Milindapañha or Milindapañhaa
From: Nyanatusita
Message: 2197
Date: 2007-09-01
Dear members,
Western scholars usually spell the Pali title of this work as
Milindapañha, however this seems incorrect. Like Theragáthá, the title
probably needs to be plural because it means the "questions (/pañhá/) of
Milinda" not "the question (/pañha/) of Milinda." In the /Milindapañhá
/Pali itself (p. 419) the work is called /Milindapañhá/:
/Iti chasu kaóðesu bávìsativaggapatimaóðitesu dvásaþþhi-adhiká dvesatá
imasmií potthake ágatá _milindapañhá samattá_, anágatá ca pana
dvácattálìsá honti, ágatá ca anágatá ca sabbá samodhánetvá catúhi adhiká
tisatapañhá honti, s_abbáva milindapañhá ti saòkhaí gacchanti._ :/
"Complete are the questions of Milinda (milindapañhá), handed down in
six sections, … there are 304 questions, all these are reckoned as the
questions of Milinda (milindapañhá). (Mil 419)
However, the text (Be) concludes with “/Milindapañho ni.t.thito/,” which
is singular masculine. In this case one needs to take /pañho/ as an
action noun “inquiring, questioning”and the compound as an instrumental
tappurisa: “The Questioning by Milinda” or “The Inquiry by Milinda” or
the “The Interrogation by Milinda.”
What is the correct Pali title?
Best wishes,
Bhikkhu Nyanatusita
Kandy
Sri Lanka