A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s5.20

v2.c19.s5.20

The king said: "Lord Nāgasena, when a man is reborn, is he the same or is he another?" The Thera said: "He is neither the same nor is he another." "Give me a parable." "What do you think, great king, are you now as an adult the same as you were as a tender little boy, a little child lying flat on your back?" "No, lord, that tender little boy, that little child lying flat on its back was another, and I as an adult am now another." "If that is so, great king, then you have no mother, no father, no teacher, you have never been instructed, never learned the commandments, never gained wisdom. How then, great king, is the mother of the embryo in its four stages each time another, is the mother of the little child another, and the mother of the adult yet another? Is it another who takes instruction, and another who has learned something? Is it another who commits a crime, and another who is punished by having his hands and feet cut off?" "No, lord, but what would you reply?" The Thera said: "I myself, great king, was the tender little boy, the little child lying flat on its back, and I myself am now the adult. Through one and the same body all these are combined into one unity." "Give me a parable." "Great king, if a man lighted a lamp, would it burn all the night?" "Yes, lord, it would." "How now, great king, is the flame in the first watch of the night the same as the flame in the second watch of the night?" "No, lord." "And is the flame in the second watch of the night the same as the flame in the last watch of the night?" "No, lord." "How, great king, then was there one lamp in the first watch of the night, another lamp in the second watch of the night, and yet another lamp in the last watch of the night?" "No, lord, the lamp burned the whole night by means of one and the same (combustible)." "Exactly so, great king, the continuity of the phenomena² comes about, it is another who arises, and another who passes away, but at the same time there is something which unites them, and therefore a man enters into his last union with consciousness¹ neither as the same nor as another."