Khuddaka Nikaya - Milinda Panha - A Question Solved by Inference

Khuddaka Nikaya - Milinda Panha - A Question Solved by Inference

The Debate of King Milinda
edited by Bhikkhu Pesala

Chapter 16
A Question Solved by Inference
Milinda the king went up to the place
where Nàgasena was and, having paid
respect to him, sat down at one side.
Longing to know, to hear and to bear in
mind, and wishing to dispel his ignorance,
he roused up his courage and energy, established self-
possession and mindfulness and spoke thus to Nàgasena:
“Have you, venerable Nàgasena, ever seen the
Buddha?”222
“No, great king.”
“Then have your teachers ever seen the Buddha?”
“No, great king.”
“So, Nàgasena, the Buddha did not exist; there is no
clear evidence of the Buddha’s existence.”
“Did those warriors exist who were the founders of
the line of kings from which you are descended?”
“Certainly, venerable sir, there can be no doubt about
that.”
“Have you ever seen them?”
“No, venerable sir.”
“Have your teachers and ministers of state who lay
down the law ever seen them?”
“No, venerable sir.”
222.cf. D. i. Sta. 13.

“Then there is no clear evidence of the existence of
those warriors of old.”
“Nevertheless, Nàgasena, the royal insignia used by
them are still to be seen and by these we can infer and know
that the warriors of old really existed.”
“Just so, O king, we can know that the Blessed One
lived and believe in him. The royal insignia used by him are
still to be seen. There are the four foundations of mind-
fulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of success, the
five moral powers, the five controlling faculties, the seven
factors of enlightenment and the eight factors of the path;
and by these we can infer and know that the Blessed One
really existed.”
“Give me an illustration.”
“As people seeing a fine, well-planned city would
know it was laid out by a skilled architect; so the city of
righteousness laid out by the Blessed One can be seen. It
has constant mindfulness for its main street, and in that
main street market-stalls are open selling flowers, per-
fume, fruits, antidotes, medicines, nectar, precious jewels
and all kinds of merchandise. Thus, O king, the Blessed
One’s city of righteousness is well-planned, strongly built,
well protected and thus impregnable to enemies; and by
this method of inference you may know that the Blessed
One existed.”
“What are the flowers in the city of righteousness?”
“There are meditation objects made known by the Blessed
One: the perception of impermanence, of unsatisfactoriness,
soullessness, repulsiveness, danger, abandoning, dispas-

sion, disenchantment with all worlds, the impermanence of
all mental formations; the meditation on mindfulness of
breathing, the perception of the nine kinds of corpses in pro-
gressive stages of decay, the meditations on loving-
kindness, compassion, sympathetic-joy and equanimity;
mindfulness of death and mindfulness of the thirty-two
parts of the body. Whoever, longing to be free from old age
and death, takes one of these as the subject for meditation
can become free from desire, hatred and delusion, pride and
wrong views, he can cross the ocean of saüsàra, stem the tor-
rent of craving and destroy all suffering. He can then enter
the city of nibbàna where there is security, calm and bliss.”
“What are the perfumes in the city of righteousness?”
They are the undertaking of the restraints of the three ref-
uges, the five precepts, the eight precepts, the ten precepts,
and the Pàtimokkha restraint for monks. For this was said by
the Blessed One:
“No flower’s scent can waft against the wind,
Not sandalwood’s, nor musk’s, nor jasmine flower’s.
But the fragrance of the good goes against the wind
In all directions the good man’s name pervades.”223
“What are the fruits in the city of righteousness?”
“They are the fruit of stream-winner, the fruit of once-
returner, the fruit of non-returner, the fruit of arahantship,
the attainment of emptiness, the attainment of signlessness
and the attainment of desirelessness.”224
223.Dhp. v 54.

“What is the antidote in the city of righteousness?”
“The Four Noble Truths are the antidote to counteract the
poison of the defilements. Whoever longs for the highest
insight and hears this teaching is set free from birth, old
age, death, sorrow, pain, grief, lamentation and despair.”
“What is the medicine in the city of righteousness?”
“Certain medicines, O king, have been made known by the
Blessed One by which he cures gods and men. They are
these: the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right
efforts, the four bases of success, the five controlling facul-
ties, the five moral powers, the seven factors of enlighten-
ment, and the eightfold noble path. With these medicines
the Blessed One cures men of wrong views, wrong thought,
wrong speech, wrong actions, wrong livelihood, wrong
effort, wrong mindfulness and wrong concentration. He
rids them of desire, hatred and delusion, pride, personality-
belief, doubt, restlessness, sloth and torpor, shamelessness
and recklessness and all other defilements.
“What is the nectar in the city of righteousness?”
“Mindfulness of the body is like nectar, for all beings who
are infused with this nectar of mindfulness of the body are
relieved of all suffering. For this was said by the Blessed
One:
“They enjoy the nectar of the deathless
who practise mindfulness of the body.”225
224.One with great resolution contemplates impermanence and attains signlessness, one
with great tranquillity contemplates unsatisfactoriness and attains desirelessness, one
with great wisdom contemplates not-self and attains emptiness.
225.A. i. 45.

“What are the precious jewels in the city of righteousness?”
“Virtue, concentration, wisdom, freedom, knowledge and
vision of freedom, knowledge of discrimination and the
factors of enlightenment are the precious jewels of the
Blessed One.
* “What is the precious jewel of virtue?
It is the virtue of restraint by the Pàtimokkha rules,
the virtue of restraint of the sense faculties, the vir-
tue of right livelihood, the virtue of reflection on the
proper use of the four requisites of almsfood, medi-
cine, robes and lodgings, the virtue of restraint
according to the major, middle and minor codes of
discipline226 and the habitual virtue of the noble
ones.
* “What is the precious jewel of concentration?
It is the first jhàna with initial application and sus-
tained application, the second jhàna without initial
application but with sustained application, the
third jhàna with neither initial nor sustained appli-
cation but with pure joy, bliss and one-pointedness;
and it is the concentration on emptiness, on sign-
lessness and desirelessness. When a monk wears
this jewel of concentration, evil, unprofitable
thoughts are shed from his mind like water from a
lotus leaf.
226.Described in detail in the Sàma¤¤a Phala Sutta of the Dãgha Nikàya, these disciplines list
all kinds of wrong livelihood for a monk, such as fortune telling and getting involved
in householder’s business, and all misbehaviour such as playing games.

* “What is the precious jewel of wisdom?
It is the knowledge of what is wholesome and what
unwholesome, what blameless and what blame-
worthy, and knowledge of the Four Noble Truths.
* “What is the precious jewel of freedom?
Arahantship is the gem of gems, the precious jewel of
freedom adorned with which a monk outshines all
others.
* “What is the precious jewel of knowledge and vision
of freedom?
It is the knowledge by which the noble disciple re-
views the paths, the fruits and nibbàna, and reflects
on the defilements that have been got rid of and the
defilements that still remain.
* “What is the precious jewel of knowledge of
discrimination?
It is the analytical insight of meaning, law, language
and intelligence. Whoever is adorned with this jewel
is unafraid when approaching any kind of assembly,
confident in the knowledge that he can answer any
kind of question that might be put to him.
* “What is the precious jewel of the factors of
enlightenment?
They are the jewels of mindfulness, investigation of
truth, energy, joy, tranquillity, concentration and
equanimity. Adorned with these jewels the monk
illumines the world with his virtuousness.”