Bhikkhu Pesala

The Debate of King Milinda

Online Edition

Select a linkPDF and Publishedr EditionsForeword and PrefaceIntroductionPrologueA Question on ConceptsThe Long JourneySustained ApplicationNibbana - Separation of PhenomenaThe Buddha - Did He Exist?Mindfulness - Attachment to the BodyMentality is Hard to Discern - MemoryThe Resolution of ParadoxesThe Psychic Powers ChapterThe Schism ChapterThe Dismissal ChapterThe Omniscience ChapterThe Dwellings ChapterThe Buddhas ChapterThe Impediments ChapterThe Vessantara ChapterThe Inference ChapterThe SimilesBibliographyGlossaryQuotations

You can now read the entire book online. I have added this for more convenient cross-referencing when disucssing Buddhism. This is just the second draft. I have checked the cross-references in the footnotes, and added anchors to each question. The Pali Quotations, which require the Gentium font to be installed, contain links back to the relevant translations. No doubt there are still many errors.

As always I am grateful for any feedback if you find some errors.

New PDF Edition

22nd June 2010

I have updated the PDF file again. This edition is fully indexed, and includes the glossary and list of Pali Quotations. The map of India was updated to add a few details. Since it is compiled from several different sources, it may not be geographically accurate. Click the image on the right to download the PDF file (1.55 Mbytes)

Paperback Edition

May, 2001

ISBN 983-9439-50-2

Inward Path Publishers

P.O. Box 1034
10830 Penang
MALAYSIA
Tel/Fax: 04-659-6696

Hardback Edition

Reprinted twice (1991 and 1998) by Motilal Banarsidass:

Available from: »» Wisdom Books

Motilal Barnarsidass in India is a big, and long established publisher.

A search for “Milinda” will soon find my book.

The Milinda Pañha is, with good reason, a famous work of Buddhist literature, probably compiled in the first century B.C. It presents Buddhist doctrine in a very attractive and memorable form as a dialogue between a Bactrian Greek king, Milinda, who plays the ‘Devil’s Advocate’ and a Buddhist sage, Nagasena. The topics covered include most of those questions commonly asked by Westerners such as “If there is no soul, what is it that is reborn?” and “If there is no soul, who inherits the results of kamma?”

This abridgement provides a concise presentation of this masterpiece of Buddhist literature. The introduction outlines the historical background against which the dialogues took place, indicating the meeting of two great cultures—that of ancient Greece and the Buddhism of the Indus valley, which was a legacy of the great Emperor Asoka.

Pocket-sized Edition

With a little patience, you can make your own A6 edition from my PDF file. Full instructions for binding are on the second page of the PDF file (874 Kbytes). This edition does not contain the glossary or Pāli quotations.

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