Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval IndiaThe Milinda Panha is, with good reason, a famous work of Buddhist literature, probably compiled in the first century B.C. It presents Buddhist doctrine in a very attractive and memorable form as a dialogue between a Bactrian Greek king, Milinda, who plays the `Devil`s Advocate` and a Buddhist sage, Nagasena. The topics covered include most of those questions commonly asked by Westerners such as If there is no soul, what is it that is reborn? and If there is no soul, who is talking to you now? This abridgement provides a concise presentation of this master-piece of Buddhist literature. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Agni Anangabhima ancient Indian appears Aśoka Aśvamedha Avatāras Bengal Bhagavat Bhāgavata bhakti Bhattasali Brahman Brāhmaṇa Brāhmaṇical Buddha Buddhist called Candra celebrated century A.D. Coḍaganga coins conception cult deity described devotee Dharma District Durgā early Eastern India epigraph epithet favour Ganga Ganga king goddess gods grant Gupta Hindu horse-sacrifice Ibid Indra Jagannatha Kalacuri king known Kṛṣṇa Kubera Kumāra Lakṣmi later legend Lokapālas Mahā Mahābhārata Mahābhāṣya Mahārāja Mathura Matsya medieval mentioned Naga Nāgas Narasimha Nārāyaṇa Nonaryan originally Orissa Pālas Pallava Pāṇini passage performed plates popular Pradesh probably Purāṇa Purāņic Puri Purusottama Purusottama-Jagannatha Rāma records reference regarded religious suicide represented rulers Saiva Śaka Samudragupta Sankarṣaṇa Sanskrit Sarasvati says seems Select Inscriptions seventh century Sircar Śiva sixth century speaks stanza suggested Sun-god Tārā temple tion tortoise Tripuri Vaiṣṇava Varuņa Vasudeva Vasudeva-Kṛṣṇa Vedic verse Vikrama Viṣņu vithis Vṛṣṇi word worship Yakṣa Yama
Popular passages
Page 66 - What king can be named that could erect a temple to such a god as Purushottama, whose feet are the earth, whose navel the entire sky, whose ears the cardinal points, whose eyes the sun and moon and whose head the heaven above? This task which had been hitherto neglected by previous kings, was fulfilled by the lord of the Gahgas
Page 85 - Pantomimes' as a professional qualification was restored by Robert (1938: 11-13) on an inscription from Delphi dating from the years 84-60 BC, while an inscription dating from the end of the first century BC or the beginning of the first century AD commemorates the victorious performance of Furius Celsus, a Roman citizen, 'dancer of myths...
Page 50 - the four-armed lord whose couch is the broad waters of the four oceans, who is the cause of the continuance, production, destruction, etc., of the universe, and whose ensign is Garuda'.
Page 116 - Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, Vol.
Page 196 - Dharma — rather his pada-p1tha on which was placed or engraved the paduka (boots or sandals) of Dharma — is a tortoise. In most cases, it is a natural bit of stone shaped like a tortoise; in other cases, it is a chiselled stone image of the...
Page 8 - Asuras to give to them. 5. Resplendent VISHNU, I, the master of the offering, knowing the objects that are to be known, glorify to-day thy name ;* I, who am feeble, praise thee who art powerful, dwelling in a remote region of this world.
Page 46 - who, for the sake of the happiness of the lord of the gods, seized back from Bali the goddess of wealth and splendour'.
Page 169 - As revealed in the later texts, the sacrifice is essentially one of princely greatness. The steed for a year roams under guardianship of a hundred princes, a hundred nobles with swords, a hundred sons of heralds and charioteers bearing quivers and arrows, and a hundred sons of attendants and charioteers bearing staves
Page 135 - Baladeva must be made having a plough in his right hand, with eyes lively from drink, and wearing a single ear-ring. His complexion is fair, like a conch shell, the moon, or lotus-fibre.
Page 90 - Agacamitra (Agratyamitra^-pad-dbhisthdyindm, "[This is the coin] of those who dwell at the feet of Agratyamitra." The name Agratyamitra would literally mean "the friend of the Agratyas" and Agratyamitra would appear to have been a god who was the tutelary deity of the Agratyas of Agrodaka.