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7.7.3. The Land Tortoise

Mil 7.7.3

Green, bronze and dry oak leaves beside an acorn on moss.

PTS cs 3 ‘Venerable Nāgasena, that one quality of the land tortoise which you say he ought to take, which is it?’

‘Just, O king, as the land tortoise, being afraid of the water, frequents places far from it, and by that habit of avoiding water its length of life is kept undiminished; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, seeing the danger in the want of earnestness, be mindful of the advantages that distinguish earnestness. For by that perception of PTS vp En 353 danger in carelessness, his Samanaship fades not away, but rather does he go forward to Nirvāṇa itself. This, O king, is the quality of the land tortoise he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the Dhammapada:

“The Bhikshu who in earnestness delights,
Who sees the danger of indifference,
Shall fall not from his high estate away,
But in the presence of Nirvāṇa dwell.”’

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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.

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