Previous Year Question

The Milinda Panha is a famous Pali Buddhist text whose title means ‘The Questions of Milinda.’ It is presented principally in the form of questions, answers and philosophical dialogues between King Milinda and the Buddhist monk Nagasena.

King Milinda is identified with the famous Indo-Greek ruler Menander. His capital was Sagala, generally identified with present-day Sialkot. Menander was one of the important Indo-Greek rulers of north-western India.

In the text, Milinda places difficult philosophical questions concerning Buddhism before Nagasena. These questions deal with subjects such as self or non-self, karma, rebirth, Nirvana, personal identity and moral responsibility. Nagasena answers them through reasoning, examples and analogies.

The most famous example in the text is the chariot analogy. Nagasena explains that just as the collection of wheels, axle, seat and other components is conventionally called a ‘chariot’, the collection of bodily and mental elements is conventionally referred to by the name of a person; no permanent and independent self is required. This is a celebrated explanation of the Buddhist doctrine of Anatta or non-self.

The dialogues between Milinda and Nagasena in the Milinda Panha present Buddhist philosophy in a question-and-answer form. For this reason, the text is an important source of Buddhist philosophical literature.

Nagarjuna belonged to the later Mahayana Buddhist philosophical and Madhyamaka tradition; Kumarila Bhatta was a scholar of the Mimamsa school; and the name Nagabhatta is associated with different dynastic rulers in Indian history. Among them, the dialogue in the Milinda Panha is with Nagasena.