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Milindapanha

# Mil 7.8.7 ssāsaṅga Pañha (Inquiring about ‘The Archer’) Mil. 7.8.7

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    [page 1]
    Mil. 7.8.7

    Kuddaka Nikāya
    The Minor Discourses

    MILINDAPAÑHA
    “The Questions of King Milinda”

    Opammakathā Pañhā
    Questions About the Similes

    Kumbha Vagga
    The ‘Water Pot’ Section

    Issāsaṅga Pañha
    “Inquiring about ‘The Archer’”

    Translated by Bhikkhu Candana

    Copyright © Bhikkhu Candana 2025

    “Bhante Nāgasena, and what are those four crucial traits of the archer that you mentioned
    earlier, which the meditator must adopt by constantly developing himself in them?”

    a. “Great King, just like an archer who is about to aim and shoot his arrows, before doing so,
    first he must ground himself by planting both feet firmly on the ground he stands upon; keeping
    his knees strong yet agile; hanging his quiver right next to him, lifted at his waist for easy access
    to his arrows; and in the same way, that determined and skilled archer keeps his whole body
    steady, while gripping the bow with one hand to keep it steady, and locking the thumb and
    fingers of the other hand, as he carefully pulls on the bow string.

    “Being intently focused, and with perfect control over his grip of the bow, the tightening string,
    and the suspended arrow in between the two, the archer thus leaves no openings or any weakness
    between his fingers, as he knows exactly which finger is where.

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    “Then, keeping his spine tall, he carefully lengthens his neck; and closing his mouth and
    focusing on his target by closing one eye, while grabbing the target through the other eye, he
    takes aim in a relaxed attitude. And with a tranquil and welcoming boldness, he thinks joyfully to
    himself: ‘I am definitely hitting this target!’
    “Now, Great King, it is just in the same manner that the meditator must approach This Practice.
    That is, he must be seriously driven and dedicated in his effort, as he firmly anchors himself
    upon the solid ground of virtuous living, intentionally rooting both his feet that are full of
    persevering energy.
    “Supported by his patience and consistently flexible adaptability, the meditator must closely
    keep watch over the mind; always keeping it steady and under control; maintaining self-restraint
    throughout, as he challenges his baser instincts, old tendencies, and all other weaknesses.
    “In this manner, he must not leave any openings for anything to seep in to dismantle his focus, as
    he crushes any drives of longing or obsessive thoughts that might slither their way into his heart,
    through the means of his ever-present application of wise reflective attention. Thus, he musters
    up the abundant supply of energy and effort within him, while keeping the six sense doors firmly
    shut and fully protected.

    “Continuing on like this with full control over his faculties, the meditator must keep his
    mindfulness seamless and always at the forefront of his living experience. And with a tranquil
    and welcoming boldness, he thinks joyfully to himself:

    ‘With my sharp arrows of wisdom, I am going to shoot down each and every defiling quality that
    arises or still lurks and hides within the heart; not letting any of them slip by me, I’m definitely
    hitting my targets, one-by-one!’

    “This, Great King, you may therefore understand to be the first of the four crucial traits of the
    skilled archer, briefly mentioned earlier.

    b. “Next, Great King, knowing full-well that much of his success depends on having each of his
    arrow shafts be sharp and straight, the skilled archer always carries with him an arrow
    straightener, with which he quickly fixes any crooked or warped arrows he might have, by
    reshaping and straightening them to perfection, keeping them all battle-worthy.

    “Now, in the same exact manner, Great King, the dedicated and ardently diligent meditator, so
    long as he still has a body, wherever and in whichever state he may find himself, he must always
    carry with him The Satipaṭṭhāna, The Four Establishments of Mindfulness, with which he should
    quickly attend to whatever is being noticed, by fixing a crooked and warped mind as he reshapes
    and straightens it to perfection.

    “This, Great King, you may therefore understand as the second of the four crucial traits of the
    skilled archer, mentioned earlier.

    c. “Furthermore, Great King, the master archer keeps honing his sharp-shooting skills by
    constantly practicing them on a target.

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    “Now, in just the same manner, Great King, the dedicated and ardently diligent meditator must
    keep his attention squarely fixed upon the body, while cultivating and developing the mind into
    its finest and most subtle levels of maturity, anchoring himself in the body. Thus, he
    continuously practices by developing and fine-tuning his mind.

    “And how, Great King, must the meditator accomplish this, to cultivate and develop the mind
    through the means of anchoring himself in the body?

    “Here, Great King, while keeping his awareness squarely fixed upon the body, whatever the
    meditator comes to experience, he must always look at and clearly perceive its impermanent
    nature, which is ubiquitous. Similarly, he must look at and clearly see the ever-present suffering
    within it. And, he must carefully look with penetrating scrutiny and clearly recognize the non-
    substantial nature of the body, which he uses as his foremost reference point and the very ground
    of his living experience.

    “Thus, while closely looking at its fickle and conditioned nature, the meditator must see the body
    and all phenomena as no more than a terrible disease, an open and oozing wound, a bothersome
    pain that never goes away; a debilitating sickness with which he has been afflicted; a painful
    arrow that he is struck by; a hole that can never be filled; something that is and will forever be
    foreign and never his own; a horrific accident; a destruction; a dangerous and imminent disaster
    that’s bound to happen; a fearful and uncontrollable event; a terribly unstable and volatile
    situation that could explode any moment; an utterly corruptible and leaky situation that is never
    stable or reliable; a source of much sorrow and grief.

    “Furthermore, Great King, the meditator sees, that there is no shelter or refuge to be sought or
    found in this body and in all that it offers, for, it is constantly dissolving and always coming
    apart. Thus, he clearly recognizes that there could truly be no help or protection from the
    unpredictable events that are taking place and those that are bound to occur. Therefore, he clearly
    sees that the body and whatever he experiences in life are essentially empty and lacking, with no
    solid core, just like a plantain or palm tree that is no more than layers upon layers of leaves and
    not much else, empty of a substantial essence.

    “He thus continues to develop in his mental cultivation as he constantly looks at his own body
    and the phenomena of life with caution; seeing how the body is in fact untrustworthy; that it
    constantly needs to be maintained and is never something that could be fully trusted or truly
    relied upon. He sees how it is also the source of vanity, not to mention the fact of it being
    completely dependent on so many causes and conditions to keep it functioning or looking a
    certain way.

    “Also, he closely witnesses how it is full of impurities, in addition to being a fertile source for
    evil to sprout at any moment, which is why it is the very favorite tool for Māra, who uses it
    ceaselessly at any opportunity he gets, to access and deceive the heart, by repeatedly putting him
    in jeopardy of falling into lower and miserable states. Therefore, the meditator looks upon this
    body as being the result of and subject to birth, sickness, old age, and death, the very source of
    sorrow and grief, and of endless anguish.

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    “This, Great King, you may therefore understand as the third of the four crucial traits of the
    skilled archer, mentioned earlier.

    d. “Finally and what is more, Great King, is that the master archer keeps himself sharp by
    practicing and honing his skills early on, while also retiring late.

    “In the same manner, Great King, the dedicated meditator who is diligent in his efforts, being
    thus resolutely intentional in his trajectory, rises early to quickly resume his ongoing practice,
    while also making sure he is still awake, practicing till late at night, even when others have
    already retired for the day and are fast asleep.

    “This was the case even with the Venerable Sāriputta himself, The Great Elder, The General and
    Marshal of The Dhamma, The Chief Disciple of The Blessed One.

    “Thus, we have the Venerable Sāriputta echoing the truth of this, as he states:

    “Rising early and retiring late, the true archer continues practicing his aim,
    Honing and perfecting each and every strike with his bow and arrow,
    And, it is by never slacking nor becoming negligent in hitting the target,
    That he earns his wage and reward as a highly skilled master archer.

    “In just the same way,
    All the Children of the Buddha too, like Their Father,
    Ceaselessly go on practicing their skills in order to attain mastery.
    Thus, by never slacking nor neglecting to keep their attention directed at the body,
    And the various experiences and conditions it undergoes,
    With mindfulness thus firmly fixed upon the body,
    They finally come to taste the Highest Fruit of The Holy Life, by attaining Arahanthood,
    The only and very reason why they went forth, in the first place.”

    “And this, Great King, you may understand as the last of the four crucial traits of the skilled
    archer, mentioned earlier.”

    Thus concludes the simile of the Archer, given by the Venerable Nāgasena.

    Here, the two hundred and sixty-two questions asked by King Milinda, handed down and
    included within this volume with its six major divisions, and further adorned with twenty-two
    chapters, come to an end. Those sections, however, that are not included here, hence not handed
    down, are forty-two in number, which when combined, make up three hundred and four in total.
    All of them together are considered as: “Questions of Milinda.”
    Sādhu
    Sādhu
    Sādhu

    Copyright © Bhikkhu Candana 2025

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