Milindapanha
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Theravāda The Milindapanha (-pañha or -pañhā) is a Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism as a book of the Khuddaka Nikaya. It is in the form of a dialogue between King Menander I (milinda) of Bactria, who reigned in the second century BCE, and a monk named Nagasena, not independently known.
Rhys Davids (see below) says it is the greatest work of classical Indian prose, though Moritz Winternitz[1] says this is true only of the earlier parts, it being generally accepted by scholars[2] that the work is composite, with additions made over some time. In support of this, it is noted that the Chinese versions of the work are substantially shorter. The book is included in the inscriptions of the Canon approved by the Burmese Fifth Council and the printed edition of the Sixth Council text.
[edit] Translations
- Questions of King Milinda, tr T. W. Rhys Davids, Sacred Books of the East, volumes XXXV & XXXVI, Clarendon/Oxford, 1890-94; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (?& Dover, New York)
- Milinda's Questions, tr I. B. Horner, 1963-4, 2 volumes, Pali Text Society[1], Bristol
