Skip to reading
← Milindapañha

3.6.4. Pure conduct

Mil 3.6.4

Countless gentle wavelets across a pale sea and misty horizon.

PTS cs 4 The king said: ‘Was the Buddha, Nāgasena, pure in conduct (was he a Brahma-cārin)?’

‘Yes, the Blessed One was pure.’

‘Then, Nāgasena, it follows that he was a follower of Brahmā.’ PTS vp En 118

‘Have you a state elephant, O king?’

‘Certainly.’ PTS vp Pali 76

‘Well now, does that elephant ever trumpet (literally “cry the heron’s cry “)?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘But is he, then, on that account a follower of the herons?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Now tell me, great king, has Brahma wisdom (Buddhi), or has he not?’

‘He is a being with wisdom.’

‘Then (on your argument) he is surely a follower of Buddha.’

‘Well answered, Nāgasena!’

Connections

Collection & context

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.