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Nāgasena was a Buddhist sage who lived about 150 BCE. His answers to questions about Buddhism posed by Menander I (Pali: Milinda), the Indo-Greek king of northwertern India, are recorded in the Milinda Pañha. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Buddhism (more correctly Pali Buddhadhamma or Sanskrit Buddhadharma) is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries... The cultural elements of Buddhism vary by region and include: Buddhist cuisine Buddhist art Buddharupa Art and architecture of Japan Greco-Buddhism Tibetan Buddhist sacred art Buddhist music Buddhist chant Shomyo Categories: Buddhism-related stubs ... The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama. ... Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z The following is a List of Buddhist topics: A Abhidharma Ahimsa Ajahn Ajahn Chah Ajanta Aksobhya Alexandra David-Néel... Buddhist beliefs and practices vary according to region. ... The percentage of Buddhist population of each country was taken from the US State Departments International Religious Freedom Report 2004 [1]. Other sources used were CIA Factbook [2] and adherents. ... There are many divisions and subdivisions of the schools of Buddhism. ... The Buddhist temple Wat Chiang Man, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which dates from the late 13th century Buddhist temples and monasteries, sorted by location. ... Several Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term. ... There are a great variety of Buddhist texts. ... // Before Common Era Trad. ... Buddhism (more correctly Pali Buddhadhamma or Sanskrit Buddhadharma) is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries... (Redirected from 150 BCE) Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC - 150s BC - 140s BC 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC Years: 155 BC 154 BC 153 BC 152 BC 151 BC - 150 BC... Tetradrachm of Menander I in Greco-Bactrian style (Alexandria-Kapisa mint). ... For the town and district in Rajasthan, see Pali, Rajasthan For the Ganapati temple of pali and place in Maharastra, see Ballaleshwar Pali Pāli (Devanagari पालि) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... Maximum extent of Indo-Greek territory circa 175 BCE. The Indo-Greeks (or sometimes Greco-Indians) designate a series of Greek kings, who invaded and controlled parts of northwest and northern India from 180 BCE to around 10 BCE. They are the continuation of the Greco-Bactrian dynasty of Greek... The Milinda Pañha (Pali. ...

Milinda Panha

There is almost universal agreement that this text was later expanded by numerous other authors, following the "Question and Answer" pattern established in the early books. The version extant today is very long, and has signs of inconsistent authorship in the later volumes. There is no agreed-upon point at which Nagasena's authorship may be said to end (and the work of other hands begins), nor has this been perceived as an inherently important distinction by monastic schoars.

The text mentions that Nagasena learned the Tripitaka under the Greek Buddhist monk Dhammarakkhita near Pātaliputta. He also reached enlightenment and became an arhat under his guidance. The Tripitaka (Sanskrit, lit. ... Dharmaraksita (Pali: Dhammarakkhita) was one of the missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka to proselytize the Buddhist faith. ... ... Bodhi (Pāli and Sanskrit. ... A garden featuring depictions of various arhats (Hsi Lai Temple, California) An arhat (Sanskrit, also arahat or arahant (Pali); Chinese: 阿羅漢, āluóhàn, luóhàn, lohan; Tibetan: dgra-bcom-pa; Jp. ...

Other personalities mentioned in the text are Nāgasena's father Soñuttara, his teachers Rohaa, Assagutta of Vattaniya and another teacher named Āyupāla from Sankheyya near Sāgala. Sagala, today Sialkot, was a city of northern Pakistan in the Punjab region. ...

Indo-Chinese tradition

There is an Indo-Chinese tradition that Nagasena brought to Thailand the first representation of the Buddha, the Emerald Buddha. According to this legend, the Emerald Buddha would have been created in India in 43 BCE by Nagasena in the city of Pataliputra (today Patna). Emerald Buddha The Emerald Buddha (Thai พระแก้วมรกต - Phra Kaew Morakot, or official name พระพุทธมหามณีรัตนปฏิมากร - Phra Bhuddha Maha Mani Ratana Patimakorn) is the palladium of the Kingdom of Thailand, a figurine of the sitting Buddha, made of green jade (rather than emerald), clothed in gold, and about 45 cm tall. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC - 40s BC - 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC 0s Years: 48 BC 47 BC 46 BC 45 BC 44 BC 43 BC 42 BC 41 BC 40 BC... Patna is the capital of the state of Bihar, in north-eastern India. ...

Nagasena is not known through other sources besides the Milinda Panha and this Indo-Chinese legend.