Bharatwiki Socrates: Created page with "{{Short description|Buddhist text dated between 100 BCE and 200 CE}} {{Infobox pali text|type=Paracanonical Text|parent=Khuddaka Nikaya|composition=1st Century BC - 2nd Century AD|abbrev=Mil}} The '''''Milindapañha''''' ({{lit|Questions of Milinda}}) is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, an..."

2023-11-26T07:34:54Z

Created page with "{{Short description|Buddhist text dated between 100 BCE and 200 CE}} {{Infobox pali text|type=Paracanonical Text|parent=Khuddaka Nikaya|composition=1st Century BC - 2nd Century AD|abbrev=Mil}} The '''''Milindapañha''''' ({{lit|Questions of Milinda}}) is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, an..."

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{{Short description|Buddhist text dated between 100 BCE and 200 CE}}
{{Infobox pali text|type=[[Paracanonical texts (Theravada Buddhism)|Paracanonical Text]]|parent=[[Khuddaka Nikaya]]|composition=1st Century BC - 2nd Century AD|abbrev=Mil}}
The '''''Milindapañha''''' ({{lit|Questions of Milinda}}) is a [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist text]] which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage [[Nāgasena]], and the [[2nd century BC]] [[Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek]] king [[Menander I]] ([[Pali]]: ''Milinda'') of [[Bactria]], in [[Sāgalā]], present-day [[Sialkot]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pesala (Bhikkhu.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CV77jyBU1WgC&pg=PR19 |title=The Debate of King Milinda: An Abridgement of the Milinda Pañha |date=1991 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0893-5 |pages=19 |language=en}}</ref>

The ''Milindapañhā'' is regarded as [[Pali Canon|canonical]] in [[Buddhism in Burma|Burmese Buddhism]], included as part of the book of ''[[Khuddaka Nikāya]]''.<ref>{{cite book|translator-last=Kelly|translator-first=John|title=Milindapañha: The Questions of King Milinda (excerpts)|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/miln/miln.intro.kell.html|year=2005|publisher=Access to Insight}}
</ref> An abridged version is included as part of Chinese [[Mahāyāna]] translations of the canon. The ''Milindapañha'' is not regarded as canonical by [[Buddhism in Thailand|Thai]] or [[Buddhism in Sri Lanka|Sri Lankan Buddhism]], however, despite the surviving [[Theravāda]] text being in Sinhalese script.

The Chinese text titled the Monk Nāgasena Sutra corresponds to the first three chapters of the Milindapañha.{{r|RhysDavids|pp=xi-xiv}} It was translated sometime during the [[Eastern Jin dynasty]] (317–420).<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/M/106|chapter=Milindapanha ［ミリンダ王問経］ (Pali; Mirindaō-monkyō)|title=The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism}}</ref>{{PaliCanon}}
{{TheravadaBuddhism}}

== History ==
[[File:King_Milinda_ask_questions.jpg|thumb|269x269px|King Milinda asks questions.|alt=|left]]
It is generally accepted by scholars<ref name=vonH>{{citation|last=von Hinüber|first=Oskar|authorlink=Oskar von Hinüber|title=A handbook of Pāli literature|date=2000|publisher=de Gruyter|location=Berlin [u.a.]|isbn=9783110167382|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8jPYUCy-GxQC}}</ref>{{rp|83–86, ¶173–179}} that the work is composite, with additions made over some time. In support of this, it is noted that the Chinese versions of the work are substantially shorter.<ref>According to Hinüber (2000), p. 83, ¶173, the first Chinese translation is believed to date from the 3rd century and is currently lost; a second Chinese translation, known as "Nagasena-bhiksu-sutra," (那先比丘經) [{{cite web|title=那先比丘經 Sutra|url=http://www.cbeta.org/result/T32/T32n1670b.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208080711/http://www.cbeta.org/result/T32/T32n1670b.htm |archive-date=2008-12-08|url-status=unfit|website=Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association}}] dates from the 4th century. The extant second translation is "much shorter" than that of the current Pali-language Mil.</ref>

The earliest part of the text is believed to have been written between 100 BC and 200 AD.{{r|vonH|at=85-86, ¶179}} The text may have initially been written in [[Sanskrit]]; [[Oskar von Hinüber]] suggests, based on an extant Chinese translation of Mil as well as some unique conceptualizations within the text, the text's original language might have been [[Gāndhārī language|Gandhari]].{{r|vonH|at=83, ¶173}} However, apart from the [[Sri Lanka]]n [[Pali]] edition and its derivatives, no other copies are known.

The oldest manuscript of the Pali text was copied in 1495 AD. Based on references within the text itself, significant sections of the text are lost, making Milinda the only Pali text known to have been passed down as incomplete.{{r|vonH|at=85, ¶78}}

It is mentioned in the ''[[Grande Inscription d'Angkor]]'' engraved in 1701 on the walls of [[Angkor Wat]] in [[Cambodia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Skilling |first=Peter |date=2001 |title=Some Literary References in the "Grande Inscription d'Angkor" (IMA 38) |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/asean_0859-9009_2001_num_8_1_1731 |journal=Aséanie, Sciences humaines en Asie du Sud-Est |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=58 |doi=10.3406/asean.2001.1731}}</ref>

The book is included in the inscriptions of the Canon approved by the Burmese [[Fifth Buddhist council|Fifth Council]] and the printed edition of the [[Sixth Buddhist council|Sixth Council]] text.

[[Thomas Rhys Davids]] says it is the greatest work of classical Indian prose, saying:

{{blockquote|"[T]he 'Questions of Milinda' is undoubtedly the masterpiece of Indian prose, and indeed is the best book of its class, from a literary point of view, that had then been produced in any country."{{r|RhysDavids|p=xlvi}}}}

[[Moriz Winternitz]] however maintains that this is true only of the earlier parts.<ref name=Winternitz>{{cite book|last=Winternitz|first=Moriz|authorlink=Moriz Winternitz|year=1920|url=https://archive.org/details/geschichtederind02wintuoft |chapter=Geschichte der indischen Litteratur|volume=2|title=Die buddhistische Litteratur und die heiligen Texte der Jainas|location=Leipzig|publisher=C.F. Amelang}}
</ref>{{rp|141}}

==Contents==
The contents of the ''Milindapañhā'' are:
#Background History
#Questions on Distinguishing Characteristics: (Characteristics of Attention and Wisdom, Characteristic of Wisdom, Characteristic of Contact, Characteristic of Feeling, Characteristic of Perception, Characteristic of Volition, Characteristic of Consciousness, Characteristic of Applied Thought, Characteristic of Sustained Thought, etc.)
#Questions for the Cutting Off of Perplexity: (Transmigration and Rebirth, The Soul, Non-Release From Evil Deeds, Simultaneous Arising in Different Places, Doing Evil Knowingly and Unknowingly, etc.)
#Questions on Dilemmas : Speaks of several puzzles and these puzzles were distributed in eighty-two dilemmas.
#A Question Solved By Inference
#Discusses the Special Qualities of Asceticism
#Questions on Talk of Similes

According to Oskar von Hinüber, while King Menander is an actual historical figure, Bhikkhu [[Nagasena]] is otherwise unknown, the text includes anachronisms, and the dialogue lacks any sign of Greek influence but instead is traceable to the [[Upanisad]]s.{{r|vonH|at=83, ¶172}}

The text mentions Nāgasena's father Soñuttara, his teachers Rohana, Assagutta of Vattaniya and Dhammarakkhita of Asoka Ārāma near [[Pātaliputta]], and another teacher named [[Ayupala|Āyupāla]] from [[Sankheyya]] near [[Sāgala]].

==Menander I==
According to the ''Milindapanha'', Milinda/ Menander, identified as [[Menander I]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Halkias|first=Georgios T.| editor-last1 =Wick | editor-first1 =Peter | editor-last2 =Rabens | editor-first2 =Volker |year=2014|chapter=When the Greeks Converted the Buddha: Asymmetrical Transfers of Knowledge in Indo-Greek Cultures|title= Religions and Trade: Religious Formation, Transformation and Cross-Cultural Exchange between East and West|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=978-90-04-25528-9}}</ref>{{rp|90–91}} [[Refuge (Buddhism)|embraced]] the [[Buddhism|Buddhist faith]]. He is described as constantly accompanied by a guard of 500 Greek ([[Yona]]ka) soldiers, and two of his counselors are named Demetrius and Antiochus.

In the ''Milindanpanha'', Menander is introduced as the "king of the city of Sāgala in India, Milinda by name, learned, eloquent, wise, and able". Buddhist tradition relates that, following his discussions with Nāgasena, Menander adopted the Buddhist faith "as long as life shall last"<ref name=RhysDavids>{{citation|last=Rhys Davids|first=Thomas|authorlink=Thomas Rhys Davids|title=The questions of King Milinda, Part 2|year=1894|publisher=The Clarendon press}}</ref>{{rp|374}} and then handed over his kingdom to his son to retire from the world. It is described that he attained [[Arahat|enlightenment]] afterwards.{{r|RhysDavids|p=374}}

==Translations==
The work has been translated into [[English language|English]] twice, once in 1890 by [[Thomas William Rhys Davids]] (reprinted by [[Dover Publications]] in 1963) and once in 1969 by [[Isaline Blew Horner]] (reprinted in 1990 by the [[Pali Text Society]]).

* {{cite book|title=Questions of King Milinda|translator-first=T.W.|translator-last=Rhys Davids|series=[[Sacred Books of the East]]|volume=XXXV & XXXVI|publisher=Clarendon|location=Oxford|date=1890–94}}; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi [https://archive.org/details/questionsofkingm01davi Vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/questionsofkingm02daviuoft Vol. 2]
* {{cite book|title=Milinda's Questions|translator-first=I.B.|translator-last=Horner|date=1963–64|location=Bristol|publisher=[[Pali Text Society]]}} 2 volumes.

Abridgements include:

* {{cite book|editor-last=Pesala|editor-first=Bhikkhu|title=The Debate of King Milinda: An Abridgement of the Milindapanha|location=Delhi|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|date=1992}} Based on Rhys Davids (1890, 1894).
* {{cite book|editor-last=Mendis|editor-first=N.K.G.|title=The Questions of King Milinda: An Abridgement of the Milindapanha|location=Kandy, Sri Lanka|publisher=[[Buddhist Publication Society]]|orig-date=1993|date=2001|url=https://www.bps.lk/library-search-select.php?id=bp217s}} Based on Horner (1963–64).

==See also==
* [[Anatta]], doctrine of "non-self"
* [[Anupiṭaka]]
* [[Greco-Buddhism]]
* ''[[Khuddaka Nikāya]]''
* [[Paracanonical texts (Theravada Buddhism)]]
* [[Ship of Theseus]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Additional Sources==
*{{cite book|last1=Gardner|first1=Percy|last2=Poole|first2=Reginald Stuart|year=1886|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924022932382|title=The coins of the Greek and Scythic kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum|location=London|publisher=[[British Museum]]}}

==External links==
* {{cite book|title=The Questions of King Milinda|translator-first=T.W.|translator-last=Rhys Davids|series=[[Sacred Books of the East]]|volume=XXXV & XXXVI|website=sacred-texts.com|date=1890–94}} [https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe35/index.htm Vol. 1], [https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe36/index.htm Vol. 2]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.aimwell.org/milinda.html|title=The Debate of King Milinda|date=August 2021|publisher=Buddha Educational Foundation}}
* {{cite book|url=http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/milinda.pdf|title=The Debate of King Milinda|translator=Bhikkhu Pesala|date=2001|publisher=Inward Path|location=Penang}}
* {{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717211653/http://nt.med.ncku.edu.tw/biochem/lsn/AccessToInsight/html/canon/sutta/khuddaka/miln/index-p.html|archive-date=2011-07-17|title=Milindapañha: The Questions of King Milinda – Selected passages in both Pali and English|translator-first=John|translator-last=Kelly|url=http://nt.med.ncku.edu.tw/biochem/lsn/AccessToInsight/html/canon/sutta/khuddaka/miln/index-p.html|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=http://xn--izc.blogspot.com/2011/07/milinda-prashnaya-panha-questions.html|title=Milinda Prashnaya (Sinhalese translation)|date=1970}}

{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Greco-Buddhism]]
[[Category:Buddhist apologetic works]]
[[Category:Pali Buddhist texts]]
[[Category:Theravada Buddhist texts]]
[[Category:Khuddaka Nikaya]]
[[Category:Indo-Greeks]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC texts]]
[[Category:Menander I]]

Milindapanha - Revision history