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7.3.4. The Sal-Tree

Mil 7.3.4

Layered Himalayan ridges beyond a high mountain pass.

PTS cs 7 ‘Venerable Nāgasena, that one quality of the Sal-tree which you say he ought to take, which is it?’ PTS vp En 297

‘Just, O king, as the Sal-tree grows within the ground to the depth of a hundred cubits or more; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, perfect in solitude the four Fruits of Samanaship, the four Discriminations, the six forms of transcendental Insight, and all the qualities befitting a recluse. This, O king, is the one quality of the Sal-tree he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Rāhula, the Elder:

“The tree that’s called the Sal-tree grows above the earth,
And shoots beneath, a hundred cubits deep.
As in the fullness of time, and at its highest growth
That tree shoots in one day a hundred cubits high,
Just so do I, O Buddha, like the Sal,
Increase, in solitude, in inward good.”’

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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.

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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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