Nāgasena untranslated

Nāgasena 01. Nāgasena Thera. An Arahant, celebrated for his discussions with King Milinda. He was the son of the Brahmin Soṇuttara, in the village of Kajaṅgala in the Himālaya.

He was well versed in the Vedas, and entered the Saṅgha under Rohaṇa to learn the Buddha’s teaching. Later he went to Assagutta of the Vattaniya senāsana and studied under him. There, one day, at the conclusion of a meal, while giving thanks to a lay woman who had looked after Assagutta for more than thirty years, Nāgasena became a Sotāpanna. Then he was sent to Pāṭaliputta, where he studied under Dhammarakkhita, and there he attained Arahant-ship. Subsequently he went to the Saṅkheyyapariveṇa in Sagala, where he met Milinda.

It is said that in his previous birth he was a Deva, named Mahā Sena, living in Tāvatiṁsa, in a palace called Ketumatī, and that he consented to be born among men at the insistent request of Sakka and the Arahants led by Assagutta.

In an earlier life he had made an aspiration to be able to defeat Milinda in discussion.

For further details see Milindapañha, 6ff.

Nāgasena 02. A king of Jambudīpa, descendant of Mahā Sammata. Dpv.iii.40.