7.7.2. The Child At the Breast (MIL7.7.2)

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

‘Just, O king, as the child at the breast sticks to its own advantage, and if it wants milk, cries for it; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, adhere to his own good, and in everything—in teaching, in asking and answering questions, in the conduct of life, in the habit of solitude, in association with his teachers, in the cultivation of the friendship of the good—should he act with knowledge of the Truth. This, O king, is the quality of the child at the breast he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the Dīgha Nikāya, in the Suttanta of the Great Decease:

“Be zealous, rather, I beseech you, Ānanda, in your own behalf. Devote yourselves to your own good. Be earnest, all aglow, intent on your own good!”’

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.