7.8.2. Black Iron

Mil 7.8.2

A broad lotus leaf shedding small beads of water.

PTS cs 2 ‘Venerable Nāgasena, those two qualities of black iron you say he ought to take, which are they?’

PTS vp Pali 415 ‘Just, O king, as black iron even when PTS vp En 365 beaten out carries weight; just so, O king, should the mind of the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be able, by his habit of thoughtfulness, to carry heavy burdens. This, O king, is the first quality of black iron he ought to have.

PTS cs 3 ‘And again, O king, as black iron does not vomit up the water it has once soaked in ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, never give up the faith he has once felt in the greatness of the Blessed One, the Supreme Buddha, in the perfection of his Doctrine, in the excellence of the Order—never give up the knowledge he has once acquired of the impermanence of forms, or of sensations, or of ideas, or of qualities, or of modes of consciousness. This, O king, is the second quality of black iron he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods:

“That man who is in insight purified,
Trained in the doctrine of the Noble Ones,
Grasping distinctions as they really are,
What need hath he to tremble? Not in part
Only, but in its full extent, shall he
To the clear heights of Arahatship attain.”’

Connections

Collection & context

MilindapañhaThe collection containing this text
The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting

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.

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