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82
THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
II, 3, 4.
away, then surely, being thus cut off at both ends, it must be entirely destroyed"?'
Nay, surely, O king, if it be thus cut off at both ends, can it not at both ends be made to grow again??'
Yes, it might. But that is not my question. Could it grow again from the point at which it was cut off ?'
Certainly.' Give me an illustration.'
Then the Elder repeated the simile of the tree and the seed, and said that the Skandhas (the constituent elements of all life, organic and inorganic) were so many seeds, and the king confessed himself satisfied.
4. The king said: Are there any Confections : which are produced ?'
Certainly Which are they?'
Where there is an eye, and also forms, there is sight“, where there is sight there is a contact through the eye, where there is contact through the eye there is a sensation, where there is sensation there is a longing 5, where there is longing there is a grasping 6, where there is grasping there is a becoming,
? That is, each individuality must be separate. The supposed chain does not really exist.
? There is an odd change of gender here. Possibly the word ignorance' has been dropped out. Trenckner says the passage is corrupt, and the Simhalese is so involved as to be unintelligible.
8 Sankhârâ, potentialities, possible forms, of sentient existence. • Kakkhu-viññana. See note 2 above, p. 8o. 6 Tanha, thirst.
• Upâdâna, a stretching out towards a satisfaction of the longing, and therefore a craving for life, time, in which to satisfy it.
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