Introduction

If we turn from isolated words to the evidence of style it will be acknowledged by every reader that the Milinda has a marked style of its own, different alike from the formal exactness of most of the Pitaka texts, and from the later manner of any other Pâli or Sanskrit-Buddhist authors as yet published. It is no doubt the charm of its style which has been one of the principal reasons for the great popularity of the book. Even a reader who takes no interest in the points that are raised, or in the method in which the questions are discussed, will be able, I trust, to see, even through the dark veil of a lame and wooden translation, what the merits of the original must be. And to a devout Buddhist, in whose eyes the book he was reading offered a correct solution of the most serious difficulties in religion, of the deepest problems of life,--to whose whole intellectual training and sympathies the way in which the puzzles are put, and solved, so exactly appealed,--to such a reader both the easy grace of the opening dialogue, as of a ship sailing in calm waters, and the real eloquence of occasional passages, more especially of the perorations by which the solutions are sometimes closed, must have been a continual feast. I venture to think that the 'Questions of Milinda' is undoubtedly the master-piece of Indian prose; and indeed is the best book of its class, from a literary point of view, that had then been produced in any country. Limits of space prevent the discussion of this last proposition, however interesting: and it would be, no doubt, difficult to prove that anything from India was better than the corresponding thing produced by our noble selves, or by those

p. xlix whose Karma we inherit. But in ancient Indian literature there are only two or three works which can at all compare with it. It ought not to seem odd that these also are Buddhist and Pâli; that is, that they come from the same school. And while the Dîgha Nikâya may be held to excel it in stately dignity, the Visuddhi Magga in sustained power, and the Gâtaka book in varied humour, the palm will probably be eventually given to the 'Questions of Milinda' as a work of art. I am aware that this conclusion is entirely at variance with the often repeated depreciation of Buddhist literature. But the fact is that this depreciation rests upon ignorance, and is supported by prejudice. As a critical judgment it will not survive the publication and translation of those great Buddhist works which it overlooks or ignores. Some Sanskrit scholars, familiar with the Brahmin estimate of matters Indian, and filled with a very rational and proper admiration for the many fine qualities which the old Brahmins possessed, may find it hard to recognise the merits of sectarian works written in dialects which violate their most cherished laws of speech. But the historical student of the evolution of thought, and of the rise of literature in India, will more and more look upon the question as a whole, and will estimate at its right value all Indian work, irrespective of dialect or creed. T. W. RHYS DAVIDS.

T. W. RHYS DAVIDS. TEMPLE, August, 1889. xi:1 In his 'Ancient Geography of India,' p. 186. xiii:1 See Turnour's Mahavansa, p. lxviii. xiii:2 I believe that none of the many vernacular literatures of India can compare for a moment with the Simhalese, whether judged from the point of view of literary excellence, variety of contents, age, or historical value. And yet a few hundreds a year for ten years would probably suffice, on the system followed by the Pâli Text Society, for the editing and publication of the whole. xiv:1 This was already pointed out in a note to my translation of the text commented on ('Buddhist Suttas,' vol. xi of the Sacred Books of the East, p. 112). xvi:1 Kim ettha aññena vattabbam? Vuttam etam Nâgasenattheren' eva Milinda-rañña putthena .... (Sumangala Vilâsinî, loc. cit.). xvi:2 See p. 51 of the 'Journal of the Pâli Text Society' for 1882. xvi:3 This Nissaya is now in the possession of his brother, the Bursar of St. John's College, Cambridge. xvii:1 By the kindness of the Master and Fellows of the College I have been allowed to collate this MS. in London. xvii:2 See 'Journal of the Pâli Text Society' for 1882, p. 35. xvii:3 See 'Journal of the Pâli Text Society' for 1883, p. 146. xvii:4 See 'Journal of the Pâli Text Society' for 1882, p. 119. xviii:1 'Pâli Miscellany,' part i, p. 55. xviii:2 For instance, Wilson in his 'Ariana Antiqua,' p. 283. xix:1 Compare Mr. Trenckner's note at p. 70 of the 'Pâli Miscellany.'

xix:1 Compare Mr. Trenckner's note at p. 70 of the 'Pâli Miscellany.' xix:2 Edit. Müller, xi, II, 1. xix:3 De Repub. Ger., p. 821. xx:1 Mahâparinibbâna Suttanta VI, 58-62, translated in my 'Buddhist Suttas' (vol. xi of the Sacred Books of the East), pp. 133-135. xx:2 This number would be greatly increased if the differences of the monograms were allowed for. xx:3 Chapter 47 of Müller's edition. xxi:1 See Alfred Von Sallet, 'Die Nachfolger Alexander's des Grossen in Baktrien und Indien,' Berlin, 1879; and Professor Percy Gardiner's 'Catalogue of the Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Baktria and India,' London, 1886. xxi:2 In his 'Ariana Antiqua,' p. 283, London, 1841. xxi:3 The r is a little doubtful and is written, if at all, after the dh, though intended to be pronounced before the m. xxiii:1 See the chronological table in the Introduction to Professor Gardner's work, quoted below. xxiii:2 See the translation below of III, 7, 5 xxiii:3 See p. 420 of the Pâli text. xxiv:1 'Introduction,' pp. v, vi. xxv:1 See the passages quoted by Dr. Wenzel in the 'Journal of the Pâli Text Society' for 1886, pp. 1-4. xxv:2 See Professor Weber in the 'Handschriftenverzeichniss der königlichen Bibliothek in Berlin,' vol. v, part 2, p. 365. xxvi:1 Compare on this point Dr. Wenzel, loc. cit., with Dr. Burgess in the 'Archaeological Reports for Southern India,' vol. i, pp. 5-9. Dr. Burgess thinks the most probable date of his death is about 200 A. D.

xxvi:1 Compare on this point Dr. Wenzel, loc. cit., with Dr. Burgess in the 'Archaeological Reports for Southern India,' vol. i, pp. 5-9. Dr. Burgess thinks the most probable date of his death is about 200 A. D. xxvi:2 The identification of Nâgârguna and Nâgasena was made independently by Major Bird in the 'Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society' for October, 1844 (who was followed by the Rev. R. Spence Hardy at p. 517 of his 'Manual of Buddhism,' published in 1860), and by Benfey in his article 'Indien' in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopedia (who was followed by Burnouf at p. 570 of his 'Introduction,' &c., published in 1844). xxvi:3 Loc. cit. Note to his translation of Târanâtha, p. 298. xxvii:1 Kern's 'Buddhismus' (the German translation), vol. ii, p. 443. xxvii:2 As these pages were passing through the press I have found Assagutta of the Vattaniya hermitage, mentioned in the last chapter of the Saddhamma Samgaha, which is passing through the press for the Pâli Text Society. But this is taken no doubt from the Milinda, and is not an independent reference to any such teacher as an historical person. (The Saddhamma Samgaha was written by Dhamma-kitti in Ceylon, probably in the twelfth century.) xxxv:1 That is, not in the Pitakas. The stanza is found in the commentary on the Dhammapada (Fausböll, p. 147), and also in Buddhaghosa's Papañka Sûdanî (see Trenckner's note)--each time with a variation at the close of the verse.

xxxv:1 That is, not in the Pitakas. The stanza is found in the commentary on the Dhammapada (Fausböll, p. 147), and also in Buddhaghosa's Papañka Sûdanî (see Trenckner's note)--each time with a variation at the close of the verse. xxxvi:1 Mr. Trenckner gives no reference, and I have searched through the Sutta Nipâta, which has no index, in vain. xxxvii:1 This estimate excludes the space occupied by notes. The books marked with an asterisk in the foregoing list have already been printed. xxxix:1 Page 342 of the printed text. xl:1 About half of the canonical books, besides a considerable number of the uncanonical works, have already been edited in the last few years, chiefly owing to the Pâli Text Society's labours. xl:2 See the passages quoted in my note at p. 9. xlii:1 See my notes to the passages quoted. xliv:1 See pp. 70, 87, 380 of the Pâli text. xliv:2 'Journal of the Pâli Text Society,' 1888, p. 87. xliv:3 See Lassen, 'Indische Alterthumskunde,' vol. i, p. 43 (first edition, p. 55 of the second edition), and the passages there quoted. xlv:1 See the articles in his 'Pâli Dictionary,' referred to under note 3, p. xi of the Introduction. xlv:2 See the note on pp. 178, 179 of my 'Buddhist Suttas.' xlvi:1 Hînati-kumburê (p. 252) reads anânayo. xlvi:2 The Simhalese has bhaddiputrayo. xlvii:1 1 This word has been found in the Pitakas (e. g. Magghima I, 480) in the sense of 'practice.' xlvii:2 The Pitaka form is ratana.