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In 1989 A.V. Paribok, a disciple of the St. Petersburg Buddhist studies school, published translation of the book “Questions of King Milinda” (Milindapanha) with commentary. This translation introduces the Russian reader to a broad list of problems of the history of ancient Indian thought, as well as ancient Indian culture in general. In the author's opinion, the work of A.V. Paribok wins greatly in comparison with the outdated translation by T.U. Rice-Davis. Milindapanha, as it has been found by researchers of Buddhism, is the only work in ancient Indian literature, which refers to the actual lived and named ancient Greek. This ruler, undoubtedly, was the most significant among the Greek-Indian rulers of Northern India. The reliability of the existence of both Milindapanha’s two main characters, the unusual character of the foreign king’s figure makes it possible to conclude that the fact of their meeting took place in reality. Based on this assumption, A.V. Paribok believes the most ancient parts of the Milidopanha text to be a collective and refracted reflection of the Greek-Indian cultural contact that occurred in his Indian interpretation. The article discusses issues related to reflection in Buddhist philosophy of the process of constructing syllogisms, analyzes of the structure of syllogisms conducted on the basis of the book “Milinda's Questions” (Milidopanha) translated by A.V. Paribok from the Pali into Russian language. The advantages of this translation, its clarity and accessibility for a wide range of readers, as well as the role of A.V. Paribok in the popularization of the Indian culture and thought are observed in the article.

Key words: syllogisms, philosophical and doctrinal dialogue on Buddhist topics, forms of dialogical philosophical communication, a retraction and explanation “Milinda's Questions” (Milindapanha).

DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2018.3.64-70

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About the author

 

Cho Sungkwon – Postgraduate at Faculty of Philosophy of Lomonosov Moscow State University;

build. 4, 27 Lomonosovsky prospekt, GSP-1, Moscow, Russia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.