Conclusion

On the conclusion of this putting of puzzles and giving of solutions between the king and the Elder, this great earth, eighty-four thousand leagues in extent, shook six times even to its ocean boundary, the lightnings flashed, the gods poured down a rainfall of flowers from heaven, Mahā Brahmā himself signified his applause, and there was a mighty roar like the crashing and thundering of a storm in the mighty deep. And on beholding that wonder, the five hundred high ministers of the king, and all the inhabitants of the city of Sāgala who were there, and the women of the king’s palace, bowed down before Nāgasena, the great teacher, raising their clasped hands to their foreheads, and departed thence.
But Milinda the king was filled with joy of heart, and all pride was suppressed within him. And he became aware of the virtue that lay in the religion of the Buddhas, he ceased to have any doubt at all in the Three Gems, he tarried no longer in the jungle of heresy, he renounced all obstinacy; and pleased beyond measure at the high qualities of the Elder, at the excellence of his manners befitting a recluse, he become filled with confidence, and free from cravings, and all his pride and self-righteousness left his heart; and like a cobra deprived of its fangs he said: ‘Most excellent, most excellent, venerable Nāgasena! the puzzles, worthy of a Buddha to solve, have you made clear. There is none like you, amongst all the followers of the Buddha, in the solution of problems, save only Sāriputta, the Elder, himself, the Commander of the Faith. Pardon me, venerable Nāgasena, my faults. May the venerable Nāgasena accept me as a supporter of the faith, as a true convert from to-day onwards as long as life shall last!’
Thenceforward the king and his mighty men continued in paying honour to Nāgasena. And the king had a Vihāra built called ‘The Milinda Vihāra,’ and handed it over to Nāgasena, the Elder, and waited upon him and all the multitude of the Arahat Bhikshus of whom he was the chief with the four requisites of the Bhikshu’s life. And afterwards, taking delight in the wisdom of the Elder, he handed over his kingdom to his son, and abandoning the household life for the houseless state, grew great in insight, and himself attained to Arahatship! Therefore is it said:

‘Wisdom is magnified o’er all the world,
And preaching for the endurance of the Faith.
When they, by wisdom, have put doubt aside
The wise reach upward to that Tranquil State.
That man in whom wisdom is firmly set,
And mindful self-possession never fails,
He is the best of those who gifts receive,
The chief of men to whom distinction’s given.
Let therefore able men, in due regard
To their own welfare, honour those who’re wise—
Worthy of honour like the sacred pile
Beneath whose solid dome the bones of the great dead lie.’

Here ends the book of the puzzles and the solutions of Milinda and Nāgasena.