Questions of King Milinda Part 02

Author(s): T W Rhys Davids
Publisher: Oxford

Page 28

xxvi QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES OF MILINDA THE KING.
how a layman, who is a layman after becoming an Arahat, can enter the Order, is entirely in accord with the opinion maintained, as against the Uttarapathakà, in the Katha Vatthu IV, 1. Our Milinda ascribes the verses,
'Exert yourselves, be strong, and to the faith,' &c., to the Buddha ? In the note on that passage I had pointed out that they are ascribed, not to the Buddha, but to Abhibhù in certain Pitaka texts, and to the Buddha himself only in late Sanskrit works. In the exposition of Katha Vatthu II, 3 the verses are also ascribed to the Buddha. The proposition in the Katha Vatthu II, 8 that the Buddha, in the ordinary affairs of life, was not transcendental, agrees with Nagasena's argument in the Milinda, part ii, pp. 8–12. The discussion in the Milinda as to whether an Arahat can be thoughtless or guilty of an offence 3 is foreshadowed by the similar points raised in the Katha Vatthu I, 2; II, 1, 2, and VIII, 11. And the two dilemmas, Nos. 65 and 66, especially as to the cause of space, may be compared with the discussion in Katha Vatthu VI, 6, as to whether space is self-existent.
The general result of a comparison between these two very interesting books of controversial apologetics seems to me to be that the differences between them are just such as one might expect (a) from the difference of date, and (6) from the fact that the controversy in the older book is carried on against members of the same communion, whereas in the Milinda we have a defence of Buddhism as against the outsider. The Katha Vatthu takes almost the whole of the conclusions reached in the Milinda for granted, and goes on to discuss further questions on points of detail. It does not give a description of Arahatship in glowing terms, but discusses minor points as to whether the realisation of Arahatship includes the Fruits of the three lower paths, or whether all the qualities of an Arahat are free from the Åsavas", or whether the knowledge of his
Milinda, ii, pp. 96-98 (compare 57-59). • Milinda, ii, p. 60.
. Milinda, ii, PP. 98 foll. • Katha Vattha IV, 9.
• Kathå Vatihu IV, 3.
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