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86
THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA.
II, 3, 6.
has sprung into being without a gradual becoming. It. is by a process of evolution that Confections come to be!'
"Give me another illustration.'
*Suppose, o king, there were no looking-glass, and no light, and no face in front of it, would there appear an image ?'
No.' But given these things,there might be a reflection?' Yes, Sir, there might.'
Just so, great king, there is no Confection which has sprung into being without a gradual becoming. It is by a process of evolution that Confections come to be!'
*Very good, Nâgasena!'
6. The king said: 'Is there, Nagasena, such a thing as the soul 1 ?'
What is this, O king, the soul (Vedagu)?' 'The living principle within which sees forms through the eye, hears sounds through the ear, experiences tastes through the tongue, smells odours through the nose, feels touch through the body, and discerns things (conditions, "dhamma") through the mind—just as we, sitting here in the palace, can look out of any window out of which we wish to look, the east window or the west, or the north or the south.'
The Elder replied: 'I will tell you about the five
1 Vedaga, see below, III, 5, 6, p. III, not found in this meaning in the Pitakas.
Abbhantare gîvo, also not found in this sense in the Pitakas. Atta, rendered just above 'image' or 'reflection,' is the word used in them for soul. Hînafi-kumburê renders this here by prâna giwa, 'breath-soul.' See below, III, 7, 15, p. 132; and above, II, 4, p. 48; and II, 2, 6, p. 71.
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