7.7.10. The Carpenter (MIL7.7.10)

‘Venerable Nāgasena, those two qualities of the carpenter he ought to take, which are they?’

‘Just, O king, as the carpenter saws off the wood along the line of the blackened string (he has put round it to guide him) ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, standing on righteousness as a basis, and holding in the hand of faith the saw of knowledge, cut off his evil dispositions according to the doctrine laid down by the Conquerors. This, O king, is the first quality of the carpenter he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, just as the carpenter, discarding the soft parts of the wood, takes the hard parts; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, forsaking the path of the discussion of useless theses, to wit:—the everlasting life theory—the let-us-eat-and-drink-for-tomorrow-we-die theory —the theory that the soul and the body are one and the same—that the soul is one thing, the body another—that all teachings are alike excellent —that what is not done is of no avail—that men’s actions are of no importance—that holiness of life does not matter—that on the destruction of beings nine new sorts of beings appear—that the constituent elements of being are eternal —that he who commits an act experiences the result thereof—that one acts and another experiences the result of this action—and other such theories of Karma or wrong views on the result of actions—forsaking, I say, all such theses, paths which lead to heresy, he should learn what is the real nature of those constituent elements of which each individuality is, for the short term of its individuality, put together, and so reach forward to that state which is void of lusts, of malice, and of dullness, in which the excitements of individuality are known no more, and which is therefore designated the Void Supreme. This, O king, is the second quality of the carpenter he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the Sutta Nipāta:

“Get rid of filth! Put aside rubbish from you!
Winnow away the chaff, the men who hold
Those who are not so, as true Samaṇas!
Get rid of those who harbour evil thoughts,
Who follow after evil modes of life!
Thoughtful yourselves, and pure, with those resort,
With those associate, who are pure themselves!”’

Here ends the Sixth Chapter.

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.

This text is in the public domain. You are free to do whatever you wish with it.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.