7.6.8. The Leech (MIL7.6.8)

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

‘Just, O king, as the leech, wheresoever it is put on, there does it adhere firmly, drinking the blood; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, on whatsoever subject for meditation he may fix his mind, call that subject firmly up before him in respect of its colour, and shape, and position, and extension, and boundaries, and nature, and characteristic marks, drinking the delicious draught of the ambrosia of emancipation. This, O king, is the quality of the leech he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Anuruddha, the Elder:

“With heart made pure, in meditation firm,
Drink deep of freedom’s never-failing draught.”’

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.