# Milindapañha

Source: https://buddhisma2z.com/milindapanha/  
Author: Bhante S. Dhammika, *Guide To Buddhism A To Z*  
Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

The *Milindapañha* is a Buddhist book which purports to be a dialogue between the Indian monk Nāgasena and the Indo-Greek king Milinda. Although such a dialogue between the two men may well have actually taken place, the *Milindapañha* is a literary work. It was probably originally composed for the use of new converts to explain apparent contradictions in Buddhist doctrine and clarify obscure points. In the *Milindapañha* the [**king**](https://buddhisma2z.com/kings-and-kingship/) asks a series of difficult questions to which Nāgasena replies with lively and often ingenious answers. The earliest part of the *Milindapañha* was written in about the 1st  century CE, perhaps in northern Pakistan, it was later translated into [**Pāḷi**](https://buddhisma2z.com/pali/) and finally taken to Sri Lanka where parts were subsequently added. Buddhists consider the *Milindapañha* to be an authoritative work, although it is not part of the [**Tipiṭaka**](https://buddhisma2z.com/tipitaka/).

**Further reading:** Milinda’s Questions, trans. by I.B.Horner, Vol. I, 1964; Vol.II, 1965.

Subjects: Buddhist Literature