From:
Milindapañha Milinda’s Questions
Arūpadhammavavatthānavagga Analysis of Formless Dhammas Chapter
16. Arūpadhammavavatthānadukkarapañha 16. The Question on the Difficulty of Distinguishing Formless Dhammas
Rājā āha—The king asked:
“bhante nāgasena, dukkaraṁ nu kho bhagavatā katan”ti? “Venerable Nāgasena, did the Blessed One accomplish something difficult?”
Thero āha—The elder said,
“dukkaraṁ, mahārāja, bhagavatā katan”ti. “The Blessed One accomplished something difficult, your majesty.”
“Kiṁ pana, bhante nāgasena, bhagavatā dukkaraṁ katan”ti. “But what difficult thing, Venerable Nāgasena, did the Blessed One accomplish?”
“Dukkaraṁ, mahārāja, bhagavatā kataṁ imesaṁ arūpīnaṁ cittacetasikānaṁ dhammānaṁ ekārammaṇe vattamānānaṁ vavatthānaṁ akkhātaṁ ‘ayaṁ phasso, ayaṁ vedanā, ayaṁ saññā, ayaṁ cetanā, idaṁ cittan’”ti. “The Blessed One accomplished something difficult, your majesty, in that he explained the distinction of these formless mental dhammas that occur with a single object, declaring: ‘This is contact, this is feeling, this is perception, this is volition, this is consciousness.’”
“Opammaṁ karohī”ti. “Please give me an analogy.”
“Yathā, mahārāja, kocideva puriso nāvāya mahāsamuddaṁ ajjhogāhetvā hatthapuṭena udakaṁ gahetvā jivhāya sāyitvā jāneyya nu kho, mahārāja, so puriso ‘idaṁ gaṅgāya udakaṁ, idaṁ yamunāya udakaṁ, idaṁ aciravatiyā udakaṁ, idaṁ sarabhuyā udakaṁ, idaṁ mahiyā udakan’”ti? “Suppose, your majesty, some man were to go out onto the great ocean in a boat, take up water in the hollow of his hand, taste it with his tongue—would that man be able to know: ‘This is water from the Ganges, this is water from the Yamunā, this is water from the Aciravatī, this is water from the Sarabhū, this is water from the Mahī’?”
“Dukkaraṁ, bhante, jānitun”ti. “It would be difficult to know, venerable sir.”
“Ito dukkarataraṁ kho, mahārāja, bhagavatā kataṁ imesaṁ arūpīnaṁ cittacetasikānaṁ dhammānaṁ ekārammaṇe vattamānānaṁ vavatthānaṁ akkhātaṁ ‘ayaṁ phasso, ayaṁ vedanā, ayaṁ saññā, ayaṁ cetanā, idaṁ cittan’”ti. “More difficult than that, your majesty, is what the Blessed One accomplished in explaining the distinction of these formless phenomena that occur with a single object, declaring: ‘This is contact, this is feeling, this is perception, this is volition, this is consciousness.’”
“Suṭṭhu, bhante”ti rājā abbhānumodīti. “Very good, venerable sir,” said the king in approval.
Arūpadhammavavatthānadukkarapañho soḷasamo. The Question on the Difficulty of Distinguishing Formless Dhammas sixteenth
Arūpadhammavavatthānavaggo sattamo. Analysis of Formless Dhammas Chapter seventh
Imasmiṁ vagge soḷasa pañhā. In this chapter sixteen questions