6.3.7. Dilemma the Seventy-Seventh. Wonders At the Grave (MIL6.3.7)

‘Venerable Nāgasena, are there wonders at the cetiyas (the mounds raised over the ashes) of all who have passed entirely away (of all the Arahats deceased) ?

‘Of some, O king, but not of others.’

‘But of which, Sir, is this the case, and of which not?’

‘It is by the stedfast resolve, O king, of three kinds of people, that wonders take place at the cetiya of some person deceased who has been entirely set free. And who are the three? In the first place, O king, an Arahat, when still alive, may, out of pity for gods and men, make the resolve: “Let there be such and such wonders at my cetiya.” Then, by reason of his resolve, wonders happen there. Thus is it that wonders occur by the resolve of an Arahat at the cetiya of one entirely set free.

‘And again, O king, the gods, out of pity for men, show wonders at the cetiya of one who has been entirely set free, thinking: “By this wonder may the true faith remain always established on the earth, and may mankind, believing, grow in grace!” Thus is it that wonders occur by the resolve of a god at the Ketiya of one entirely set free.

‘And again, O king, some woman or some man of believing heart, able, intelligent, wise, endowed with insight, may deliberately take perfumes, or a garland, or a cloth, and place it on the Ketiya, making the resolve: “May such and such a wonder take place!” Thus is it that wonders occur by the resolve of human beings at the cetiya of one entirely set free.

‘These, O king, are the three kinds of people by whose stedfast resolve wonders take place at the cetiyas of Arahats deceased. And if there has been no such resolve, O king, by one of these, then is there no wonder at the cetiya even of one whose āsavas had been destroyed, who had attained to the sixfold insight, who was master of himself. And if there be no such wonder, then, O king, one should call to mind the purity of conduct one has seen, and draw in trusting faith the conclusion: “Verily, this child of the Buddhas has been entirely set free!”’

‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’

Here ends the dilemma as to wonders at the grave.

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.