Questions of King Milinda (Milindapañha)

1 Niharati. Avara«aya kara ganneya says Hina/ikumburS. 1 6 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, g, 16. away, gone to ruin, closed in, no longer passable, and lost to view. And therefore is it that he said : " The Tathagata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown." ' ' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the way of Nirvana.] [dilemma the forty-fifth, the buddha's kindness.] 16. ' Venerable Nagasena, it was said by the Blessed One : " Already in former births when I was a man had I acquired the habit of inflicting no hurt on living beings V ' But on the other hand it is said 2 : " When he was Lomasa Kassapa, the Rishi, he had hundreds of living creatures slain and offered the great sacrifice, the ' Drink of Triumph V ' 1 This passage has not yet been traced in the Pi/akas. 2 The identical words are not found, but they are a summary of the Lomasa Kassapa Gataka (No. 433 in Prof. Fausboll's edition, and see especially vol. iii, p. 517, line 25).

3 Va^apeyya, which Professor Fausboll (loc. cit., p. 518) spells va/fcapeyya, and a Burmese MS. he quotes spells vadhapeyya (characteristically enough, — the scribe not understanding the word, and thinking it must have been derived from vadha, makes what he thinks must be a correction). The Sanskrit form of the word is va/£apeya, the drink or draught of battle or victory, name of that one of the seven Soma sacrifices which a king offered when desirous of attaining to sovran overlordship. In the allied legend ' Now, Nagasena, if it is true what the Buddha said, that, in his former births as a man, he inflicted no hurt on living beings, then the saying that, as Lomasa Kassapa, he had hundreds of living creatures slain must be false. But if he had, then the saying that he inflicted no hurt on living beings must be false. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.' 1 7. ' The Blessed One did say, O king, that already in former births, when he was a man, he had acquired the habit of inflicting no hurt on living beings. And Lomasa Kassapa, the Rishi, did have hundreds of living creatures slain, and offered the great sacrifice, the " Drink of Triumph." [220] But that was done when he was out of his mind through lust, and not when he was conscious of what he was doing.'

' There are these eight classes of men, Nagasena, who kill living beings — the lustful man through his lust, and the cruel man through his anger, and the dull man through his stupidity, and the proud man through his pride, and the avaricious man through his greed, and the needy man for the sake of a livelihood, and the fool in joke, and the king in the way of punishment. These, Nagasena, are the eight classes of men who kill living: beings. The Bodisat, venerable Nagasena, must have been acting in accordance with his natural disposition when he did so.' ' No, it was not, O king, an act natural to him that the Bodisat did then. If the Bodisat had been led, by natural inclination, to offer the great sacrifice, he would not have uttered the verse : of king Lomapada's sacrifice (Ramayawa I, 8, 1 1 foil.) it is the ajva-medha, the horse sacrifice, which is offered. 1 8 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 5, 18. " Not the whole world, Sayha, the ocean girt, With all the seas and hills that girdle it, Would I desire to have, along with shame 1." ' But though, O king, the Bodisat had said that, yet at the very sight of Aandavati (Moon-face), the princess 2, he went out of his mind and lost command of himself through love. And it was when thus out of his mind, confused and agitated, that he, with his thoughts all perplexed, scattered and wandering, thus offered the great sacrifice, the " Drink of Triumph," — and mighty was the outpour of blood from the necks of the slaughtered beasts !

' Just, O king, as a madman, when out of his senses, will step into a fiery furnace, and take hold of an infuriated venomous snake, and go up to a rogue elephant, and plunge forwards into great waters, the further shore of which he cannot see, and trample through dirty pools and muddy places 3, and rush into thorny brakes, and fall down precipices, and feed himself on filth, and go naked through the streets, and do many other things improper to be done — just so was it, O king, that at the very sight of A'andavati, the princess, the Bodisat went out of his mind, and then only acted as I have said 4. 18. [221] ' Now an evil act done, O king, by one out of his mind, is even in this present world not considered as a grievous offence, nor is it so in 1 This verse is found not only in the 433rd Gataka (loc. cit), but also in the Sayha Gataka, No. 310, a shorter recension of the same story. 2 Hina/i-kumbure here summarises the whole story. 3 A'andanika and o/igalla. See Ahguttara III, 57, 1; Ma^ - g/nma. I, 11, 448 ; Thera Gatha 567 ; A'ullavagga V, 17, 1. Hina/ikumbure spells the second word with an ordinary 1.

4 The text repeats the last paragraph. IV, & 18. OF MILINDA THE KING. 1 9 respect of the fruit that it brings about in a future life. Suppose, O king, that a madman had been guilty of a capital offence, what punishment would you inflict upon him ?' ' What punishment is due to a madman ? We should order him to be beaten and set free. That is all the punishment he would have.' ' So then, O king, there is no punishment according to the offence of a madman. It follows that there is no sin in the act done by a madman, it is a pardonable act. And just so, O king, is it with respect to Lomasa Kassapa, the Rishi, who at the mere sight of A'andavati, the princess, went out of his mind, and lost command of himself through love. It was when thus out of his mind, confused and agitated, that he, with his thoughts all perplexed, scattered and wandering, thus offered the great sacrifice, the 11 Drink of Triumph," — and mighty was the outpour of blood from the necks of the slaughtered beasts ! But when he returned again to his natural state, and recovered his presence of mind, then did he again renounce the world, and having regained the five powers of insight, became assured of rebirth in the Brahma world.'

' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma about Lomasa Kassapa1.] 1 It is very instructive to notice the way in which our author looks upon the historical Buddha and the various heroes of the Gataka Stories as so absolutely identical that he feels obliged to defend the conduct of all the ' types ' as earnestly as he would that of the Buddha himself. There is no such conception in the Pi/akas, and the whole tone of our author's argument reveals the lateness of his date as compared with the Pi/akas. [dilemma THE FORTY-SIXTH. THE MOCKING OF THE BUDDHA.] 19. 'Venerable Nagasena, it was said by the Blessed One of Six-tusks, the elephant king, " When he sought to slay him, and had reached him with his trunk, He perceived the yellow robe, the badge of a recluse, Then, though smarting with the pain, the thought possessed his heart, — ' He who wears the outward garb the Arahats wear Must be scatheless held, and sacred, by the good1.' ' ' But on the other hand it is said : " When he was Cotipala, the young Brahman, he reviled and abused Kassapa the Blessed One, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, with vile and bitter words, calling him a shaveling and a good-fornothing monk V

1 Now if, Nagasena, the Bodisat, even when he was an animal, respected the yellow robe, [222] then the statement that as C7otipala, a Brahman, he reviled and abused the Blessed One of that time, must be false. But if as a Brahman, he reviled and abused the Blessed One, the statement that when he was Six-tusks, the elephant king, he respected the yellow robe, must be false. If when the Bodisat was an animal, though he was suffering severe and cruel and bitter pain, he respected the yellow robe 1 From the jOaddanta Gataka, No. 514 (Fausboll, vol. v, p. 49); with which compare the Kasava Gataka, No. 221 (vol. ii, p. 196). 2 This has not been found in these words, but Mr. Trenckner refers to Maxima Nikaya, No. 81. Compare also Gataka I, 43. IV, 5, 21. OF MILINDA THE KING. 2 1 which the hunter had put on, how was it that when he was a man, a man arrived at discretion, with all his knowledge mature, he did not pay reverence, on seeing him, to Kassapa the Blessed One, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, one endowed with the ten powers, the leader of the world, the highest of the high, round whom effulgence spread a fathom on every side, and who was clad in most excellent and precious and delicate Benares cloth made into yellow robes ? This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.'

20. ' The verse you have quoted, O king, was spoken by the Blessed One. And Kassapa the Blessed One, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, was abused and reviled by c7otipala the young Brahman with vile and bitter words, with the epithets of shaveling and good-for-nothing monk. But that was owing to his birth and family surroundings. For Cotipala, O king, was descended from a family of unbelievers, men void of faith. His mother and father, his sisters and brothers, the bondswomen and bondsmen, the hired servants and dependents in the house, were worshippers of Brahma, reverers of Brahma; and harbouring the idea that Brahmans were the highest and most honourable among men, they reviled and loathed those others who had renounced the world. It was through hearing what they said that Cotipala, when invited by Gha/ikara the potter to visit the teacher, replied : " What's the good to you of visiting that shaveling, that good-for-nothing monk ?" [223] 2i. 'Just, O king, as even nectar when mixed with poison will turn sour, just as the coolest water in contact with fire will become warm, so was it that c7otipala, the young Brahman, having been born and brought up in a family of unbelievers, men void of faith, thus reviled and abused the Tathagata after the manner of his kind. And just, O king, as a flaming and burning mighty fire, if, even when at the height of its glory, it should come into contact with water, would cool down, with its splendour and glory spoilt, and turn to cinders, black as rotten blighted 1 fruits — just so, O king, 6btipala, full as he was of merit and faith, mighty as was the glory of his knowledge, yet when reborn into a family of unbelievers, of men void of faith, he became, as it were, blind, and reviled and abused the Tathagata. But when he had gone to him, and had come to know the virtues of the Buddhas which he had, then did he become as his hired servant ; and having renounced the world and entered the Order under the system of the Conqueror, he gained the fivefold power of insight, and the eightfold power of ecstatic meditation, and became assured of rebirth into the Brahma heaven.'

' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma about (9otipala.] 1 Nlggundi, which Hina/i-kumbure merely repeats. See Cataka III, 348 ; IV, 456 ; Dhammapada Commentary, p. 209 ; Ahguttara IV, 199 ; and Dr. Morris's restoration of Dipavawsa XII, 32, in the Introduction to vol. ii of his Ahguttara. [dilemma the forty-seventh. the helplessness of a buddha.] 22. 'Venerable Nagasena, this too has been said by the Blessed One : " Gha/ikara the potter's dwelling-place remained, the whole of it, for three months open to the sky, and no rain fell upon it1." ' But on the other hand it is said : " Rain fell on the hut of Kassapa the Tathagata 1." ' How was it, venerable Nagasena, that the hut of a Tathagata, the roots of whose merits were so widely spread2, got wet? One would think that a Tathagata should have the power to prevent that. If, Nagasena, Gha/ikara the potter's dwelling was kept dry when it was open to the sky, it cannot be true that a Tathao-ata's hut grot wet. But if it did, then it must be false that the potter's dwelling was kept dry. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.'

23. ' Both the quotations you have made, O king, are correct. [224] Gha/ikara the potter was a good man, beautiful in character, deeply rooted in merit, who supported his old and blind mother and father. And when he was absent, the people, without so much as asking his leave, took away the thatch from his dwelling to roof in with it the hut of the Tathagata. Then, unmoved and unshaken at his thatch being- thus removed, but filled rather 1 Both these quotations are from the Ma^g-^ima Nikaya, No. 3 1 (the Gha/ikara Suttanta). 2 Ussanna-kusala-mula. See Gataka I, 145. with a well-grounded and great joy the like of which cannot be found, an immeasurable bliss sprang up in his heart at the thought : " May the Blessed One, the chief of the world, have full confidence in me." And thereby did he obtain merit which brought forth its good result even in this present life. 24. ' And the Tathagata, O king, was not disturbed by that temporary inconvenience (of the falling rain). Just, O king, as Sineru, the king of the mountains, moves not, neither is shaken, by the onslaught of innumerable gales1 — just as the mighty ocean, the home of the great waters, is not filled up, neither is disturbed at all, by the inflow of innumerable great rivers — just so, O king, is a Tathagata unmoved at temporary inconvenience.

'And that the rain fell upon the Tathagata's hut happened out of consideration for the great masses of the people. For there are two circumstances, O king, which prevent the Tathagatas from themselves supplying (by creative power) any requisite of which they may be in need 2. And what are the two ? Men and gods, by supplying the requisites of a Buddha on the ground that he is a teacher worthy of gifts, will thereby be set free from rebirth in states of woe. And lest others should find fault, saying: " They seek their livelihood by the working of miracles." If, O king, Sakka had kept that hut dry, or even Brahma himself, even then that action would have been faulty, wrong, and worthy of censure. For people might then say : " These Buddhas by 1 Aneka-sata-sahassa-vata-sampaharena. Perhaps 'by the battle (raging round it) of innumerable gales,' the onslaught of the winds being not against it, but against one another. 2 Literally ' from receiving any self-created requisite.' their dexterity 1 befool and lord it over the world." That is the reason why such action would have been better left undone. The Tathagatas, O king, do not ask for any advantage ; and it is because they ask for nothing that they are held blameless.'

' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma about Gha/'ikara the [dilemma the forty-eighth, why gotama claimed to be a brahman.] [225] 25. 'Venerable Nagasena, this too was said by the Blessed One : "A Brahman am I, O brethren, devoted to selfsacrifice 2." ' But on the other hand he declared : "A king am I, Sela 3." • If, Nagasena, the Blessed One were a Brahman, then he must have spoken falsely when he said he was a king. But if he were a king, then he must have spoken falsely when he said he was a Brahman. He must have been either a Khattiya or a Brahman. For he could not have belonged, in the same birth, to two castes. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.' 1 Vibhusawz katva. Daksha-kriya ko/a says Hina/i-kumbure. The expression has not been found elsewhere. 2 This passage has already been quoted above (IV, 4, 55). It has not been traced in the Pi/akas. 3 These words from the Sela Sutta (Sutta Nipata III, 7, 7) have also been already discussed above (IV, 3, 33, 34).

26. ' Both the quotations you have made, O king, are correct. But there is good reason why the Tathaeata should have been both Brahman and also king.' ' Pray what, Nagasena, can be that reason ? ' ' Because all evil qualities, not productive of merit, are in the Tathagata suppressed, abandoned, put away, dispelled, rooted out, destroyed, come to an end, gone out, and ceased, therefore is it that the Tathagata is called a Brahman !. A Brahman 2, O king, means one who has passed beyond hesitation, perplexity, and doubt. And it is because the Tathagata has done all this, that therefore also is he called a Brahman. A Brahman, O king, means one who has escaped from every sort and class of becoming, who is entirely set free from evil and from stain, who is dependent on himself3, and it is because the Tathagata is all of these things, that therefore also is he called a Brahman. A Brahman, O king, means one who cultivates within himself the highest and best of the excellent and supreme 1 This argument is based on the false etymology that brahma«o=bahita-papo ('he in whom evil is suppressed'), adopted by Hina/i-kumbure above at IV, 4, 55. Buddhaghosa, in the Sumahgala, p. 244, has another derivation: Brahma7« awatiti brahmawo. As Brahmaw has not been found elsewhere except as the accusative of Brahma the name of the god, and as azzati only occurs in this passage, it might be contended that Buddhaghosa means an ' invoker of Brahma.' But I think he is correct in his etymology, and intends to interpret the word Brahman as ' intoner of prayer.'

2 The Arahat-Brahman says Hina/i-kumbure. 3 Asahayo, literally 'has no friend.' I am not sure that I have rightly understood this term, which I have not found elsewhere applied to the Arahat. Hina/i-kumbure merely repeats the word. conditions of heart 1. And it is because the Tathagata does this that therefore also is he called a Brahman. A Brahman, O king, means one who carries on the line of the tradition of the ancient instructions concerning the learning and the teachingof sacred writ, concerning the acceptance of gifts, concerning subjugation of the senses, self-control in conduct, and performance of duty. And it is because the Tathagata carries on the line of the tradition of the ancient rules enjoined by the Conquerors 2 regarding all these things, that therefore also is he called a Brahman. [226] A Brahman, O king, means one who enjoys the supreme bliss of the ecstatic meditation. And it is because the Tathagata does this, that therefore also is he called a Brahman. A Brahman, O king, means one who knows the course and revolution of births in all forms of existence. And it is because the Tathasrata knows this, that therefore also is he called a Brahman. The appellation " Brahman," O king, was not given to the Blessed One by his mother, nor his father, not by his brother, nor his sister, not by his friends, nor his relations, not by spiritual teachers of any sort, no, not by the gods. It is by reason of their emancipation that this is the name of the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones. From the moment when, under the Tree of Wisdom, they had overthrown the armies of the Evil One, had suppressed in themselves all evil qualities not productive of merit, and had attained to the knowledge of the Omniscient

1 Dibba-viharo; rendered divya-vihara«a by Hma/i-kumbure. It cannot mean here 'state of being a deva in the karaaloka' as rendered by Childers. 2 That is, of course, the previous Buddhas. 2 8 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 5, 27. Ones, it was from the acquisition of this insight, the appearance in them of this enlightenment, that this true designation became applied to them, — the name of " Brahman." And that is the reason why the Tathaofata is called a Brahman V 27. ' Then what is the reason why the Tathagata is called a king ? ' 'A king means, O king, one who rules and guides the world, and the Blessed One rules in righteousness over the ten thousand world systems, he guides the whole world with its men and gods, its evil spirits and its good ones2, and its teachers, whether Samaras or B rah mans. That is the reason why the Tathagata is called a king. A king means, O king, one who, exalted above all ordinary men, making those related to him rejoice, and those opposed to him mourn; raises aloft the Sunshade of Sovranty, of pure and stainless white, with its handle of firm hard wood 3, and its many hundred ribs 4, — the symbol of his mighty fame and glory. And the Blessed One, O king, making the army of the Evil One, those given over to false doctrine, mourn ; filling the hearts of those, among gods or men, devoted to sound doctrine, with joy; [227] raises aloft over the ten thousand world systems the Sunshade of his Sovranty, pure and stainless in the whiteness of emancipation,

1 This is a striking instance of argument in a circle. The word Brahman is first interpreted in its technical Buddhist sense of Arahat, and then the Buddha, as Arahat, is called a Brahman. The only paragraph based on the real transition of meaning in the term is that referring to the holding up of tradition. 2 Samarakawz sabrahmaka;«, 'with its Maras and Brahmas.' 3 Ara/u, says Hma/i-kumbure ; that is wood from the heart of the tree. 4 Salaka, which Hina/i-kumbure repeats, adding ' of the highest wisdom.' with its hundreds of ribs fashioned out of the highest wisdom, with its handle firm and strong through long suffering, — the symbol of his mighty fame and glory. That too is the reason why the Tathagata is called a king. A king is one who is held worthy of homage by the multitudes who approach him, who come into his presence. And the Blessed One, O king, is held worthy of homage by multitudes of beings, whether gods or men, who approach him, who come into his presence. That too is the reason why the Tathagata is called a king. A king is one who, when pleased with a strenuous servant, gladdens his heart by bestowing upon him, at his own good pleasure, any costly gift the officer may choose1. And the Blessed One, O king, when pleased with any one who has been strenuous in word or deed or thought, gladdens his heart by bestowing upon him, as a selected gift, the supreme deliverance from all sorrow, — far beyond all material gifts 2. That too is the reason why the Tathagata is called a king. A king is one who censures, fines 3, or executes the man who trans-

1 Varitawz va.ra.rn. 'A gift appropriate to the service approved of says Hina/i-kumbure. And the word is not in Childers. But compare the use of varara varati at Gataka III, 493. - Asesa-kama-varena, for which Hina/i-kumbure has asesakamava^arayewz. Mr. Trenckner adds a ka, which, as being entirely superfluous, he puts in brackets. There can be but little doubt that the corrected reading is asesa-kamava/£arena, and that the literal rendering would be ' gladdens him by that which has left in it nothing connected with (life in) the world of sense ; to wit, deliverance from all sorrow' (that is deliverance from sa;/zsara). Parimutti, which I have not found in the Pi/akas, and which is not in Childers, occurs above (p. 112 of the Pali text) in the same connection. 3 Gapeti. See my notes above on vol. i, p. 240, and below on VII, 5, 10. The Sinhalese has here dhana-danaya karanneya, where danaya must be^ani. gresses the royal commands. And so, O king, the man who, in shamelessness or discontent, transgresses the command of the Blessed One, as laid down in the rules of his Order, that man, despised, disgraced and censured, is expelled from the religion of the Conqueror. That too is the reason why the Tathagata is called a king. A king is one who in his turn proclaiming laws and regulations according to the instructions laid down in succession by the righteous kings of ancient times, and thus carrying on his rule in righteousness, becomes beloved and dear to the people, desired in the world, and by the force of his righteousness establishes his dynasty long in the land. And the Blessed One, O king, proclaiming in his turn laws and regulations according to the instructions laid down in succession by the Buddhas of ancient times, and thus in righteousness being- teacher of the world, — he too is beloved and dear to both gods and men, desired by them, and by the force of his righteousness he makes his religion last long in the land. That too is the reason why the Tathagata is called a king.

' Thus, O king, so many are the reasons why the Tathagata should be both Brahman and also king, that the ablest of the brethren could scarcely in an aeon enumerate them all. Why then should I dilate any further ? Accept what I have said only in brief.' ' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say/ [Here ends the dilemma as to the Buddha belonging to two castes.] IV, 5, 28. OF MILINDA THE KING. 3 1 [dilemma THE FORTY-NINTH. GIFTS TO THE BUDDHA.] [228] 28. ' Venerable Nagasena, it has been said by the Blessed One : " Gifts chaunted for in sacred hymns Are gifts I must not take. All those who see into the Truth Do this their practice make. The Buddhas all refused to chaunt for wage ; This was their conduct still Whene'er the Truth prevailed Through every age V ' But on the other hand the Blessed One, when preaching the Truth, or talking of it, was in the habit of beginning with the so-called " preliminary discourse," in which giving has the first place, and goodness only the second2. So that when gods and men heard this discourse of the Blessed One, the

lord of the whole world, they prepared and gave gifts, and the disciples partook of the alms thus brought about. Now if, Nagasena, it be true what the Blessed One said, that he accepted no gifts earned by the chaunting of sacred words, then it was wrong that the Blessed One put giving thus 1 This stanza occurs no less than five times in those portions of the Pi/akas already published. See Sutta Nipata I, 4, 6 and III, 4, 27, and Sa/zzyutta Nikaya VII, 1, 8, VII, 1, 9, and VII, 2, 1. The rhythm of the Pali is strikingly beautiful, and is quite spoilt in the rendering. 2 See, for instance, Digha Nikaya V, 28 ; Mahavagga I, 7, 5 and 10; V, 1, 9; VI, 26, 8; and A^ullavagga VI, 4, 5. As there is a doubt about the spelling, Fausboll at Gataka I, 8, and I, 30, and our MSS. of the Digha reading anupubbi-katha, whereas Childers and Oldenberg read anupubbi-katha, it is perhaps worth mentioning that the Sinhalese has the short a. into the foreground. But if he did rightly in so emphasizing the giving of gifts, then it is not true that he accepted no gifts earned by the utterance of sacred words. And why so ? Because if any one worthy of offerings should praise to the laity the o-ood results to them of the bestowal of alms, they, hearing that discourse, and pleased with it, will proceed to give alms again and again. And then, whosoever enjoy that gift, they are really enjoying that which has been earned by the utterance . of sacred words. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.'

29. ' The stanza you quote, O king, was spoken by the Blessed One. And yet he used to put the giving of alms into the forefront of his discourse. But this is the custom of all the Tathagatas — first by discourse on almsgiving to make the hearts of hearers inclined towards it, and then afterwards to urge them to righteousness. This is as when men, O king, give first of all to young children things to play with — [229] such as toy ploughs \ tip-cat sticks 2, toy wind-mills3, measures made of leaves4, toy carts, 1 All these articles are mentioned in the Digha Nikaya I, i, 14. Buddhaghosa explains the first word (vahkakaw) as toy ploughs. Hoops the Indian children do not have, probably for want of suitable roads. 2 Gha/ikaw, which is, according to Buddhaghosa, a game played by striking a short stick with a long one ; and according to Hina/i-kumbure the game called in Sinhalese kalli. Clough has this word, but simply explains it as a game so called. 3 -ffrngulakaiw, which is, according to Buddhaghosa, a little wheel made of cocoa-nut leaves, which is set turning by the impact of the wind. Hina/i-kumbure says 'an cembaruwa (twirling thing) made of cocoa-nut leaves.'

4 Patta//zakaw. Buddhaghosa and the Sinhalese agree in rendering this ' toy measures.' and bows and arrows — and afterwards appoint to each his separate task. Or it is as when a physician first causes his patients to drink oil for four or five days in order to strengthen them, and to soften their bodies ; and then afterwards administers a purge. The supporters of the faith, O king, the lordly givers, have their hearts thus softened, made tender, affected. Thereby do they cross over to the further shore of the ocean of transmigration by the aid of the boat of their gifts, by the support of the causeway of their gifts. And (the Buddha), by this (method in his teaching), is not guilty of "intimation1." 30. 'Venerable Nagasena, when you say "intimation " what are these intimations ? ' ' There are two sorts, O king, of intimation — bodily and verbal. And there is one bodily intimation which is wrong, and one that is not ; and there is one verbal intimation which is wrong, and one that is not. Which is the bodily intimation which is wrong ? Suppose any member of the Order, in going his rounds for alms, should, when choosing a spot to stand on, stand where there is no room2, that is a bodily intimation which is wrong. The true members of the Order will not accept any alms so asked for, and the individual who thus acts is despised, looked down upon, not respected, held blameworthy, disregarded, not well thought of, in the religion of the Noble Ones ; he is reckoned as

1 Vi««atti. It is a breach of rules for a member of the Order to ask, in words, for an alms. For a Buddha to lay stress, in a discourse, on the advantages of almsgiving does not, Nagasena means, make him guilty of this offence. 2 And thus cause an obstruction, and attract attention to the fact that he is there. I do not know of any such prohibition in the Vinaya. one of those who have broken their (vows as to) means of livelihood. And again, O king, suppose any member of the Order, in going his round for alms, should stand where there is no room, and stretch out his neck like a peacock on the gaze, in the hope: "Thus will the folk see me" — that too is a bodily intimation which is wrong. True brethren will not accept an alms so asked for, and he who thus acts is regarded like the last. And again, O king, suppose any member of the Order should make a sign with his jaw, or with his eyebrow, or with his finger — [230] that too is a bodily intimation which is wrong. True brethren will not accept an alms so asked for, and he who thus acts is regarded the same way.

31. 'And which is the bodily intimation which is not wrong ? If a brother, on going his round for alms, be self-possessed, tranquil, conscious of his acts ; if he stand, wherever he may go, in the kind of spot that is lawful ; if he stand still where there are people desirous to give, and where they are not so desirous, if he pass on x ; — that is a bodily intimation which is not wrong. Of an alms so stood for the true members of the Order will partake ; and the individual who thus asks is, in the religion of the Noble Ones, praised, thought highly of, esteemed, and reckoned among those whose behaviour is without guile, whose mode of livelihood is pure. For thus has it been said by the Blessed One, the god over all gods : " The truly wise beg not, for Arahats scorn to beg. 1 The author has jffullavagga VIII, 5, 2 in his mind, where the signs (of their being willing or not) are specified. The good stand for their alms, thus only do they beg V 32. 'Which is the verbal intimation which is wrong ? In case, O king, a brother intimate his wish for a number of things, requisites of a member of the Order — robes and bowls and bedding: and medicine for the sick — that is a verbal intimation which is wrong. Things so asked for the true members of the Order (Ariya) will not accept; and in the religion of the Noble Ones the individual who acts thus is despised, looked down upon, not respected, held blameworthy, disregarded, not well thought of — reckoned rather as one who has broken his (vows as to) means of livelihood. And again, O king, in case a brother should, in the hearing of others, speak thus : " I am in want of such and such a thing ; " and in consequence of that saying being heard by the others he should then get that thing — that too is a verbal intimation which is wrong. True members of the Order will not use a thing so obtained, and he who acts thus is regarded like the last. And again, O king, in case a brother, dilating in his talk 2, give the people about him to understand : " Thus and thus should gifts be given to the Bhik-

1 From Gataka III, 354. The words are there ascribed, not to the Buddha, but to the Bodisat in the story. The word translated Arahats is Ariya, which is taken here, as elsewhere, as a dissyllable, and pronounced Arya. It is the same as our word Aryans, and is rendered above Noble Ones. I do not think that it is applied exclusively to Arahats. 2 Va-£i-vippharena. The expression has not been found elsewhere, nor is it in Childers. The Sinhalese has : ' dilating on the words obtaining in this religion.' I presume it means, that not content with praising almsgiving in general, he particularises. Compare Mahavagga VI, 37. khus," and in case they, on hearing that saying, should bring forth from their store anything so referred to — that too is a verbal intimation which is wrong. True members of the Order will not use a thing so obtained, and he who acts thus is regarded like the last. [231] For when Sariputta, the Elder, O king, being ill in the night-time, after the sun had set, and being questioned by Moggallana, the Elder, as to what medicine would do him good, broke silence ; and through that breach of silence obtained the medicine — did not Sariputta then, saying to himself: "This medicine has come through breach of silence ; let not my (adherence to the rules regarding) livelihood be broken," reject that medicine, and use it not l ? So that too is a verbal intimation which is wrong. True members of the Order will not use a thing so obtained, and he who acts thus is regarded like the last.

33. ' And what is the verbal intimation which is right ? Suppose a brother, O king, when there is necessity for it, should intimate among families either related to him, or which had invited him to spend the season of Was with him2, that he is in want of medicines — this is a verbal intimation which is not wrong. True members of the Order will partake of things so asked for ; and the individual who acts thus is, in the religion of the Noble Ones, praised, thought highly of, esteemed, reckoned among those whose mode of livelihood is pure, 1 This story has not yet been traced; but the Sinhalese (p. 317) gives it at great length. 2 iVati-pavaritesu kulesu. Compare Pa/£ittiya 39 ('Vinaya Texts,' vol. i, p. 39). approved of the Tathagatas, the Arahats, the Supreme Buddhas. And the alms that the Tathagata, O king, refused to accept of Kasi-Bharadva^a, the Brahman 1, that was presented for the sake of testing him with an intricate puzzle which he would have to unwind 2, for the sake of pulling him away, of convicting him of error, of making him acknowledge himself in the wrong. Therefore was it that the Tathagata refused that alms, and would not partake thereof.'

34. ' Nagasena, was it always, whenever the Tathagata was eating, that the gods infused the Sap of Life from heaven into the contents of his bowl, or was it only into those two dishes — the tender boar's flesh, and the rice porridge boiled in milk— that they infused it3 ? ' ' Whenever he was eating, O king, and into each morsel of food as he picked it up — just as the royal cook takes the sauce and pours it over each morsel in the dish while the king is partaking of it 4. [232] And so at Vera#<ra, when the Tathagata was eating the cakes 5 made of dried barley, the gods moistened each one with the Sap of Life, as they placed it 1 See Sutta Nipata I, 4. The Sinhalese always has a long i in Kast. 2 Ave/// an a. Compare the use of all these terms above, II, 1, 3 (vol. i, p. 46). 3 There is nothing about this infusion of the Sap of Life (dibba/w ogam) in the published texts of the Pi/akas. But it is mentioned in the account in the Gataka Commentary of the second meal referred to ('Buddhist Birth Stories,' p. 92). The other is, of course, the Buddha's last meal, ' Book of the Great Decease,' IV, 14-23 (in my 'Buddhist Suttas,' pp. 71-73).

4 Hina/i-kumbure gives here a great deal of additional matter 5 Pulake; which the Sinhalese renders peti. near him1. And thus was the body of the Tathagata fully refreshed.' ' Great indeed was the good fortune, Nagasena, of those gods that they were ever and always so zealous in their care for the body of the Tathagata ! Very good, Nagasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the problem as to the Buddha's mode of livelihood.] [dilemma the fiftieth. on the buddha's after-doubt2.] 35. 'Venerable Nagasena, your people say: "The Tathagata gradually, through millions of years, through aeon after aeon 3, brought his omniscient wisdom to perfection for the sake of the salvation of the great masses of the people V ' But on the other hand (they say) 5: "Just after he had attained to omniscience his 1 I am not sure what meal is here referred to. The Buddha is twice said to have taken meals at Veraw^a (in the Sutta Vibhahga, pp. 6, 11 ; Para^ika I, 2 and I, 4). In neither case is there any mention of these cakes. But the former of the two may be the one referred to, as it took place in a time of drought.

2 Compare my manual ' Buddhism,' p. 41. 3 Literally ' through four Asahkheyyas and a lak of Kappas. 4 This passage has not yet been traced in the Pi/akas, and the word samuddharana (rendered 'salvation') does not occur elsewhere in published texts. It means literally 'bringing safe to shore.' Compare samuddha/a at Saddhammopayana 143 in the 'Journal of the Pali Text Society' for 1887, p. 44. 5 See 'Vinaya Texts,' vol. i, p. 85, and Sawyutla Nikaya VI, 1. The words are very slightly different. heart inclined, not to the proclamation of the Truth, but to rest in peace." ' So that, Nagasena, just as if an archer, or an archer's pupil, who had practised archery for many days with the object of fighting, should, when the day of the great battle had come, draw back — just so did the Tathagata, who through countless ages had gradually matured his omniscience for the sake of bringing safe to the shore (of salvation) the great masses of the people, turn back, on the day when that omniscience had been reached, from proclaiming the Truth. Just as if a wrestler who through many days had practised wrestling should, when the day of the wrestling match 1 had come, draw back — just so did the Tathagata, who through countless ages had gradually matured his omniscience for the sake of bringing safe to the shore (of salvation) the great masses of the people, turn back, on the day when that omniscience had been reached, from proclaiming the Truth.

' Now was it from fear, Nagasena, that the Tathagata drew back, or was it from inability to preach 2, or was it from weakness, or was it because he had not, after all, attained to omniscience ? [233] What was the reason of this ? Tell me, I pray, the reason, that my doubts may be removed. For if for so long a time he had perfected his wisdom with the object of saving the people, then the statement that he hesitated to announce the Truth must be wrong:- But if that be true, then the other statement must be false. This too is a double-edged problem. 1 Compare Sumangala Vilasini, p. 85. 2 Apaka/ataya, not found elsewhere. I follow the Sinhalese, which has bcena kiya«/a no dcenena boewin. now put to you, — a problem profound, a knot hard to unravel, — which you have to solve.' 36. ' The statements in both the passages you quote, O king, are correct. But that his heart inclined, not to the preaching of the truth, but to inaction, was because he saw, on the one hand, how profound and abstruse was the Doctrine 1, how hard to grasp and understand, how subtle, how difficult to penetrate into ; and, on the other, how devoted beings are to the satisfaction of their lusts, how firmly possessed by false notions of Individualism2. And so (he wavered) at the thought: "Whom shall I teach ? And how can I teach him?" — his mind being directed to the idea of the powers of penetration which beings possessed.

' Just, O king, as an able physician, when called in to a patient suffering from a complication of diseases, might reflect : " What can be the treatment, what the drug, by which this man's sickness can be allayed ?" — just so, O king, when the Tathagata called to mind how afflicted were the people by all the kinds of malady which arise from sin, and how profound and abstruse was the Doctrine, how subtle, and how difficult to grasp, then at the thought : " Whom can I teach? And how shall I teach him?" did his heart incline rather to inaction than to preaching — [234] his mind being directed to the powers of penetration which beings possessed. ' And just, O king, as a king, of royal blood, an anointed monarch, when he calls to mind the many 1 ' Of Arahatship ' is Hina/i-kumbure's gloss. 2 Sakkaya-di///n. The belief in being, instead of in becoming; the belief in the permanence of individuality. See my ' Hibbert Lectures/ pp. 21 1-2 14. IV, 5, 37- OF MILINDA THE KING. 4 I people who gain their livelihood in dependence on the king — the sentries and the body-guard, the retinue of courtiers, the trading folk, the soldiers and the royal messengers, the ministers and the nobles1 — might be exercised at the thought : " How now, in what way, shall I be able to conciliate them all ?" — just so when the Tathagata called to mind how profound and abstruse was the Doctrine, how subtle, and how difficult to grasp, and how devoted beings were to the satisfaction of their lusts, how firmly possessed by false notions of Individualism, then at the thought : " Whom shall I teach ? And how shall I teach him ?" did his heart incline rather to inaction than to preaching — his mind being directed to the powers of penetration which beings possessed.

3 J. 'And this, too, is an inherent necessity in all Tathagatas that it should be on the request of Brahma that they should proclaim the Dhamma. And what is the reason for that ? All men in those times, with the ascetics and the monks, the wandering teachers and the Brahmans, were worshippers of Brahma, reverers of Brahma, placed their reliance on Brahma. And therefore, at the thought: " When so powerful and glorious, so famous and renowned, so high and mighty a one has shown himself inclined (to the Dhamma), then will the whole world of gods and men become inclined to it, hold it fitting, have faith in it" — on this ground, O king, the Tathagatas preached the Dhamma when requested to do so by Brahma. For just, O king, as what a sovran or a minister of state shows homage to, or offers worship to, that will the rest of mankind, on 1 On this list see below, IV, 6, n. the ground of the homage of so powerful a personage, show homage to and worship — just so, O king, when Brahma had paid homage to the Tathagatas, so would the whole world of gods and men. For the world, O king, is a reverer of what is revered. And that is why Brahma asks of all Tathagatas that they should make known the Doctrine, and why, on so being asked, they make it known V

' Very good, Nagasena ! The puzzle has been well unravelled, most able has been your exposition. That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the problem as to the Buddha's hesitation to make the Doctrine known.] Here ends the Fifth Chapter. 1 Hina/i-kumbure here gives a page of description — not found in the Pali — of the episode of Brahma's request to the Buddha. The oldest account of this episode has been already translated in vol. xiii of the 'Sacred Books of the East,' in 'Vinaya Texts,' part i, pp. 84-88. IV, 6, i. OF MILINDA THE KING. 43 Book IV. Chapter 6. [dilemma the fifty-first, contradictory statements as to the buddha's i. [235] 'Venerable Nagasena, this too has been said by the Blessed One : " I have no teacher, and the man Equal to me does not exist. No rival to me can be found In the whole world of £ods and men1." 1 But on the other hand he said : " Thus then, O brethren, A/ara Kalama, when he was my teacher and I was his pupil, placed me on an equality with himself, and honoured me with exceeding great honour 2."

1 This verse is found three times in the Pi/akas — in the Mahavagga I, 6, 8, in the Ariya-pariyesana Sutta (Magg/nma Nikaya I, 171), and in the Ahgulimala Sutta (Maxima Nikaya, No. 86). It occurs with other stanzas of a similar tendency, and many of the lines in those stanzas are repeated, but with variations and in a different order, by the author of the Lalita Vistara (pp. 526, 527 of Rag-endra Lai Mitra's edition). One verse is found there in two detached lines which run thus in the Sanskrit : — A/£aryyo na hi me ka^it, sadmo me na vidyate and Sadevasuragandharvvo nasti me pratipudgala^. Hina/i-kumbure renders pa/ipuggalo, not by 'rival,' but by ' superior.' 2 Mr. Trenckner has pointed out that this quotation is found in two Suttas, Nos. 85 and 100 in the Maxima Nikaya. ' Now if the former of these statements be right, then the second must be wrongs But if the second be right, then the first must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.' 2. ' Both the quotations you have made, O king, are accurate. But when he spoke of A/ara Kalama as his teacher, that was a statement made with reference to the fact of his having- been his teacher while he (Gotama) was still a Bodisat and before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood ; and there were five such teachers, O king, under whose tuition the Bodisat spent his time in various places — his teachers when he was still a Bodisat, before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood. And who were these five ?

3. ' Those eight Brahmans who, just after the birth of the Bodisat, took note of the marks on his body — [236] Rama, and Dha^a, and Lakkha;za, and Manti1, and Ya/Ha 2, and Suyama, and Subho^a3, and Sudatta 4 — they who then made known his future glory, and marked him out as one to be carefully guarded — these were first his teachers 6. 1 Hina/i-kumbure reads C7atimanti. It may be noted that Hardy (Manual of Buddhism, p. 149), who omits Ya««a, gives Cati and Manta as two separate names, and spells the last two names Bho^a Sudanta. 2 So also the Siz^halese, p. 329. But the C7ataka Commentary (verse 270 at vol. i, p. 50) has konda;7;7a. 3 The Gataka Introduction (loc. cit.) has Bho^a. The Sinhalese has Subho^a. 4 Hina/i-kumbure agrees here with Hardy in reading Sudanta. 5 This episode has not been traced in the Pi/akas. The Sinhalese here gives also the detail of the one and two fingers, found in the Gataka, and translated in my 'Buddhist Birth Stories,' p. 72. ' And again, O king, the Brahman Sabbamitta of distinguished descent, who was of high lineage in the land of Udi/£/£a \ a philologist and grammarian, well read in the six Vedarigas2, whom Suddhodana the king, the Bodisat's father, sent for, and having poured out the water of dedication from a golden vase, handed over the boy to his charge, to be taught — this was his second teacher 3.

1 And again, O king, the god who raised the agitation in the Bodisat's heart, at the sound of whose speech the Bodisat, moved and anxious, that verymoment went out from the world in his Great Renunciation — this was his third teacher 4. 1 In the North-West. See Gataka I, 140, &c. 2 .A^a/ahgavantaw/. These are phonetics, prosody, grammar, exegesis, astronomy, and ritual. I was wrong in taking Childers's interpretation of this word at 'Buddhist Birth Stories,' p. 72. 3 This episode is also not in the Pi/akas. On onogeti see Mahavagga I, 22, 18. Sabbamitra is given in the Thera Gatha, I, 150, as the name of a Thera, and in the Divyavadana, p. 420, as the name of Asoka's herald or court crier. 4 There is nothing about any such devata in the Pi/akas. Hina/i-kumbure takes it to mean the god who took the outward appearance of the four visions — an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a recluse. But in that story — which is not related in the Pi/akas of the Buddha, though it is referred to in connection with him at Buddhava»zsa XXVI, p. 16 — the god does not speak. The only god whose words are said, in any of the later Pali legends, to have agitated the Bodisat's heart at that moment, was the Evil One himself; and that only in one version of the legend, the Pali authority for which I cannot give. It is in Hardy's 'Manual,' p. 157, where the speech of the Evil One, placed at Gataka I, 63 at a later time, is said to have been made at the moment of the Renunciation. Even if it be not a mere blunder of Hardy's to put it at that time, still it cannot be the speech referred to by our author. For the startling doctrine that the Evil One himself was one of the Bodisat's teachers would never have been smuggled in, as it were, by concealing the identity of the spirit referred to under

' And again, O king, A/ara Kalama — he was his fourth teacher. ' And again, O king, Uddaka the son of Rama — he was his fifth teacher. ' These, O king, are the five who were his teachers when he was still a Bodisat, before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood. But they were teachers in worldly wisdom. And in this Doctrine that is transcendental, in the penetrating into the wisdom of the omniscient ones — in that there is no one who is above the Tathagata to teach him. Self-dependent for his knowledge is the Tathagata, without a master, and that is why it was said by the Tathagata : " I have no teacher, and the man Equal to me does not exist. No rival to me can be found In the whole world of gods and men." 'Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the Buddha's the generic term of devata. Now in the Fo-pan-hin-tsWin (Nanjio, No. 680), a Chinese work of the beginning of the seventh century a. d., we find in the sixteenth kwuen or chapter (if one may trust the abstract given in Beal's ' Romantic Legend,' p. 131) that a Devaputra named Tsao-ping is said to have spoken to the Bodisat at the moment of the Renunciation. It is scarcely open to doubt that our author had in his mind an earlier form of that episode. But if so it is the only proved case of his having Sanskrit, and not Pali works, as his authority.

WHY MUST THERE BE ONLY ONE BUDDHA AT A TIME ?] 4. ' Venerable Nagasena, this too was said by the Blessed One : " This is an impossibility, an occurrence for which there can be no cause, that in one world two Arahat Buddhas supreme should arise at one and the same time [237] — such a thing can in no wise be1." ' But, Nagasena, when they are preaching, all the Tathagatas preach (the Doctrine as to) the thirtyseven constituent elements of insight 2 ; when they are talking, it is of the Four Noble Truths that they talk ; when they are instructing, it is in the three Trainings 3 that they instruct ; when they are teaching, it is the practice of zeal 4 that they teach. If, Nagasena, the preaching of all the Tathagatas is one, and their talk of the same thing, and their training the same, and their teaching one, why then should not two Tathagatas arise at the same time ? Already by the appearance of one Buddha has this world become flooded with light. If there should be a second Buddha the world would be still more illuminated by the glory of them both. When they were exhorting two Tathagatas would exhort at ease ; when they were instructing two Tathagatas would instruct at ease. Tell me the reason of this, that I may put away my doubt.'

1 Aftguttara Nikaya I, 15, 10. 2 These divisions of the seven 'Jewels of the Law' of Arahatship are set out in my ' Buddhist Suttas,' pp. 62-63. 3 Adhisila, adhU'itta, and adhipa««a. * Appamada. 5. ' This world system, O king, is a one-Buddhasupporting world ; that is, it can bear the virtue of only a single Tathagata. If a second Tathagata were to arise the world could not bear him, it would shake and tremble, it would bend, this way and that, it would disperse, scatter into pieces, dissolve, be utterly destroyed. Just as a boat, O king, might be able to carry one passenger across. Then, when one man had got on board, it would be well trimmed and able to bear his weight1. But if a second man were to come like to the first in age and caste and strength and size and stoutness of body and build of frame, and he too should get on board the boat — would that boat be able, O king, to carry them both ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! it would shake and tremble ; it would bend, this way and that ; it would break into pieces, be shattered, dissolved, and utterly destroyed; it would sink into the waves.'

' Just so, O king, with this world, if a second Tathagata were to appear. Or suppose, O king, that a man [238] had eaten as much food as he wanted, even so that he had filled himself with nourishment up to the throat, and he — thus satiated 2, regaled, filled with good cheer, with no room left for more, drowsy and stiff as a stick one cannot bend — were again to eat as much food as he had eaten before — would such a man, O king, then be at ease ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! If he were to eat again, but once more, he would die.' 1 Samupadika, for which the Sinhalese has sama bara wanniya, usulana sulu wanniya. 2 Dhato; not in Childers, but see Crataka II, 247, Mahavagga VI, 25, 1, and below, IV, 6, 29. ' Well, no more could this world bear a second Tathagata, than that man could bear a second meal.' 6. ' But how is that, Nagasena ? Would the earth tremble at a too great weight of goodness ? ' ' Suppose, O king, there were two carts quite filled with precious things up to the top 1, and people were to take the things from the one cart and pile them up on the other, would that one be able to carry the weight of both ? '

' Certainly not, Sir ! The nave of its wheels would split, and the spokes would break, and the circumference would fall to pieces, and the axle-tree would break in twain2.' ' But how is that, O king ? Would the cart come to pieces owing to the too great weight of goods ? ' ' Yes, it would.' 7. ' Well, just so, O king, would the earth tremble owing to the too great weight of goodness. But that argument has been adduced to make the power of the Buddhas known3. Hear another fitting reason why two Buddhas could not appear at the same 1 Literally ' mouth.' I presume a small uncovered bullock cart is meant, like that figured in Plate 57 in Cunningham's ' Bharhut Tope.' The chariot on the other hand is of the shape given in Plates 3, 34, 35 of Fergusson's ' Tree and Serpent Worship.' The usual form of the bullock cart has also a hood, or cover, as clearly shown in Fergusson's Plate No. 65, and Cunningham's Plate No. 34. But the one here referred to cannot have had the cover over it, for then the supposition that more goods were piled on to it, when full, would be an impossible one. I know of no other passage where the mukha, literally 'mouth,' of a cart is mentioned, and I may possibly be wrong in rendering it ' top.'

2 This simile has already been used in the Vessantara Dilemma above, I, 173. 3 Our author himself here confesses that his thoughts are more on edification than on logic. time. If, O king, two Buddhas were to arise together, then would disputes arise between their followers, and at the words : " Your Buddha, our Buddha," they would divide off into two parties — just as would the followers of two rival powerful ministers of state. This is the other [239] reason, O king, why two Buddhas could not appear at the same time. 8. ' Hear a further reason, O king, why two Buddhas could not appear at the same time. If that were so, then the passage (of Scripture) that the Buddha is the chief would become false, and the passage that the Buddha takes precedence of all would become false, and the passage that the Buddha is the best of all would become false. And so all those passages where the Buddha is said to be the most excellent, the most exalted, the highest of all, the peerless one, without an equal, the matchless one, who hath neither counterpart nor rival — all would be proved false. Accept this reason too as in truth a reason why two Buddhas cannot arise at once.

9. ' But besides that, O king, this is a natural characteristic of the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, that one Buddha only should arise in the world. And why ? By reason of the greatness of the virtue of the all-knowing Buddhas. Of other things also, whatever is mighty in the world is singular. The broad earth is great, O king, and it is only one. The ocean is mighty, and it is only one. Sineru, the king of the mountains, is great ; and it is only one. Space is mighty, and it is only one. Sakka (the king of the gods) is great, and he is only one. Mara (the Evil One, Death) is great, and he is only one. Maha- Brahma is mighty, and he is only one. TV, 6, io. OF MILINDA THE KING. 5 1 A Tathagata, an Arahat Buddha supreme, is great ; and he is alone in the world. Wherever any one of these spring up, then there is no room for a second. And therefore, O king, is it that only one Tathagata, an Arahat Buddha supreme, can appear at one time in the world.' ' Well has the puzzle, Nagasena, been discussed by simile adduced and reason given. Even an unintelligent man on hearing this would be satisfied; how much rather one great in wisdom as myself. Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say/

[Here ends the dilemma as to why there should be only one Buddha at a time in the world.] why should gifts be given to the order rather than to the buddha ?] [240] io. ' Venerable Nagasena, the Blessed One said to his mother's sister1, Maha-Pa^apati the Gotami, when she was about to give him a cloth wrapper for use in the rainy season2 : " Give it, O Gotama, to the Order. If the Order is presented by you with it, then will you have paid homage thereby alike to the Order and to me 3." ' But what, Nao-asena ? Is not the Tathagata of ~e>"~~""- • -" iiv^- -"*- * "■-""•£>* 1 There is no general word in Pali for aunt or uncle. There are separate expressions for each of the degrees of relationship expressed by those words in English — mother's brother, father's sister, &c. 2 Vassika-sa/ika. See the note at 'Vinaya Texts,' vol. ii, p. 225 (Sacred Books of the East, vol. xvii). 3 From the Canta Sutta (Maxima Nikaya, No. 142). See Mr. Trenckner's note, 52 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES IV, 6, n. greater weight and importance, and more worthy of gifts than even the jewel treasure of the Order, that the Tathagata should have told his aunt, when about to present him with a wrapper for the rainy season which she herself had carded and pressed and beaten and cut and woven 1, to give it to the Order ! If, Nagasena, the Tathagata were really higher and greater and more excellent than the Order, then he would have known that a gift given to him would be most meritorious, and therefore would not have told her to give it to the Order. But inasmuch as the Tathagata, Nagasena, puts himself not in the way of gifts to himself, gives no occasion for such gifts, you see that he then told his aunt to give that wrapper rather to the Order.'

ii. 'The quotation you make, O king, is correct, and the Blessed One did so direct his aunt's gifts 2. But that was not because an act of reverence paid to himself would bear no fruit, or because he was unworthy to receive gifts, but it was out of kindness and mercy that he, thinking : " Thus will the Order in times to come, when I am gone, be highly thought of;" magnified the excellence which the Order really had, in that he said : " Give it, O Gotami, to the Order. If you present the Order with it, thus will you have paid homage alike to the Order and to me." Just as a father, O king, while he is yet alive, exalts in the midst of the assembly of ministers, soldiers, and royal messengers, of 1 The translation of these five technical terms of cloth-making is doubtful. The Sinhalese (p. 335) has pi;7^ana, sindina, pothita, ka/ina, wiyana. 2 The Sinhalese (p. 335) here gives at length the story of Pa^-apati's gift, at the time when Gotama returned, as the Buddha, to Kapilavatthu. sentries, body guards, and courtiers 1 — yea, in the presence of the king himself — the virtues which his son really possesses, thinking : " If established here he will be honoured of the people in times to come ;" so was it out of mercy and kindness that the Tathagata, thinking : " Thus will the Order, in times to come, when I am gone, be highly thought of;' magnified the excellence which the Order really had, in that he said : " Give it, O Gotami, to the Order. If you present the Order with it, thus will you have paid homage alike to the Order and to me."

12. [241] ' And by the mere gift of a wrapper for the rainy season, the Order, O king, did not become greater than, or superior to, the Tathagata. Just, O king, as when parents anoint their children with perfumes, rub them, bathe them, or shampoo them -, does the son by that mere service of theirs become greater than, or superior to, his parents ?' ' Certainly not, sir ! Parents deal with their children as they will, whether the children like it or not 3. And therefore do they anoint them with perfumes, shampoo, or bathe them.' ' And just so, O king, the Order did not become greater than, or superior to, the Tathagata merely by the fact of that gift ; and although the Tathagata, whether the Order liked it or not, told his aunt to give the wrapper to the Order. 13. 'Or suppose, O king, some man should bring a complimentary present to a king, and the king should present that gift to some one else — to a soldier or a 1 On this list see above, p. 234 of the Pali text (IV, 5, 36). 2 On these words compare Ahguttara Nikaya II, 4, 2.

3 Akamakaraniya. Compare Vimana Vatthu X, 6 and Digha Nikaya II, 46. messenger, to a general or a chaplain, — would that man become greater than, or superior to, the king, merely by the fact that it was he who got the present : ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! That man receives his wage from the king, from the king he gains his livelihood ; it was the king who, having placed him in that office, gave him the present.' ' And just so, O king, the Order did not become greater than, or superior to, the Tathagata merely by the fact of that gift. The Order is, as it were, the hired servant of the Tathagata, and gains its livelihood through the Tathagata. And it was the Tathagata who, having placed it in that position, caused the gift to be given it. 14. 'And further the Tathagata, O king, thought thus : " The Order is by its very nature worthy of gifts. I will therefore have this thing, my property though it be, presented to it," and so he had the wrapper given to the Order. For the Tathagata, O king, magnifies not the offering of gifts to himself, but rather to whomsoever in the world is worthy of having gifts presented to him. For this was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the most excellent Maj^ima Nikaya, [242] in the religious discourse entitled Dhamma-dayada, when he was exalting the attainment of being content with little :

"He would become the first of my Bhikkhus, the most worthy of presents and of praise 2." 15. ' And there is not, O king, in the three worlds 1 The same simile has already occurred, vol. i, p. 220 (IV, 2, 22). 2 Ma^^ima Nikaya, vol. i, p. 13 (in Mr. Trenckner's edition for the Pali Text Society). any being whatever more worthy of gifts, greater or more exalted or better, than the Tathagata. It is the Tathagata who was greatest and highest and best. As it was said, O king, by Ma^ava-gamika the god, in the most excellent Sarayutta Nikaya, as he stood before the Blessed One in the midst of the assembly of gods and men : " Of all the Ra^agaha hills Mount Vipula's acknowledged chief, Of the Himalayas Mount White, of planetary orbs the sun, The ocean of all waters, of constellations bright the moon 1 — In all the world of gods and men the Buddha's the acknowledged Lord2!" 1 And those verses of Mawava the god, O king, were well sung, not wrongly sung, well spoken, not wrongly spoken, and approved by the Blessed One 3. And was it not said by Sariputta, the Commander of the faith : " There is but one Confession, one true Faith, One Adoration of clasped hands stretched forth — That paid to Him who routs the Evil One, And helps us cross the ocean of our ills 4 ! "

1 This must have been composed after the moon god had become established in belief as the husband, or lord, of the Nakshatras, or lunar mansions. For it cannot, of course, be intended that the moon is itself a constellation. 2 Sazwyutta Nikaya III, 2, 10 (vol. i, p. 67 of the Pali Text Society's edition). 3 These phrases of approval are commonly used in the Pi/akas of words uttered by any one whose sayings would not, of themselves, carry weight. So in the Digha III, 1, 28 and in the Maxima I, 385. 4 This verse has not yet been traced in the Pi/akas. In ' And it was said by the Blessed One himself, the god over all gods : " There is one being, O brethren, who is born into the world for the good and for the weal of the great multitudes, out of mercy to the world, for the advantage and the good and the weal of gods and men. And what is that being ? A Tathagata, an Arahat Buddha supreme 1." ' ' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the precedence of the Order over the Buddha.]

is it more advantageous to be a layman, or to enter the order ?] 16. 'Venerable Nagasena, it was said by the Blessed One : " I would magnify, O brethren, the Supreme Attainment2 either in a layman or in a recluse. Whether he be a layman, O brethren, or a recluse, the man who has reached the Supreme Attainment the Thera Gatha we have a collection of verses ascribed to Sariputta, but this is not one of them. The literal translation is : 'There is but one feeling of faith, but one taking of refuge, but one stretching forih of the hands (with joined palms, in adoration — that paid) to the Buddha, who puts to rout the armies of the Evil One, and is able to make (us) cross (the ocean of continual becomings).' The taking of refuge meant is the confession, the repetition of which characterises a man as a Buddhist — ' I take my refuge in the Buddha, &c.' 1 Ahguttara Nikaya I, 13, 1. - That is, of insight and of the practice of right conduct. shall overcome all the difficulties inherent therein, shall win his way even to the excellent condition of Arahatship1." [243]

' Now, Nagasena, if a layman, clad in white robes, enjoying the pleasures of sense, dwelling in a habitation encumbered with wife and children 2, making constant use of the sandal wood of Benares3, of garlands and perfumes and unguents, accepting gold and silver, wearing a turban inlaid with jewels and gold, can, having reached the Supreme Attainment, win his way to the excellent condition of Arahatship — and if a recluse, with his shaven head and yellow robes, dependent for his livelihood on the alms of other men, perfectly fulfilling the fourfold code of morality4, taking upon himself and carrying out the hundred and fifty precepts 5, con- 1 Sawyutta Nikaya XLIV, 24, says Mr. Trenckner. The passage has not yet been reached in M. Leon Feer's edition for the Pali Text Society. Hina/i-kumbure (p. 341) renders waya by nirwana. 2 Literally 'a bed encumbered, &c.' See below, p. 348 of the Pali text, where the question, as here, is whether such a layman can attain to the Nirva«a of Arahatship. 3 So the Buddha says of himself (Ahguttara Nikaya III, 38), that, in the days when he was a layman, he never used any sandal wood except that from Benares.

4 I don't know what these four Silakkhandhas are. Moralityis described in the Pi/akas as threefold, fivefold, or tenfold, according as the Silas, in three divisions (as translated in my 'Buddhist Suttas,' vol. xi of the ' Sacred Books of the East/ pp. 189-200), are referred to ; or the first five, or the whole ten, of the moral precepts (the Buddhist Ten Commandments) set out in my ' Buddhism/ p. 160. This reference to four divisions of the moral code is foreign to the Pi/akas, at least as we yet know them. 5 The DiyaaWzesu sikkhapada-satesu. Tt is clear from the Ahguttara Nikaya III, 83 that the precepts referred to are those of the Patimokkha (translated by me at the beginning of 'Vinaya ducting himself according to the thirteen extra vows 1 without omitting any one of them, can also, having reached the Supreme Attainment, win his way to the excellent condition of Arahatship — then, Sir, what is the distinction between the layman and the recluse ? Your austerity is without effect, your renunciation is useless, your observance of the precepts is barren, your taking of the extra vows is vain. What is the good of your therein heaping up woes to yourselves, if thus in comfort the condition of bliss can be reached ?'

1 7. ' The words you ascribe to the Blessed One, O king, are rightly quoted. And that is even so. It is the man who has reached to the Supreme Attainment who bears the palm. If the recluse, O king, because he knows that he is a recluse, should neglect the Attainments, then is he far from the fruits of renunciation, far from Arahatship — how much more if a layman, still wearing the habit of the world, should do so ! But whether he be a layman, O king, or a recluse, he who attains to the supreme insight, to the supreme conduct of life, he too will win his way to the excellent condition of Arahatship. 18. 'But nevertheless, O king, it is the recluse who is the lord and master of the fruit of renunciation. And renunciation of the world, O king, is full of gain, many and immeasurable are its advantages, its profit can no man calculate. Just, O king, as no man can put a measure, in wealth, on the Texts,' vol. xvii of the ' Sacred Books of the East '), notwithstanding the fact that the actual number of these rules is 227.

1 The Dhutangas: see above, IV, 5, 10, and the enumeration below at the translation of p. 351 of the Pali text. value of a wish-conferring gem, [244] saying : " Such and such is the price of the gem " — just so, O king, is the renunciation of the world full of gain, many and immeasurable are its advantages, its profit can no man calculate — no more, O king, than he could count the number of the waves in the great ocean, and say : " So and so many are the waves in the sea ! " 19. 'Whatsoever the recluse, O king, may have yet to do, all that doth he accomplish straightway, without delay. And why is that ? The recluse, O king, is content with little, joyful in heart, detached from the world, apart from society, earnest in zeal, without a home, without a dwelling-place, righteous in conduct, in action without guile, skilled in duty and in the attainments — that is why whatsoever may lie before him yet to do, that can he accomplish straightway, without delay — just as the flight of your javelin *, O king, is rapid because it is of pure metal, smooth, and burnished, and straight, and without a stain.'

' Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the recluse having no advantages over the layman.] 1 Nara/£a. As Childers expresses a doubt as to the character of this weapon, I would refer to the Mag^ima I, 429, Gataka III, 322, and Milinda, pp. 105, 418 (of Mr. Trenckner's text). [dilemma THE FIFTY-FIFTH. ASCETICISM.] 20. ' Venerable Nagasena, when the Bodisat was practising austerity \ then there was found no other exertion the like of his, no such power, no such battling against evil, no such putting to rout of the armies of the Evil One, no such abstinence in food, no such austerity of life. But finding no satisfaction in strife like that, he abandoned that idea, saying : " Not even by this cruel asceticism am I reaching the peculiar faculty, beyond the power of man, arising from insight into the knowledge of that which is fit and noble 2. May there not be now some other way to wisdom 3 ?" 1 But then, when weary of that path he had by another way attained to omniscience, he, on the other hand, thus again exhorted and instructed his disciple in that path (he had left, saying) :

[245] " Exert yourselves, be strong, and to the faith The Buddhas taught devote yourselves with zeal. As a strong elephant a house of reeds, Shake down the armies of the Evil One 4." 1 See 'Buddhist Birth Stories/ pp. 90, 91; and Maxima Nikaya I, 240-246. 2 Alamariya-dassana-«a«a-visesa;/z. I am not sure of the exact meaning of this compound. For alamariya the Sinhalese has here (p. 343) sarva^-«ata, and renders the whole 'do I arrive at a superhuman condition, at the distinctive faculty which is able to see into omniscience/ and on IV, 8, 2 1 it gives a slightly different but practically identical rendering, ' I shall not reach that superhuman condition which can distinguish or which suffices for insight into the supreme omniscience.' 3 That is the wisdom of Buddhahood. The passage is from the Maxima Nikaya I, 246 (quoted also below, IV, 8, 21). 4 This is a very famous stanza. It is put into the mouth of IV, 6, 22. OF MILINDA THE KING. 6 I ' Now what, Nagasena, is the reason that the Tathagata exhorted and led his disciples to that path which he had himself abandoned, which he loathed ? ' 2i. ' Both then also, O king, and now too, that is still the only path. And it is along that path that the Bodisat attained to Buddhahood. Although the Bodisat, O king, exerting himself strenuously, reduced the food he took till he had decreased it to nothing at all1, and by that disuse of food he became weak in mind, yet when he returned little by little to the use of solid food, it was by that path that before long he attained to Buddhahood. And that only has been the path along which all the Tathagatas reached to the attainment of the insight of omniscience. Just as food is the support of all beings, as it is in dependence on food that all beings live at ease, just so is that the path of all the Tathagatas to the attainment of the insight of omniscience. The fault was not, O king, in the exertion, was not in the power, not in the battle waged against evil, that the Tathagata did not then, at once, attain to Buddhahood. But the fault was in the disuse of food, and the path itself (of austerity) was always ready for use.

22. ' Suppose, O king, that a man should follow a path in great haste, and by that haste his sides Abhibhu at Thera Gatha, verse 256, and in the Sa?«yutta Nikaya VI, 2, 4, §§ 18 and 23; and also, in its Sanskrit form, into the mouth of the Buddha at the Divyavadana, p. 300, and into the mouth of the gods at ibid. p. 569. It is possibly another instance of our author having Sanskrit, and not Pali, authorities in his mind, that he ascribes it here to the Buddha, and not to Abhibhu, the Elder. 1 The Sinhalese has here six pages of description of the austerities not found in the Pali text. should give way l, or he should fall a cripple on the ground, unable to move, would there then be any fault, O king, in the broad earth that that man's sides had given way ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! The great earth is always ready. How should it be in fault ? The fault was in the man's own zeal which made him fail.' ' And just even so, O king, the fault was not in the exertion, not in the power, not in the battle waged against evil, that the Tathagata did not then, at once, attain to Buddhahood. But the fault was in the disuse of food, and the path itself was always ready — [246] just as if a man should wear a robe, and never have it washed, the fault would not be in the water, which would always be ready for use, but in the man himself. That is why the Tathagata exhorted and led his disciples along that very path. For that path, O king, is always ready, always right.'

'Very good, Nagasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the path.] 1 Pakkha-hato: 'should become like one whose two hands are ruined' says the Sinhalese here (p. 349), but at p. 411 (on p. 276 of the Pali) it translates the same term, 'whose hands and feet are broken.' It is literally ' should become side-destroyed,' and may mean paralysed. [dilemma THE FIFTY-SIXTH. THE BACKSLIDERS.] 23. ' Venerable Nagasena, this doctrine of the Tathagatas is mighty, essentially true, precious, excellent, noble, peerless, pure and stainless, clear and faultless. It is not right to admit a layman who is merely a disciple1 into the Order. He should be instructed as a layman still, till he have attained to the Fruit of the First Path 2, and then be admitted. And why is this ? When these men, still being evil, have been admitted into a religion so pure, they give it up, and return again to the lower state 3, and by their backsliding the people is led to think : " Vain must be this religion of the Samara Gotama, which these men have given up." This is the reason for what I say.'

24. ' Suppose, O king, there were a bathing tank 4, full of pure clear cold water. And some man, dirty, covered with stains and mud, should come there, and without bathing in it should turn back again, still dirty as before. Now in that matter whom would the people blame, the dirty man, or the bathing tank ? ' ' The dirty man, Sir, would the people blame, 1 Tava/akaw. I take this word, in the sense of 'mere,' as an accusative in agreement with gihim (see the use of the word at pp. 107, 115, 241 of the Pali text), and not as an accusative of motion, 'into so great a sasana;/;.' 2 That is till he be converted, till he has ' entered the stream." See 'Buddhism,' p. 101. 3 That is, of a layman. 4 Ta/aka, which Childers wrongly renders 'pond, pool, lake.' It is always an artificial tank, reservoir. See Alillavagga X, 1, 6; Gataka I, 239; Milinda, pp. 66, 81, 296. saying : " This fellow came to the bathing tank, and has gone back as dirty as before. How could the bathing tank, of itself, cleanse a man who did not care to bathe ? What fault is there in the tank ? " '

' Just so, O king, [247] has the Tathagata constructed a bathing tank full of the excellent waters of emancipation 1, — the bath of the good law. Whosoever of conscious discerning beings are polluted with the stains of sin, they, bathing in it, can wash away all their sins. And if any one, having gone to that bathing tank of the good law, should not bathe in it, but turn back polluted as before, and return again to the lower state, it is him the people would blame, and say: ''This man entered religion according to the doctrine of the Conquerors, and finding no restingplace within it, has returned again to the lower state. How could the religion of the Conquerors, of itself, cleanse him who would not regulate his life in accordance with it? What fault is there in the system ? " 25. c Or suppose, O king, that a man afflicted with dire disease should visit a physician skilled in diagnosis 2, knowing an efficacious and lasting method of cure, and that that man should then not let himself be treated, but go back again as ill as before. Now therein whom would the people blame, the sick man or the doctor ? '

' It is the sick man, Sir, they would blame, say- 1 ' Vimutti: of the nectar of the Nirvana which is the highest fruit of Arahatship ' is Hina/i-kumbure's gloss. 2 Roguppatti-kusalaw : 'skilled in the threefold origin of disease' says the Sinhalese (p. 351). See also pp. 248, 272 of the Pali text. ing : " How could the physician, of himself, cure this man, who would not let himself be treated ? What fault is there in the doctor ? ' 'Just so, O king, has the Tathagata deposited in the casket of his religion the ambrosial medicine (of Nirvana) which is able to entirely suppress all the sickness of sin, thinking : " May all those of conscious sentient beings who are afflicted with the sickness of sin drink of this ambrosia, and so allay all their disease." And if any one, without drinking the ambrosia, should turn back again with the evil still within him, and return once more to the lower state, it is he whom the people will blame, saying : "This man entered religion according to the doctrine of the Conquerors, and finding no resting-place within it, has returned again to the lower state. How could the religion of the Conquerors, of itself, cure him who would not regulate his life in accordance with it ? What fault is there in the system ? ':

x26. ' Or suppose, O king, a starving man were to attend at a place where a mighty largesse of food2 given for charity was being distributed, and then should go away again, still starving, without eating anything. Whom then would the people blame, the starving man, or the feast of piety ? ' ' It is the starving man, Sir, they would blame, saying : [248] " This fellow, though tormented with hunger, still when the feast of piety was provided for him, partook of nothing, and went back as hungry as before. How could the meal, of which he 1 The Sinhalese (p. 352) inserts here 'Give me, Sir, I pray you, another simile,' and then goes on 'Then suppose, O king, &c.' 2 Bhatta, perhaps rice, as the food par excellence. would not eat, enter, of itself, into his mouth ? What fault is there in the food ? " ' Just so, O king, has the Tathagata placed the most excellent, good, auspicious, delicate ambrosial food, surpassing sweet, of the realisation of the impermanency of all things1, into the casket of his religion, thinking : " May all those of conscious sentient beings who feel within them the torment of sin 2, whose hearts are deadened by cravings, feeding upon this food, allay every longing that they have for future life in any form, in any world." And if any one, without enjoying this food, should turn back, still dominated by his cravings, and return once more to the lower state, it is he whom the people will blame, saying : " This man entered religion according to the doctrine of the Conquerors, and finding no resting-place within it, has returned again to the lower state. How could the religion of the Conquerors, of itself, purify him who would not regulate his life in accordance with it ? What fault is there in the system ? " '

27. 'If the Tathagata, O king, had let a householder be received into the Order only after he had been trained in the first stage of the Excellent Way, then would renunciation of the world no longer indeed be said to avail for the putting away of evil qualities, for purification of heart — then would there be no longer any use in renunciation. It would be as if a man were to have a bathing tank excavated 1 Kayagata-sati: literally ' intentness of mind on (the truth relating to) bodies/ 2 Kilesa-kilant-a^/iatta. Compare ft/iata.gg/ia.ttam, Ga.- taka I, 345. by the labour of hundreds (of workpeople 1), and were then to have a public announcement made : " Let no one who is dirty go down into this tank ! Let only those whose dust and dirt have been washed away, who are purified and stainless, go down into this tank ! ,: Now would that bath, O king, be of any use to those thus purified and stainless ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! The advantage they would have sought in going into the bath they would have already gained elsewhere. Of what use would the bath be to them then ? '

' Just so, O king, had the Tathagata ordained that only laymen who had already entered the first stage of the Excellent Way should be received into the Order, then would the advantage they seek in it have been already gained. Of what use would the renunciation be to them then ? 28. ' Or suppose, O king, that a physician, a true follower of the sages of old 2, one who carries (in his memory) the ancient traditions and verses3, a practical man 4, skilled in diagnosis, and master of an efficacious and lasting system of treatment, who had collected (from medicinal herbs) a medicine able to cure every disease, were to have it announced : [249] " Let none, Sirs, who are ill come to visit me ! Let the 1 Stonemasons and sculptors are implied as well as navvies. Compare my note at ' Buddhist Suttas,' p. 262. 2 Sabhava-isi-bhattiko. Compare Siva-bhattiko (Saivite) at Mahavawsa, chapter 93, line 17. In ra^a-bhattiko (above, p. 142 of the Pali text) the connotation is different. The Sinhalese (p. 353) repeats the phrase. 3 Suta-manta-dharo, which the Sinhalese repeats. 4 Atakkiko: 'without the theories (vitarka) resorted to by those ignorant of the practice of medicine ' says Hina/i-kumbure.

healthy and the strong visit me!" Now, would then, O king, those men free from illness and disease, healthy and jubilant, get what they wanted from that physician ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! What men want from a physician, that would they have already obtained otherwise. What use would the physician be to them ? ' ' Just so, O king, had theTathagata ordained that only those laymen who had already entered the first stage of the Excellent Way should be received into the Order, then would the advantages they seek in it have been already gained elsewhere. Of what use would the renunciation be to them then ? 29. ' Or suppose, O king, that some had had many hundreds of dishes of boiled milk-rice prepared1, and were to have it announced to those about him : ' Let not, Sirs, any hungry man approach to this feast of charity. Let those who have well fed, the satisfied, refreshed, and satiated2, those who have regaled themselves, and are filled with good cheer, — let them come to the feast." Now would any advantage, O king, be derived from the feast by those men thus well fed, satisfied, refreshed, satiated, regaled, and filled with good cheer ? '

' Certainly not, Sir ! The very advantage they would seek in going to the feast, that would they have already attained elsewhere. What good would the feast be to them ?' ' Just so, O king, had the Tathagata ordained that 1 As A§-atasattu is said to have done for Devadatta at (xataka I, 186. 2 See above, IV, 6, 5. IV, 6, 3Xi OF MILINDA THE KING. 69 only those laymen who had already entered the first stage of the Excellent Way should be received into the Order, thus would the advantages they seek in it have been already gained elsewhere. Of what use would the renunciation be to them ? 30. ' But notwithstanding that, O king, they who return to the lower state manifest thereby five immeasurably good qualities in the religion of the Conquerors. And what are the five ? They show how glorious is the state (which those have reached who have entered the Order), how purified it is from every stain, how impossible it is for the sinful to dwell within it together (with the good), how difficult it is to realise (its glory), how many are the restraints to be observed within it.

31. 'And how do they show the mighty glory of that state ? Just, O king, as if a man, poor, and of low birth, without distinction 1, deficient in wisdom, were to come into possession of a great and mighty kingdom, it would not be long before he would be overthrown, utterly destroyed 2, and deprived of his glory. For he would be unable to support his dignity. [250] And why so ? Because of the greatness thereof. Just so is it, O king, that whosoever are without distinction, have acquired no merit, and are devoid of wisdom, when they renounce the world according to the religion of the Conquerors, then, unable to bear that most excellent renunciation, overthrown, fallen, and deprived of their glory, they return to the lower state. For they are unable to 1 Nibbisesa, not in Childers ; but see, for instance, Gataka II, 32. 2 Paridha?tfsati. Compare below, IV, 7, 8 (p. 265 of the Pali). carry out the doctrine of the Conquerors. And why so ? Because of the exalted nature of the condition which that doctrine brings about. Thus is it, O king, that they show forth the mighty glory of that state.

32. ' And how do they show how purified that state is from every stain ? Just, O king, as water, when it has fallen upon a lotus, flows away, disperses, scatters, disappears, adheres not to it. And why so ? Because of the lotus being pure from any spot. Just so, O king, when whosoever are deceitful, tricky, crafty, treacherous, holders of lawless opinions, have been admitted into the religion of the Conquerors, it is not long before they disperse, and scatter, and fall from that pure and stainless, clear and faultless l, most high and excellent religion, and finding no standing-place in it, adhering no longer to it, they return to the lower state. And why so ? Because the religion of the Conquerors has been purified from every stain. Thus is it, O king, that they show forth the purity of that state from every stain. 33. ' And how do they show how impossible it is for the sinful to dwell within it together with the good ? Just, O king, as the great ocean does not tolerate the continuance in it of a dead corpse2, but whatever corpse may be in the sea, that does it bring quickly to the shore, and cast it out on to the dry land. And why so ? Because the ocean is

1 Nikka;//aka-pa«</ara: literally 'thornless and yellow-white.' The second of these epithets of the religion (s as ana) is applied to it above, IV, 6, 23 (p. 250 of the Pali). The Sinhalese merely repeats them. 2 On this curious belief see the note above on IV, 3, 39 (p. 187 of the Pali). IV, 6, 34- 0F MILINDA THE KING. 7 1 the abode of mighty creatures. Just so, O king, when whosoever are sinful, foolish, with their zeal evaporated, distressed, impure, and bad, have been admitted into the religion of the Conquerors, it is not long before they abandon that religion, and dwelling no longer in it — the abode of the mighty, the Arahats, purified, and free from the Great Evils l — they return to the lower state. And why so ? Because it is impossible for the wicked to dwell in the religion of the Conquerors. Thus is it, O king, that they show forth the impossibility of the sinful to abide within it together with the good. 34. ' And how do they show how difficult a state it is to grasp? Just, O king, as archers who are clumsy, untrained, ignorant, and bereft of skill, are incapable of high feats of archery, such as hairsplitting 2, but miss the object, and shoot beyond the mark. And why so ? Because of the fineness and minuteness of the horse-hair. [251] Just so, O king, when foolish, stupid, imbecile 3, dull, slow-minded

1 They are lust, dulness, delusion, and ignorance. 2 Valaggavedhaw, 'hair-splitting;' which is also used in the Pi/akas in the secondary sense we too have given to it. 3 E/amuga, supposed to mean literally 'deaf and dumb; ' but often (if not always) used in this secondary sense. See Gataka I, 247, 248 (where both MSS. read elamuga), and Maxima Nikaya I, 20 (where Mr. Trenckner has an interesting note). In both places the fifth century commentators explain the word by lala-mukha, 'drivelling,' supposing it to be derived from ela, ' saliva,' and mukha, ' mouth.' This is certainly wrong, for the last part of the compound is muka, 'dumb.' The fact is that the word was a puzzle, even then. The meaning assigned to it by both Pali and Sanskrit lexicographers of ' deaf and dumb ' has not yet been confirmed by a single passage either in Pali or Sanskrit. And as eda, 'sheep,' is common in both, in its longer form of e</aka, e/aka, the compound probably meant originally 'as dumb fellows renounce the world according to the doctrine of the Conquerors, then they, unable to grasp the exquisitely fine and subtle distinctions of the Four Truths, missing them, going beyond them, turn back before long to the lower state. And why so ? Because it is so difficult to penetrate into the finenesses and subtleties of the Truths. This is how they show forth the difficulty of its realisation. 35. 'And how do they show how many are the restraints to be observed within it ? Just, O king, as a man who had gone to a place where a mighty battle was going on, when, surrounded on all sides by the forces of the enemy, he sees the armed hosts crowding in upon him, will give way, turn back, and take to flight. And why so ? Out of fear lest he should not be saved in the midst of so hot a fight. Just so, O king, when whosoever are wicked 1, unrestrained, shameless, foolish, full of illwill, fickle, unsteady, mean and stupid, renounce the world under the system of the Conquerors, then they, unable to carry out the manifold precepts, give way, turn back, and take to flight, and so before long return to the lower state. And why so ? Because of the multiform nature of the restraints to be observed in the religion of the Conquerors. Thus is it, O king, that they show forth the manifoldness of the restraints to be observed.

as a sheep,' which would be a quite satisfactory basis for the secondary sense of ' imbecile,' in which alone it can be traced in Pali. For the Sanskrit form ee'amuka Bohtlingk-Roth give only lexicographers as authority. So el a, 'saliva/ is in Pali only a lexicographer's word, and may have been invented to explain e/arauga, and ane/agala vaka, as at Sumahgala, p. 282. 1 Pakata. Hina/i-kumbure says (p. 356) papakalawu, which suggests a different reading. 36. ' As on that best of flowering shrubs, O king, the double jasmine1, there may be flowers that have been pierced by insects, and their tender stalks being cut to pieces, they may occasionally fall down. But by their having fallen is not the jasmine bush disgraced. For the flowers that still remain upon it pervade every direction with their exquisite perfume. Just so, O king, whosoever having renounced the world under the system of the Conquerors, return again to the lower state, are, like jasmine flowers bitten by the insects and deprived of their colour and their smell, colourless as it were in their behaviour, and incapable of development. But by their backsliding is not the religion of the Conquerors put to shame. For the members of the Order who remain in the religion pervade the world of gods and men with the exquisite perfume of their right conduct.

37. ' Among rice plants that are healthy [252] and ruddy there may spring up a kind of rice plant called Karumbhaka-, and that may occasionally fade. But by its fading are not the red rice plants disgraced. For those that remain become the food of kings. Just so, O king, whosoever having renounced the world under the system of the Conquerors return again to the lower state, they, like Karumbhaka plants among the red rice, may growr not, nor attain development, and may even occasionally relapse into the lower state. But by their backsliding is not the religion of the Conquerors put to shame, 1 Vassika. So also above, IV, 3, 32 (p. 183 of the Pali). 2 'A yellowish white kawalu sort' says Hina/i-kumbure, and Clough renders kawalu by 'a species of panic grass' (panicum glaucum). The word has only been found in this passage. for the brethren that remain stedfast become fitted even for Arahatship. 38. ' On one side, O king, of a wish conferring gem a roughness ] may arise. But by the appearance of that roughness is not the gem disgraced. For the purity that remains in the gem fills the people with gladness. And just so, O king, whosoever having renounced the world under the system of the Conquerors return again to the lower state, they may be rough ones and fallen ones in the religion. But by their backsliding is not the religion of the Conquerors put to shame, for the brethren who remain stedfast are the cause of joy springing up in the hearts of gods and men.

39. ' Even red sandal wood of the purest sort, O king, may become in some portion of it rotten and scentless. But thereby is not the sandal wood disgraced. For that portion which remains wholesome and sweet scatters and diffuses its perfume all around. And just so, O king, whosoever having renounced the world under the system of the Conquerors return again to the lower state, they, like the rotten part of the sandal wood, may be as it were thrown away in the religion. But by their backsliding is not the religion of the Conquerors put to shame. For the brethren who remain stedfast pervade, with the sandal wood perfume of their right conduct, the world of gods and men.' ' Very good, Nagasena ! By one appropriate simile after another, by one correct analogy after another have you most excellently made clear the 1 Kakkasa;«. The Sinhalese (p. 357) has left out this clause, evidently by mistake only. IV, 6, 4i. OF MILINDA THE KING. 75 faultlessness of the system of the Conquerors, and shown it free from blame. And even those who have lapsed make evident how excellent that system is.' [Here ends the dilemma as to those who have lapsed.]

[dilemma the fifty-seventh, why have arahats no power over their bodies?] 40. 'Venerable Nagasena, your (members of the Order) say : [253] " There is one kind of pain only which an Arahat suffers, bodily pain, that is, and not mental1." 1 How is this, Nagasena ? The Arahat keeps his mind going by means of the body. Has the Arahat no lordship, no mastery, no power over the body ? ' ' No, he has not, O king.' ' That, Sir, is not right that over the body, by which he keeps his mind going, he should have neither lordship, nor mastery, nor power. Even a bird, Sir, is lord and master and ruler over the nest in which he dwells.' 41. ' There are these ten qualities, O king, inherent in the body, which run after it, as it were, and accompany it from existence to existence 2. And what are the ten ? Cold and heat, hunger and thirst, 1 This passage has not yet been traced in the Pi/akas. An almost identical phrase has already been quoted, as said by the Buddha himself, at II, 1,4 (p. 44 of the Pali). 2 Bhave bhave anuparivattanti. See IV, 4, 41 (p. 204 of the Pali).

the necessity of voiding excreta, fatigue and sleepiness, old age, disease, and death. And in respect thereof, the Arahat is without lordship, without mastery, without power.' ' Venerable Nagasena, what is the reason why the commands of the Arahat have no power over his body, neither has he any mastery over it? Tell me that. 1 Just, O king, as whatever beings are dependent on the land, they all walk, and dwell, and carry on their business in dependence upon it. But do their commands have force, does their mastery extend over it ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! ' ' Just so, O king, the Arahat keeps his mind going through the body. And yet his commands have no authority over it, nor power.' 42. ' Venerable Nagasena, why is it that the ordinary man suffers both bodily and mental pain ? ' ' By reason, O king, of the untrained state of his mind. Just, O king, as an ox when trembling with starvation might be tied up with a weak and fragile and tiny rope of grass or creeper. But if the ox were excited : then would he escape, dragging the fastening with him. Just so, O king, when pain comes upon him whose mind is untrained, then is his mind excited, and the mind so excited bends his body this way and that and makes it grovel on the ground, [254] and he, being thus untrained in mind, trembles 2 and cries, and gives forth terrible

1 Parikupati, not in Childers ; but see above, IV, i, 38 (p. 118 of the Pali). 2 Tasati. Mr. Trenckner points out (p. 431) that two MSS. groans. This is why the ordinary man, O king, suffers pain as well in body as in mind.' 43. ' Then why, Sir, does the Arahat only suffer one kind of pain — bodily, that is, and not mental ? ' ' The mind of the Arahat, O king, is trained, well practised, tamed, brought into subjection, and obedient, and it hearkens to his word. When affected with feelings of pain, he grasps firmly the idea of the impermanence of all things, so ties his mind as it were to the post of contemplation, and his mind, bound to the post of contemplation, remains unmoved, unshaken, becomes stedfast, wanders not — though his body the while may bend this way and that and roll in agony by the disturbing influence of the pain. This is why it is only one kind of pain that the Arahat suffers — bodily pain, that is, and not mental.' 44. ' Venerable Nagasena, that verily is a most marvellous thing that when the body is trembling the mind should not be shaken. Give me a reason for that.'

' Suppose, O king, there were a noble tree, mighty in trunk and branches and leaves. And when agitated by the force of the wind its branches should wave. Would the trunk also move ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir ! ' ' Well, O king, the mind of the Arahat is as the trunk of that noble tree.' ' 1 Most wonderful, Nagasena, and most strange ! read rasati and one sarati. The Sinhalese rendering (p. 359), bhaya wanneya, confirms the reading he has adopted. 1 The Sinhalese (p. 360) has four lines here that are not in the Pali. Never before have I seen a lamp of the law that burned thus brightly through all time.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the Arahat's power over his body.] [dilemma the fifty-eighth, the layman's sin.] 45. [255] ' Venerable Nagasena, suppose a layman had been guilty of a Para^ika offence 1, and some time after should enter the Order. And neither he himself should be aware that when still a layman he had so been guilty, nor should any one else inform him, saying : " When a layman you were guilty of such an offence." Now if he were to devote himself to the attainment of Arahatship'-, would he be able so to comprehend the Truth as to succeed in entering upon the Excellent Way ? '

' No, O king, he would not.' 'But why not, Sir ? ' ' That, in him, which might have been the cause of his grasping the Truth has been, in him, destroyed. No comprehension can therefore take place.' 46. ' Venerable Nagasena, your people say : " To him who is aware (of an offence) there comes 1 This, for a member of the Order, would be either unchastity, theft, murder, or putting forward false claims to extraordinary holiness. See ' Vinaya Texts,' part i, pp. 3-5. But Hina/ikumbure takes the word Para^-ika here in the sense of matricide, parricide, injuring a Bo Tree, murder of an Arahat, wounding a Tathagata, or rape of a nun. 2 Tathattaya. Rahat phala piwisa pilipadane wi nam, says the Sinhalese (p. 361). remorse. When remorse has arisen there is an obstruction in the heart. To him whose heart is obstructed there is no comprehension of the Truth V ' Why should there then be no such comprehension to one not aware of his offence, feeling no remorse, remaining with a quiet heart. This dilemma touches on two irreconcilable statements. Think well before you solve it.' 47. 'Would selected seed2, O king, successfully sown in a well-ploughed, well-watered, fertile soil, come to maturity ? '

' Certainly, Sir ! ' ' But would the same seed grow on the surface of a thick slab of rock ? ' ' Of course not.' ' Why then should the same seed grow in the mud, and not on the rock ? ' ' Because on the rock the cause for its growth does not exist. Seeds cannot grow without a cause.' ' Just so, O king, the cause by reason of which his comprehension of the Truth (his conversion) might have been brought about, has been rooted out in him. Conversion cannot take place without a cause.' 48. ' [Give me, Sir, another simile :i.'] ' Well, O king, will sticks and clods and cudgels 4 1 This passage has not yet been traced in the Pi/akas. 2 Saradara bi^am. 'Seed which will give sara.' It has nothing to do with saradaw, 'autumn.' See Sa;/*yutta Nikaya XXII, 24. 3 Added from the Sinhalese (p. 362). It is not in the Pali. 4 Laku/a, not in Childers. But see below (p. 301 of the Pali text). It is probably the same Dravidian word as appears in the Sanskrit dictionaries as lagu</a. and clubs find a resting-place in the air, in the same way as they do on the ground ? '

' But what is the reason why they come to rest on the earth, when they will not stand in the air ? ' ' There is no cause in the air for their stability, and without a cause they will [256] not stand.' ' Just so, O king, by that fault of his the cause for his conversion has been removed. And without a cause there can be no conversion. Now will fire, O king, burn in water in the same way as it will on land ? ' ' But why not ? ' ' Because in water the conditions precedent for burning do not exist. And there can be no burning without them.' ' Just so, O king, are the conditions precedent to conversion destroyed in him by that offence of his. And when the conditions which would bring it about are destroyed there can be no conversion.' 49. ' Venerable Nagasena, think over this matter once more. I am not yet convinced about it. Persuade me by some reason how such obstruction can occur in the case of one not aware of his offence, and feeling; therefore no remorse.' ' Would the Halahala1 poison, O king, if eaten by

1 There is a curious confusion about this word. It is found in post-Buddhistic Sanskrit in the sense of a particular sort of strong poison, and in this sense it occurs also in the Gataka Commentary I, 271; III, 103; and in the Tela-ka/aha-gatha, verse 82. In none of these passages is the nature of the poison at all explained ; it is taken for granted as a well-known powerful poison. But above (p. 122 of the Pali), and at Gataka I, 47, 48, it is used in IV, 6, 49- 0F MILINDA THE KING. 8 1 a man who did not know he had eaten it, take away his life ? ' ' Just so, O king, is there an obstruction to his comprehension of the Truth, who, without being aware of it, has committed a sin. And would fire, O king, burn a man who walked into it unawares?' 'Well, just so in the case you put. Or would a venomous snake, if it bit a man without his knowing it, kill him?' ' Well, just so in the case you put. And is it not true that Samara Kola7//la, the king of Kalihga, — when surrounded by the seven treasures of a sovereign overlord he went mounted on his state elephant to pay a visit to his relatives, — was not able to pass the Tree of Wisdom, though he was not aware that it was there 1 ? Well, of the same kind is the reason why one who has committed an offence, even though he know it not, is nevertheless incapable of rising to the knowledge of the Truth.'

' Verily, Nagasena, this must be the word of the Conqueror. To find any fault with it were vain. And this (explanation of yours) must be the meaning of it. I accept it as you say.' [Here ends the dilemma of the layman's sin.] the sense of kolahala, 'noise' (compare the Sanskrit halahala, used as a cry or call). In this sense it is probably a mere imitation of the supposed sound. In the sense of poison its derivation is doubtful. 1 This must be the incident referred to at Cataka IV, 232, though the name of the king is given (on the previous page) simply as Kalihgo and not as Sama«a-kola#«o. [36] G [dilemma THE FIFTY-NINTH. THE GUILTY RECLUSE.] 50. [257] 'Venerable Nagasena, what is the distinction, what the difference, between a layman who has done wrong, and a Samara (member of the Order) who has done wrong ? Will they both be reborn in like condition? Will the like retribution happen to both ? Or is there any difference ?' ' There are, O king, ten qualities which abound in the guilty Samara, distinguishing him from the guilty layman. And besides that, in ten ways does the Samara purify the gifts that may be given him.

51. 'And what are the ten qualities which abound in the guilty Samara, distinguishing him from the guilty layman ? The guilty Sama/za, O king, is full of reverence for the Buddha, for the Law, for the Order, and for his fellow-disciples; he exerts himself in putting questions about, and in recitation of (the sacred texts) ; he is devoted to learning, though he has done wrong. Then, O king, the guilty one entering the assembly, enters it decently clad, he guards himself alike in body and mind through fear of rebuke, his mind is set upon exerting himself (towards the attainment of Arahatship), he is of the companionship of the brethren. And even, O king, if he does wrong he lives discreetly. Just, O king, as a married woman sins only in secret and in privacy, so does the guilty Samara walk discreetly in his wrongdoing. These are the ten qualities, O king, found in the guilty Samara, distinguishing him from the guilty layman. 52. ' And what are the ten ways in which, besides, he purifies a gift given to him? He purifies it in that he wears an invulnerable coat of mail 1 ; in that he is shorn in the fashion of the characteristic mark of renunciation used by the seers of old 2 ; in that he is one who is included in the multitude of the brethren ; in that he has taken his refuge in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order ; in that he dwells in a lonely spot suitable for the exertion (after Arahatship) ; in that he seeks after the treasure of the teaching of the Conquerors ; in that he preaches the most excellent law (D ham ma) ; in that his final destiny is to be reborn in the island of truth 3 ; in that he is possessed of an honest belief that the Buddha is the chief of all beings ; in that he has taken upon himself the keeping of the Uposatha day. These, O king, are the ten ways in which, besides, he purifies a gift given to him.

53. [258] 'Even, O king, when thoroughly fallen, a guilty Samara yet sanctifies the gifts of the supporters of the faith — just as water, however thick, will wash away slush and mud and dirt and stains — just as hot, and even boiling water will put a mighty blazing fire out — just as food, however nasty, will allay the faintness of hunger. For thus, O king, hath it been said by the god over all gods in the most excellent Maxima Nikaya in the chapter " On gifts 4 :" 1 ' The threefold robes, the Arahad-dha^a, for the suppression of all evil, worn by all the Buddhas' adds the Sinhalese (p. 364). Compare above, vol. i, p. 190. 2 The Rishis ; 'who were gaining the Swarga-moksha ' adds the Sinhalese. (It was before the days of Arahatship.) 3 Dhamma-dipa, that is to reach Arahatship, Nirvawa. Compare the Gataka stanza, IV, 121, verse 3. 4 The Dakkhi/za Vibhahga, No. 12 in the Vibhahga Vagga, No. 142 in the whole Nikaya. " Whene'er a good man, with believing heart, Presents what he hath earned in righteousness To th' unrighteous, — in full confidence On the great fruit to follow the good act — Such gift is, by the giver, sanctified."

' Most wonderful, Nagasena, and most strange ! We asked you a mere ordinary question, and you, expounding it with reasons and with similes, have filled, as it were, the hearer with the sweet taste of the nectar (of Nirvana1). Just as a cook, or a cook's apprentice, taking a piece of ordinary nutmeg, will, treating it with various ingredients, prepare a dish for a king — so, Nagasena, when we asked you an ordinary question, have you, expounding it with reasons and similes, filled the hearer with the sweet taste of the nectar of Nirva/za.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the guilty recluse.] 1 Amata-madhura?/* savanupagaw akasi. Hina/i-kumbure (p. 365) understands this differently, and has apparently read amataw madhuraw. For he translates 'filled the hearer with the taste of Nirvawa, and adorned the least of the people with the ear-ring of Arahatship.' It is difficult to see where he finds ' the least of the people/ and there is no authority for rendering savanupaga?« by 'ear-ring.' Amata as an epithet of the state of mind called by Western writers Nirvana (which is only one of many names applied in the Buddhist books themselves to Arahatship) has nothing to do with immortality. As this wrong notion of the use of the word has led to much confusion, I have considered in an appendix all the passages in which the epithet occurs.

iv, 6, 55- 0f milinda the king. 85 [dilemma the sixtieth, the soul in water.] 54. 'Venerable Nagasena, this water when boilingover the fire gives forth many a sound, hissing and simmering1. Is then, Nagasena, the water alive ? Is it shouting at play ? [259] or is it crying out at the torment inflicted on it ?' ' It is not alive, O king, there is no soul or being in water. It is by reason of the greatness of the shock of the heat of the fire that it gives forth sounds, hissing and simmering.' 'Now, venerable Nagasena, there are false teachers who on the ground that the water is alive reject the use of cold water, and warming the water feed themselves on tepid foods of various kinds2. ' These men find fault with you and revile you, saying : " The Sakyaputtiya Samaras do injury to the souls of one function 3." Dispel, remove, get rid of this their censure and blame.' 55. 'The water is not alive, O king. Neither is there therein either soul or being. And it is the 1 A^iZ'/£i/ayati £i/i/£i/ayati. The English words entirely fail in representing the sound of these striking words (in which the £ is pronounced as ch). They recur Mahavagga VI, 26, 7 and Puggala Pa«#atti 3, 14.

2 Veka/ika-veka/ikam. Hina/i-kumbure renders this by huwu-huwuyewz, and huzzu is the Pali u«ha. But the expression may be compared with vika/a, 'filth' (used for food), at Mahavagga VI, 14, 6. On the belief of the Gains in the 'waterlife/ see the Ayaranga Sutta I, 1, 3 (in vol. xxii of the S. B. E., 8 Ekindriyara givam. The belief in such a soul is to be understood as held by the teachers referred to, not by Buddhists. Hina/i-kumbure's translation implies that the one function meant is prawa. Compare the heretical opinions described in the Digha II, 20, and 26. great shock of the heat of the fire that makes it sound, hissing and simmering. It is like the water in holes in the ground, in ponds and pools and lakes, in reservoirs, in crevices and chasms, in wells, in lowlying places, and in lotus-tanks 1, which before the mighty onset of the hot winds 2 is so deeply affected that it vanishes away. But does the water in that case, O king, give forth many a sound, hissing and simmering ?' ' Certainly not, Sir.' ' But, if it were alive, the water would then also make some sound. Know therefore, O king, that there is no soul, neither being, in water ; and that it is the greatness of the shock of the heat of the water that makes it give forth sounds.

56. 'And hear another reason, O king, for the same thing. If water, O king, with grains of rice in it, is put in a vessel and covered up, but not placed over the fireplace, would it then give forth sound ?' ' No, Sir. It would remain quiet and unmoved.' ' But if you were to put the same water, just as it is in the vessel, over a fireplace3, and then light up the fire, would the water remain quiet and motionless ?' 1 This list recurs in almost identical terms below, p. 296 (of the Pali text). See also above, II, 1, 10 (vol. i, p. 55). 2 Vatatapa, not 'heat and wind' as Bohtlingk-Roth understand it in their rendering of vatatapika. See ' Vinaya Texts/ III, 159 and Sawyutta XXII, 12. 3 Uddhane. This word is always rendered 'oven' in the dictionaries. But I doubt whether there were ovens at all, in our sense, in those times, and in any case, the word certainly means a fireplace made of bits of brick between which the wood for the fire is laid. We must imagine the bricks to be laid, as a general rule, in a triangle. I have often seen both Sinhalese peasants, and Tamils from the Madras Presidency, boiling their rice in the open over such extemporised fireplaces in pots either placed on the

IV, 6, 56. OF MILINDA THE KING. 8 J ' Certainly not, Sir. It would move and be agitated, become perturbed and all in commotion, waves would arise in it, it would rush up and down and in every direction [260], it would roll up and boil over1, and a garland of foam would be formed above it.' bricks, or more usually suspended from three sticks meeting above the centre of the space between the bricks. That this, and this only, is the sense in which the word is used in Pali is clear from a comparison of the passages in which it is used, though of course in huts the fireplace, though of the same kind, would be a more permanent structure. I have not traced the word in the Pi/akas. In the Gataka Commentary I, 68 we find that smoke usually rises uddhanato. This it would not do from an oven. At Gataka I, 33 and Dhammapada Commentary 176 uddhane aropetva must mean • lifted up on to ' not ' put into/ At Gataka I, 346 the speaker says he will take the uddhana-kapallani, and the rice with ingredients for the curry, up on to the flat roof of the house, and there cook and eat them. These are the bits of brick to make, not an oven, but a fireplace of. At Gataka II, 133 the husband wrings the neck of the parrot (the parrot of the Arabian Nights, chap. 2, I may add) and throws it uddhanantaresu 'into the space (between the bricks) of the fireplace.' At Gataka III, 178 and Dhammapada Commentary 263 we hear of meat boiled on the uddhana. In the Rasavahini (quoted in the 'Journal of the Pali Text Society,' 1884, p. 53) the context shows that a fireplace or hearth, not an oven, is meant. Finally above (p. 118 of the Pali) we hear of a cauldron being mounted on to an uddhana, and the fire being lighted under it.

The derivation is uncertain. The Sanskrit lexicographers give various forms of the word — always with the meaning ' oven ' — uddhana, udvana, uddhmana (this last probably influenced by a supposition that the word was connected with dham). The Sinhalese is uduna, and though 'fireplace' is better than 'oven,' we have really no corresponding word in English. The gypsies, who are Indian in origin, should have a name for it. But I only find in their vocabularies yogongo-tan, which means simply aggi/Mna. 1 Uttarati patarati. 'Itirenneya pcetirenneya' says the Sinhalese. ' But why so, O king, when water in its ordinary state remains quiet and motionless? ' * It is because of the powerful impulse of the heat of the fire that the water, usually so still, gives forth many a sound, bubbling and hissing.' ' Then thereby know, O king, that there is no soul in water, neither being; and that it is the strong heat of the fire that causes it to make sounds. 57. 'And hear another reason, O king, for the same thing. Is there not water to be found in every house put into water-pots with their mouths closed up ?' ' Yes, Sir.'

' Well, does that water move, is it agitated, perturbed, in commotion, does it form into waves, does it rush up and down and in every direction, does it roll up and roll over1, is it covered with foam?' 'No! That water is in its ordinary state. It remains still and quiet.' ' But have you ever heard that all this is true of the water in the great ocean ? and that rearing up 2 it breaks against the strand with a mighty roar ?' ' Yes, I have both heard of it, and have seen it myself — how the water in the great ocean lifts itself up a hundred, two hundred, cubits high, towards the sky.' ' But why, whereas water in its ordinary state remains motionless and still, does the water in the ocean both move and roar ? ' ' That is by reason of the mighty force of the 1 Uttarati patarati, the second of which the Sinhalese (p. 368) omits here. See p. 117 of the Pali. 2 Ussakkitva, 'continually pumping up,' says the Sinhalese. onset of the wind, whereas the water in the waterjars neither moves nor makes any noise, because nothing1 shakes it.'

' Well, the sounds given forth by boiling water are the result, in a similar way, [261] of the great heat of the fire.' 58. ' Do not people cover over the dried-up mouth of a drum * with dried cow-leather ? ' ' Yes, they do.' 1 Well, is there any soul or being, O king, in a drum ? ' ' Certainly not, Sir.' ' Then how is it that a drum makes sounds ? ' ' By the action or effort of a woman or a man/ ' Well, just as that is why the drum sounds, so is it by the effect of the heat of the fire that the water sounds. And for this reason also you might know, O king, that there is no soul, neither being, in water ; and that it is the heat of the fire which causes it to make sounds2. 59. ' And I, too, O king, have something yet further to ask of you — thus shall this puzzle be thoroughly threshed out. How is it ? Is it true of every kind of vessel that water heated in it makes noises, or only of some kinds of vessels ? '

1 Not of all, Sir. Only of some/ ' But then you have yourself, O king, abandoned the position you took up. You have come over to my side — that there is no soul, neither being, in water. For only if it made noises in whatever 1 Bheri-pokkharam, which the Sinhalese renders bherimukha. Compare Vimana Vatthu 18, 10, where pokkhara is a sort of drum. 2 A similar analogy has been used above, vol. i, p. 48. vessel it were heated could it be right to say that it had a soul. There cannot be two kinds of water — that which speaks, as it were, which is alive, and that which does not speak, and does not live. If all water were alive, then that which the great elephants, when they are in rut, suck up in their trunks, and pour out over their towering frames, or putting into their mouths take right into their stomachs — that water, too, when crushed flat between their teeth, would make a sound. And great ships, a hundred cubits long, heavily laden, full of hundreds of packages of goods, pass over the sea — the water crushed by them, too, would make sounds. [262] And mighty fish, leviathans with bodies hundreds of leagues long 1, since they dwell in the great ocean, immersed in the depths of it, must, so living in it, be constantly taking into their mouths and spouting out the ocean — and that water, too, crushed between their gills or in their stomach, would make sounds. But as, even when tormented with the grinding and crushing of all such mighty things, the water gives no sound, therefore, O king, you may take it that there is no soul, neither being, in water/

'Very good, Nagasena! With fitting discrimination has the puzzle put to you 2 been solved. Just, Nagasena, as a gem of inestimable value which had come into the hands of an able master goldsmith, clever and well trained, would meet with due appreciation, estimation, and praise — just as a rare pearl 1 Their names are given. On this belief see above, III, 7, 10 (vol. i, p. 130) and -ffullavagga IX, 1, 3. 2 Desagato, 'based on the teaching of the Omniscient One,' says Hina/i-kumbure, who therefore apparently read desanagato. IV, 6, 59- 0F MILINDA THE KING. 9 1 at the hands of a dealer in pearls, a fine piece of woven stuff at the hands of a cloth merchant \ or red sandal wood at the hands of a perfumer — just so in that way has this puzzle put to you been solved with the discrimination it deserved.' [Here ends the dilemma as to the water-life.] Here ends the Sixth Chapter 1 Dussika, a word only found, so far as I know, here and below at V, 4 (p. 331 of the Pali), where see the note. 2 Sakala-^ana mano-mandaniyya-wu sri-saddharmadasayehi sha/wana vargaya nimiyeya, says the Sinhalese.

Book IV. Chapter 7. [dilemma the sixty-first, the obstacles.] i. 'Venerable Nagasena, the Blessed One said : " Live, O brethren, devoted to and taking delight in that which has no Papayas (none of those states of mind which delay or obstruct a man in his spiritual growth 1)." 1 What is that which has no Papayas?' ' The fruit of Conversion has no Papayas, O king, the fruit of that stage of the Path in which those live who will be only once, or not all reborn, the fruit of Arahatship has no Papayas.' ' But if that be so, Nagasena, [263] then why do the brethren concern themselves with recitation of, with asking questions about the discourses, and the pieces in mixed prose and verse, and the expositions, and the poems, and the outbursts of emotion, and the passages beginning " Thus he said," and the birth-stories, and the tales of wonder, and the extended treatises 2 ? Why do they trouble themselves about new buildings 3, about gifts and offerings to the Order ? ' 1 This passage has not yet been traced in the Pi/akas. 2 These are the well-known navangani, the nine divisions into which the Scriptures are divided. See MaggMma, Nikaya I, 133; Ahguttara Nikaya IV, 6, &c.

3 Navakammena palibug^anti. The Sinhalese adds kharca'a-phulla-pa/isatfzkharawayen, 'repairing dilapidations.' 2. ' They who do all these things, O king, are working towards attainment of freedom from the Papayas, (that is of Arahatship ]). For whereas, O king, all those of the brethren who are pure by nature, those upon whose hearts an impression has been left by good deeds done in a former birth 2, can (get rid of the Papayas, can) become Arahats, in a moment — those on the other hand whose minds are much darkened by evil 3 can only become Arahats by such means as these. 3. 'Just, O king, as while one man who has sown a field and got the seed to grow can, by the exertion of his own power, and without any rampart or fence, reap the crop — whereas another man when he has got the seed to grow must go into the woods, and cut down sticks and branches and make a fence of them, and thus only reap the crop — in the same way those who are pure by nature, upon whose hearts an impression has been left by good deeds done in a former birth, can, in a moment, become Arahats, like the man who gathers the crop without a fence. But those, on the other hand, whose minds are darkened by the evil they have done can only become Arahats by such means as these — like the man who can only reap his crop if he builds the fence.

4. ' Or just, O king, as there might be a bunch of fruits on the summit of a lofty mango tree. Then 1 This is (very properly) added in the Sinhalese, for the two are practically identical. Hereafter it throughout renders nippapa;7£o hoti by 'become an Arahat.' 2 Vasita-vasana. See above, vol. i, p. 18. 3 Mahara^akkha, 'evil done both in this and in former births ' is here to be understood. whoever possesses the power of Iddhi could take those fruits \ but whoever had not, he would have first to cut sticks and creepers and construct a ladder, and by its means climb up the tree and so get at the fruit. In the same way those who are by nature pure, and upon whose hearts an impression has been left by good deeds done in a former birth, may attain, in a moment, to Arahatship, like the man getting the fruit by the power of Iddhi. But those, on the other hand, whose minds are darkened by the evil they have done can only become Arahats by such means as these, like the man who only gets the fruit by means of the ladder he has made.

5. [264] ' Or just, O king, as while one man who is clever in business will go alone to his lord and conclude any business he has to do, another man, rich though he may be, must by his riches bring others to his service, and by their help get the business done — and it is for the business' sake that he has to seek after them. In the same way those who are by nature pure, upon whose hearts an impression has been left by good deeds done in a former birth, may reach, in a moment, to the attainment of the Six Transcendent Qualities 2, like the man who does the business alone by himself. Whereas those brethren whose minds are darkened by the evil they have done can only by such means as these realise the gains of renunciation, like the man who through others' help brings his business to the desired end. 1 By the simple process of going through the air to the top of the tree. 2 Chasu abhi;7«asu vasibhava^ papuwanti. 6. ' For recitation is of great good, O king, and asking questions, and superintending building work, and seeing to gifts and offerings is of great good — each of them to one or other of the spiritual objects which the brethren seek to obtain. Just, O king, as there misrht be some one of the ministers or soldiers or messengers or sentries or body-guards or attendants who was especially serviceable and useful to the king, but when he had any business given him to do they would all help him — just so are all these things of assistance when those objects have to be attained. When all men, O king, shall have become by nature pure, then will there be nothing left for a teacher l to accomplish. But so long as there is still need of discipleship 2, so long will even such a man, O king, as the Elder Sariputta himself (though he had attained to the summit of wisdom by reason of his having been, through countless ages, deeply rooted in merit), yet find it impossible, without discipleship, to attain to Arahatship 3. Therefore is it, O king, that hearing (the Scriptures) is of use, and recitation of them, and asking questions about them. And therefore is it that those also who are addicted to

1 'Who is a Buddha' adds Hina/i-kumbure (p. 372). 2 Savanena, literally 'bearing.' 3 Asavakkhayaw, literally 'to the destruction of the Asavas; ' that is, of the Great Evils, which are lust, dulness, becoming, and ignorance. Mr. Trenckner marks this passage as corrupt, but Hina/i-kumbure seems to have had the same reading before him as Mr. Trenckner has selected from his MSS., except that he has not had any mark of punctuation after the word hoti. The particular occasion on which Sariputta became finally free from the Asavas is related in the Digha-nakha Suttanta. No. 74 in the Ma£g7rima Nikaya (vol. i, p. 50 of Mr. Trenckner's edition for the Pali Text Society). these things, becoming free from the obstacles thereto, attain to Arahatship 1.' ' Right well have you made me understand this puzzle, Nagasena. That is so, and I accept it as you say/ [Here ends the dilemma as to the obstacles.] 7. ' Venerable Nagasena, your people say : " Whosoever has attained, as a layman, to Arahatship, one of two conditions are possible to him, and no other — either that very day he enters the Order, or he dies away, for beyond that day he cannot last V