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VII, 5, 23.
OF MILINDA THE KING.
349
serpent he ought to have. For it is a saying, O king, of the two fairy birds in the Bhallâtiya Gâtaka:
"'Tis one night only, hunter, that we've spent Away from home, and that against our will, And thinking all night through of one another, Yet that one night is it that we bemoan, And grieve; for nevermore can it return 1!"'
50. THE ROCK-SNAKE 2.
23. 'Venerable Nâgasena, that one quality of the rock-snake that you say he ought to take, which is it?'
'Just, O king, as the rock-snake, immense as is its length of body, will go many days with empty belly, and, wretched, get no food to fill its stomach, yet in spite of that it will just manage to keep itself alive; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, though he be addicted to obtaining his food by alms, dependent on the gifts that others may give, awaiting offers, abstaining from taking anything himself, and find it difficult to get his belly's-full, yet should he, if he seek after the highest good, even though he receive not so much as four or five mouthfuls to eat, fill up the void by water. This, O king, is the quality of the rock-snake he ought to have. For it was said, O king, [407] by Sâriputta, the Elder, the Commander of the Faith:
1 Gâtaka IV, 439. Agagara.
Childers renders this 'boa-constrictor.' But Hînaf-kumburê has pimburâ, which is a rock-snake, often confounded with the boa-constrictor on account of the size to which it grows.
Atthavasikena, attha being rendered Nirvâna by the Sim
halese.
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| SR No. | 007682 |
| Book Title | Questions of King Milinda Part 02 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | T W Rhys Davids |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1894 |
| Total Pages | 2240 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 38 MB |