fect that nirvana is happiness and the same is stated in
the more dogmatic and logical portions. Thus we hear of the bliss of
emancipation and of the happiness which is based on the religious
life[494] and the words "Nirvana is the greatest happiness" are put into
Gotama's own mouth[495]. The middle way preached by him is declared to
be free from all distress, and those who walk in it make an end of pain
even in this life[496]. In one passage[497] Gotama is found meditating
in a wood one winter night and is asked if he feels well and happy. The
night is cold, his seat is hard, his clothes are light and the wind
bitter. He replies emphatically that he is happy. Those who live in
comfortable houses suffer from the evils of lust, hatred and stupidity
but he has made an end of those evils and therefore is happy. Thus
nirvana is freedom and joy: it is not extinction in the sense we give
the word but light to them that sit in darkness, release to those in
prison and torture. But though it is legitimately described in terms
which imply positive happiness it transcends all human standards of good
and evil, pleasure and pain. In describing the progress to it we
all--whether Indians or Europeans--necessarily use such words as better,
higher, happier, but in truth it is not to be expressed in terms of such
values. In an interesting sutta[498] a Jain argues that happiness is the
goal of life. But the Buddha states categorically first that perfect
happiness is only attainable by abandoning the conscious pursuit of
happiness and secondly that even absolute happiness when attained is not
the highest goal: there is a better state beyond, and that state is
certainly not annihilation or extinction of feeling, for it is described
in terms of freedom and knowledge.

The Dhamma-sangani speaks of Nirvana as the Uncompounded Element[499]
and as a state not productive of good or evil. Numerous assertions[500]
are made about it incidentally but, though we hear that it is perfected
and supramundane, most of the epithets are negative and amount to little
more than that it transcends, or is absolutely detached from, all human
experience. Uncompounded (asankhato) may refer to the passing away of
all sankharas but what may be the meaning of dhatu or element in this
context, I do not presume to conjecture. But whatever else the word may
mean, it clearly does not signify annihilation. Both here and in the
Questions of Milinda an impression is produced