Khuddaka Nikaya - Milinda Panha - The Solving of Dilemmas VII

Khuddaka Nikaya - Milinda Panha - The Solving of Dilemmas VII

The Debate of King Milinda
edited by Bhikkhu Pesala

Chapter 14
The Solving of Dilemmas (VII)
61. Be Without Impediments
“The Blessed One said, ‘Live devoted to
and delighting in that which is without
impediments.’
198 What is it that is without
impediments?”
“The four fruits of the path and nibbàna are without
impediments.”
“But, Nàgasena, if that is so why do the monks con-
cern themselves with learning the Buddha’s discourses and
with building repairs and offerings to the Order?”
“Those monks who do these things need to free their
minds from impediments before they can attain the four
fruits but those who are pure by nature have done such pre-
paratory work in former births and can easily attain the
fruits without such preparations. Just as in some areas a
farmer can successfully grow crops without a fence but
elsewhere he must first build a fence or a wall before he can
grow a crop; or as one with supernormal powers can easily
pick the fruits at the top of a tall tree but others have to con-
struct a ladder first. Likewise, learning, enquiry, and other
works are like a ladder and are helpful to those monks to
reach the fruits of the four attainments. So long as there is
need of discipleship, when even those like Venerable
198.Untraced, but cf. M. i. 65.

Sàriputta find it impossible to attain arahantship without a
teacher, so there will be a use for recitation of the scriptures
and thus will those disciples become free from obstructions
and attain arahantship.”
62. The Lay Arahant
“You say that if a layman attains arahantship he must either
enter the Order that very day or die and attain
parinibbàna.
199
Yet if he is unable to find a robe and bowl
and preceptor then that exalted condition of arahantship is a
waste, for destruction of life is involved in it.”
“The fault does not lie with arahantship but with the
state of a layman, because it is too weak to support
arahantship. Just as, O king, although food protects the life
of beings it will take away the life of one whose digestion is
weak – so too, if a layman attains arahantship he must,
because of the weakness of that condition, enter the Order
that very day or die.”
63. The Offences of Arahants
“You say that an arahant cannot be of confused mind-
fulness.
200 Can he then commit any offence?”
“He can O king, as regards the size of his hut, by
acting as a go-between, eating at the wrong time, eating
what is not offered or in thinking he has not been invited
when he has.”
199.Untraced, but a layperson can attain arahantship.
200.cf. Pts. contr. 114.

“But you say that those who fall into an offence do so
either from ignorance or disrespect. If an arahant can fall
into an offence and there is no disrespect in an arahant then
is there confusion of mindfulness?”
“No there is no confusion of mindfulness in an
arahant. There are two kinds of offence. There are those
things that are blameworthy in the eyes of the world, such
as killing, stealing, etc., and there are those things that are
only blameworthy for a monk, such as eating at the wrong
time, damaging trees and plants or playing in the water,
and many other things of a similar kind. These things, O
king, are not wrong in the eyes of the world but they are
wrong for a monk. An arahant is incapable of transgressing
the former type of precept but he may break the other kind
because he doesn’t know everything. He may not know the
time of day or the name and clan of some woman but every
arahant knows about freedom from suffering.”
64. What is Not Found in the World
“There are many different things found in the world,
Nàgasena, but tell me what is not to be found in the
world.”
“There are three things, O king, that are not to be
found in the world: anything, either conscious or uncon-
scious, that does not decay and perish, that formation
(saïkhàra) or conditioned thing that is permanent, and in
the ultimate sense there is no such thing as a being.”201
201.Untraced

65. The Uncaused
“Nàgasena, there are things in the world that have come
into existence through kamma, others are the result of a
cause, and others are produced by season. Tell me, is there
anything that does not fall into either of these three
categories?”
“There are two such things, O king; space and nibbàna.”
“Do not, Venerable Nàgasena, corrupt the words of
the Conqueror, or answer a question without knowing what
you are saying!”
“What have I said, O king, that you speak to me thus?”
“Venerable sir, it is right what you say about space
but with hundreds of reasons did the Blessed One proclaim
to his disciples the way to the realisation of nibbàna and yet
you say that nibbàna is not the result of any cause.”
“It is true, O king, that in many ways did the Blessed
One point out a way to the realisation of nibbàna but he did
not point out a cause for the arising of nibbàna.”
“Here, Nàgasena, we go from darkness to greater
darkness; from uncertainty to utter confusion. If there is a
father of a child we would expect to find a father of the
father. Just so, if there is a cause for the realisation of nibbàna
we would expect to find a cause for its arising.”
“Nibbàna, O king, is unconstructed, therefore no cause
has been pointed out for its production. It cannot be said of
nibbàna that it has arisen or can arise; that it is past, present or
future; or cognizable by the eye, ear, nose, tongue or body.”
“Then, Nàgasena, nibbàna is a condition that does not
exist!”

“Nibbàna does exist, O king, and can be cognized by
the mind.
A noble disciple whose mind is pure, lofty, sincere,
unobstructed and free from craving can attain nibbàna.”
“Then explain by means of similes what nibbàna is.”
“Is there such a thing as the wind?”
“Yes there is.”
“Then explain by means of similes what the wind is.”
“It is not possible to explain what the wind is by
means of similes but it exists all the same.”
“Just so, O king, nibbàna exists but it is impossible to
describe.”
66. Modes of Production
“What is it that is kamma-born, what cause-born, and what
season-born? What is it that is none of these?”
“All beings, O king are kamma-born. Fire, and all things
growing out of seeds are cause-born. The earth, water and
wind are season-born. Space and nibbàna exist independent-
ly of kamma, cause and season. Of nibbàna, O king, it cannot
be said that it is perceptible by the five senses, but it is per-
ceptible by the mind. The disciple whose mind is pure, and
free from obstructions, can perceive nibbàna.
67. Demons
“Are there such things as yakkhas (demons) in the world?”
“Yes, O king, there are.”

“Then why aren’t the remains of dead yakkhas seen?”
“Their remains are to be seen in the form of insects,
such as maggots, ants, moths, snakes, scorpions, centipedes
and other wild creatures.”
“Who else, Nàgasena, could have solved this puzzle
except one as wise as you!”
68. Laying Down of Rules for Monks
“Those who are famous doctors are able to prescribe suit-
able medicine for a disease before the disease has arisen
even though they are not omniscient. Why then, did the
Tathàgata not lay down the rules for monks before the
occasion arose but only when an offence had been commit-
ted and a great hue and cry was heard.”
“The Tathàgata, O king, knew beforehand that all one
hundred and fifty202 rules would have to be laid down but
he thought, ‘If I lay down all of these rules at once there will
be those who will not enter the Order for fear of the many
regulations to be observed, therefore I will lay down the
rules as the need arises’.”203
69. The Heat of the Sun
“Why is the heat of the sun sometimes fierce and some-
times not?”
202.Mentioned also in Dilemma 54. Perhaps 150 rules were referred to as the 75 training
rules are common to novices as well and hence there were 152 rules exclusively for
monks.
203. cf. Vin. iii. 9, 10

“Obscured by four things, O king, the sun does not
shine fiercely; by storm clouds, by mist, by dust clouds, or
by the moon.”204
“It is remarkable, Nàgasena, that the glorious sun,
mighty though it is, could be obscured; how much more
then, other beings!”
70. The Winter Sun
“Why is the sun more fierce in winter than in summer?”
“In the winter the sky is clear so the sun shines
fiercely but in the summer dust rises up and clouds
accumulate in the sky so the heat of the sun is reduced.”
—}{—
204. cf. Vin. 1295, A. 153. “Obscured by four things, O monks, the sun does not shine fiercely;
by storm clouds, by mist, by dust clouds, or by eclipse. Obscured by four things recluses
do not shine; by drinking intoxicants, by sexual relations, by accepting gold and silver,
by wrong livelihood.” Hence this dilemma is not at all out of place here