534 Buddhist Chronology. [Sept. 



wanta. He consents to undertake the enterprize, confident of over- 

 coming him, and all other opponents ; and advises the rest of the 

 Arahanta to precede him thither, without fear. They do so, and 

 Sdgald is represented to " glitter with yellow robes again." Milindu 

 then enters into a disputation with Ayupata thero of SankMya pari- 

 vena, on the question as to whether the priesthood possess any spi- 

 ritual advantage over lay ascetics, resulting from their ordination. It 

 does not clearly appear whether Ayupala is one of the priests who 

 came from Himawanta or not, but he is also confuted by the raja. 

 The royal suite, composed of the aforesaid five hundred Yondkd 

 nobles, do not participate, however, in the monarch's exultation, and 

 attribute the discomfiture of the thero to his individual incapacity. 

 At this particular juncture, Naga Se'na makes his appearance in 

 Sdgald, and establishes himself at the SanMyaparkoino with a sacer- 

 dotal retinue, which is exaggerated into 80,000. The Milindapanno 

 then proceeds to describe the preparation for, and the actual interview 

 between Milindu and Naga Se'na, quoting occasionally from the 

 work before referred to. Milindu, on this occasion, loses his former 

 confidence in himself, both from the fame of Naga Se'na's reputation, 

 which had already reached him, and the composure with which he 

 received him. It is finally agreed upon, that the disputation shall be 

 carried on in the king's palace, in the presence of ten selected th6ros. 

 The disputations are then entered into accordingly. The Milinda- 

 panno extant in Ceylon contains 262 dissertations, as well as the 

 designations of the dissertations that are missing, being 42. In the 

 Singhalese version of the Milindapanno, from information stated to be 

 derived from a Ti'kd brought from Siam, which I have not met with, 

 it is mentioned that these dialectics terminated in Milindu becoming 

 a convert to Buddhism, then a priest, and ultimately an Arahat. 



These extracts and abstracts, whether viewed in connection with 

 the events recorded in the Cashmirian history, which also bear testi- 

 mony to the partial subsidence of the influence of Buddhism in Nor- 

 thern India, and of the congregation of the heads of that faith in the 

 neighbourhood of the Himalayan mountains about the third century 

 B. C, and the subsequent revival of that influence in the days of 

 Nagarjuna and the Turushka princes, who are likewise represented 

 to have resorted to Cashmir from the same quarter ; or whether we 

 regard them in connection with the incidents contained in the 

 history of Buddhaghdso in the fifth century of our era, as illustrated 

 in my pamphlet, together with the data contained in Tibetan annals 

 as noticed by Mr. Csoma, are replete with historical importance 

 and engrossing interest. I shall not, however, venture to speculate 



