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3.7.4. How far to heaven?

Mil 3.7.4

Clear spring water flowing over pale limestone.

PTS cs 4 The king said: ‘How far is it, Nāgasena, from here to the Brahma world ?’

‘Very far is it, O king. If a rock, the size of an upper chamber, were to fall from there, it would take four months to reach the earth, though it came down eight-and-forty thousand leagues each day and night.’

‘Good, Nāgasena! Now do not your people say that a Bhikkhu, who has the power of Iddhi and the mastery over his mind, can vanish from jambu-dīpa, and appear in the Brahma world, as quickly as a strong man could stretch forth his bent up arm, or bend it in again if it were stretched out? That is a saying I cannot believe. How is it possible that he could traverse so quickly so many hundreds of leagues?’

The Elder replied: ‘In what district, O king, were you born?’ PTS vp En 127

‘There is an island called Alasanda. It was there I was born.’

‘And how far is Alasanda from here?’

‘About two hundred leagues.’

‘Do you know for certain of any business you once did there and now recollect?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘So quickly, great king, have you gone about two hundred leagues.’

‘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.