Khuddaka Nikaya - Milinda Panha - The Solving of Dilemmas I

Khuddaka Nikaya - Milinda Panha - The Solving of Dilemmas I

The Debate of King Milinda
edited by Bhikkhu Pesala

Chapter 8
The Solving of Dilemmas (I)
After pondering the whole night on the
discussions he had had with Nàgasena, the
king took upon himself eight vows: “For
these seven days I will decide no case of
law, I will harbour no thought of desire,
hatred or delusion. Towards all servants and dependants I
shall be humble. I shall watch carefully over every bodily
act and my six senses. I shall fill my mind with loving-
kindness for all beings.”
Then he desired to talk with Nàgasena alone saying,
“There are eight places to be avoided by him who wants to
discuss deeply: uneven ground where the matter consid-
ered becomes scattered, verbose, diffuse and comes to
nothing; unsafe places where the mind is disturbed by fear
and so does not perceive the meaning clearly; windy places
where the voice is indistinct; in secluded places there may
be eavesdroppers; in sacred places the subject of discussion
may be diverted to the serious surroundings; on a road it
may become banal; on a bridge it may become unsteady
and wavering; and at a public bathing place it would be-
come a matter of common talk.
“Again there are eight kinds of people, Nàgasena,
who are apt to spoil the discussion; the lustful, the angry or
deluded man, the proud, the covetous, the sluggard, the

man of one idea, and the poor fool — these eight are the
spoilers of high argument.
“There are eight causes, Nàgasena, of the develop-
ment and maturing of intelligence: the advance of years,
the growth of reputation, frequent questioning, association
with a spiritual guide, one’s own reasoning, discussion,
association with the virtuous and dwelling in a suitable
place. This spot is free from objections to talking matters
over and I am a model pupil; I am discreet and my insight
is mature.
“These, Nàgasena, are the twenty-five duties of a
teacher towards his worthy pupil: he must always protect
his pupil, let him know what to cultivate and what to avoid,
what he should be earnest about and what neglect. He
should instruct him as to sleep, keeping in health, what
food to accept or reject, teach him moderation in food, and
share with him what he gets in his own almsbowl. He
should encourage him when he is discouraged and advise
him as to suitable company, villages and monasteries to
frequent. He should never indulge in joking or foolish talk
with him. Having seen any defect he should be patient with
him. He should be diligent, one who fulfils the precepts,
worthy of respect and open-hearted. He should regard him
as a son, strive to bring him forward, make him strong in
knowledge, love him, never desert him in need, never
neglect any duty and help him back onto the right path
when he stumbles.”
“O king, there are these ten qualities of a lay disciple.
He should share the joy and sorrow of the Order, take the
Dhamma as his guide, delight in giving as far as he is able and

should strive to revive the religion if it is in decay. He holds
right views and, being one free from the excitement of
celebrating festivals,
57 he does not run after another teacher
even for the sake of his life. He keeps watch over his thoughts,
words and deeds, delights in harmony and is unbiased. As he
is no hypocrite he takes refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and
Saïgha. All of these qualities are present in you, hence it is
proper and becoming in you that, seeing the decay in the
religion of the conqueror, you desire its prosperity. I give you
leave to ask me whatever you wish.”
1. On Honours Paid to the Buddha
Then, when leave had been granted, Milinda paid homage
and, with his hands joined in reverence, began by asking:
“Venerable Nàgasena, the leaders of other sects say, ‘If
the Buddha agrees to honour and gifts then he is not entirely
free from the world. Therefore any service rendered to him
becomes empty and vain.’ Tear apart this tangle of wrong-
views, solve this dilemma and give insight to the future
sons of the Buddha with which to refute their adversaries.”
“The Blessed One, O king, is entirely set free and has
no attachment to either gifts or honour paid to him.”
“Nàgasena, a son may speak in praise of his father, or
a father in praise of his son but that is not sufficient grounds
to silence the critics.”
57. cf. A. iii. 206. One of five qualities which lead to one being an outcaste. He is not one who
believes in the performance of rituals, or in omens; but he believes in deeds, so he
celebrates festivals by observing the eight precepts, listening to the Dhamma and
practising meditation

“Even though the Blessed One has now passed away
and cannot be said to accept gifts and honours paid to him
yet deeds done in his name are of value and bear great fruit.
As a great and mighty wind that blew, even so the Blessed
One has blown over the world with his love, so soothing, so
gentle and so pure. Like men tormented by heat and fever
are soothed by a cool wind, so, too, beings tormented by the
heat of desire, hatred and delusion are pacified by the sub-
lime teaching of the Blessed One. Although, great king, the
Blessed One has entirely passed away, he has left behind
his doctrine, his discipline and his precious relics whose
value derives from his virtue, concentration, wisdom and
freedom. Beings afflicted by the sorrows of becoming can
still receive the benefits of these things, as those who have
fans can still make a breeze although the wind has subsid-
ed. This was foreseen by the Blessed One when he said, ‘It
may be, ânanda, that some of you may think, “The word of
the master is ended; we have no teacher any more”, but you
should not regard it so. The Dhamma that has been
preached by me and the rules that I have laid down, let
them be your teachers when I am gone’.
58
“Hear another reason, O king. Did you ever hear that
the ogre Nandaka, who dared to strike the Elder Sàriputta,
was swallowed up by the earth?”
“Yes, venerable sir, that is common knowledge.”
“Did Venerable Sàriputta acquiesce in that?”
“Venerable Sàriputta would never agree to any pain
being inflicted on a fellow creature, for he had rooted out
all anger.”
58.D. ii. 154.

“Then, if Sàriputta did not consent to it, why was
Nandaka swallowed up by the earth?”
“It was because of the power of his evil deed.”
“How many, O king, are those who have been
swallowed up by the earth?”
“There are five, venerable sir; Ci¤ca the Brahmin
woman,
59 Suppabuddha the Sàkyan,
60 Devadatta,
61 Nandaka
the ogre62 and Nanda the Brahman63 — these have been
swallowed up by the earth.”
“And whom, O king, had they wronged?”
“The Blessed One or his disciples.”
“Therefore, O king, an act done to the Tathàgata, not-
withstanding his having passed away, is nevertheless of
value and bears fruit.”
“Well has this deep question been explained by you,
Nàgasena. You have disclosed that which was hidden,
undone the knot, cleared the thicket, refuted the false view
and the sectarians have been shrouded in darkness by you,
the best of all the leaders of schools.”
2. The Omniscience of the Buddha
“Nàgasena, was the Buddha omniscient?”
“Yes, O king, but the insight of knowledge was not
59.DhA. iii. 178, Commentary on Dhp. v 176. She was persuaded by the Buddha’s
opponents to accuse him of being her lover.
60.DhA. iii. 44 f, Commentary on Dhp. v 128. He was the father of Yasodharà and
Devadatta and while drunk stood in the road obstructing the Buddha.
61.DhA. i. 147 f, Commentary on Dhp. v 17. He attempted to kill the Buddha.
62.Vism. 380. He was the yakkha who struck Sàriputta on the head.
63.DhA. ii. 49, Commentary on Dhp. 69. He was a youth who raped the beautiful nun
Upalavaõõa, who was an arahant.

always with him. It depended on reflection.”
“Then, Nàgasena, the Buddha could not have been
omniscient if his knowledge was reached through re-
flection.”
“I will explain further. There are seven classes of men-
tal ability. Firstly, there are ordinary people (puthujjana)
who are full of desire, hatred and delusion; untrained in
their action, speech and thought; their thinking acts slowly
and with difficulty.
“Secondly, there are stream-winners who have
attained to right view and rightly grasped the Master’s
teaching. Their thinking powers are quick and function
easily as far as the first three fetters are concerned but
beyond that they function slowly and with difficulty.
“Thirdly, there are once-returners in whom desire
and hatred are reduced. Their thinking powers work
quickly and easily as far as the five lower fetters are
concerned but slowly and with difficulty beyond that.
“Fourthly, there are non-returners in whom desire
and hatred are eliminated. Their thinking powers work
quickly and easily as far as the ten fetters but slowly and
with difficulty beyond that.
“Fifthly, there are the arahants in whom the floods of
sensual desire, desire for rebirth, personality-belief and
ignorance have ceased, who have lived the holy life and
reached their final goal. Their thinking powers work
quickly as far as the range of a disciple is concerned but
slowly and with difficulty beyond that.
64
64.There is no lack in their wisdom, but as regards knowledge of former lives or
knowledge of the spiritual faculties of beings there is

“Sixthly, there are Solitary Buddhas who are depend-
ent on themselves alone, needing no teacher. Their thinking
powers work quickly as far as their own range is concerned
but as regards that which is exclusively the range of the
Perfectly Enlightened Ones their thinking works slowly
and with difficulty. Like a man who would readily cross a
small river that was on his own property but would hesi-
tate to cross the great ocean.
“Lastly, there are Perfectly Enlightened Buddhas who
have all knowledge, are endowed with the ten powers, the
four modes of fearlessness, and the eighteen characteristics
of a Buddha. Their thinking powers are quickly exercised
without sluggishness in any area of knowledge. As a sharp
bolt on a powerful crossbow would easily pass through a
thin cloth, just so their knowledge is unimpeded and easily
outclasses the other six. It is because their minds are so clear
and agile that the Buddhas can display the Twin Miracle.
65
From that we may only guess how clear and active their
powers are. For all these wonders there is no reason other
than reflection that can be asserted.”
“Nevertheless, Nàgasena, reflection is carried out for
the purpose of seeking out what was not already clear
before the reflection began.”
“A rich man would not be called poor just because
there was no food prepared when a traveller arrived at his
house unexpectedly; nor would a tree be called barren
when it was fully laden just because no fruit had yet fallen
65.A feat of supernormal power where fountains of fire and water issue simultaneously
from each pore of his body

on the ground. So too the Buddha is indeed omniscient
although his knowledge is gained through reflection.”
3. Devadatta’s Ordination
“If the Buddha was both omniscient and full of compassion
why did he admit Devadatta to the Order, since by causing
a schism66 [which only a bhikkhu can do] he was thereby
consigned to hell for an aeon?67 If the Buddha did not know
what Devadatta would do then he was not omniscient and
if he knew then he was not compassionate.”
“The Blessed One was both omniscient and full of
compassion. It was because he foresaw that Devadatta’s
suffering would become limited that he admitted him to
the Order. As a man of influence might have a criminal’s
sentence mitigated from execution to the cutting off of
hands and feet but would not thereby be responsible for the
pain and suffering that that man had to undergo, or as a
clever physician would make a critical disease lighter by
giving a powerful purgative, so did the Buddha reduce the
future suffering of Devadatta by admitting him to the
Order. After he has suffered for the rest of the aeon in
purgatory Devadatta will be released and become a
Solitary Buddha by the name of Aññhissara.”
“Great is the gift bestowed, Nàgasena, by the Blessed
One on Devadatta. The Tathàgata pointed out the road to
him when he was lost in the jungle, he gave him a firm
66.Schism occurs when two groups of four or more monks living within the same
boundary recite the Pàtimokkha separately.
67. Kappa, or Kalpa, see footnote to Dilemma 10.

foothold when he was falling down a precipice. Yet the
reason and meaning for this could only have been pointed
out by one as wise as you!”
4. Causes of Earthquakes
“The Buddha said, Nàgasena, that there are eight causes of
a great earthquake.
68 Yet we find that there is a ninth cause
also mentioned in the texts. When the Bodhisatta Ves-
santara fulfilled the perfection of generosity by giving
away his wife and children as servants then, too, did the
great earth shake. If the former statement of the Buddha is
true then the latter is false.”
“Both statements, O king, are correct. The gift of Ves-
santara was not mentioned as a ninth cause of a great earth-
quake because it is an extremely rare occurrence. Just as the
dried up creek that does not usually hold water is not called
a river, but in times of exceptional rainfall it becomes a
river, so too the largesse of Vessantara was an isolated and
extraordinary occurrence, and for that reason one distinct
from the eight usual causes of a great earthquake.
“Have you ever heard, O king, in the history of our
religion of any act of devotion that gave its result in this
very life?”
“Yes, venerable Nàgasena, there are seven such cases:
Sumana the garland maker,
69
Ekasàñaka the brahman,
70
68.D. ii. 107; A iv. 312.
69.DhA. ii. 40f, Dhp. v 68.
70.DhA. iii. 1, Dhp. v 116.

Puõõa the farm worker,
71 Mallikà the queen,
72 the queen
known as the mother of Gopàla,
73 Suppiyà the devoted
woman74 and Puõõà the slave-girl.”75
“But have you ever heard, O king, of the earth shak-
ing even once or twice when a gift had been given?”
“No, venerable sir, I have never heard of that.”
“I too, O king, have never heard of such a thing,
though I have been devoted to study and ready to learn,
except for this case of the splendid gift of Vessantara. It is
by no common effort, O king, that the great earth is moved.
It is when overburdened by the weight of righteousness,
overpowered by the burden of the goodness of acts that
testify to absolute purity; that, unable to support it, the
broad earth quakes and trembles. When Vessantara gave
his gift, O king, he was giving things away not for the sake
of a glorious rebirth, nor for future wealth, nor to receive
gifts in return, nor for flattery, nor for any other personal
gain, but only for the sake of supreme wisdom.”
5. Asseveration of Truth
“King Sãvi gave his eyes to someone who begged for them
and new eyes arose in their place.
76 How is this possible?”
71.DhA. iii. 302f, Dhp. v 223.
72.Jà. iii. 405, Dhp. v 177.
73.AA. i. 207f.
74.Vin. i. 217-8. Having promised meat broth to a monk she was unable to buy any meat
so she cut a piece from her own thigh prepared broth and offered it to the monk. When
the Buddha met her the wound healed miraculously. See also Dilemma 73.
75.DhA. iii. 321, Dhp. v 226.
76.Jà. No. 499.

“It was by the power of the truth that it happened. As
when mystics recite the truth they can make the rain fall,
drive back fire or neutralize poison.
“When Asoka the righteous ruler stood one day among
the townsfolk of Pàñaliputta he said to his ministers; ‘Is there
anyone who could make this great Ganges flow backwards
and upstream?’ Then a certain courtesan, named Bindumatã,
was in the crowd and she performed an act of truth. At that
very moment the mighty Ganges, roaring and raging, rolled
back upstream in sight of everyone. The king, awestruck,
sought out the woman who was the cause of this and asked
her, ‘What is the act of truth by which you did this?’ She re-
plied, ‘Whoever pays me, whether he is a brahmin, a noble, a
tradesman or a servant, I regard them all alike. Free from bias
I do service to him who has paid me. This is the basis of the
act of truth77 by which I turned the Ganges back.’
“There is no ordinary cause for those things to
happen but the power of truth is itself the cause. And there
is no reason for the realisation of the Four Noble Truths
other than the power of truth.”
6. The Dilemma Regarding Conception
“The Blessed One said, Nàgasena, that there is conception
in a womb with the coincidence of three causes; coitus of
the parents,
78 the mother’s season and a being to be born.
79
77.There are many examples in the Jàtaka, e.g. Jà. i. 214, 215. It is not necessary for the truth
averred to be commendable. cf. Jà. iv. 31-33.
78. See Ja. Nos. 497, 523, 526; and Vin. iii. 205f for examples of conception without sexual
intercourse.
79.M. i. 265, M. ii. 157.

However, he also said that when the ascetic Dukàla
touched the navel of the ascetic woman Pàrikà with his
thumb the boy Sàma was conceived.
80 If the first statement
is true then the latter must be false.”
“Both statements are true, O king, but you should not
think that there was any transgression in the latter case.
Sakka, the king of the gods, having seen that those virtuous
ascetics would become blind, entreated them to have a son.
However, they would not consent to intercourse even to
save their lives, so Sakka intervened by instructing Dukàla
and thus Sàma was conceived.”
7. The Duration of the Religion
“After the ordination of women, the Blessed One said that
the pure doctrine would only last for five hundred years.
81
However, to Subaddha he said, ‘So long as the brethren live
the perfect holy life then this world will not be bereft of
arahants.’ These statements are contradictory.”
“O king, the Blessed One did make both statements,
but they are different in the spirit and in the letter. One
deals with the duration of the pure doctrine whereas the
other deals with the practice of the religious life, two things
widely distinct. In saying five hundred years he was fixing
a limit to religion but in speaking to Subaddha he was de-
claring in what religion consisted. If the sons of the Buddha
continue to exert themselves in the five factors of striving,
82
80.Jà. No. 540.
81.The Sri Lankan text gives an alternative reading of 5,000 years.
82. Padhàna — Confidence, good health, honesty, energy and wisdom

have a sincere desire for the three trainings,
83 perfecting
themselves in conduct and virtue; then the glorious teach-
ing of the Conqueror will long endure and stand more and
more steadfast as the years roll on. The teaching of the Mas-
ter, O king, has its root in practice, practice is its essence,
and it stands as long as practice does not decline.
There are three modes of disappearance of a teaching.
The decline of the attainment to a clear insight into it, of
practice in accordance with it, and decline in the outward
form of it. When the intellectual grasp ceases then even the
man who conducts himself rightly has no clear understand-
ing of it. By the decline of practice, promulgation of the
Vinaya rules ceases and only the outward form of the reli-
gion remains. When the outward form ceases then the suc-
cession of the tradition is cut off.”
8. Purity of the Buddha
“If the Tathàgata destroyed all unwholesomeness in him-
self when he gained omniscience why did he get hurt by a
splinter of rock that was thrown by Devadatta? If he did
get hurt then he cannot have been free from all evil, for
there is no feeling without kamma. All feeling has its root
in kamma and it is only on account of kamma that feeling
arises.”
“No, great king, not all feeling has its root in kamma.
There are eight causes of the arising of feelings. Excess of
wind, of bile and of phlegm, the mixture of the three bodily
fluids, variations in temperature, stress of circumstances,
83. Sãla, samàdhi, pa¤¤à (Virtue, concentration and wisdom).

external agency and kamma. Whoever says, ‘It is only kam-
ma that oppresses beings’, thereby excludes the other seven
reasons and that statement of theirs is wrong.
“When one’s wind is disturbed it happens in one of
ten ways; by cold, by heat, by hunger, by thirst, by over-
eating, by standing too long, by over exertion, by running,
by medical treatment, or as a result of kamma. When the bile
is disturbed it is in one of three ways; by cold, by heat or by
unsuitable food. When the phlegm is disturbed it is in one
of three ways; by cold, by heat or by eating and drinking.
When these three disturbed fluids are mixed it brings about
its own distinctive pain. Then there are pains arising from
variations in temperature, stress of circumstances and by
external agencies. There is also that pain which has kamma
as its cause. So the pain that is due to kamma is much less
than that due to other causes. The ignorant go too far when
they say that everything that is experienced is produced as
the fruit of kamma. Without a Buddha’s insight no one can
ascertain the extent of the action of kamma.
When the Blessed One’s foot was grazed by the splin-
ter of rock the pain was produced only by external agency.
Although the Blessed One never suffered pain that was the
result of his own kamma, or brought about by the stress of
circumstances, he suffered pain from each of the other six
causes.
84
It was said, O king, by the Blessed One, ‘There are cer-
tain pains, Sãvaka, which arise from bilious humours and
you ought to know what they are for, it is a matter of com-
84.This is a controversial point. There are several references to the Buddha experiencing
the result of previous kamma collected at Ap. i. 299ff

mon knowledge. Those ascetics and Brahmans who are of
the opinion and proclaim the view that all feelings that men
experience are due to a previous act, go beyond certainty
and knowledge and therein I say that they are wrong’.”85
9. Perfection of the Buddha
“If the Tathàgata had accomplished everything under the
bodhi tree why did he spend a further three months in
solitude?86 If a man has eaten and is satisfied, what is the
use of further food; if a man is healthy, what is the use of
him taking medicine?”
“O king, solitary meditation has many benefits. All
the Tathàgatas attained to Buddhahood thereby and prac-
tised it in appreciation of its benefits to mankind. There are
twenty-eight benefits of solitude: it guards him, increases
his life expectancy, gives him vigour, conceals his failings,
removes any bad reputation and brings fame, destroys dis-
content and brings satisfaction, banishes fear and endows
him with confidence, removes sloth and fills him with zeal,
takes away desire, hatred and delusion, subdues pride, dis-
rupts discursive thought and makes the mind one-pointed,
softens his mind and makes him light-hearted, makes him
serious, brings him material gain, makes him worthy of
reverence, brings him joy, fills him with delight, shows him
the true nature of all formations, puts an end to rebirth, and
gains for him all the fruits of a life of renunciation. It is be-
85.S. iv. 230f, Moliya Sãvaka Sutta.
86.Between the enlightenment (Vesàkha) and the first sermon (Asàëha) there are only two
months, but there was an occasion when the Buddha spent three months in solitude.
cf.Commentary to Dhp. v 6.

cause the Tathàgata has in mind these manifold benefits
that he follows the practice of seclusion.
“There are altogether four reasons why the Tathà-
gatas devote themselves to solitude. For the sake of dwell-
ing at ease, because of its blameless qualities, because it is
the way to all noble things without exception, and because
it has been praised and exalted by all the Buddhas. It is not
because they have anything left to achieve or anything to
add to what they have already accomplished but only
because of these excellent advantages that they practice
seclusion.”
10. Equanimity of the Buddha
“The Buddha said that, if he wished, he could live for the
remainder of the world-cycle87 but he also said that he
would die at the end of three months.
88 How can both of
these statements be true?”
“Aeon, O king, in that connection means a man’s life-
span and what the Buddha said was in order to exalt the
bases of success (iddhipàda). The Blessed One was entirely
free from desire for any kind of future life and condemned
them all for he said, ‘I find no beauty in the smallest part of
future life, just as even a small quantity of excrement is of
bad smell’.”89
87.D. ii. 103. — A world-cycle (kappa) usually refers to a period of evolution and dissolution
of the world but here it means a man’s average life-span; about 100 years at the time of
the Buddha, now only 75 years. It is said to be reducing by one year every century. An
incalculable aeon (asaïkheyya) is much longer.
88.D. ii. 119.
89. A. i. 34.