7.3.9. The Sailor (MIL7.3.9)

‘Venerable Nāgasena, that one quality of the sailor which you say he ought to take, which is it?’

‘Just as the sailor on board ship, O king, thinks thus: “I am a hireling, and am working for my wage on board this ship. By means of this ship is it that I get food and clothing. I must not be lazy, but zealously navigate the ship;” just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, think thus: “Gaining a thorough knowledge of this body of mine, put together of the four elements, continuously and unceasingly will I be self-possessed in mindfulness and thoughtfulness, and tranquil and peaceful will exert myself to be set free from births, old age, disease, and death, grief, lamentation, sorrow, suffering, and despair.” This, O king, is the one quality of the sailor he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Sāriputta, the Elder, the Commander of the Faith:

“Understand what the body is, realise that again and again,
Seeing the nature of the body, put an end to grief.”’

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.