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VI, 13.
OF MILINDA THE KING.
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is it, О king, for counteracting the bad odour of evil for those who desire to be pure. Like a lofty mountain range is it, o king, for protecting those who desire to be pure from the onslaught of the winds of the eight conditions to which men are subject in this world (gain and loss, and fame and dishonour, and praise and blame, and happiness and woe) ? Like the space of heaven is it, О king, in the freedom from all obstruction, in the magnitude, in the great expanse and breadth it gives to those who desire to be pure. Like a stream is it, О king, in washing away for those who desire to be pure the stain of all evil. Like a guide is it, О king, in bringing safe out of the desert of rebirths, out of the jungle of lusts and sins, those who desire to be pure. Like a mighty caravan is it, o king, for bringing those who desire to be pure safe into that most blessed city of Nirvâna, peaceful and calm, where no fear dwells. [355] Like a well-polished spotless mirror is it, O king, for showing to those who desire to be pure the true nature of the constituent elements of all beings. Like a shield is it, О king, for warding off from those who desire to be pure the clubs and the arrows and the swords of evil dispositions. Like a sunshade is it, О king, for warding off from those who desire to be pure the scorching heat of the threefold fire2. Like
author does not give the details, but it is unlikely that he meant other perfumes than those usually comprised in the term 'perfume of four kinds.' The expression is not found in the Pitakas, though it occurs in Buddhaghosa; and its use by our author may help to setile his date when we know its history, and the exact composition of the two foreign perfumes it includes.
1 The eight Loka-dhammas.
9 That is, of lust, malice, and dullness-that fire the 'going out' of which (in one's heart) is Nirvâna.
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| SR No. | 007682 |
| Book Title | Questions of King Milinda Part 02 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | T W Rhys Davids |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1894 |
| Total Pages | 2240 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 38 MB |