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II, 2, 5.
favour nor to bear malice. He shakes not down the unripe fruit, but awaits the full time of its maturity. For it has been said, O king, by the Elder, Sâriputta, the Commander of the faith [45]:
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THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
"It is not death, it is not life I welcome; As the hireling his wage, so do I bide my time. It is not death, it is not life I want;
Mindful and thoughtful do I bide my time1."" 'Well put, Nâgasena!'
5. The king said: 'Is a pleasant sensation, Nâgasena, good or evil or indifferent?'
It may be any one of the three.'
'But surely, Sir, if good conditions are not painful, and painful ones not good, then there can arise no good condition that is at the same time painful 2.'
'Now, what do you think, great king? Suppose a man were to hold in one hand a red-hot ball of iron, and in the other a lump of icy snow, would they
both hurt him?'
'Yes; they both would.'
'But are they both hot?' 'Certainly not.'
'But are they both cold?' " No.'
'Then acknowledge yourself put in the wrong! If the heat hurts, and they are not both hot, the pain cannot come from the heat. If the cold hurts,
1 These verses are nearly the same as those put in reverse order into Sâriputta's mouth in the Theri Gâthâ, 1003, 1002. And the first two lines, as Dr. Rost was good enough to point out to me, are identical (except as to a slight grammatical variation) with Manu VI, 45.
? And the same, therefore, of pleasant sensations that are evil.
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