4.3. Kinds of people who spill secrets (MIL4.3)

‘There are nine kinds of people, Nāgasena, who let out a secret that has been talked over with them, and treasure it not up in their hearts. And who are the nine? the lustful man reveals it in obedience to some lust, the ill-tempered man in consequence of some ill-will, the deluded man under some mistake. The timid man reveals it through fear, and the man greedy for gain to get something out of it. A woman reveals it through infirmity, a drunkard in his eagerness for drink, a eunuch because of his imperfection, and a child through fickleness. Therefore is it said:

“The lustful, angry, or bewildered man,
The timid man, and he who seeks for gain,
A woman, drunkard, eunuch, or a child—
These nine are fickle, wavering, and mean.
When secret things are talked over to them
They straightway become public property.”’

The Questions of King Milinda, translated from the Pali by T.W. Rhys Davids.

Part 1 (to section 5.4.10) was originally published as Volume xxxv of “The Sacred Books of the East”, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1890.

Part 2 (from section 5.5.1) was originally published as Volume xxxvi of “The Sacred Books of the East”, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1894.

This SuttaCentral edition was prepared by Bhikkhu Sujato based on the digital text of the Internet Sacred Text Archive. The work of the Sacred Text Archive to make this text publically available is gratefully acknowledged.

In preparing this edition minor editorial changes have been made. The structure has been adapted to agree with the Mahāsaṅgīti Pali text as found on SuttaCentral. In addition, the corrections proposed by the translator in the “Addenda et Corrigenda” of the original editions have for the most part been adopted.

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Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.