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3.5.8. Karma and not-self

Mil 3.5.8

Five slender seed heads catching soft light at a field’s edge.

PTS cs 8 The king said: ‘When deeds are committed, Nāgasena, by one name-and-form, what becomes of those deeds?’

‘The deeds would follow it, O king, like a shadow that never leaves it.’

‘Can any one point out those deeds, saying: “Here are those deeds, or there”?’

‘No.’ PTS vp En 113

‘Give me an illustration.’

‘Now what do you think, O king? Can any one point out the fruits which a tree has not yet produced, saying: “Here they are, or there”?’

‘Certainly not, Sir.’

‘Just so, great king, so long as the continuity of life is not cut off, it is impossible to point out the deeds that are done.’

‘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.

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