dwelt, in the mountain region of the Himalayas, on the Guarded Slope, an innumerable company of Arahats (brethren who, while yet alive, had attained Nirva;/a). And the venerable Assagutta, by means of his divine power of hearing, heard those words of king Milinda. And he convened an assembly of the Order on the summit of the Yugandhara mountain, and asked the brethren : ' Is there any member of the Order able to hold converse with Milinda the king, and resolve his doubts ? '

Then were they all silent. And a second and a third time he put the same question to them, and still none of all the number spake. Then he said to the assembled Order : ' There is, reverend Sirs, in the heaven of the Thirty-three -, and east of the Ve^ayanta palace, a mansion called Ketumati, wherein dwells the god Mahasena. He is able to hold converse with Milinda the king, and to resolve his doubts.' And the innumerable company of ' This paragraph is so unnecessary after what has been said in the preceding episode, and at the same time so contradictory to the fact of two teachers at least living in or near the city, that it would really seem probable that it (or perhaps § 14) came originally directly after § 10, the rest being an interpolation, and a clumsy one. " These are the principal gods of the Vedic pantheon. Arahats vanished from the summit of the Yugandhara mountain, and appeared in the heaven of the Thirty-three. 1 7, And Sakka, the king of the gods, beheld those brethren of the Order as they were coming from afar. And at the sight of them he went up to the venerable Assagutta, and bowed down before him, and stood reverently aside. And so standing he said to him : * Great, reverend Sir, is the company of the brethren that has come. What is it that they want ? I am at the service of the Order. What can I do for you ?'

And the venerable Assagutta replied : ' There is, O king, in India, in the city of Sagala, a king named Milinda. As a disputant he is hard to equal, harder still to overcome, he is the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. He is in the habit of visiting the members of the Order and harassing them by questions of speculative import.' Then said Sakka, the king of the gods, to him : ' That same king Milinda, venerable one, left this condition to be born as a man. And there dwells in the mansion Ketumati a god, Mahasena by name, who Is able to hold converse with him and to resolve his doubts. [7] That god we will beseech to suffer himself to be reborn Into the world of men.' 1 8. So Sakka, the king of the gods, preceded by the Order, entered the Ketumati mansion; and when he had embraced Mahasena the god, he said to him : ' The Order of the brethren. Lord, makes this request of you — to be reborn Into the world of men.' ' I have no desire, Sir, for the world of men, so overladen with action (Karma). Hard Is life as a

man. It is here, Sir, in the world of the gods that, being reborn in ever higher and higher spheres, I hope to pass away ! ' And a second and a third time did Sakka, the king of the gods, make the same request, and the reply was still the same. Then the venerable Assagiitta addressed Mahasena the god, and said : * On passing in review. Lord, the worlds of gods and men, there is none but thee that we find able to succour the faith by refuting the heretical views of Milinda the king. The whole Order beseeches thee. Lord, saying : " Condescend, O worthy one, to be reborn among men, in order to lend to the religion of the Blessed One thy powerful aid.'" Then was Mahasena the god overjoyed and delighted in heart at the thought that he would be able to help the faith by refuting the heresy of Milinda ; and he gave them his word, and said : * Very well then, venerable ones, I consent to be reborn in the world of men.' 19. Then the brethren, having thus accomplished the task they had taken in hand, vanished from the heaven of the Thirty-three, and reappeared on the Guarded Slope in the Himalaya mountains. And the venerable Assagutta addressed the Order, and said : * Is there, venerable ones, any brother belonging to this company of the Order, who has not appeared in the assembly?'

Thereupon a certain brother said there was, that Rohana had a week previously gone into the mountains, and become buried in meditation, [8] and suQ^crested that a messeno^er should be sent to him. And at that very moment the venerable Rohana aroused himself from his meditation, and was aware that the Order was expecting him ^ And vanishing from the mountain top, he appeared in the presence of the innumerable company of the brethren. And the venerable Assagutta said to him : ' How now, venerable Rohana ! When the religion of the Buddha is in danger of crumbling away, have you no eyes for the work of the Order ?' ' It was through inadvertence, Sir,' said he. * Then, venerable Rohana, atone for it.' ' What, Sir, should I do ? ' ' There is a Brahman village, venerable Rohana, called Ka^angala^ at the foot of the Himalaya mountains, and there dwells there a Brahman called "^^ So;2uttara. He will have a son called Nagasena. Go to that house for alms during seven years and ten months. After the lapse of that time thou shalt draw away the boy from a worldly life, and cause him to enter the Order. When he shall have abandoned the world, then shalt thou be free of the atonement for thy fault,'

' Let it be even as thou sayest,' said the venerable Rohana in assent. 20. Now Mahasena the god passed away from the world of the sfods, and was reborn in the womb of the wife of the Brahman So;^uttara. And at the moment of his conception three strange, wonderful things took place : — arms and weapons became all ^ Pa/imaneti. Childers does not give this meaning to the word. But it is the usual one. Compare Sumahgala, vol. i, pp. 276, 280; Vinaya Pi/aka IV, 212 ; A'ullavagga VI, 13, 2 ; Gataka II, 423. ^ This is a famous place in Buddhist story. It is at the extreme limit, to the East, of the Buddhist Holy Land, the ' Middle Country.' See Sumahgala Vilasini on D. 2, 40 (p. 1 73); Mahavagga V, 1 3, 1 2 ; Gataka I, 49. ablaze, the tender grain became ripe in a moment, and there was a great rain (in the time of drought). And the venerable Rohana went to that house for alms for seven years and ten months from the day of Mahasena's re-incarnation, but never once did he receive so much as a spoonful of boiled rice, or a ladleful of sour gruel, or a greeting, or a stretching forth of the joined hands, or any sort of salutation. Nay rather it was insults and taunts that fell to his share : and there was no one who so much as said, * Be so good, Sir, as to go on to the next house ^'

But when all that period had gone by he one day happened to have those very words addressed to him. And on that day the Brahman, on his way back from his work in the fields, [9] saw the Elder as he met him on his return, and said : ' Well, hermit, have you been to our place ? ' * Yes, Brahman, I have.' ' But did you get anything there ? ' * Yes, Brahman, I did.' And he was displeased at this, and went on home, and asked them : 'Did you give anything to that hermit ?' ' We gave him nothing,' was the reply. 2 1. Thereupon the Brahman, the next day, seated himself right in the doorway, thinking to himself : ' To-day I'll put that hermit to shame for having told a lie.' And the moment that the Elder in due course came up to the house again, he said : ' Yesterday you said you had got something at my house, having ^ This is the ordinary poHte formula used by an Indian peasant when he wishes to express his inability (or his disinclination) to give food to a mendicant friar.

t6 the questions of king MILINDA. I, 22. all the while got nothing ! Is lying allowed to you fellows ?' And the Elder replied : ' Brahman, for seven years and ten months no one even went so far as to suggest politely that I should pass on. Yesterday this courtesy was extended to me. It was to that that I referred.' The Brahman thought to himself : ' If these men, at the mere experience of a little courtesy, acknowledge in a public place, and with thanks, that they have received an alms, what will they not do if they really receive a gift ! ' And he was much struck by this, and had an alms bestowed upon the Elder from the rice and curry prepared for his own use, and added furthermore : ' Every day you shall receive here food of the same kind.' And having watched the Elder as he visited the place from that day onwards, and noticed how subdued was his demeanour, he became more and more pleased with him, and invited him to take there regularly his midday meal. And the Elder gave, by silence, his consent ; and daily from that time forth, when he had finished his meal, and was about to depart, he would pronounce some short passage or other from the words of the Buddha ^

2 2. Now the Brahman's wife had, after her ten months, brought forth her son ; and they called his name Nagasena. He grew up in due course till he became seven years old, and his father said to the child : ' Do you want, [10] dear Nagasena, to study the learnino: traditional in this Brahmanical house of ours ? ' ^ This custom is a rule with the mendicant friars. It is their way of 'returning thanks/ as we should say. See below, p. 25. 'What is it called, father ?' said he. ' The three Vedas are called learning (Sikkha), other kinds of knowledge are only arts, my dear.' ' Yes, I should like to learn them, father,* said the boy. Then So;^uttara the Brahman gave to a Brahman teacher a thousand pieces as his teaching fee, and had a divan spread for him aside in an inner chamber, and said to him : ' Do thou, Brahman, teach this boy the sacred hymns by heart.' So the teacher made the boy repeat the hymns, urging him to get them by heart. And young Nagasena, after one repetition of them, had learnt the three Vedas by heart, could intone them correctly, had understood their meaning, could fix the right place of each particular versed and had grasped the mysteries they contained 2. All at once there arose in him an intuitive insight into the Vedas, with a knowledge of their lexicography, of their prosody, of their grammar, and of the legends attaching to the characters in them. He became a philologist and grammarian, and skilled alike in casuistry and in the knowledge of the bodily marks that foreshadow the greatness of a man ^.

23. Then young Nagasena said to his father : ' Is ^ Suvava ///Capita, or perhaps its use in ceremonies or sacrifices. The phrase only occurs in this passage. It is literally, ' The three Vedas were well fixed by the boy.' Hina/i-kumbure simply repeats the word. '^ On the exact force of the special terms translated in these clauses, one may further compare the corresponding phrases used of learning the Buddhist texts in Aullavagga IV, 14, 17 ; IX, 5, i. ^ The above are the stock phrases for the learning of a scholarly Brahman, and one or two points in the details are uncertain. there anything more to be learned in this Brahmanical family of ours, or is this all ? ' * There is no more, Nagasena, my dear. This is all,' was the reply. And young Nagasena repeated his lesson to his teacher for the last time, and went out of the house, and in obedience to an impulse arising in his heart as the result of previous Karma, sought a place of solitude, where he gave himself up to meditation. And he reviewed what he had learnt throughout from beginning to end, and found no value in it anywhere at all. And he exclaimed in bitterness of soul : ' Empty forsooth are these Vedas, and as chaff. There is in them neither reality, nor worth, nor essential truth ! '

That moment the venerable Rohana, seated at his hermitage at Vattaniya, felt in his mind what was passing in the heart of Nagasena. And he robed himself, and taking his alms-bowl in his hand, he vanished from Vattaniya and appeared near the Brahman village Ka^angala. And young Nagasena, as he stood again in the doorway, saw him coming in the distance. At the sight of him he became happy and glad, and a sweet hope sprang up in his heart that from him he mio;ht learn the essential truth. And he went [11] to him, and said : ' Who art thou. Sir, that thou art thus bald-headed, and wearest yellow robes ? ' 'They call me a recluse, my child' (Pabba^ita : literally, 'one who has abandoned;' that is, the worldly life). ' And why do they call thee " one w4io has abandoned ?" ' * Because a recluse is one who has receded from the world in order to make the stain of sinful things recede. It is for that reason, my child, that they call me a recluse.' ' Why, Sir, dost thou not wear hair as others do ? ' ' A recluse shaves off his hair and beard on the recognition of the sixteen impediments therein to the higher life. And what are those sixteen ^ ? The impediments of ornamenting it, and decking it out, of putting oil upon it, of shampooing it, of placing garlands round it, of using scents and unguents, and myrobalan seeds, and dyes, and ribbons, and combs, of calling in the barber, of unravelling curls, and of the possibility of vermin. When their hair falls off they are grieved and harassed; yea, they lament sometimes, and cry, and beat their breasts, or fall headlong in a swoon— and entangled by these and such impediments men may forget those parts of wisdom or learning which are delicate and subde.'

* And why, Sir, are not thy garments, too, as those of other men ? ' ' Beautiful clothes, my boy, such as are worn by worldly men, are inseparable from the five cravings 2. But whatsoever dangers lurk in dress he who wears the yellow robes knows nothing of. It is for that reason that my dress is not as other men's.' ' Dost thou know. Lord, what is real knowledge ?' ' Yes, lad, the real knowledge I know ; and what is the best hymn (mantra) in the world, that too I know.' ' Couldst thou teach it. Lord, to me too ?' ^ This odd idea of the ' impediments ' in the wearing of hair and beard is in accord both with modern habits of shaving, and also with a good deal of early Christian and medieval ethics. - The lust of the eye, of the ear, &c. ' Yes, I could.' ' Teach me, then.' 'Just now is not the right time for that ; we have come down to the village for alms.' 24. Then young Nagasena took the alms-bowl the venerable Rohana was carrying, and led him into the house, and with his own hand supplied him with food, hard and soft, as much as he required. And when he saw that he had finished his meal, and withdrawn his hand from the bowl, he said to him : ' Now, Sir, will you teach me that hymn ?'

' When thou hast become free from impediments, my lad, by taking upon thee, and with thy parents' consent, the hermit's dress I wear, then I can teach it thee.' 25. So young [12] Nagasena went to his father and mother, and said : ' This recluse says he knows the best hymn in the world, but that he cannot teach it to any one who has not entered the Order as his pupil. I should like to enter the Order and learn that hymn.' And his parents gave their consent ; for they wished him to learn the hymn, even at the cost of retiring from the world ; and they thought that when he had learned it he would come back again \ Then the venerable Rohana took Naofasena to the Vattaniya hermitage, to the Vi^^amba Vatthu, and having spent the night there, took him on to the Guarded Slope, and there, in the midst of the innumerable company of the Arahats, young Nagasena was admitted, as a novice, into the Order. ^ Under the rules of the Buddhist Order any one can leave it as soon as he likes. 26. And then, when he had been admitted to the Order, the venerable Nagasena said to the venerable Rohana : * I have adopted your dress ; now teach me that hymn/

Then the venerable Rohana thought thus to himself: 'In what ought I first to instruct him, in the Discourses (Suttanta) or in the deeper things of the faith (Abhidhamma) ?' and inasmuch as he saw that Nagasena was intelligent, and could master the Abhidhamma with ease, he gave him his first lesson in that. And the venerable Nagasena, after hearing it repeated but once, knew by heart the whole of the Abhidhamma — that is to say, the Dhamma Sariga;^i, with its great divisions into good, bad, and indifferent qualities, and its subdivisions into couples and triplets ^ — the Vibhaiiga, with its eighteen chapters, beginning with the book on the constituent elements of beings — the Dhatu Katha, with its fourteen books, beginning with that on compensation and non-compensation — the Puggala Pa;7;}atti, with its six divisions into discrimination of the various constituent elements, discrimination of the various senses and of the properties they apprehend, and so on ^ — the Katha Vatthu, with its thousand sections, five hundred on as many points ^ Compare, for instance, p. 125 of the edition of this summary of Buddhist ethical psychology, edited for the Pali Text Society, by Dr. Edward IMuller, of Bern (London, 1885).

^ The six kinds of discrimination (Pa;/;7atti) referred to, are those set out in § i of the Puggala. The work itself is an ethical tractate dealing only with the last of the six (the discrimination of individuals). See the edition by Dr. Morris, published by the Pali Text Society (London, 1883). 2 2 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. I, 27, of our own views, and five hundred on as many points of our opponents' views — the Yamaka, with its ten divisions into complementary propositions as to origins, as to constituent elements, and so on — and the Pa////ana, with its twenty-four chapters on the reason of causes, the reason of ideas, and the rest. And he said [13] : ' That will do, Sir. You need not propound it again. That will suffice for my being able to rehearse it.' 27. Then Nagasena went to the innumerable company of the Arahats, and said : ' I should like to propound the whole of the Abhidhamma Pi^'aka, without abridgement, arranging it under the three heads of good, bad, and indifferent qualities.' And they gave him leave. And in seven months the venerable Nagasena recited the seven books of the Abhidhamma in full. And the earth thundered, the gods shouted their applause, the Brahma gods clapped their hands, and there came down a shower from heaven of sweet-scented sandal-wood dust, and of Mandarava flowers ! And the innumerable company of the Arahats, then and there at the Guarded Slope, admitted the venerable Nagasena, then twenty years of age, to full membership in the higher orrade of the Order.

28. Now the next day after he had thus been admitted into full membership in the Order, the venerable Nagasena robed himself at dawn, and taking his bowl, accompanied his teacher on his round for alms to the village below. And as he went this thought arose within him : 'It was, after all, empty-headed and foolish of my teacher to leave the rest of the Buddha's word aside, and teach me the Abhidhamma first ! ' And the venerable Rohana became aware in his own mind of what was passing in the mind of Nagasena, and he said to him : ' That is an unworthy reflection that thou art making, Nagasena ; it is not worthy of thee so to think.' ' How strange and wonderful,' thought Nagasena, ' that my teacher should be able to tell in his own mind what I am thinking of ! I must ask his pardon.' And he said : ' Forgive me, Sir ; I will never make such a reflection again.' [14] ' I cannot forgive you, Nagasena, simply on that promise,' was the reply. * But there is a city called Saeala, where a kins: rules whose name is Milinda, and he harasses the brethren by putting puzzles to them of heretical tendency. You will have earned your pardon, Nagasena, when you shall have gone there, and overcome that king in argument, and brought him to take delimit in the truth.'

' Not only let king Milinda, holy one, but let all the kings of India come and propound questions to me, and I will break all those puzzles up and solve them, if only you will pardon me ! ' exclaimed Nagasena. But when he found it was of no avail, he said : ' Where, Sir, do you advise me to spend the three months of the rains now coming on^?' 29. ' There is a brother named Assagutta dwelling at the Vattahiya hermitage. Go, Nagasena, to him ; and in my name bow down to his feet, and say : " My teacher, holy one, salutes you reverently, and asks whether you are in health and ease, in full vigour and comfort. He has sent me here to pass ^ It would be against the rules to go at once, during the rains, to Sagala. So he would spend that time in preparation. the three months of the rains under your charge." When he asks you your teacher's name, tell it him. But when he asks you his own name, say : " My teacher, Sir, knows your name." ' And Naofasena bowed down before the venerable Rohana, and passing him on his right hand as he left him, took his bowl and robe, and went on from place to place till he came to the Vattaniya hermitage, begging for his food on the way. And on his arrival he saluted the venerable Assagutta, and said exactly what he had been told to say, [15] and to the last reply Assagutta said : ' Very well then, Nagasena, put by your bowl and robe.' And the next day Nagasena swept out the teacher's cell, and put the drinking water and tooth-cleansers ready for him to use. The Elder swept out the cell again, threw away the water and the tooth-cleansers, and fetched others, and said not a word of any kind. So it went on for seven days. On the seventh the Elder again asked him the same questions as before. And on Nagasena again making the same replies, he gave him leave to pass the rainy season there.

30. Now a certain woman, a distinguished follower of the faith, had for thirty years and more administered to the wants of the venerable Assag-utta. And at the end of that rainy season she came one day to him, and asked whether there was any other brother staying with him. And when she was told that there was one, named Nagasena, she invited the Elder, and Nagasena with him, to take their midday meal the next day at her house. And the Elder signified, by silence, his consent. The next forenoon the Elder robed himself, and taking his bowl in his hand, went down, accompanied by Nagasena as his attendant, to the dwelling-place of that disciple, and there they sat down on the seats prepared for them. And she gave to both of them food, hard and soft, as much as they required, waiting upon them with her own hands. When Assagutta had finished his meal, and the hand was withdrawn from the bowl, he said to Nagasena: 'Do thou, Nagasena, give the thanks to this distinguished lady.' And, so saying, he rose from his seat, and went away. [16] 31. And the lady said to Nagasena: 'I am old, friend Nagasena. Let the thanksgiving be from the deeper things of the faith.'

And Nagasena, in pronouncing the thanksgiving discourse ^ dwelt on the profounder side of the Abhidhamma, not on matters of mere ordinary morality, but on those relating to Arahatship^. And as the lady sat there listening, there arose in her heart the Insight into the Truth ^, clear and stainless, which perceives that whatsoever has beginning, that has the inherent quality of passing away. And Nagasena alsOjWhen he had concluded that thanksgiving discourse, felt the force of the truths he himself had preached, and he too arrived at insight* — he too ^ See the note above, p. 15. "^ SuT/mata, used here in the sense of Nirvawa. Compare Ahguttara II, 5, 6; Gataka III, 191 ; Aullavagga XII, 2, 5. ^ Dhamma->('akkhu. This perception of the impermanency of all things and all beings is called ' the Eye for the Truth,' and is the sign of the entrance upon the path to Arahatship, i. e. Nirvana. It is the same among Buddhists as conversion is among the Christians. Compare Acts xxvi. 18 ('Open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God') and other similar passages. * Vipassana. Childers says this is an attribute of Arahatship ; and Trenckner translates it ' superior intelligence.' But Arahats

entered, as he sat there, upon the stream (that is to say, upon the first stage of the Excellent Way to Arahatship). 32. Then the venerable Assagutta, as he was sitting in his arbour, was aware that they both had attained to insight, and he exclaimed : ' Well done ! well done, Nagasena ! by one arrow shot you have hit two noble quarries ! ' And at the same time thousands of the gods shouted their approval. Now the venerable Nagasena arose and returned to Assagutta, and saluting him, took a seat reverently apart. And Assagutta said to him : ' Do thou now go, Nagasena, to Pa/aliputta. There, in the Asoka Park, dwells the venerable Dhammarakkhita. Under him you should learn the words of the Buddha.' * How far is it, Sir, from here to Pa/aliputta.' *A hundred leagues \ Nagasena.' ' Great, Sir, is the distance. It will be difficult to get food on the way. How shall I get there ? ' ' Only go straight on, Nagasena. You shall get food on the way, rice from which the black grains have been picked out, with curries and gravies of various sorts.' ' Very well. Sir ! ' said Nagasena, and bowing

only have it, because they have all the powers possessed by those in the previous stages of the path, and it is only superior as being above and beyond the intelligence of the worldly wise, or even of the mere moralist. It is less than the ' Divine Eye,' and Nagasena was not yet an Arahat. Compare the passages quoted by Childers under Dhamma-^akkhu and Dibba-^akkhu, and also Mahavagga I, 6, 33; G^ataka I, 140; Sumahgala Vilasini, 237, 278. ^ Yo^anas: that is, leagues of seven miles each. See my ' Ancient Coins and Measures of Ceylon,' p. 1 6, in Thomas's ' Numismata Orientalia,' vol. i. down before his teacher, and passing him on the right side as he went, he took his bowl and his robe and departed for Pa/aHputta. 2,2,. [17] At that time a merchant of Pa/aHputta was on his way back to that city with five hundred waggons. And when he saw the venerable Nagasena coming in the distance, he stopped the waggons, and saluted Nagasena, and asked him : ' Whither art thou going, father ? ' * To Pa/aliputta, householder.' * That is well, father. We too are going thither. It will be more convenient for thee to go with us.'

And the merchant, pleased with Nagasena's manners, provided him with food, hard and soft, as much as he required, waiting upon him with his own hands. And when the meal was over, he took a low seat, and sat down reverently apart. So seated, he said to the venerable Nagasena : ' What, father, is your name ? ' * I am called Nagasena, householder.' * Dost thou know, father, what are the words of Buddha?' ' I know the Abhidhamma.' ' We are most fortunate, father ; this is indeed an advantage. I am a student of the Abhidhamma, and so art thou. Repeat to. me, father, some passages from it.' Then the venerable Nagasena preached to him from the Abhidhamma, and by degrees as he did so there arose in Nagasena's heart the Insight into the Truth, clear and stainless, which perceives that whatsoever has in itself the necessity of beginning, that too has also the inherent quality of passing away. 34. And the Pa/aliputta merchant sent on his waggons in advance, and followed himself after them. And at a place where the road divided, not far from Pa/aliputta, he stopped, and said to Nagasena : ' This is the turning to the Asoka Park. Now I have here a rare piece of woollen stuff, sixteen cubits by eight. [18] Do me the favour of accepting it.' And Nagasena did so. And the merchant, pleased and glad, with joyful heart, and full of content and happiness, saluted the venerable Nagasena, and keeping him on his right hand as he passed round him, went on his way.

35. But Nagasena went on to the Asoka Park to Dhamma-rakkhita. And after saluting him, and telling him on what errand he had come, he learnt by heart, from the mouth of the venerable Dhamma-rakkhita, the whole of the three baskets ^ of the Buddha's word in three months, and after a single recital, so far as the letter (that is, knowing the words by heart) was concerned. And in three months more he mastered the spirit (that is, the deeper meaning of the sense of the words). But at the end of that time the venerable Dham- ^ Pi/akas. This expression is not used in the sacred books of the canon itself. When it first came into use is unknown. This is the earliest passage in which it has hitherto been found in the technical sense of a division of the Scriptures. It was in full use at the time of Buddhaghosa (see the Sumahgala Vilasini, pp. 15, 16, 17, 18, &c., and the Samanta Pasadika, printed in Oldenberg's ' Vinaya Pi/aka,' vol. iii, p. 293). The tertium quid of the comparison is not the basket or the box as a receptacle for preservation, but as a means of handing on (as Eastern navvies removing earth put it into baskets and pass these latter on from hand to hand). So the expression ' three baskets ' means not ' the three collections,' but 'the three bodies of oral tradition as handed down from teacher to teacher/ See Trenckner's decisive argument in his 'Pali Miscellanies,' pp. 67-69.

I, 36. NAGASENA GAINS NIRVAiVA. 29 ma-rakkhita addressed him, and said : ' Just, Nagasena, as a herdsman tends the cows, but others enjoy their produce, so thou too earnest in thy head the whole three baskets of the Buddha's word, and still art not yet a partaker of the fruit of Sama;^aship.' ' Though that be so, holy one, say no more,' was the reply. And on that very day, at night, he attained to Arahatship and with it to the fourfold power of that Wisdom possessed by all Arahats (that is to say : the realisation of the sense, and the appreciation of the deep religious teaching contained In the word, the power of intuitive judgment, and the power of correct and ready exposition) ^ And at the moment of his penetrating the truth all the gods shouted their approval, and the earth thundered, and the Brahma gods clapped their hands, and there fell from heaven a shower of sweet-scented sandal dust and of Mandarava flowers. 36. Now at that time the innumerable company of the Arahats at the Guarded Slope in the Himalaya mountains sent a message to him to come, for they were anxious to see him. And when he heard the message the venerable Nagasena vanished from the Asoka Park and appeared before them. And they said : * Nagasena, that king Millnda is in the habit of harassing the brethren by knotty questions and by argumentations this way and that. Do thou, Nagasena, go and [19] master him.'

* Not only let king Milinda, holy ones, but let all the kings of India, come and propound questions to ^ The four Pa/isambhidas, which form the subject of one of the books of the Sutta Pi/aka. me. I will break all those puzzles up and solve them. You may go fearlessly to Sagala.' Then all the Elders went to the city of Sagala, lighting it up with their yellow robes like lamps, and bringing down upon it the breezes from the heights where the sages dwell ^ '^2)1' -^t that time the venerable Ayupala was living at the Sahkheyya hermitage. And king Milinda said to his counsellors : ' Beautiful is the night and pleasant ! Who is the wandering teacher or Brahman we can visit to night to question him who will be able to converse with us and to resolve our doubts ? ' And the five hundred Yonakas replied : ' There is the Elder, Lord, named Ayupala, versed in the three baskets, and in all the traditional lore. He is living now at the Saiikheyya hermitage. To him you might go, O king, and put your questions to him.' * Very well, then. Let the venerable one be informed that we are coming.'

^ Isi-vata;;z parivata?^ (nagara;«) aka?«su. The meaning of this phrase, which has not been found elsewhere, is doubtful. Trenckner renders ' making it respire the odour of saints.' The literal translation would be 'making it blown round about by i?/shi-wind.' Perhaps it may be meant to convey the idea of ' scented with the sweet breath of the wise.' But in any case the connotation is intended to be a pleasant one. Calling to mind the analogous phrase vi^anavata?« arama;;z, 'a hermitage with breezes from the desert.' (Mahavagga I, 22, i7=:^ullavagga VI, 4, 8.) I venture to suggest the rendering adopted above. Hina/ikumbure (p. 24) has i??'shiwarayahge gamanagamanaye?;/ ^anita wa kivara watayew pratiwataya kalahuya. 'They set its air in commotion produced by the waving of the robes of the coming and going 7?/shis.' ^ We here take up the original episode of Milinda as interrupted ^^ § 15 (or if there is an interpolation at § 10). Then the ro3^al astrologer sent a message to Ayupala to the effect that king MIHnda desired to call upon him. And the venerable one said : * Let him come.' So Milinda the king, attended by the five hundred Yonakas, mounted his royal chariot and proceeded to the Sahkheyya hermitage, to the place where Ayupala dwelt, and exchanged with him the greetings and compliments of friendship and courtesy, and took his seat respectfully apart. And then he said to him :

38. * Of what use, venerable Ayupala, is the renunciation of the world carried out by the members of your Order, and in what do you place the summum bonum ? ' ' Our renunciation, O king,' replied the Elder, ' is for the sake of being able to live in righteousness, and in spiritual calm.' * Is there. Sir, any layman who lives so ? ' ' Yes, great king, there are such laymen. At the time when the Blessed One set rolling the royal chariot wheel of the kingdom of rio-hteousness at Benares, at the Deer Park, [20] eighteen ko/is of the Brahma gods, and an innumerable company of other gods, attained to comprehension of the truth \ And not one of those beings, all of whom were laymen, had renounced the world. And again when the Blessed One delivered the Maha Samaya discourse^, and the discourse on the 'Greatest Blessing ^' ^ See my 'Buddhist Suttas,' pp. 153-155. There is nothing about the eighteen ko/is in the Pi/aka text referred to. 2 No. 20 in the Digha Nikaya. ^ In the Maha Mahgala, translated in my 'Buddhism,' pp. 125-127. and the Exposition of Quietism \ and the Exhortation to Rahula-, the multitude of gods who attained to comprehension of the truth cannot be numbered. And not one of those beings, all of whom were laymen, had renounced the world ^'

' Then, most venerable Ayupala, your renunciation is of no use. It must be in consequence of sins committed in some former birth, that the Buddhist Sama;/as renounce the world, and even subject themselves to the restraints of one or other of the thirteen aids to purity^! Those who remain on one seat till they have finished their repast were, forsooth, in some former birth, thieves who robbed other men of their food. It is in consequence of the Karma of having so deprived others of food that they have now only such food as they can get at one sitting ; and are not allowed to eat from time to time as they want. It is no virtue on their part, no meritorious abstinence, no righteousness of life. And they who live in the open air were, forsooth, in ^ Sama-^itta-pariyaya Suttanta. It is not certain which Sutta is here referred to. Trenckner identifies it with a short Sutta in the Ahguttara (II, 4, 5). It is true that the ten short Suttas in A. II, 4 are (in the Burmese MSS. only) called collectively Sama- ^itta Vagga. But the separate Suttas have no separate titles; the title of the Vagga is not found in the Si///halese MSS., and is probably later than the text; and it is not, after all, identical with the tide here given.

^ There are several Suttas of this name in the Pali Pi/akas. The one referred to here (and also, it may be added, in the Asoka Edicts) is probably the shorter one (ATila Rahulovada Sutta) found both in the Ma^^/^ima (No. 147) and in the Sa^/iyutta (XXXIV, 120). See Trenckner's note on this passage. ^ This way of looking at gods as laymen, still ' in the world,' is thoroughly Buddhist. * The dhutahgas, enumerated by Childers sub voce. some former birth, dacolts who plundered whole villages. It is in consequence of the Karma of having destroyed other people's homes, that they live now" without a home, and are not allowed the use of huts. It is no virtue on their part, no meritorious abstinence, no righteousness of life. And those who never lie down, they, forsooth, in some former birth, were highwaymen who seized travellers, and bound them, and left them sitting there. It is in consequence of the Karma of that habit that they have become Nesa^^ika in this life (men who always sit) and get no beds to lie on. It is no virtue on their part, no meritorious abstinence, no righteousness of life ! ' 39. And when he had thus spoken the venerable Ayupala was silenced, and had not a word to say in reply. Then the five hundred Yonakas said to the king : ' The Elder, O king, is learned, but is also diffident. It is for that reason that he makes no rejoinder. But the king on seeing how silent Ayupala had become, clapped his hands [21] and cried out: 'AH India is an empty thing, it is verily like chaff! There is no one, either Sama;^a or Brahman, capable of discussing things with me and dispelling my doubts ^ ! '

As he looked, however, at the assembly and saw how fearless and self-possessed the Yonakas appeared, he thought within himself : ' For a certainty there must be, methinks, some other learned brother capable of disputing with me, or those Yonakas would not be thus confident.' And he said to them : ^ See above, p. 10, § 14. [35] D ' Is there, my good men, any other learned brother to discuss things with me and dispel my doubts ?' 40. Now at that time the venerable Nagasena, after making his alms-tour through the villages, towns, and cities, had in due course arrived at Sagala, attended by a band of Sama;/as, as the leader of a company of the Order ; the head of a body of disciples ; the teacher of a school ; famous and renowned, and highly esteemed by the people. And he was learned, clever, wise, sagacious, and able; a skilful expounder, of subdued manners, but full of courage; well versed in tradition, master of the three Baskets (Pi/akas), and erudite in Vedic lore \ He was in possession of the highest (Buddhist) insight, a master of all that had been handed down in the schools, and of the various discriminations^ by which the most abstruse points can be explained. He knew by heart the ninefold divisions of the doctrine of the Buddha to perfection ^, and was equally skilled in discerning both the spirit and the letter of the Word. Endowed with instantaneous and varied power of repartee, and wealth of language, and beauty of eloquence, he was difficult to equal, and still m.ore difficult to excel, difficult to answer, to repel, or to refute. He was imperturbable as the depths of the sea, immovable as the king of mountains ; victorious in the struggle with evil, a dispeller

^ This is ahvays explained as wise in the Buddhist Vedas, that is, the three Pi/akas. - Pa/is ambhidas: see above, the note on p. 29. ^ Parami-ppatto. This is an unusual use of Parami, but it occurs again below, p. 36, in a similar connection, and there can be no doubt of its meaning. Trenckner translates it ' better than any one else.' of darkness and diffuser of light ; mighty in eloquence, a confounder of the followers of other masters, and a crusher-out of the adherents of rival doctrines (malleus hereticorum). Honoured and revered by the brethren and sisters of the Order, and its lay adherents of either sex, and by kings and their high officials, he was in the abundant receipt of all the requisites of a member of the Order — robes and bowl and lodging, and whatever is needful for the sick — receiving the highest veneration no less than material gifts. To the wise and discernine who came to him with listeninsf ear he displayed the ninefold jewel of the Conqueror's word, he pointed out to them the path of righteousness, bore aloft for them the torch of truth, set up for them the sacred pillar of the truths and celebrated for their benefit the sacrifice of the truth. For them he waved the banner, raised the standard, blew the trumpet, and beat the drum of truth. And with his mighty lion's voice, [22] like Indra's thunder but sweet the while, he poured out upon them a plenteous shower, heavy with drops of mercy, and brilliant with the coruscations of the liohtnine flashes of his knowleds^e, of the nectar waters of the teaching of the Nirva/^a of the truth — thus satisfying to the full a thirsty world.

41. There then, at the Sankheyya hermitage, did the venerable Nagasena, with a numerous company of the brethren, dwell ^. Therefore is it said : ^ Dhamma-yfipa;;/; with allusion to the sacred sacrificial post, which plays so great a part in Brahman ritual. ^ Literally 'with eighty thousand:' but this merely means to say, with a large (undefined) number. See the use of the phrase in the Na/apana Gataka (Fausboll, No. 20). ' Learned, with varied eloquence, sagacious, bold, Master of views, in exposition sound, The brethren — wise themselves in holy writ, Repeaters of the fivefold sacred word — Put Nagrasena as their leader and their chief. Him, Nagasena of clear mind and wisdom deep. Who knew which was the right Path, which the false. And had himself attained Nirva;2a's placid heights! Attended by the wise, by holders to the Truth, He had gone from town to town, and come to Sagala ; And now he dwelt there in Sahkheyya's grove, Appearing, among men, like the lion of the hills.' 42. And Devamantiya said to king Milinda : * Wait a little, great king, wait a little ! There is an Elder named Nagasena, learned, able, and wise, of subdued manners, yet full of courage, versed in the traditions, a- master of language, and ready in reply, one who understands alike the spirit and the letter of the law, and can expound its difiiculties and refute objections to perfection^. He is staying at present at the Sahkheyya hermitage. You should go, great king, and put your questions to him. He is able to discuss things with you, and dispel your doubts.'

Then when Milinda the king heard the name Nagasena, thus suddenly introduced, he was seized with fear, and with anxiety, and the hairs of his body stood on end". But he asked Devamantiya : ' Is that really so ? ' ^ See above, p. 34, note 3. - The name itself, which means ' Chief of Naga Snakes/ is And Devamantlya replied : 'He is capable, Sire, of discussing things with the guardians of the world — with Indra, Yama, Varu;^a, Kuvera, Pra^apati, Suyama, [23] and Santushita — and even with the great Brahma himself, the progenitor of mankind, how much more tlien with a mere human being !' * Do you then, Devamantlya,' said the king, ' send a messenger to say I am coming.' And he did so. And Nagasena sent word back that he might come. And the king, attended by the five hundred Yonakas, mounted his royal chariot, and proceeded with a great retinue to the Sankheyya hermitage, and to the place where Nagasena dwelt. 43. At that time the venerable Nagasena was seated with the innumerable company of the brethren of the Order, in the open hall in front of the hermitage \ So kinof Milinda saw the assembly from afar, and he said to Devamantiya : ' Whose, Devamantiya, is this so mighty retinue ?'

* These are they who follow the venerable Nagasena,' was the reply. Then at the sight there came over king Milinda terrible enough, especially as the Nagas were looked upon as supernatural beings. But it is no doubt also intended that the king had heard of his fame. ^ Ma«fifala-mala, that is a hall consisting only of a roof, supported by pillars which are connected by a dwarf wall two or three feet in height. The roof projects beyond the pillars, so that the space within is well shaded. It is a kind of open air drawingroom attached to most hermitages, and may be so small that it can be rightly rendered arbour (see above, p. 25), or sufficiently large to accommodate a considerable number. Usually of wood, sometimes of stone, it is always graceful in appearance and pleasant to use. It is mentioned in the corresponding passage of the Samawra rhala (D. II, 10). 38 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDv\. I, 44. a feeling of fear and of anxiety, and the hairs of his body stood on end \ But nevertheless, though he felt like an elephant hemmed in by rhinoceroses, like a serpent surrounded by the Garurt'as (the snake-eating mythical birds), like a jackal surrounded by boa-constrictors, or a bear by buffaloes, like a frog pursued by a serpent, or a deer by a panther, like a snake in the hands of a snake charmer, or a rat played with by a cat, or a devil charmed by an exorcist, like the moon when it is seized by Rahu, like a snake caught in a basket, or a bird in a cage, or a fish in a net, like a man who has lost his way in a dense forest haunted by wild beasts, like a Yakkha (ogre) who has sinned against Vessavana (the king of ogres and fairies), or like a eod whose term of life as a o-od has reached its end — though confused and terrified, anxious, and beside himself in an agony of fear like that — yet at the thought that he must at least avoid humiliation in the sight of the people, he took courage, and said to Devamantiya : ' You need not [24] trouble to point out to me which is Nagasena. I shall pick him out unaided.'

' Certainly, Sire, recognise him yourself,' said he^. 44. Now Nagasena was junior in seniority (reckoned from the date of his full membership in the ^ This again, like the passage at p. 8, is an echo of the Sama?7;7a Phala. (See D. 2, 10 of our forthcoming edition, or p. 116 of Grimblot.) - In the corresponding passage of the Sama77/7a Phala Civaka points out the Buddha to A^atasattu (§ 11, Grimblot, p. 117). This \vould be in the memory of all his readers, and our author alters the story in this case to show how superior INIilinda was to the royal interlocutor in the older dialogue. Order) to the half of that great company seated m front of him, and senior to the half seated behind him. And as he looked over the whole of the assembly, in front, and down the centre, and behind, king Milinda detected Nagasena seated in the middle, and, like a shaggy lion who knows no fear or frenzy, entirely devoid of nervous agitation, and free from shyness and trepidation. And as soon as he saw him, he knew by his mien that that was Nagasena, and he pointed him out to Devamantiya.

' Yes, great king,' said he, ' that is Nagasena. Well hast thou, Sire, recognised the sage.' Whereupon the king rejoiced that he had recognised Nagasena without having had him pointed out to him. But nevertheless, at the sight of him, the king was seized with nervous excitement and trepidation and fear. Therefore is it said : ' At the sight of Nagasena, wise and pure, Subdued in all that is the best subjection, Milinda uttered this foreboding word— " Many the talkers I have visited, Many the conversations I have had, But never yet, till now, to-day, has fear, So strange, so terrible, o'erpowered my heart. Verily now defeat must be my lot. And victory his, so troubled is my mind." ' Here ends the introductory secular narrative (Bahira-katha)^ 1 See note on p. i. This book closes in Hina/i-kumbure's Si7«halese version with the title 'Purwa Yoga yayi;' and is of course identical with the Pubba-yoga referred to above, p. 4, as the first division of the work. 40 THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. II, i, i.