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IV, 6, 24.
OF MILINDA THE KING.
63
[DILEMMA THE FIFTY-SIXTH.
THE BACKSLIDERS.] 23. Venerable Nâgasena, this doctrine of the Tathagatas is mighty, essentially true, precious, excellent, noble, peerless, pure and stainless, clear and faultless. It is not right to admit a layman who is merely a disciple' into the Order. He should be instructed as a layman still, till he have attained to the Fruit of the First Path, and then be admitted. And why is this? When these men, still being evil, have been admitted into a religion so pure, they give it up, and return again to the lower states, and by their backsliding the people is led to think : “ Vain must be this religion of the Samana Gotama, which these men have given up." This is the reason for what I say.'
24. Suppose, O king, there were a bathing tank“, full of pure clear cold water. And some man, dirty, covered with stains and mud, should come there, and without bathing in it should turn back again, still dirty as before. Now in that matter whom would the people blame, the dirty man, or the bathing tank?'
*The dirty man, Sir, would the people blame,
1 Tâvata kam. I take this word, in the sense of 'mere,' as an accusative in agreement with gihim (see the use of the word at pp. 107, 115, 241 of the Pâli text), and not as an accusative of motion, into so great a sâsanam.'
. That is till he be converted, till he has entered the stream.' See Buddhism,' p. 101.
8 That is, of a layman.
• Talâka, which Childers wrongly renders pond, pool, lake.' It is always an artificial tank, reservoir. See Kullavagga X, 1, 6; Gataka I, 239; Milinda, pp. 66, 8I, 296.
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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 |