7.6.2. The Cakravāka Bird (MIL7.6.2)

‘Venerable Nāgasena, those three qualities of the cakravāka bird you say he ought to take, which are they?’

‘Just, O king, as the cakravāka bird never forsakes his mate even to the close of his life; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, never, even to the close of his life, give up the habit of thought. This, O king, is the first quality of the cakravāka bird he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, as the cakravāka bird feeds on the Sevāla and Paṇaka (water-plants so called), and derives satisfaction therefrom, and being so satisfied, neither his strength nor his beauty grows less; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, find satisfaction in whatever he receives. And if he does so find satisfaction, O king, then does he decrease neither in power of meditation, nor in wisdom, nor in emancipation, nor in the insight that arises from the consciousness of emancipation, nor in any kind of goodness. This, O king, is the second quality of the cakravāka bird he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, as the cakravāka bird does no harm to living things; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, laying aside the cudgel, laying aside the sword, be full of modesty and pity, compassionate and kind to all creatures that have life. This, O king, is the third quality of the cakravāka bird he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the cakravāka Jātaka:

“The man who kills not, nor destroys,
Oppresses not, nor causes other men
To take from men that which is rightly theirs —-
And this from kindness to all things that live—
No wrath with any man disturbs his peace.”’

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.