3.1.7. Wisdom and reasoning distinguished

The king said: ‘Nāgasena, he who escapes reindividualisation is it by reasoning that he escapes it?’

‘Both by reasoning, your Majesty, and by wisdom, and by other good qualities.’

‘But are not reasoning and wisdom surely much the same?’

‘Certainly not. Reasoning is one thing, wisdom another. Sheep and goats, oxen and buffaloes, camels and asses have reasoning, but wisdom they have not.’

‘Well put, Nāgasena!’

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.