King Milinda’s QuestionsThe Great ChapterA Question on Concepts King Milinda went up to Nāgasena, exchanged polite and friendly greetings, and took his seat respectfully to one side. Then Milinda began by asking:
1. “How is your reverence known, and what sir, is your name?”
“O king, I am known as Nāgasena but that is only a designation in common use, for no permanent individual can be found.” Then Milinda called upon the Bactrian Greeks and the monks to bear witness:
“This Nāgasena says that no permanent individual is implied in his name. Is it possible to approve of that?” Then he turned to Nāgasena and said, “If, most venerable Nāgasena, that is true, who is it who gives you robes, food and shelter? Who lives the righteous life? Or again, who kills living beings, steals, commits adultery, tells lies or takes strong drink? If what you say is true then
there is neither merit nor demerit, nor is there any doer of good or evil deeds and no result of kamma. If, venerable sir, a man were to kill you there would be no murder, and it follows that there are no masters or teachers in your Order. You say that you are called Nāgasena; now what is that Nāgasena? Is it the hair?”
“I don’t say that, great king.” “Is it then the nails, teeth, skin or other parts of the body?”
“Certainly not.” “Or is it the body, or feelings, or perceptions, or formations, or consciousness?1 Is it all of these
combined? Or is it something outside of them that is Nāgasena?”
Still Nāgasena answered: “It is none of these.” “Then, ask as I may, I can discover no Nāgasena. Nāgasena is an empty sound. Who is it we see before us? It is a falsehood that your reverence has spoken.” “You, sir, have been reared in great luxury as becomes your noble birth. How did you come here, by
foot or in a chariot?”
“In a chariot, venerable sir.” “Then, explain sir, what that is. Is it the axle? Or the wheels, or the chassis, or reins, or yoke that is the chariot? Is it all of these combined, or is it something apart from them?”
“It is none of these things, venerable sir.” “Then, sir, this chariot is an empty sound. You spoke falsely when you said that you came here in a chariot. You are a great king of India. Who are you afraid of that you don’t speak the truth?” Then he called upon the Bactrian Greeks and the monks to bear witness: “This King Milinda has said that he came here in a chariot but when asked what it is, he is unable to show it. Is it possible to approve of that?” Then the five hundred Bactrian Greeks shouted their approval and said to the king, “Get out of that if you can!” “Venerable sir, I have spoken the truth. It is because it has all these parts that it comes under the term chariot.”
“Very good, sir, your majesty has rightly grasped the meaning. Even so it is because of the thirty-two kinds of organic matter in a human body and the five aggregates of being1 that I come under the term
‘Nāgasena.’ As it was said by Sister Vajīra in the presence of the Blessed One, ‘Just as it is by the existence of the various parts that the word “Chariot” is used, just so is it that when the aggregates of being are there we talk of a being.’”2 “Most wonderful, Nāgasena, most extraordinary that you have solved this puzzle, difficult though it was. If the Buddha himself were here he would approve of your reply.” 2. “How many ‘rains’3 do you have Nāgasena?”
“Seven, your majesty.” “How can you say it is your seven; is it you who are seven or the number that is seven?”
Then Nāgasena said, “Your shadow is now on the ground. Are you the king, or is the shadow the king?” “I am the king, Nāgasena, but the shadow comes into being because of me.”
“Just so, O king, the number of the years is seven, I am not seven, but it is because of me that the number seven comes into being and it is mine in the same sense as the shadow is yours.” “Most wonderful, Nāgasena, and extraordinary. Well has this puzzle been solved by you, difficult as it
was.” 3. Then the king said, “Venerable sir, will you discuss with me again?”
“If your majesty will discuss as a scholar, yes; but if you will discuss as a king, no.” “How is it then that scholars discuss?”
“When scholars discuss there is a summing up and an unravelling; one or other is shown to be in error. He admits his mistake, yet he does not become angry.” “Then how is it that kings discuss?”
“When a king discusses a matter and advances a point of view, if anyone differs from him on that point he is apt to punish him.” “Very well then, it is as a scholar that I will discuss. Let your reverence talk without fear.”
“It is well your majesty.” “Nāgasena, I will ask a question”, said the king.
“Ask it sir.” “I have asked it, your reverence.”
“Then I have answered.” “What have you answered?”
“What have you asked?” Thinking, “This monk is a great scholar, he is quite able to discuss things with me”, the king instructed
his minister, Devamantiya, to invite him to the palace with a large company of monks and went away muttering, “Nāgasena, Nāgasena.” 4. So, Devamantiya, Anantakāya and Mankura went to Nāgasena’s hermitage to accompany the monks to the palace. As they were walking along together Anantakāya said to Nāgasena, “When, your
reverence, I say, ‘Nāgasena’ what is that Nāgasena?”
“What do you think that Nāgasena is?” “The soul, the inner breath, which comes and goes.” “But if that breath, having gone out, should not return would that man still be alive?”
“Certainly not.” “And when those trumpeters and the like have blown their trumpets does their breath return to them?”
“No venerable sir, it doesn’t.” “Then why don’t they die?”
“I am not capable of arguing with you sir, pray tell me how it is.” “There is no soul in the breath. These inhalations and exhalations are merely constituent powers of the bodily frame.” Then the elder4 talked to him on the Abhidhamma and Anantakāya was satisfied with his explanation. 5. Then, after the monks had arrived at the palace and finished their meal, the king sat down on a low seat and asked, “What shall we discuss?”
“Let our discussion be about the Dhamma.” Then the king said, “What is the purpose, your reverence, of your going forth and what is the final goal
at which you aim?”
“Our going forth is for the purpose that this suffering may be extinguished and that no further suffering may arise; the complete extinction of grasping without remainder is our final goal.” “Is it, venerable sir, for such noble reasons that everyone joins the Order?”
“No. Some enter to escape the tyranny of kings, some to be safe from robbers, some to escape from debt and some perhaps to gain a livelihood. However, those who enter rightly do so for the complete extinction of grasping.” 6. The king said, “Is there anyone who is not reborn after death?”
“Yes there is. The one who has no defilements is not reborn after death; the one who has defilements is reborn.” “Will you be reborn?”
“If I die with attachment in my mind, yes; but if not, no.” 7. “Does one who escapes from rebirth do so by the power of wise attention?”
“He escapes both by wise attention and by wisdom, confidence, virtue, mindfulness, energy, and concentration.” “Is wise attention the same as wisdom?”
“No. Animals have wise attention but they do not have wisdom.” 8. “What, Nāgasena, is the characteristic mark of wise attention (yoniso manasikāro); and what that of
wisdom (paññā)?”
“Taking hold is the mark of wise attention, cutting off is the mark of wisdom.” “Give me an illustration.”
“How do barley reapers reap the barley?” “They grasp the barley into a bunch with the left hand and, with a sickle in the right hand, they cut the
barley.”
“Just so, O king, the recluse takes hold of his mind with wise attention and cuts of the defilements with wisdom.” 9. “What, Nāgasena, is the characteristic mark of virtue (sīla)?”
“Supporting, O king, for it is the basis of all good qualities: the five controlling faculties5 and the five moral powers,5 the seven factors of enlightenment6 the eight factors of the noble path,7 the four foundations of mindfulness8 the four right efforts,9 the four bases of success,10 the four absorptions,11 the eight freedoms,12 the four modes of concentration13 and the eight great attainments.14 Each of these has virtue as its support and in him who builds on it as the foundation all these good conditions will not decrease.” “Give me an illustration.”
“Just, O king, as all forms of animal and plant life flourish with the earth as their support, so does the recluse, with virtue as the support, develop the five controlling faculties and so on.9 And this was said by the Blessed One: 10. “What is the characteristic mark of confidence (saddhā)?”
“Clarification (sampasādana) and inspiration (sampakkhandana).”
“What is the characteristic mark of clarification?”
“As confidence arises, the mind breaks through the veil of the five hindrances and the mind becomes clear, serene, and undisturbed; thus confidence clarifies.” 11. “What is the characteristic mark of inspiration?”
“Inspiration is the mark when the meditator, perceiving how the minds of others have been set free, aspires to the attainment of what he has not yet reached, to the experience of what he has not yet felt and the realisation of what he has not yet understood. For this was said by the Blessed One: “By confidence he crosses over the flood,
By vigilance the sea of life,
By steadfastness all grief he stills,
By wisdom he is purified.”16
12. “What, venerable sir, is the characteristic mark of energy (vīriya)?”
“Reinforcing, O king, so that those good qualities, which it supports, do not fall away.”
“Give me an illustration.”
“Just as, O king, when his army has been broken up by a larger one the king would call to mind every possible ally to reinforce his army and break up the large army. Thus reinforcing is the mark of energy. For this was said by the Blessed One: 13. “What, Nāgasena, is the characteristic mark of mindfulness (sati)?”
“Noting and keeping in mind. As mindfulness springs up in the mind of the recluse, he repeatedly notes the wholesome and unwholesome, blameless and blameworthy, insignificant and important, dark and light qualities and those that resemble them thinking, ‘These are the four foundations of mindfulness, these the four right efforts, these the four bases of success, these the five controlling faculties, these
the five moral powers, these the seven factors of enlightenment, these are the eight factors of the noble path, this is serenity, this insight, this vision and this freedom.’ Thus does he cultivate those qualities that are desirable and shun those that should be avoided.” “Give me an illustration.”
“It is like a king’s treasurer who reminds his master of the size of the army and the amount of wealth in his treasury.” “How is keeping in mind a mark of mindfulness?”
“As mindfulness springs up in the mind, he searches out the categories of good qualities and their opposites thinking, ‘Such and such qualities are beneficial and such are harmful.’ Thus does he make
what is unwholesome in himself disappear and maintain what is good.” “Give me an illustration.”
“It is like the Prime Minister of the king who advises him on the right course of action. And this was said by the Blessed One: 14. “What, Nāgasena, is the characteristic mark of concentration (samādhi)?”
“Leading, O king, for all good qualities have concentration as their chief; they incline to it, lead up towards it.” “Give me an illustration.”
“As the rafters of a house incline and lead up to the ridge-pole and the ridge-pole is the highest point of the roof. So too all good qualities incline and lead up to concentration. And this was said by the Blessed One: 15. “What, Nāgasena, is the characteristic mark of wisdom?”
“Illuminating (obhāsana),20 O king. When wisdom springs up in the mind it dispels the darkness of ignorance, causes the radiance of vision to arise, makes the light of knowledge shine forth and makes
the noble truths plain. Thus does the meditator perceive with the clearest wisdom, the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and soullessness of all formations.” “Give me an illustration.”
“It is like a lamp, O king, which in a dark room would illuminate it and make the objects there plainly visible.” 16. “These qualities that are so different, Nāgasena, do they bring about one and the same result?”
“They do, the destruction of the defilements of the mind, just as the various parts of an army such as elephants, cavalry, war chariots, and archers bring about one result — the conquest of the opposing army.” “Well put Nāgasena, you are clever in reply.” In this chapter there are sixteen questions | 
