Naxian biqiu jing 那先比丘經

The scripture Naxian biqiu jing 那先比丘經 originated in northwestern India around the 1st century BCE. The language in which it was first composed is unknown; modern scholarship proposes various possibilities, including Sanskrit and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. The reconstructed original title was likely Nāgasena-bhikṣu-sūtra. It later developed into two transmission lineages, a Northern (Mahāyāna) version and a Southern (Theravāda) version. The Northern version was transmitted to China during the Later Han period 後漢 (25-220 CE) and survives in the Chinese Buddhist canon. The Southern version reached its settled form around the 4th century CE and was incorporated into the Pāli Canon, circulating widely under the title Milinda pañha "Questions of [King] Milinda". In terms of content, the Northern version corresponds to the introduction and the first three sections of the Southern version, and is approximately one quarter the length of the Southern recension.

The Chinese version of the scripture is structured as a series of dialogues between King Milinda/Menandros I. (Ch. Milantuo 彌蘭陀, c. 165–130 BCE), the ruler of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom (Daxia 大夏) who entered northwestern India in the 2nd century BCE, and the Indian Buddhist monk Nāgasena (Ch. Naxian 那先, c. 150 BCE). Through their discussions, the text examines a wide range of Buddhist doctrinal issues, including rebirth and karmic retribution, liberation through nirvāṇa, theories of the soul or non-self, and conceptions of the Buddha's body.

The work is of great significance for understanding early Indian Buddhism as well as the intellectual exchange between Indian and Greek thought. The scripture was translated into Chinese on three separate occasions. Two versions are extant today: a two-fascicle version translated during the Eastern Han period (translator unknown), and a three-fascicle version of unknown date and translator. A separate one-fascicle version once existed but has been lost.

There is an English translation by T.W. Rhys Davids. 1890-94. Questions of King Milinda, translated from the Pāli. Oxford: Clarendon. (Sacred Books of the East, XXXV-XXXVI).