es
the Tathagata, that is the Buddha or perfected saint, exist after death,
which is the phraseology usually employed by the Pitakas in formulating
the problem, belongs to the class of questions called not declared or
undetermined[510], because they do not admit of either an affirmative or
a negative answer. Other problems belonging to this class are: Is the
world eternal or not: Is the world infinite or not: Is the soul[511] the
same as the body or different from it? It is categorically asserted that
none of these questions admit of a reply: thus it is not right to say
that _(a)_ the saint exists after death, _(b)_ or that he does not
exist, _(c)_ or that he both does and does not exist, _(d)_ or that he
neither exists nor does not exist. The Buddha's teaching about these
problems is stated with great clearness in a Sutta named after
Malunkyaputta[512], an enquirer who visits him and after enumerating
them says frankly that he is dissatisfied because the Buddha will not
answer them. "If the Lord answers them, I will lead a religious life
under him, but if he does not answer them, I will give up religion and
return to the world. But if the Lord does not know, then the
straightforward thing is to say, I do not know." This is plain speaking,
almost discourtesy. The Buddha's reply is equally plain, but unyielding.
"Have I said to you, come and be my disciple and I will teach you
whether the world is eternal or not, infinite or not: whether the soul
is identical with the body, or separate, whether the saint exists after
death or not?" "No, Lord." "Now suppose a man were wounded by a poisoned
arrow and his friends called in a physician to dress his wound. What if
the man were to say, I shall not have my wound treated until I know what
was the caste, the family, the dwelling-place, the complexion and
stature of the man who wounded me; nor shall I let the arrow be drawn
out until I know what is the exact shape of the arrow and bow, and what
were the animals and plants which supplied the feathers, leather, shaft
and string. The man would never learn all that, because he would die
first." "Therefore" is the conclusion, "hold what I have determined as
determined and what I have not determined, as not determined."

This sutta may be taken in connection with passages asserting that the
Buddha knows more than he tells his disciples. The result seems to be
that there are certain questions which the human mind and human language
had b