English
He obtains pleasant, desirable, peaceful, happy attainments, he is cultivated by the best, excellent, supreme, incomparable, pure-scented virtue, he is dear and pleasing to gods and humans, he is praised by the noble persons who have destroyed the influxes, he is venerated, worshipped, lauded, praised, extolled, celebrated by gods and humans, unattached to the world, whether here or beyond, seeing danger in even the slightest fault, a means to the attainment of the path and fruit for those desiring great, excellent attainments, a partaker of abundant, exquisite requisites without asking, homeless, dwelling in the best abode of meditation and contemplation, one who has unraveled the net of defilements, one who has broken, shattered, contracted, restrained the course of existence, of unshakeable Dhamma. Dwelling without being blamed, Enjoying blameless possessions, Freed from destiny, Having crossed over all doubts, One whose mind meditates on liberation, Having seen the Dhamma, Having approached the unshakeable, firm refuge and protection, With eradicated latent tendencies, Having attained the destruction of all taints, Abounding in the attainment of peaceful happiness, Endowed with all the qualities of a recluse, He is endowed with these thirty excellent qualities. Thus ends the thirty excellent qualities of the advantages of the ascetic practices. Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow and lamentation are suffering, despair is suffering, association with the disliked is suffering, separation from the liked is suffering, the death of mother is suffering, the death of father is suffering, the death of brother is suffering, the death of sister is suffering, the death of relatives is suffering, loss of relatives is suffering, loss of wealth is suffering, loss of morality is suffering, loss of views is suffering, royal misfortune is suffering, misfortune from thieves is suffering, fear from enemies is suffering, fear from famine is suffering, fear from fire is suffering, water fear is suffering, wave fear is suffering, whirlpool fear is suffering, crocodile fear is suffering, alligator fear is suffering, fear of self-reproach is suffering, fear of others' reproach is suffering, fear of ill-repute is suffering, fear of punishment is suffering, fear of bad destinations is suffering, fear of assemblies is suffering, fear of livelihood is suffering, fear of death is suffering, great fear is suffering, being struck with whips is suffering, being struck with lashes is suffering, being struck with half-clubs is suffering, cutting off hands is suffering, cutting off feet is suffering, cutting off the nose is suffering, cutting off the ears is suffering, cutting off both ears and nose is suffering, the punishment of the biḷaṅgathālika, the punishment of the saṅkhamuṇḍika, the punishment of the rāhumukha, the punishment of the jotimālika, the punishment of the hathapajjotika, the punishment of the erakavattika, the punishment of the cīrakavāsika, the punishment of the eneyyaka, the punishment of the balisamaṃsika, the punishment of the kahāpaṇika, the punishment of the khārāpatacchika, the punishment of the paḷighaparivattika, the punishment of the palālapīṭhika, being sprinkled with hot oil is suffering, being fed to dogs is suffering, being impaled alive is suffering, having one's head cut off with a sword is suffering. This is the sixtyfold suffering. Saṅkhamuṇḍaka means the act of doing the saṅkhamuṇḍaka punishment. While doing that, having cut the skin on both sides of the upper lip, around the earlobes and the throat, having made a knot of all the hair together, they pull it out by wrapping it with a stick. The skin rises up together with the hair, then the head is cut off. They scrub them with pumice stones, wash them, and make them the color of conch shells. Similarly, "Biḷaṅgathālika" means doing the work of a mortar. While doing that, they split open the skull, take a hot iron ball with tongs, and throw it in. With that, the brain boils and rises to the top. "Rāhumukha" means doing the work of Rāhu's mouth. While doing that, they open a hole with an awl and light a lamp inside the mouth. Starting from the earlobes, they dig into the mouth by stabbing, and blood flows, filling the mouth. "Jotimālika" means wrapping the entire body in oil-soaked rags and setting it alight. "Hathapajjotika" means wrapping the hands in oil-soaked rags and setting them ablaze. "Erakavattika" means doing the work of an "Erakavataka." While doing that, starting from below the neck, they cut circles of skin, letting them fall to the ankles, then tie him with ropes and pull him. He falls, stepping on his own skin circles. "Cīrakavāsika" means doing the work of a "Cīrakavāsika." While doing that, they similarly cut circles of skin and place them at the waist. Cutting from the waist, they place them at the ankles. The lower body from above is like being clothed in strips. "Eṇeyyaka" means doing the work of an "Eṇeyyaka." While doing that, they insert iron rods into the armpits, ears, and knees, and hammer in iron stakes. He stands fixed to the ground with four iron stakes. Then they surround him and make a fire. They remove the stakes, together with the joints, and leave him standing only on the four bone tips. "Baḷisamaṃsika" means striking with double-ended fishhooks, tearing out skin, flesh, sinews, and bones. "Kahāpaṇaka" means striking the entire body with sharp axes, from the limbs downwards, dropping pieces the size of a kahāpaṇa. "Khārāpatacchika" means striking the body in various places with weapons, rubbing caustic soda into the wounds, and as the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones flow away, only a skeleton remains. "Paḷighaparivattaka" means laying him down on one side and inserting an iron stake into the ear hole. They fasten it to the earth with pegs, then, seizing it by the feet, they fling it away. "A seat of straw" means a clever artisan, without cutting the skin and flesh, piercing the bones with awls, seizes the mass of hair and lifts it up. It is just a heap of flesh. Then, wrapping it up in the hair, they bind it like a straw doll, wrapping it around, so says the Vinaya commentary. And contemplating this sixtyfold suffering, becoming disgusted with existences, detached, abandoning craving for existence, one sees the characteristic of suffering with the knowledge of contemplation of suffering. "One and a half hundred training rules" means, setting aside the seventy-five on minor matters, one should understand one and a half hundred training rules in terms of the remainder. The complete explanation of the enumeration is finished. Among the one hundred and four things to be taken, thirty-four are in the first place, thirty-four in the second place, sixteen in the third place, five in the fourth place, thirteen in the fifth place, two in the seventh place. The Milinda Commentary is finished. The skilled one, established in skill, The skilled one attains the state of peace, Spoken by the sage, well-indicated, Gone to the nature of the highest meaning; Arising from various intentions, The skilled one, knowing the meaning of the texts, Proclaiming the excellent meaning, Should grasp it like a lion seizing a royal elephant; Rejecting the worthless, he should grasp the wholesome, Like one desiring health avoids what is harmful, The wise one should introduce the fitting meaning, Like the king of swans separates milk from water; By the venerable Mahātipiṭaka Cūḷābhaya Thera, adorned with perfectly pure faith, intellect, and energy, endowed with a collection of virtues such as morality, conduct, uprightness, and gentleness, capable of grasping and comprehending his own and others' doctrines, possessed of skill in wisdom, with unimpeded knowledge in the threefold division of the Tipiṭaka, with the sweetness and excellence of speech arising from the bliss born of the accomplishment of the means of experiencing, a speaker of fitting meanings, a master of debate, a great poet, of exceedingly vast and pure intellect, whose name is held in reverence, this Milinda Commentary verse was made. So long may it stand in the world, the world-steadying instruction, Showing to sons of good family the path to wisdom's purity, As long as even the name "Buddha" of the pure-minded, steadfast one, Of the world's elder, the great sage, continues in the world; The ambrosia of twelve qualities, it destroys evils, Hunger, thirst, and excessive fear, anger, malice, strife, and slander, Cold and heat, bringing the best of flavors; Giving the fruits of mangoes and other juices, the Dhamma is well-woven, a destroyer of anger, And further, it destroys all evils, giving the fruits of stream-entry and other attainments; Thus, with five and a half hundred verses, endowed with a single taste of sweet delight, Well-mixed, well-made, of good qualities, fearlessly protected by the island's army; Well-established in the excellent island called Lanka, In the Great Monastery, the Buddha's own abode, the lineage of elders is well-established, Those who illuminate the excellent true teaching; An ornament to their teaching, in the three baskets, with pure and clear minds, Delighting the king together, delighting the community, the best of communities; A commentary, a lamp of mixed meanings, arising from the excellent meaning in the form of verses, Whatever excellent merit I have made by the excellent work of the Buddha-seed, By that skill, may those who seek the path to excellent enlightenment in the three times, May that be quickly accomplished for them without fear, may they attain supreme omniscience; Having passed away from here by this good deed, may I be born in the heaven called Tusita, Long continuing in good deeds again and again, and likewise, constantly in the presence of the excellent Metteyya;