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3.5.1. Seeing the Buddha

Mil 3.5.1

Clear spring water flowing over the edge of a mossy rock basin.

PTS cs 1 The king said: ‘Have you, Nāgasena, seen the Buddha?’

‘No, Sire.’

‘Then have your teachers seen the Buddha?’

‘No, Sire.’

‘Then, venerable Nāgasena, there is no Buddha!’

‘But, great king, have you seen the river ūhā in the Himālaya mountains?’

‘No, Sir.’

‘Or has your father seen it?’

‘No, Sir.’

‘Then, your Majesty, is there therefore no such river?’

‘It is there. Though neither I nor my father has seen it, it is nevertheless there.’

‘Just so, great king, though neither I nor my teachers have seen the Blessed One, nevertheless there was such a person.’

‘Very good, Nāgasena!’

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About this edition

Translation by T.W. Rhys Davids · SuttaCentral · Public domain

The source expressly identifies this translation as public domain.

The Questions of King Milinda, translated from the Pali by T.W. Rhys Davids.

Part 1 (to section 5.4.10) was originally published as Volume xxxv of “The Sacred Books of the East”, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1890.

Part 2 (from section 5.5.1) was originally published as Volume xxxvi of “The Sacred Books of the East”, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1894.

This SuttaCentral edition was prepared by Bhikkhu Sujato based on the digital text of the Internet Sacred Text Archive. The work of the Sacred Text Archive to make this text publically available is gratefully acknowledged.

In preparing this edition minor editorial changes have been made. The structure has been adapted to agree with the Mahāsaṅgīti Pali text as found on SuttaCentral. In addition, the corrections proposed by the translator in the “Addenda et Corrigenda” of the original editions have for the most part been adopted.

This text is in the public domain. You are free to do whatever you wish with it.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.