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Greek King Milinda, the Buddhist

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REBIRTH IS NOT TRANSMIGRATION.

Nâgasena and King Milinda

on

Buddha Teaching

Introduction
- Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 BC and after his death the territories he had conquered
in what today is Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-west
India were ruled by his heirs. The greatest of the Greek Indian Kings
was Milinda, known in Greek sources as Menander, who
ruled from about 163 to
150 BC. Menander
was both an effective statesman and fine soldier and he greatly extended his
empire into India. he also converted to Buddhism. Greeks
living in India had probably adopted Buddhism before Milinda
but he is the first western Buddhist about which we have definite
information. It is a record of the early Theravada tradition.

Later traditions usually
called the Savakayana  a derogatory name (Hinayana) meaning the
Little or Narrow Vehicle. However the name Savakayana,
meaning the Vehicle of the Hearers, is both more courteous and more accurate in that for at least
the first 300 years the Buddha's teachings were orally transmitted i.e. they had to be heard in order to be learned by heart and
transmitted.

The only Savakayana
school that still flourishes is
the Theravada which was introduced into Sri Lanka
at the time of King Asoka (approximately 250 BC) and later spread from
there throughout South-East
Asia. The Savakayana as represented by the Theravada school is characterised
by minimal doctrinal development from the earliest versions of the Buddhist
teachings and by an emphasis on Vinaya by Monk.

Theravada is still found in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where it successfully weathered Western colonialism in the 18th
and 19th centuries, and in Thailand.
In Cambodia,
it was decimated by Communism in the 1970s. Today, Theravada has gained many
new adherents in India, Malaysia, Singapore and particularly in Indonesia.
It has also gained a significant following in the West.

Greek King Milinda

a.--Translated from the Milindapañha
(7l16).

Said the
king: "Bhante Nâgasena,
does rebirth take place without anything transmigrating [passing over]?"

"Yes,
your majesty. Rebirth takes place without anything transmigrating."

"How, bhante Nâgasena, does
rebirth take place without anything transmigrating?
Give an illustration."

"Suppose,
your majesty, a man were to light a light from another light; pray, would the
one light have passed over [transmigrated] to the other light?"

"Nay,
verily, bhante."

"In
exactly the same way, your majesty, does rebirth take place without anything transmigrating."

"Give another illustration."

"Do
you remember, your majesty, having learnt, when you were a boy, some verse or
other from your professor of poetry?"

"Yes, bhante."

"Pray,
your majesty, did the verse pass over [transmigrate] to you from your
teacher?"

"Nay, verily, bhante."

"In
exactly the same way, your majesty, does rebirth take place without anything transmigrating."

"You are an able man, bhante Nâgasena."

b.--Translated from the Milindapañha (465).

"Bhante Nâgasena," said the king,
"what is it that is born into the next existence?"

"Your
majesty," said the elder, "it is
name and form that is born into the next
existence."

"Is it this same name and form that is born into the next
existence?"

"Your majesty, it is not this same name and form that is
born into the next existence; but with this name and (p235 Mil 469)
form, your majesty, one does a deed—      it may be good,
or it may be wicked--and by reason of this deed another name and form is born
into the next existence."

"Bhante, if it is not this same name and form that is born
into the next existence, is one not freed from one's evil deeds?"

"If
one were not born into another existence," said the elder,

"one
would be freed from one's evil deeds;

but, your majesty, inasmuch
as one is born into another existence, therefore is one not freed from one's
evil deeds."

"Give
an illustration."

"Your majesty, it is as if a man were
to take away another man's mangoes, and the owner of the mangoes were to
seize him, and show him to the king, and say, 'Sire, this man hath taken away
my mangoes;' and the other were to say, 'Sire, I did not take away this man's
mangoes. The mangoes which this man planted were different mangoes from those
which I took away. I am not liable to punishment.' Pray, your majesty, would
the man be liable to punishment?"

"Assuredly, bhante, would he be liable
to punishment."

"For what reason?"

"Because, in spite of what
he might say, he would be liable to punishment for the reason that the last
mangoes derived from the first mangoes."

"In exactly the same way, your majesty, with this name and
form one does a deed--it may be good, or it may be wicked--and by reason of
this deed another name and form is born into the next existence. Therefore is
one not freed from one's evil deeds."

"Give
another illustration."

"Your
majesty, it is as if a man were to take away the rice of another man, . . . were to take away the sugar-cane, . . . Your
majesty, it is as if a man were to light a fire in the winter-time and warm
himself, and were to go off without putting it out. And then the fire were to
burn another man's field, and the owner of the field were to seize him, and
show him to the king, and say, 'Sire, this man has burnt up (p236 –
Mil475) my field;' and the other were to say, 'Sire, I did not set
this man's field on fire. The fire which I failed to put out was a different
one from the one which has burnt up this man's field. I am not liable to
punishment.' Pray, your majesty, would the man be liable to punishment?"

"Assuredly,
bhante, would he be liable to punishment."

"For
what reason?"

"Because, in spite of what he might say, the man would be liable
to punishment for the reason that the last fire derived from the first
fire."

"In
exactly the same way, your majesty, with this name and form one does a
deed--it may be good, or it may be wicked--and by reason of this deed another
name and form is born into the next existence. Therefore is one not freed
from one's evil deeds."

"Give
another illustration.'

Your
majesty, it is as if a man were to ascend to the top storey of a house with a
light, and eat there; and the light in burning were to set fire to the
thatch; and the thatch in burning were to set fire to the house; and the
house in burning were to set fire to the village; and the people of the
village were to seize him, and say, 'Why, O man, did you set fire to the
village?' and he were to say, 'I did not set fire to the village. The fire of
the lamp by whose light I ate was a different one from the one which set fire
to the village;' and they, quarreling, were to come to you. Whose cause, your
majesty, would you sustain?"

"That
of the people of the village, bhante."

"And
why?"

"Because,
in spite of what the man might say, the latter fire sprang from the
former."

"In exactly the same way, your majesty, although the name and
form which is born into the next existence is different from the name and
form which is to end at death, nevertheless, it is sprung from it. Therefore
is one not freed from one's evil deeds."

"Give
another illustration."

Your
majesty, it is as if a man were to choose a young (p237. Mil 4732)

girl in
marriage, and having paid the purchase-money, were to go off; and she
subsequently were to grow up and become marriageable; and then another man
were to pay the purchase-money for her, and marry her; and the first man were
to return, and say, 'O man, why did you marry my wife?' and the other were to
say, 'I did not marry your wife. The young, tender girl whom you chose in
marriage, and for whom you paid purchase-money, was a different person from
this grown-up and marriageable girl whom I have chosen in marriage, and for
whom I have paid purchase-money;' and they, quarreling, were to come to you.
Whose cause, your majesty, would you sustain?"

That of
the first man."

"And
why?"

"Because,
in spite of what the second man might say, the grown-up girl sprang from the
other."

"In exactly the same way, your majesty, although the name and
form which is born into the next existence is different from the name and
form which is to end at death, nevertheless, it is sprung from it. Therefore
is one not freed from one's evil deeds."

"Give
another illustration."

"Your
majesty, it is as if a man were to buy from a
cowherd a pot of milk, and were to leave it with the cowherd, and go off,
thinking he would come the next day and take it. And on the next day it were to turn into sour cream; and the man were to come
back, and say, 'Give me the pot of milk.' And the other were
to show him the sour cream; and the first man were to say, 'I did not buy
sour cream from you. Give me the pot of milk.' And the cowherd
were to say, 'While you were gone, your milk turned into sour cream;'
and they, quarreling, were to come to you. Whose cause, your majesty, would
you sustain?"

"That
of the cowherd, bhante."

"And
why?"

"Because,
in spite of what the man might say, the one sprang from the other."

"In exactly the same way, your majesty, although the (p238. Mil
4826)

name and form which is born
into the next existence is different from the name and form which is to end
at death, nevertheless, it is sprung from it. therefore
is one not freed from one's evil deeds."

"You
are an able man, bhante Nâgasena,"

c--Translated from the Visuddhi-Magga (chap. xvii.).

It is only elements of being possessing a dependence that arrive
at a new existence: none transmigrated from the last existence, nor are they
in the new existence without causes contained in the old, By this is said
that it is only elements of being, with form or without, but possessing a
dependence, that arrive at a new existence. There is no entity, no living
principle; no elements of being transmigrated from the last existence into
the present one; nor, on the other hand, do they appear in the present
existence without causes in that one, This we will now make plain by
considering birth and death as they occur every day among men.

For when, in any existence, one arrives at the gate of death, either
in the natural course of things or through violence; and when, by a concourse
of intolerable, death-dealing pains, all the members, both great and small,
are loosened and wrenched apart in every joint and ligament; and the body,
like a green palm-leaf exposed to the sun, dries up by degrees; and the
eye-sight and the other senses fail; and the power of feeling, and the power
of thinking, and vitality are making the last stand in the heart--then
consciousness residing in that last refuge, the heart, continues to exist by
virtue of karma, otherwise called the predispositions. This karma, however,
still retains something of what it depends on, and consists of such former
deeds as were weighty, much practised, and are now
close at hand; or else this karma creates a reflex of itself or of the new
mode of life now being entered upon, and it is with this as its object that
consciousness continues to exist.

Now
while the consciousness still subsists, inasmuch as (p239. Vis xvii)

desire and ignorance have not
been abandoned and the evil of the object is hidden by that ignorance, desire
inclines the consciousness to the object; and the karma that sprang up along
with the consciousness impels it toward the object. This consciousness being
in its series thus inclined toward the object by desire, and impelled toward
it by karma, like a man who swings himself over a ditch by means of a rope
hanging from a tree on the hither bank, quits its first resting-place and
continues to subsist in dependence on objects of sense and other things, and
either does or does not light on another resting-place created by karma. Here
the former consciousness, from its passing out of existence, is called
passing away, and the latter, from its being reborn into a new existence, is
called rebirth. But it is to be understood that this latter consciousness did
not come to the present existence from the previous one, and also that it is
only to causes contained in the old existence,--namely, to karma called the
predispositions, to inclination, an object, etc.,--that its present
appearance is due.

As illustrations here may serve

Echoes and other similes.

Nor sameness, nor diversity,

Can from that series take their rise

As
illustrations of how consciousness does
not come over from the last existence into the present, and how it springs up
by means of causes belonging to the former existence, here may serve echoes, light,
the impressions of a seal, and reflections in a mirror. For as echoes, light,
the impressions of a seal, and shadows have sound
etc. for their causes, and exist without having come from elsewhere, just so
is it with this mind.

Moreover

Nor sameness, nor diversity,

Can from that series take their rise.

For if,
in a continuous series, an absolute sameness obtained, then could sour cream
not arise from milk; while, on the (p240. Vis.xviic)
other hand, if there were an absolute diversity, then could not a milk-owner
obtain sour cream. The same argument holds good in regard to all causes and
effects. This being so, it would be more correct not to use the popular mode
of stating the case, but that would not be desirable. Therefore, we must
merely guard ourselves from supposing that there is here either an absolute
sameness or an absolute diversity. Here some one will say,

"This
explanation is not a good one. For is it not true that if there be no
transmigration, and both the Groups and the fruitful karma which belong to
this existence in the world of men cease, nor arrive in the new existence,
the fruit of this karma would then be borne by a different thing from that
which produced the karma itself? If the reaper ceased to exist, it would not
be he experienced the fruit. Therefore this position is not good."

The
following quotation will answer this:

"The series which doth
bear a fruit,

Is not the same nor something else.

The fabricating power in seeds

Will show the meaning of this word

For when
the fruit arises in a series, as absolute sameness and absolute diversity are both excluded,
it cannot be said that the fruit is borne by the same thing nor yet by something else.

The
fabricating power in seeds will show this. For when the fabricating power in the seed of mangoes and
other plants operate, inasmuch as any particular kind of fruit is dependent
on the previous part of its series, it cannot come from other seeds, nor in
dependence on other fabricating powers; nor yet is it those other seeds, or
those other fabricating powers, which arrive at fruition. Such is to be
understood to be the nature of the present case. Also when education,
training, and medicaments have been applied to the body of a young person,
the fruit will appear in after time in the mature body etc. Thus is the sense
to be understood. (p241. Vis.xvii)

Now as to
what was said, "If the reaper ceased to exist, it would not be he
experienced the fruit," consider the following:

"As when
't is said, 'The tree bears fruit,'

As soon as fruit on it appears;

Just so the Groups are reapers called,

As soon as karma's fruit springs up."

Just as
in the case of those elements of being which go under the name of tree, as
soon as at any point the fruit springs up, it is then said,
"The tree bears fruit," or, "The tree has fructified"--so also in the
case of those Groups which go under the name of
"god" or "man," when a fruition of happiness or misery
springs up at any point, then it is said, "That god or man is happy or
miserable." Therefore is it that we have here no need of any other reaper.

d.--Translated from the Visuddhi-Magga (chap. xvii.).

He,
then, that has no clear idea of death and does not master the fact that death
everywhere consists in the dissolution of the Groups, he comes to a variety
of conclusions, such as, "A living entity dies and transmigrates into another
body."

He that
has no clear idea of rebirth and does not master the fact that the appearance
of the Groups everywhere constitutes rebirth, he comes to a variety of
conclusions, such as, "A living entity is born and has obtained a new
body."

e.--Translated from the Visuddhi-Magga (chap. xxi.).

Therefore
have the ancients said:

"'The
Groups break up, and only they,' the wise say,

'And death consisteth in their dissolution.'

The thoughtful man of insight sees them vanish;

They're like the jewel shattered by the diamond."

Ananta Metta

Maung Paw

Ananta Metta

Maung Paw