A History of Pali Literature v2: Volume 2

A History of Pāli Literature v2

Language: English

v2.c10 Front matter — 44 parts
v2.c11 Chapter IV. Extra Canonical Works Presupposed by Pāli Commentaries — 177 parts
v2.c12 Chapter V — 44 parts
v2.c13 Chapter VI. Pāli Chronicles — 102 parts
v2.c14 Chapter VII. Introduction — 55 parts
v2.c15 Chapter VIII. Pāli Literary Pieces — 52 parts
v2.c16 Chapter IX — 71 parts
v2.c17 Conclusion — 13 parts
v2.c18 Appendix A. Historical and Geographical References in the Pāli Piṭakas — 2 parts
v2.c19 Appendix B. Pāli Tracts in the Inscriptions — 31 parts
v2.c20 Index — 52 parts
v2.c21 Errata — 37 parts

Volume 2

Front matter

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the *basileia* is not a static entity, but a dynamic power, a *dynamis* (Mark 9:1), which is already at work in the world. It is the "reign" of God, the active exercise of his sovereignty, which is breaking into the present age through the ministry of Jesus.

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This understanding of the *basileia* as a dynamic, breaking-in reality is crucial for interpreting the parables of the kingdom. They are not merely illustrations of moral truths, but are themselves "events" that confront the hearer with the reality of God's reign. They are designed to provoke a response, to challenge the hearer's existing worldview, and to invite them into the new reality that Jesus is inaugurating.

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The parables of the kingdom, therefore, are not to be read as timeless allegories, but as "shocks" to the system, designed to shatter the conventional wisdom of the day and to open the eyes of the hearer to the surprising, often counter-intuitive, nature of God's reign. They are, in the words of Joachim Jeremias, "weapons of the kingdom," designed to break down the barriers of human pride and self-sufficiency and to create a space for the grace of God to enter.

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This dynamic view of the *basileia* also helps to resolve the tension between the "already" and the "not yet" of the kingdom. The kingdom is "already" present in the ministry of Jesus, in his healings, his exorcisms, and his table fellowship with outcasts. It is a present reality that can be experienced and entered into here and now. Yet, it is also "not yet" fully realized. It awaits its final consummation in the future, when God's reign will be established over all creation.

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The tension between the present and the future is not a contradiction, but a necessary aspect of the kingdom's nature. It is a "proleptic" reality, a foretaste of the future that is already breaking into the present. It is a reality that calls for both present commitment and future hope. It is a reality that is both a gift to be received and a task to be performed.

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In conclusion, the *basileia* is the central theme of Jesus' message, the core of his ministry, and the key to understanding his identity. It is the reality of God's reign, which is breaking into the world through Jesus, and which calls for a response of faith and repentance. It is a reality that is both present and future, both gift and task, both a comfort and a challenge. It is the "good news" that God is at work in the world, and that his reign is near.

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A HISTORY OF PĀLI LITERATURE

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BY BIMALA CHURN LAW, Ph.D., M.A., B.L., Sir Asutosh Mookerjee Gold Medalist, Griffith Prizeman, Calcutta University; Advocate, High Court, Calcutta; Author, *Some Kṣatriya Tribes of Ancient India*, *Ancient Mid-Indian Kṣatriya Tribes*, *The Life and Work of Buddhaghosa*, *Geography of Early Buddhism*, *Heaven and Hell in Buddhist Perspective*, *A Study of the Mahāvastu*, *Women in Buddhist Literature*, *Historical Gleanings*, *The Buddhist Conception of Spirits*, *The Law of Gift in British India*, etc., etc., Editor, *Buddhistic Studies*.

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With a Foreword by WILHELM GEIGER, Ph.D., Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages, München University, Germany.

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IN TWO VOLUMES Vol. II.

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KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & Co., Ltd., 38, Great Russell Street, London, W.C. 1.

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POST-CANONICAL PĀLI LITERA'

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In between the closing of the Pāli canon and the writing of the Pāli commentaries by Buddhadatta, Buddhaghosa, and Dhammapāla, there is a short but dark period of development of Pāli literature which has not as yet engaged adequate attention of scholars. Broadly speaking, this period extends from the beginning of the Christian era to the close of the 4th century A.D. The Nettipakarana, the Petakopadesa, and the Milinda Pañha are undoubtedly the three extra-canonical and highly useful treatises that may be safely relegated to the earlier part of this period. There are a few other works, more or less, of a commentarial nature that are closely pre-supposed by the great commentaries of Buddhadatta, Buddhaghosa, and Dhammapāla. These comprise, among others, (1) certain earlier commentaries written in Sinhalese, such as the Mūla or Mahā-atthakathā, the Uttara Vihāra atthakathā (the Commentary of the dwellers in the "North Minster"), Mahāpaccariya, the Kurundiya or Mahākurunda atthakathā quoted by Buddhaghosa in his commentaries, (2) two other earlier commentaries, the Andhaka and the Saṅkhepa current in South India, particularly in Kañchipura or Conjeveram, and quoted by Buddhaghosa, (3) the Vinayavinicchaya by Buddhasīha, a fellow bhikkhu of Buddhadatta, pre-supposed by the Vinayavinicchaya of Buddhadatta and the Samantapāsādikā of Buddhaghosa, (4) the Sinhalese commentary on the canonical Jātaka book referred to and quoted by Buddhaghosa under the name of Jātaka-atthakathā, (5) certain views and interpretations of the schools of reciters quoted by Buddhaghosa in his commentaries, (6) the Dīpavaṃsa, the earlier Pāli chronicle quoted by Buddhaghosa in his commentary on the Kathāvatthu, and (7) the Aṭṭhakatha Mahāvaṃsa presupposed by Mahānāma’s great chronicle of Ceylon.

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The writings of Buddhadatta, Buddhaghosa, and Dhammapāla come necessarily after these earlier works in both Pāli and Sinhalese and occupy chronologically a place next to them. The Mahāvaṃsa or the great epic chronicle of Ceylon composed by Mahānāma, the Anāgatavaṃsa, a later supplement to the Buddhavamsa, and the Jātakatthavaṇṇanā written by a thera at the personal request of the elder Atthadassī, Buddhamitta of the Mahimsāsaka sect and Bhikkhu Buddhadeva of clear intellect, may be assigned to almost the same period of Buddhist literary activities in Ceylon which is covered by the writings of Buddhaghosa. Mahānāma’s Mahāvaṃsa may be regarded as a Pāli model of certain chronicles the Pūjāvaliya and the rest written in Sinhalese. The commentaries on the books of the Vinaya, Sutta, and Abhidhamma Piṭakas were followed by certain ṭīkās to be chronologically discriminated as mūla and anu, Ānanda and Sāriputta being noted as authors of some of these mūla and anu ṭīkās. From the sixth or seventh century A.D. onwards we see also the beginning of a Pāli grammatical literature headed by Kaccāyana’s Pāli Grammar as well as of Pāli lexicons headed by the Abhidhānappadīpikā. The literary processes connected with the commentaries and sub-commentaries and the compilations in the shape of handbooks continued resulting in the growth of a somewhat different type of later literature. The Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha and many other books of great authority written by the eminent Anuruddha and others are to be counted as remarkable literary output of this stage of the development of Pāli. The Narasīhagāthā quoted in the Nidānakathā of the Jātakatthavaṇṇanā, the Telakaṭāhagāthā ranking with the śatakas headed by the compositions of Bhartṛhari, the Jinacarita which is a kāvya attempted in Pāli less successfully on the model of Aśvaghoṣa's Buddhacarita, the Pajjamadhu, a Pāli poetical composition produced in Ceylon, the Pañcagatidīpana and the Saddhammopāyana, two similar poetical compositions of Ceylon and the Rasavāhinī, a book of interesting Buddhist folktales, written in simple prose, are some of the literary pieces that are included in our scheme of Post-Canonical Pāli literature. We are generally to exclude from our scheme various Pāli works on law, grammar, prosody, lexicography, and the commentaries written in Burma and Ceylon from the 15th century A.D. onwards. In dealing with the Post-Canonical Pāli literature we are first of all to take up the extra canonical works presupposed by the Pāli commentaries, next the Pāli commentaries, then the Pāli chronicles, Pāli Manuals, Pāli literary pieces, and lastly Pāli grammars, books on prosody and lexicons, the classification being arbitrary.

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Chapter IV. Extra Canonical Works Presupposed by Pāli Commentaries

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The title *Nettipakarana*¹ as explained by Dhammapāla, means exposition of that which leads to the knowledge of the Good Law. The Netti shows the methodical way of attaining textual knowledge. It contains much of the materials which are so grouped as to form a book by itself. The commentary on the Nettipakarana says that without an able instructor it is impossible for men to be guided in the right understanding of the doctrines.

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¹ This work has been edited by Prof. E. Hardy for the P.T.S., London, and published by the said society in 1902. There is also a Burmese edition of this text. The text is not entirely free from inaccuracies but all such defects are pardonable when we remember that it is a pioneer work. The text edited by the P.T.S. is based on the following manuscripts :—
(i) Palm leaf manuscript of the India Office in Burmese character (see Catalogue of the Mandalay MSS. in the India Office Library by Prof. V. Fausboll, J.P.T.S., 1896);
(ii) Palm leaf manuscript of the India Office (Phayre collection), likewise written in Burmese character (see Catalogue of the Pāli MSS. in the India Office Library by H. Oldenberg);
(iii) Paper manuscript (brought from W. Subhuti by Prof. Rhys Davids) in Sinhalese character (Introduction, p. xxxv). Prof. Hardy has relied on the palm leaf manuscript of the India Office in Burmese character in noting readings whenever they are found to contribute to a better understanding of the text.

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This treatise was translated into Burmese by Thera Mahāsīlavamsa in the fifteenth century of the Christian era, and again two centuries later, by a

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Nettipakarana revised and edited by D. Sudassi thera and finally revised by Ven. Srisumangala Ratanasāra, Colombo, 1923, should be consulted.

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Mrs. Rhys Davids translates ‘Nettipakarana’ as the ‘Book of Guidance’ (Sākya or Buddhist Origins, p. 127).

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dweller in the Pubbārāma-Vihāra. It was composed at the request of Thera Dhammarakkhita and highly praised by Mahākaccāna. The Mandalay manuscript ascribes its authorship to Mahākaccāna as every section bears a clear testimony to the authorship of Mahākaccāna who has been described here as Jambuvanavāsin, i.e., dweller in the rose-apple grove.

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The Netti is essentially a Pāli treatise on the textual and exegetical methodology, a Buddhist treatment upon the whole of the Tantra Yuktis discussed in the Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra, the Suśrutasaṃhitā, the Carakasaṃhitā, and the Aṣṭāṅga-Hṛdaya. The Netti and Jñānaprasthāna Śāstra have many points in common as they were written to serve a similar purpose. It stands in the same relation to the Pāli canon as Yāska’s Nirukta to the Vedas. The scheme of methodology has been worked out in a progressive order, the thesis being developed or elaborated by gradual steps. To begin with we have the opening section, Saṅgahavāra, or the conspectus of the whole book which is a feature also of the Milinda Pañha. Then we have the Vibhāgavāra or the section presenting a systematic treatment in classified tables. This section comprises three tables or sub-sections :—(1) Uddesavāra, (2) Niddesavāra, and (3) Paṭiniddesavāra. The Uddesavāra merely presents a bare statement of the theses and as such it serves as a table of contents. It is followed by the Niddesavāra which briefly specifies the import or definitions of the theses awaiting detailed treatment in the section immediately following, we mean the Paṭiniddesavāra, which is but an elucidation and elaboration of the Niddesa scheme. The theses in the Uddesavāra are introduced in three separate tables or categories—(1) that of sixteen hāras (connected chains), (2) that of five nayas (modes of inspection), and (3) that of eighteen mūlapadas (main ethical topics). The sixteen hāras consist of desanā (the method of instruction), vicaya (the method of enquiry), yutti (the method of establishing connection in groups), padaṭṭhāna (the method of teaching with reference to the fundamentals), lakkhaṇa (the method of determining implications by characteristic marks), catuvyūha (the method of fourfold array), āvatta (the cyclical method), vibhatti (the method of classification), parivattana (the method of transformation), vevacana (the method of synonyms), paññatti (the method of determining signification), otaraṇa (the method of descending steps), sodhana (the method of rectification), adhiṭṭhāna (the method of determining positions), parikkhāra (the method of discriminating causal relations), and samāropana (the method of attribution).

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The five nayas consist of the following modes of viewing things :—(1) nandiyāvatta, (2) tīpukkhala (by the triple lotus), (3) sīhavikkilita (the lion-like sport), (4) disālocana (broad vision), and (5) aṅkusa (focussing).

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The eighteen mūlapadas comprise nine kusalas and nine akusalas. The nine akusalas are taṇhā (thirst), avijjā (ignorance), lobha (covetousness), dosa (hatred), moha (delusion), subhasaññā (false idea of purity), niccasaññā (false idea of permanence), attasaññā (false idea of personal identity), etc. The nine kusalas are samatha (tranquillity), vipassanā (insight), alobha (absence of covetousness), adosa (absence of hatred), amoha (absence of delusion), asubhasaññā (idea of impurity), dukkhasaññā (idea of discordance), aniccasaññā (idea of impermanence), and anattasaññā (idea of non-identity).

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In the Niddesavāra, the reader is to expect nothing more than a general specification of the meaning of the topics proposed in the Uddesavāra for treatment. From the Niddesavāra the reader is led on to the next step, the Paṭiniddesavāra which contains four broad divisions, namely, (1) Hāravibhaṅga (explanations of the connected chains), (2) Hārasampāta (discussions of the hāra projections), (3) Nayasamuṭṭhāna (exposition of the modes of inspection), and (4) Sāsanapaṭṭhāna (the classification and interpretation of Buddha’s instructions).

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The treatise deals in detail with sixteen hāras in the specified order as follows:

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The Desanāhāra directs the reader to notice six distinctive features in the Buddha’s method of instructions, namely, assādaṃ (bright side), ādīnavaṃ (dark side), nissaraṇaṃ (means of escape), phalaṃ (fruition), upāyaṃ (means of success), and ānattiṃ (the moral upshot). It also points out that Buddha’s instructions are carefully adapted to four classes of hearers, namely (1) those of right intellect (understanding things by mere hints), (2) those needing short explanations, (3) those to be slowly led by elaborate expositions, and (4) those whose understanding does not go beneath the words. In the same connection it seeks to bring home the distinction between the three kinds of knowledge, sutamayī, cintāmayī, and bhāvanāmayī.

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In the Vicayahāra the method of ruminating over the subjects of questions and thoughts and repetitions in thought is laid down, and this is elaborately illustrated with appropriate quotations from the canonical texts.

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In the Yuttihāra we are introduced to the method of grouping together connected ideas and the right application of the method of reasoning or inference in interpreting the dharma.

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The Padaṭṭhānahāra explains the doctrinal points by their fundamental characteristics and exemplifies them. This hāra has an important bearing on the Milinda expositions.

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The Lakkhaṇahāra points out that when one of a group of matters characterised by the same mark is mentioned, the others must be taken as implied. For instance, when the sense of sight is mentioned in a passage, the implication should be that other senses received the same treatment.

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The Catuvyūhahāra unfolds the method of understanding the doctrines by noting the following points :—

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(1) the text, (2) the term, (3) the purport, (4) the introductory episode, and (5) the sequence, illustrating each of them with quotations from the canonical texts.

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The Avattahāra aptly illustrates with authoritative quotations how in the teachings of the Buddha all things turn round to form cycles of some fundamental ideas such as taṇhā, avijjā, the four Aryan truths and the like.

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The Vibhattihāra explains the method of classifying Buddha’s discussions according to their character, common or uncommon, or according to their values, inferior, superior or mediocre.

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The Parivattanahāra contains an exposition of the method by which the Buddha tried to transform a bad thing into a good thing and transform also the life of a bad man.

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The Vevacanahāra calls attention to the dictionary method of synonyms by which the Buddha tried to impress and clarify certain notions of the Dhamma. This section forms a landmark in the development of Indian lexicography.

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In the Paññattihāra it is stated that though the Dhamma is one, the Lord has presented it in various forms. There are four noble truths beginning with dukkha. When these truths are realised then knowledge and wisdom come in and then the way to Bhāvanā is open to the knower. The elements may be compared but Nibbāna cannot be compared.

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In the section on Otarana the Netti illustrates how in the schemata of Buddha’s doctrines diverse notions spontaneously descend under the burden of certain leading topics such as, indriyas, paṭiccasamuppāda, five khandhas and the like.

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The Sodhanahāra illustrates the method by which the Buddha corrected the form of the questions in the replies offered by him.

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The Adhiṭṭhānahāra explains in detail the method of determining the respective positions of different ideas according to they make for certain common notions. In the Adhiṭṭhānahāra the basis of all truth is given. The four truths beginning with dukkhaṃ are described and side by side avijjā is shown to be the cause working in opposite ways. There are also paths bringing about the extinction of dukkha, etc. The various kāyas and dhātus are also considered. Samādhi is the only means of removing evils.

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In the Parikkhārahāra the Netti explains and exemplifies how one can distinguish between the causal elements, broadly between hetu and other causal relations. This section has an important bearing on the Paṭṭhāna of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka.

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We come at last to the section called the Samāropanahāra. This section explains and illustrates the Buddha's method of fourfold attribution, (1) by way of fundamental ideas, (2) by way of synonyms, (3) by way of contemplation, and by way of getting rid of the immoral propensities.

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Hāra Sampāta is a division which is dependent on the hāra as its purpose is to present the projections or main moral implications of the hāras or the connected chains previously dealt with.

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This division like the preceding one consists of sixteen parts exactly under the same headings.

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In the Hāra Sampāta the commentator Dhammapāla has added and rearranged many new things. He cites the passages from the text and then puts a lay dissertation on them by way of questions and answers. This division stands almost as an independent treatise by itself.

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Desanā hāra Sampāta—In this division it is laid down that Māra invades only a mind which is quite unprotected (pamādacitta), which is based on false beliefs, on idleness, etc.

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Vicaya hāra Sampāta—In this section it is laid down that desire (taṇhā) is of two kinds : kusala and akusala. The one leads to nibbāna and the other to birth and suffering (saṃsāra). Mind is both kusala and akusala in nature. The real nature of things can only be seen in the fourth Jhāna stage. The various signs and nature of nibbāna and samādhi are described. Samādhi has five characteristics, namely, joy, happiness, consciousness, enlightenment, and right perception. There are ten objects of meditation (kasiṇāyatanāni), e.g., paṭhavī, āpo, etc. They are then attached to three objects, anicca (non-permanent), dukkha (suffering), and anatta (non-existence of soul).

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A differentiation is brought about between an ordinary man and a man with knowledge. The former can do any kind of offence that may be possible. But the latter cannot. The former can even kill his father or mother, can destroy the stūpas but the latter cannot; when one practises the four Jhānas, and attains to Samādhi, his previous life and futurity are known to him.

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In the Yutti-hāra-sampāta it is stated that sloth, stupor, and misery disappear from him who is well protected in mind, firm in resolution, and adheres to right seeing.

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In the Padaṭṭhāna-hāra and Lakkhaṇa-hāra-sampāta, the padaṭṭhānas (reasonings) are described as belonging to one who is well restrained in mind, words, and actions and who by the proper attainment of padaṭṭhānas realises the highest path.

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In the Catuvyūhahāra-sampāta, Āvattahāra-sampāta, Vibhatti-hāra-sampāta, etc., great stress is laid on right perception, mindfulness, and kusala deeds which lead to the knowledge of paṭicca-samuppāda.

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The third division called the Nayasamuṭṭhāna contains a detailed treatment of the five specified modes of viewing things. Under the Nandiyāvatta mode, it is pointed out that the earlier extremity of the world cannot be known owing to avijjā (ignorance) which has taṇhā (desire) at the root. Those who walk in the field of pleasure are bound down in heretical beliefs and are unable to realise the truth. There are four noble truths—Dukkhaṁ, dukkhasamudayaṁ, dukkhanirodhaṁ, and dukkha-nirodhagāminipaṭipadā. There is a middle path (majjhima paṭipadā) which rejects the two extreme views and which is identified with the eightfold noble path (ariya aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo). He who has avoided diṭṭhi (false view) escapes from kāma (lust). Hence avoidance of desire (taṇhā) and ignorance (avijjā) leads to quietitude or calmness. Kamma is recognised as the cause of the world of sufferings. But consciousness and all that concerns consciousness may be seen in their increment in the ten vatthus. The ordinary enjoyment of food and touch, etc., is the cause of distress of a man with desire.

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The various āsavas (sins) are next described. The sufferings of a man with attachments, faults, and wrong views are also narrated. The four paths, the four foundations of recollections, the four Jhānas, the four essentials (sammappadhānas), the four meditations, the four pleasure yielding states, etc., are also stated; each of these is described as an antidote for the man with attachment, delusion, and wrong views.

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Buddhas, Pacceka-Buddhas, the disciples, and all those who are devoid of attachment, hatred, delusion, etc., are like lions. Those who look to the right aspects, the senses, the counter forces of the views with as strong reasons as Buddhas, Pacceka-Buddhas, etc., are said to have seen things just like a lion. Human types are four in number. Each of these has to undergo some sort of training. To each of them is offered an advice as to taṇhā (desire), rāga (attachment), kusala (merit), etc. This is the way shown to be of the Tīpukkhalo and of the Aṅkusa described in the text.

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Now turning to the fourth division, the Sāsanapaṭṭhāna, we get a treatment of the proper method of classification and interpretation of the texts of the Dhamma. That is to say, the Sāsanapaṭṭhāna embodies a classification of the Pitaka passages according to their leading thoughts. It is suggested that the discourses of the Buddha can be classified according to the themes into :—(1) Saṅkilesabhāgiya (those dealing with saṅkilesa or impurity), (2)

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Vāsanābhāgiya (those dealing with desire), (3) Nibbedhabhāgiya (those dealing with penetration), (4) Asekhabhāgiya (those dealing with the subject of a non-learner), (5) Saṅkilesabhāgiya and Vāsanābhāgiya, (6) Saṅkilesa and Nibbedhabhāgiya, (7) Saṅkilesa and Asekhabhāgiya, (8) Saṅkilesa and Nibbedha and Asekhabhāgiya, (9) Saṅkilesa and Vāsanā and Nibbedhabhāgiya, (10) Vāsanā and Nibbedhabhāgiya, (11) Taṇhāsaṅkilesabhāgiya, (12) Diṭṭhisaṅkilesabhāgiya, (13) Duccaritasaṅkilesabhāgiya, (14) Taṇhāvodānabhāgiya, (15) Diṭṭhivodānabhāgiya, (16) Duccaritavodānabhāgiya. Of these, saṅkilesas are of three kinds, taṇhā (desire), diṭṭhi (false view), and duccaritas (wrong actions).

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Various padas, ślokas, and texts are cited while explaining each of these textual classifications.

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The eighteen main padas are those which are worldly (lokikaṃ), unworldly (lokuttaraṃ), etc. In fact the chapter is made highly interesting by its numerous quotations from familiar texts and it does not enter deep into philosophical or logical arguments. But the classification and reclassifications are no doubt interesting as intellectual gymnastics.

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That the Nettipakaraṇa is an earlier book than the Paṭṭhāna (Mahāpakaraṇa) has been ably shown by Mrs. Rhys Davids (J.R.A.S., 1925, pp. 111-112). She says that in the Netti there is a short chapter on parikkhāra, i.e., equipment. Usually applied to a monk's necessities of life, it is here applied to mean all that goes to bring about a happening, all the conditions to produce an effect. These are twofold—paccaya and hetu. Take now this happening: "A seeing something". Here the eye is the dominant condition (adhipateyyapaccayātāya paccayo). The thing seen is the object condition (ārammaṇa paccayātāya paccayo). The light is the medium condition (Sannissāyatāya paccayo). But attention is the hetu. In conclusion it states: Whatever is sufficing condition (upanissaya) that is a causal antecedent (parikkhāra). "This simple exposition,” says Mrs. Rhys Davids, “is a development of the yet simpler wording in the suttas. There no distinction is drawn between hetu and paccaya”.

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She then turns her attention to the Paṭṭhāna. Here at the start not only has a distinction been drawn but an elaborate classification of paccayas—twenty-four in kind, is drawn up as standardised knowledge.

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Hetu is a species of paccaya, first and chief of them. Further, ‘dominance’, ‘object’, ‘medium’, ‘sufficing condition’, are classed as paccayas, Nos. 3, 2, 9, and 8. And further, the invariable way of assigning causal relation in a happening is not the Netti’s way but (hetu, etc.)—paccayena paccayo. We may conclude from this that the writer of the Netti did not know the Paṭṭhāna. He did know some Abhidhamma. He alludes to a method in the Dhammasaṅgaṇi, to a definition in the Vibhaṅga but never to that notable scheme in the Paṭṭhāna.

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The Peṭakopadesa is another treatise on the textual and the exegetical methodology ascribed to Mahākaccāna and it is nothing but a different manipulation of the subject treated in the Nettipakaraṇa. Interest of this treatise, if it was at all a work of the same author, lies in the fact that it throws some new light here and there on the points somewhat obscure in the Netti. Its importance lies also in the fact that in places it has quoted the Pāli canonical passages mentioning the sources by such names as Saṃyuttaka (=Saṃyutta Nikāya) and Ekuttaraka (=Ekuttara or Aṅguttara Nikāya). Its importance arises no less from the fact that in it the four Ariyan truths are stated to be the central theme or essence of Buddhism, the point which gained much ground in the literature of the Sarvastivādin school. The importance of the last point will be realised all the more as we find how the discourses developed in the Netti in the course of formulating the textual and exegetical methodology centered round the four Ariyan truths. This work has not yet been edited. The P.T.S., London, has undertaken an edition of it. Specimen de Peṭakopadesa by R. Fuchs, Berlin, 1908 deserves mention.

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The Milinda Pañha or the questions of Milinda had originally been written in Northern India in Sanskrit or in some North Indian Prakrit by an author whose name has not, unfortunately enough, come down to us. But, the original text is now lost in the land of its origin as elsewhere; what now remains is the Pāli translation of the original which was made at a very early date in Ceylon. From Ceylon, it travelled to other countries, namely, Burma and Siam, which have derived their Buddhism from Ceylon, and where at a later date it was translated into respective local dialects. In China, too, there have been found two separate works entitled "The Book of the Bhikkhu Nāgasena Sūtra", but whether they are translations of the older recensions of the work than the one preserved in Pāli on of the Pāli recensions is difficult to ascertain. However, in the home of Southern Buddhism, the book is accepted as a standard authority, second only to the Pāli Piṭakas. Prof. Rhys Davids rightly observes, "It is not merely the only work composed among the Northern Buddhists which is regarded with reverence by the orthodox Buddhists of the Southern schools, it is the only one which has survived at all amongst them".¹

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¹ S.B.E., Vol. XXXV, Intro., p. xii.

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The book purports to discuss a good number of problems and disputed points of Buddhism; and this discussion is treated in the form of conversations between King Milinda of Sāgala and Thera Nāgasena. Milinda raises the questions and puts the dilemmas, and thus plays a subordinate part in comparison to that played by Nāgasena who answers the questions and solves the puzzles in detail.

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Naturally, therefore, the didactic element predominates in the otherwise romantic account of the encounter between the two.

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The two heroes. Milinda who has been described as the King of the Yonas with his capital at Sāgala (Sākala = Sialkot), has long been identified with Menander, the Bactrian Greek King who had his sway in the Punjab. He was born, as our author makes him say, at Kalasi in Alasanda, i.e., Alexandria; and if we are to believe our author, he, resolved of all doubts as a result of his long conversations with Nāgasena, came to be converted to Buddhism. Nāgasena, however, cannot be identified with any amount of certainty.

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Author. The name of the author, as we have already said, has not come down to us. A close analysis of the book shows that a considerable number of place names refers to the Punjab and adjacent countries, and a few to the sea-coast, e.g., Surat, Bharukaccha, etc. Most of the rivers named refer again to the Punjab. It is, therefore, natural for us to conjecture that the author of the book resided in the far north-west of India or in the Punjab. Mrs. Rhys Davids has a theory of her own regarding the author of the Milinda Pañho. She thinks that the recorded conversations of Milinda and Nāgasena were edited in the new book form after Milinda’s death, by special commission by a Brāhmaṇa of Buddhist Collegiate training, named Māṇava. She points out that the author was not a convinced Buddhist and that the detached first portion of the Milinda Pañha is in no way to be matched in style or ideas with the quite different dilemmas and the following portions. The first part is a set of jerky rather desultory talks breaking off and bearing marks of being genuine notes taken by recorders at the time. The latter portions are evidently written compositions, dummy conversations. “As to his name,” says Mrs. Rhys Davids, “that is not by me made of any importance: it is, let us say, my playful guess:—a brāhmaṇa name like the Shakespeare hidden allusions, alluded to in a gāthā, which there was no reason for quoting save as a hint at the name ”.

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It is somewhat difficult to ascertain exactly the date of the Book. Milinda or Menander is, however, ascribed to the last quarter of the 2nd century B.C. The book must, therefore, have been written after that date. On the other hand, it must have long been an important book of authority when Buddhaghosa, the celebrated Buddhist commentator, flourished in the 5th century A.D. For, he quoted from the book often in his commentaries, and that in such a manner that it follows that he regarded the book as a work of great authority. From a close analysis of the books referred to as quoted by the author of the Milinda Pañha, Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids, the learned editor and translator of Milinda Pañha, came to the conclusion that “ the book is later than the canonical books of the Pāli Piṭakas (the author of the Milinda Pañha quotes a large number of passages from the Piṭaka texts), and on the other hand, not only older than the great commentaries, but the only book outside the canon, regarded in them as an authority which may be implicitly followed ”.¹

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¹ S.B.E., Vol. XXXV, Intro., p. xxxviii.

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The Milinda Pañha has a marked style of its own. Its language is most elegant, and studied against the background of ancient Indian prose, it is simply a masterpiece of writing. The formal exactness of the early Piṭakas as well as the studied ornamentation of later-day Pāli or Sanskrit-Buddhist treatises are alike absent from its pages. The charm of the style is captivating and there are passages that are eloquent in their meaning and gesture. The pre-rorations with which the long discussions are often closed are supreme inventions by our author of the art of conversation as well as of writing. Its style and diction bear a close resemblance to and are somewhat maturer than those of the famous Hāstigumpha inscription of Khāravela which is assigned by Dr. B. M. Barua to the second quarter of the 1st century A.D.¹

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¹ Barua—Old Brahmi Inscriptions, p. 172.

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At Sāgala, a city of wealth and affluence, ruled King Milinda versed in arts and sciences and skilled in casuistry. He had his doubts and puzzles with regard to Buddha’s doctrines and utterances and other knotty problems of Buddhism. To resolve these doubts he went to Nāgasena, the famous arahat; and then began a wonderful conversational discourse between the two. But before the discourse really begins, we are introduced by our author to the previous birth history (Pubba-yoga) of these two personages and then to the contents of various sorts of puzzles.

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We are told that Nāgasena in a previous birth of his was one of the members of the religious brotherhood near the Ganges, where Milinda, in his turn, in a previous birth of his, was a novice. In accordance with his acts of merit in that birth and his aspirations, this novice after wandering from existence to existence came to be born at last as king of the city of Sāgala, a very learned, eloquent, and wise man. Now he had doubts and problems in his mind, and in vain did he seek the venerable Kassapa and Makkhali Gosāla to have them solved while all these were happening. The brother of the religious brotherhood who came to be born in a Brahman family was Nāgasena. When he was seven years old he learnt the three Vedas and all else that could be learnt in a Brahmanical house. Then he left the house, meditated in solitude for sometime and he was afterwards admitted into the order as a novice by a venerable Buddhist priest, Rohaṇa and was eventually converted into Buddhism. He was then sent to Pāṭaliputra to the venerable Buddhist sage Dhammarakkhita where he became an Arahat. Now while he was living there he was invited at the Guarded Slope in the Himalayas by an innumerable company of arahats who were being harassed by King Milinda who delighted in putting knotty questions and arguments this way and that. Nāgasena readily accepted the challenge of Milinda and went to Sāgala attended by a band of samaṇas. Just at that time Milinda had met Āyupāla, an Arahat of the Saṅkheyya monastery, whom too he confronted with his casuistry. Nāgasena who was then living at the same hermitage came now to the rescue of the Order. Milinda with five hundred Yonakas then repaired to Nāgasena, and after mutual exchanges of courtesy and compliments the conversational discourse began.

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(b) Book II. The first discourse turned on the distinguishing characteristics of moral qualities. Milinda enquired how Reverend Nāgasena was known and what was his name. Upon it Nāgasena initiated a discussion on the relation between name and individuality, and explained it thoroughly with the help of an instructive simile. The king then, obviously to test his knowledge, put to him a riddle and questioned him as to his seniority of years. Nāgasena fully vindicated himself, and the king then satisfied sought the permission of the Reverend Arahat to discuss with him. The Arahat in his turn told that he was agreeable to a discussion if he would only discuss as a scholar and not as a king. Then one by one Milinda put questions and Nāgasena solved them with his wonderful power of argumentation, simile, and illustration. He contended that there was no soul in the breath; he explained one by one the aim of Buddhist renunciation, the Buddhist idea of reincarnation, the distinction between wisdom and reasoning, and wisdom and intelligence. He further contended that virtue was the basis of the five moral powers requisite for the attainment of nirvāṇa and that other moral powers were faith,¹ perseverance, mindfulness, and meditation which a recluse should develop in himself. The characteristic marks of each of these qualities were expounded in detail, and their power to put an end to evil dispositions. A very important metaphysical question is next discussed wherein Nāgasena wants to establish with the help mainly of illuminating illustrations that when a man is born, he remains neither the same nor the another; like a child and a growing man through different stages of life. “One comes into being” another passes away; and the rebirth is, as it were, simultaneous. In this connection it is discussed if a man who will not be reborn feel any painful sensation; and then what is after all reborn. A discourse is next initiated as to what is meant by “time”, the root and the ultimate point of it. This leads to another discussion as to the origin and developments of qualities, as to other existence or non-existence of anything as soul, which in its turn most naturally leads to a further discussion as regards thought-perception and sight-perception, and lastly to the distinguishing characteristics of contact or phassa, sensation or vedanā, idea or saññā, purpose or cetanā, perception or viññāṇa, reflection or vitakka, and investigation or vicāra. In all these discourses and solutions, Milinda is fully convinced and is full of admiration for Nāgasena.

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¹ Cf. Summary of faith in the Nettipakaraṇa, p. 28.

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(c) Book III. The second discourse turns on the question of removal of difficulties and dispelling of doubts in the way of attaining a life of renunciation. The various questions as to these doubts are not always related to one another, but all of them are instructive and helpful to solve doubts in the mind of Milinda, the King. He wants to know why really there is so much distinction between man and man, how renunciation is brought about, what is the character of the influence of karma, and what is after all nirvāṇa, and whether all men attain it or not. The interesting point raised next is whether rebirth and transmigration are one and the same thing, and if there is a soul or any being that transmigrates from this body to another. Among other doubts that conflicted Milinda were if the body were very dear to the Buddhist recluse, if the Buddha had really thirty-two bodily marks of a great man, if the Buddha was pure in conduct, if ordination was a good thing. Milinda further enquired of Nāgasena what had been the real distinction between one full of passion, and one without passion, and lastly what was meant by an Arahat who recollected what was past and done long ago. Then there were also other difficulties of various kinds which were all solved by the venerable Nāgasena. Milinda was satisfied that he had propounded his questions rightly, and the replies had been made rightly. Nāgasena thought that the questions had been well-put and right replies had been given.

First 107 of 1,586 passages. Read on

Linked texts (91)

Śiśupālavadha — Māgha, Sanskrit
Apadāna — Pāli
Jātaka — Pāli
Paṭṭhāna — Pāli
Mahāvibhaṅga — Pāli
Kathāvatthu — Moggaliputta Tissa, Pāli
Cullavagga — Pāli
Paṭisambhidāmagga — Pāli
Mahāvagga — Pāli
Yamaka — Pāli
Vibhaṅga — Pāli
Mahāniddesa — Pāli
Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit
Carakasaṃhitā — Agniveśa (Āyurveda) & Caraka, Sanskrit
Suśrutasaṃhitā — Suśruta & Nāgārjuna (siddha/alchemist), Sanskrit
Cūḷaniddesa — Pāli
Mahāvastu — Sanskrit
Dhammasaṅgaṇī — Pāli
Milindapañha — Pāli
Bhikkhunīvibhaṅga — Pāli
Theragāthā — Pāli
Suttanipāta — Pāli
Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
Abhidhammāvatāra — Buddhadatta, Pāli
Vinayavinicchaya — Buddhadatta, Pāli
Peṭakopadesa — Mahākaccāna, Pāli
Buddhavaṃsa — Pāli
Nettippakaraṇa — Mahākaccāna, Pāli
Vimānavatthu — Pāli
Kaccāyanavyākaraṇa — Kaccāyana (grammarian), Pāli
Dhātukathā — Pāli
Mānava Dharmaśāstra — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit
Udāna — Pāli
Itivuttaka — Pāli
Therīgāthā — Pāli
Puggalapaññatti — Pāli
Cariyāpiṭaka — Pāli
Dīpavaṃsa — Pāli
Sāsanavaṃsa — Paññāsāmi 1861, Pāli
Brahmajālasutta — Pāli
Sāmaññaphalasutta — Pāli
Sakkapañhasutta — Pāli
Nirukta — Yāska, Sanskrit
Dhammapada — Pāli
Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta — Pāli
Saḷāyatanavibhaṅgasutta — Pāli
Mahākammavibhaṅgasutta — Pāli
Vatthasutta — Pāli
Dakkhiṇāvibhaṅgasutta — Pāli
Cūḷasīhanādasutta — Pāli
Cātumasutta — Pāli
Dhammadāyādasutta — Pāli
Mahārāhulovādasutta — Pāli
Saccavibhaṅgasutta — Pāli
Cūḷarāhulovādasutta — Pāli
Gandhavaṃsa — Pāli
Aggikkhandhopamasutta — Pāli
Dhammacakkappavattanasutta — Pāli
Ākaṅkheyyasutta — Pāli
Sāriputtasutta — Pāli
Paññattisutta — Pāli
Dīghanikāya — Pāli
Suttavibhaṅga — Pāli
Tipiṭaka (Theravāda) — Pāli
Veda — Sanskrit
Vinayapiṭaka — Pāli
Devatāsaṃyutta — Pāli
Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
Majjhimanikāya — Pāli
Suttantapiṭaka — Pāli
Visuddhimagga — Buddhaghosa, Pāli
Abhidhammapiṭaka — Pāli
Dhātu
Saṃyuttanikāya — Pāli
Aṅguttaranikāya — Pāli
Pātimokkha — Pāli
Khuddakanikāya — Pāli
Mārasaṃyutta — Pāli
Bhagavadgītā — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Jñānaprasthāna — Kātyāyanīputra, Classical Chinese
Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Samantapāsādikā — Sanskrit
Saccasaṃyutta — Pāli
Sāñcī
Bharhut
Anurādhapura
Uṟaiyūr
Śabdakalpadruma — Rājā Sir Rādhākānta Deb, Sanskrit
Mahābodhivaṃsa — Upatissa (Mahābodhivaṃsa), Pāli
Buddhaghosuppatti — Mahāmaṅgala, Pāli
Anāgatavaṃsa — Kassapa (of the Coḷa country), Pāli

A History of Pali Literature v2: Volume 2

Contents

Volume 2

Front matter

Chapter IV. Extra Canonical Works Presupposed by Pāli Commentaries

Linked texts (91)