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IV, 8, 56.
OF MILINDA THE KING.
179
'Just so, O king, is the relation of the infant's mind to Nirvana?
55. And again, it is like the broad earth, O king, long and wide, great in expanse and extension, large and mighty-would now a tiny drop of water be able to wet and turn to mud that broad earth??'
Certainly not, Sir.' But why not, O king ?'
Because of the minuteness of the drop of water, and because of the greatness of the broad earth.'
Just so, O king, is the relation of the infant's mind to Nirvana.
[312] 56. 'Or again, O king, suppose there were weak and powerless, minute, tiny, limited, and dull fire-would it be possible, with so insignificant a fire, to overcome darkness and make light appear over the whole world of gods and men ?
Certainly not, Sir.' But why not, O king ?'
Because of the dullness of the fire, and because of the greatness of the world.
Just so, O king, the mind of one under seven years of age is powerless and weak, limited, insignificant, obscure, and dull; it is veiled, moreover, with the thick darkness of ignorance. Hard would it be, therefore, for it to shine forth with the light of knowledge. And that is the reason, O king, why to an infant, to one under seven years of age, even though he order his conduct aright, there can be no attainment of insight into the Truth.
1 In the text the whole comparison is repeated.
• For a similar metaphor see above, IV, 8, 31 (p. 296 of the Påli)
N 2
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