Nagasena
Nāgasena | |
|---|---|
The Venerable Nāgasena (seated in the middle) conversing with King Menander I | |
| Title | Thera |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Sarvastivada |
| Senior posting | |
| Period in office | c. 150 BCE |
Nāgasena was a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist sage who lived around 150 BC. His answers to questions about Buddhism posed by Menander I (Pali: Milinda), the Greek king in northwestern India, are recorded in the Milindapañhā and the Sanskrit Nāgasenabhiksusūtra. According to Pali accounts, he was born into a Brahmin family in the Himalayas and was well-versed in the Vedas at an early age. However, he later converted to Buddhism.