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'* Ndgas^na : " If there were a living soul that saw by the eye, it would still see clearly though the eye were plucked out, and the socket were empty ; thongh the ears were destroyed, it would still distinguish sounds ; though the tongue were cut out, it would still be able to discern flavours, &c. But we know that these consequences do not take place; as when there is no eye, there is no sight, when there is no ear, there is no distinguishing of sounds, &c. ; and therefore there can be no such thing as a living son! that enables the being who possesses it to eat, and drink, and go from place to place. It has been declared by Budha that it is exceedingly difficult to say, this is touch, this is sensa- tion, this is perception, this is thought ; or to tell in what place the incorporeal thought resides. Were a man to go in a ship far out to sea, and take up a portion of water therefrom, could he say, this is from the Ganga, this from, the Yamuna, this from the Achirawati, this from the Sarabhu, or this from the Mahi P We know that he would not be able ; and equally difficult, it has been declared by Budha, would it be to say, this is touch, this is con- sciousness, this is perception, &c. The king's cook prepares de- licious food for the royal table, in which there is milk, pepper, onions, ginger, and many other savoury ingredients. His majesty on receiving the food says, * Oh, cook, separate from each other the flavour of the milk, ginger, pepper, and other ingredients, and give each to me separately and alone.' But this cannot be ; they are all mingled together, and the taste of each may be perceived, but one flavour cannot be separated from the other. In like manner touch, sensation, perception, <fec., may be severally experienced, but they do not admit of individual separation." *' So is it with the sad-indrayas," said Nagasena, '' and the other faculties; they produce one eflect, inasmuch as they destroy evil desire. There are various sections in an army, but the object of all is the same ; in the field of battle they subdue the opposing host : in like manner, the indrayas and other faculties 456 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. are manj, but their object is the same : they overcome evil desire." 14. The king enquired the meaning of the word saogsdra ; and Nagas^na replied, '^ There is birth in this world and then death ; after death there is birth in some other place ; in that place also there is death ; and then there is birth again in some other place. Thus a man, after eating a mango, sets the stone in the ground ; from that stone another tree is produced, which gradually comes to maturity, and bears fruit ; the stone of one of these fruits is again set in the ground, and another tree is produced ; from this tree there are other fruits ; and thus the I)rocess goes on continually without any appearance of its end. It is the same with sangsara, or the sequence of existence." 15. The king again said, *'You have declared, venerable priest, that the dtma-bhAwa (that which constitutes, or is in* eluded in, individual existence) does not go to any other place after death ; then is it born, or produced, or does it appear, in any other place?" Nagas6na: "It is." Milinda: "Will you explain this by a figure ?" N^lgas^na : ''A man from one lamp lights another ; by so doing does he extinguish the light of the first lamp ?" Milinda : '* No." Ndgas6na : " In like manner the kaya (literally the body, but here put as a synonyme for atma- bhdwa), though it does not pass away from the place where it is, is nevertheless produced in another place," Milinda : '* Will you favour me with another explanation ?" Nagas^na: " When you were a boy you were taught different sldkas, or stanzas; but these sl6kas did not, when communicated to you, pass away from the mind of your teacher ; and it is the same with the 4tma-bhdwa." 16. Another enquiry made by the king was this, *' A man dies here and is bom in a brahma-16ka ; another dies here at the same time, and is re-bom in Kdsmira ; which of these two will receive birth the first P" Nagas^na : " There will be no differ- ence." Milinda: "Will you explain to me how this can happen?" Nagas^na: "In what place were you bom?'* Milinda : " In the village of Kalasi." Nagas6na : " How far is it from hence ?" Milinda : " About 200 yojanas." Nagas6na : "How far is it to Kasmira?" Milinda: "Twelve yojanas.'* Ndgasena : " Quickly think of your native village." Milinda : " I have done so." N4gas6na : " Now quickly think of K^ mira.." Milinda: "I liave done so." Ndgas^na: "Which of IX. THE ONTOLOGY OF BUDHISM. 457 these places did yoa think about in the shortest space of time ?" Milinda : '* There is no difEerence : I can think of one as soon as the other." Ndgas^na : " So also, when one being is re-bom in a braluna-16ka and another in K^mira, thej are both bom at the same moment." The priest illustrated the same position by the figure of two crows alighting on a tree at the same moment, one on an upper branch and the other on a lower; but the shadows of both reach the earth at the same instant. 17. ''The same n&ma and rdpa," it is said in the Wisudhi- margga-sann6, "is not reproduced. As there is a different karma, that which is produced is a different being. When the elements of the body are broken up, or destroyed, they are never again produced, or brought into existence. They pass, as it were, into deep darkness, where they cannot be discovered by the unwise. As the karma has the power to produce new ele- ments, it is n^ot necessary that the same elements should be produced again." 8. Beprodtu^ion. 1. All quadrupeds, men, dewas, brabmas, and those who h've in the ardpa worlds, all beings that have ndma and rdpa, a mind and a body, are bom because of karma, and are therefore called karma ja ; fire, and all things proceeding from seed, being pro- duced without any h^tu, or cause exterior to themselves, are called h6tuja ; and earth, rocks, water, and wind, being produced by irtu, season or time, are called irtuja ; but space and nirwdna are neither karmaja, h6tuja, nor irtuja ; we cannot say of nir- w4na that it is produced, nor can we say that it is not produced. 2. When birth is ruled by karma, and there is the possession of much merit, it causes the being to be born as a kshastriya- mahasdla, brahmana-maha-sala, or grahapati-maha-s£la, or as a d^wa in one of the dewa-16kas; sometimes by the oviparous (andaja) birth, as Kuntraputra ; at other times by the viviparous (jaldbuja) birth, as men in general ; or from, the petal of a lotus, as Pokkharasatiya ; or by the apparitional (opapatika) birth, (in which existence is received in an instant in its full maturity), as Ambapdli. There is also the sedaja birth, as when insects are produced firom perspiration or putridity.* * According to the Nyaya system, the distinct sorts of body are fiye : 1st, UDg0nerted, as the gods and demi-gods ; 2nd, uterine, or Tiyiparoos ; 3rd, oyiparous ; 4th, engendered in filth, as worms, nits, maggots, &c. ; 5th, Tegeta- 458 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. 3. When conception takes place, it is by a portion of the karma possessed bj some previous being, whilst the other portions of the karma form the different members, as the eye, ears, &c, 4. The wind causes fowls to conceive, and the sound of rain has the same effect upon cranes. D6was, pretas, and the beings in hell, are bom by the apparitional birth, not from the womb ; men, cattle, and other animals, are born from the womb, but their destiny is different, as some are bom to the crown, some to the yellow robe, and some to the covering of skin. 5. In the forest of Himila there is a rock called N6m, of a golden colour, and it has this property, that whatever ^wimftl approaches it is turned to the same colour; in like manner, whatever being receives birth, whether it be viviparoas, appari- tional, or any other, he loses his previous nature, and reoeives that of the species to which he is attached by his birth. 6. There are living things that eat grass ; they nip the green or dry grass with their teeth, and eat it ; they are horses, cattle, asses, g^ts, deer, and many others. Through the karma of previous births, sentient beings are thus bom as graminivorous animals. There are living things that feed upon dung; they scent it ^m afar, and hasten towards it with the expectation of receiving the richest treat.