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The thoughts that conclude there is no evil consequences resulting from sin, when these thoughts arise spontaneously in the mind, and not from the suggestion of another. 30. The same thoughts when they arise from the suggestion of some other person. 31. The thought that there is neither happiness nor sorrow. (The rest of the winydnas are of a similar description, all of them being states of the mind, or thoughts ; some of which, like the above, are connected with demerit, and others with merit. Among the states of mind connected with merit are the follow- ing:— the performance of good actions from the spontaneous suggestion of a man's own mind, in the hope of receiving a pure reward ; the performance of the same at the suggestion of some other person ; the performance of the same £rom imitation, as when a child follows the example of its parents ; the giving of good advice by parents to their children, such as to worship Budha, &c. All these modes of merit and demerit being referred to in other places, it is not necessary to enumerate them here.) 440 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. It has been declared by Budba that the five khandas are like a vessel in which all sentient beings are placed. The rdpakkhando are like a mass of foam, that gradually forms and then vanishes. The wedanikhando are like a bubble dancing upon the surface of the water. The sannjikhando are like the uncertain mirage that appears in the sunshine. The sankhdrokhando are like the plan- tain-tree (without firmness or solidity). And the winydna- khando are like a spectre, or magical illusion. In this manner is declared the impermanency of the five khandas. 7. Identity; Individuality; and Moral BehibiUion. 1. (As all the elements of existence are said to be included in the five khandas, it is evident that Budhism does not recognize the existence of a spirit or soul ; and that this assertion is not made without adequate authority will be seen from the additional extracts now to be made upon the same subject, taken princi- pally from the Questions of Milinda.) 2. In the commencement of the conversations that were held between Milinda and Nagasena,,the king said, *' How is your re- verence known? What is your name?" Ndgas6na replied, *^ 1 am called Nagas^na by my parents, and by the priests and others ; but N^gas^na is not an existence, or being, pugaJa."* Milinda : '* Then to whom are the various offerings made (that are presented to you as priest) ? Who receives these offerings ? Who keeps the precepts ? Who enters the paths ? There is no merit or demerit ; neither the one nor the other can be acquired ; there is no reward ; no retribution. Were any one to kill N^Lga- s6na he would not be guilty of murder. You have not been in- structed ; nor have you been received into the priesthood. Who is Nigasena ? What is he ? Are the teeth Ndgas^na ? Or is the skin, the fiesh, the heart, or the blood Nigas^na ? Is the outward form Ndgas^na ? Are any of the five khandas (men- tioning each of them separately) Ndgas^na ? Are all the five khandas (conjointly) Ndgasena? Leaving out the five khandas, is that which remains Nagas^na?" All these questions were answered in the negative. Milinda : '^ Then I do not see Naga- * N&gas^na declares that rupa, w^dana, sannyi, and •wizmjino, do neither jointly nor sererally constitute the man (puggalo) and yet that without them he does not exist. — Bev. D. J. Q-ogerly. IX. THE ONTOLOGY OF BUDIJISM. 441 ^ena. N^lgas^na is a mere Bound without any moaning. You have spoken an untruth. There is no Ndgas^na." Nagas^na : '* Did your Majesty come here on foot or in a chariot ? " Milinda : " In a chariot." Nagas^na : " What is a chariot ? Is the orna- mented cover the chariot ? Are the wheels, the spokes of the wheels, or the reins, the chariot ? Is the seat, the yoke, or the goad, the chariot? Are all these (conjointly) the chariot? Leaving out all these, is that which remains the chariot ? " All these questions were answered in the negative. N&gas^na: ^' Then I see no chariot ; it is only a sound, a name. In saying that you came in a chariot, you have uttered an untruth. There is no chariot. I appeal to the nobles, and ask them if it be proper that the great king of all Jambudwipa should utter an untruth ? " The five hundred nobles who had accompanied the king declared that his majesty had not previously met with any one whose arguments were so powerful, and asked him what reply he would give. Milinda : " No untruth have I uttered, venerable priest. The ornamented cover, the wheels, the seat, and the other parts; all these things united, or combined, form the chariot. They are the usual signs by which that which is called a chariot is known." Ndga86na : '* In like manner, it is not the skin, the hair, the heart, or the blood that is Ndgas6na. All these united, or combined, form the acknowledged sig^ by which Nagas6na is known ; but the existent being, the man, is not hereby seen. The same things were declared by Budha to the priestess Wajira: — 'As the various parts, the different adjuncts of a vehicle, form, when united, that which is called a chariot ; so, when the five khandas are united in one aggregate, or body, they constitute that which is called a being, a living existence.' " 3. (Though an interruption to the narrative of N^Lgas^na, an extract from the work called Amdwatura will be explanatory of his argument relative to the Ego, the self). When Budha was visited by a tirttaka called Sachaka, the sage declared to him the impermanency of all the elements of existence. Sachaka re- plied, " If there be in any field plants or seeds, it is from the earth that they receive their increase ; agriculture and commerce are also carried on by means of the earth. In like manner (it has been declared by some) the riipa, or outward form is the dtma, the self, the man, and that by means of the riipa merit and 442 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. demerit are acquired ; the w6dana are the self (others have said), and that by means of the w^dana merit and demerit are ac- quired ; the sannja are the self (others have said), and that bj means of the sannj& merit and demerit are acquired ; the same has been said of the sanskhara and the winj4na (bj others) ; the fi^e khandas are to the sentient being like the earth to the plants and seeds, as by means of them merit and demerit are acquired. But you, sir, deny th'at there is an 4tma, that the being possesses a self ; you say that the five khandas are an^tma, unreal, without a self.'' Budha replied, ''You say that the rdpa is yourself; that the w6danA are yourself; the sannyd are yourself; the sanskhara are yourself ; the winydna are yourself ; is it not so ? ** Sachaka : '' This is not my opinion alone : it is that of all who are around me." Budha: "It is with you that I argue; let there be no reference to those who are around." Sachaka: ''I repeat what I have said : the rdpa and other khandas are my- self." Budha : '' To prove that the five khandas are not the 4tma, the self, and that they exist without an dtma, I will ask you a question. The authority of the anointed king, bom of the royal caste, is supreme in the country that he governs ; whom he will, he appoints to death ; whom he will, he reduces to poverty ; whom he will, he banishes from the country. Kosol, and Ajas^t, and the Lichawi princes, and the princes of Malwa, all possess this power ; in their several countries their authority is supreme ; is it not so ? " The tirttaka replied that this statement was correct, but by so doing he forged a weapon for his own destruction ; because, if the people were killed, or fined, or banished, it must have been contrary to their own will ; and therefore the itma can have no power over the rdpa and other khandas ; it cannot preserve them. Budha : " You say that the rdpa is yourself ; that it exists by means of the 4tma ; now if you determine that the rdpa shall be in this way, or that it shall be in that way, will it be obedient to your will, or to the authority of the &tma P " It is evident that if we will our body to be of such a colour, or not of such a colour, or to be beautiful as a gem, we have no power to determine these things ; we cannot carry our will into effect, it will not be accomplished.