________________
IV, I, I.
DILEMMAS.
BOOK IV.
MENDAKA-PAÑHO.
THE SOLVING OF DILEMMAS.
137
CHAPTER 1. [90]
1. Master of words and sophistry, clever and wise Milinda tried to test great Nâgasena's skill. Leaving him not1, again and yet again, He questioned and cross-questioned him, until His own skill was proved foolishness.
Then he became a student of the Holy Writ. All night, in secrecy, he pondered o'er
The ninefold Scriptures, and therein he found Dilemmas hard to solve, and full of snares. And thus he thought: 'The conquering Buddha's words
Are many-sided, some explanatory, Some spoken as occasion rose to speak, Some dealing fully with essential points. Through ignorance of what, each time, was meant There will be strife hereafter as to what
The King of Righteousness has thus laid down In these diverse and subtle utterances.
Let me now gain great Nâgasena's ear, And putting to him that which seems so strange And hard-yea contradictory-get him To solve it. So in future times, when men Begin to doubt, the light of his solutions Shall guide them, too, along the path of Truth.'
1 Vasanto tassa khâyâya, literally 'abiding under his shadow.' Compare Gâtaka I, 91.
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