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IV, 6, 19.
OF MILINDA THE KING.
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value of a wish-conferring gem, [244] saying: “Such and such is the price of the gem "—just so, O king, is the renunciation of the world full of gain, many and immeasurable are its advantages, its profit can no man calculate-no more, O king, than he could count the number of the waves in the great ocean, and say: "So and so many are the waves in the sea!”
19. “Whatsoever the recluse, O king, may have yet to do, all that doth he accomplish straightway, without delay. And why is that? The recluse, O king, is content with little, joyful in heart, detached from the world, apart from society, earnest in zeal, without a home, without a dwelling-place, righteous in conduct, in action without guile, skilled in duty and in the attainments—that is why whatsoever may lie before him yet to do, that can he accomplish straightway, without delay- just as the flight of your javelin ?, O king, is rapid because it is of pure metal, smooth, and burnished, and straight, and without a stain.
Very good, Nagasena ! That is so, and I accept it as you say.'
[Here ends the dilemma as to the recluse having
no advantages over the layman.]
1 Nârâ ka. As Childers expresses a doubt as to the character of this weapon, I would refer to the Magghima I, 429, Gataka III, 322, and Milinda, pp. 105, 418 (of Mr. Trenckner's text).
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