Editing Menander I (section)

===The ''Milinda Panha''===
{{main article|Milinda Panha}}
[[File:King Milinda ask questions.jpg|thumb|King Milinda asks questions.]]
[[File:Menander Soter wheel coin.jpg|thumb|Indian-standard coinage of Menander I. '''Obv''' ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ "Of Saviour King Menander". '''Rev''' Palm of victory, [[Kharoshthi]] legend ''Māhārajasa trātadasa Menandrāsa'', [[British Museum]].<ref>The coins of the Greek and Scythic kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum, p.50 and Pl. XII-7 [https://archive.org/details/cu31924022932382]</ref>]]
According to tradition, Menander embraced the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] faith, as described in the ''[[Milinda Panha]]'', a classical [[Pāli|Pali]] [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist text]] on the discussions between Milinda and the Buddhist sage [[Nagasena|Nāgasena]], the ''Milinda Panha''<nowiki/>'s style may have been influenced by [[Plato's Dialogues|Plato's ''Dialogues'']].<ref name=":0" /> He is described as constantly accompanied by an elite guard of 500 Greek ("[[Yona|Yavana]]") soldiers, and two of his counsellors are named Demetrius and Antiochus.

In the ''Milinda Panha'', Menander is introduced as:

{{quote|King of the city of [[Sagala|Euthymedia]] in India, Milinda by name, learned, eloquent, wise, and able; and a faithful observer, and that at the right time, of all the various acts of devotion and ceremony enjoined by his own sacred hymns concerning things past, present, and to come. Many were the arts and sciences he knew--[[holy]] [[tradition]] and [[secular]] [[law]]; the [[Samkhya|Sânkhya]], [[Yoga]], [[Nyaya|Nyâya]], and [[Vaisheshika]] systems of [[philosophy]]; [[arithmetic]]; [[music]]; [[medicine]]; the four [[Vedas]], the [[Purana|Purânas]], and the [[Itihasa|Itihâsas]]; [[astronomy]], [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], [[Causality|causation]], and [[spell (paranormal)|magic spells]]; the [[Military strategy|art of war]]; [[poetry]]; [[conveyancing]] in a word, the whole nineteen. As a disputant he was hard to equal, harder still to overcome; the acknowledged superior of all the founders of the various schools of thought. And as in wisdom so in strength of body, swiftness, and valour there was found none equal to Milinda in all India. He was rich too, mighty in wealth and prosperity, and the number of his armed hosts knew no end.|[[Milinda Panha|The Questions of King Milinda]], Translation by [[Thomas William Rhys Davids|T. W. Rhys Davids]], 1890}}

Buddhist tradition relates that, following his discussions with Nāgasena, Menander adopted the Buddhist faith:

{{quote|May the venerable Nâgasena accept me as a supporter of the faith, as a true convert from to-day<!--sic--> onwards as long as life shall last!|[[Milinda Panha|The Questions of King Milinda]], Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids, 1890}}

He then handed over his kingdom to his son and retired from the world:

{{quote|And afterwards, taking delight in the wisdom of the Elder, he handed over his kingdom to his son, and abandoning the household life for the houseless state, grew great in insight, and himself attained to [[Arhat|Arahatship]]!|[[Milinda Panha|The Questions of King Milinda]], Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids, 1890}}

[[File:Shinkot relic casket.jpg|thumb|The [[Shinkot casket]] containing Buddhist relics was dedicated "in the reign of the Great King Menander".<ref name="SB">{{cite book |last1=Baums |first1=Stefan |title=A framework for Gandharan chronology based on relic inscriptions, in "Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art"|date=2017 |publisher=Archaeopress |url=http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/download.asp?id={51184689-60EE-4F62-A6D5-8A95D4D53181} }}</ref>]]
There is however little besides this testament to indicate that Menander in fact abdicated his throne in favour of his son. Based on numismatic evidence, William Tarn believed that he in fact died, leaving his wife Agathocleia to rule as a regent, until his son Strato could rule properly in his stead.{{sfn|Tarn|1951|p=226}} Despite the success of his reign, it is clear that after his death, his "loosely hung" empire splintered into a variety of Indo-Greek successor kingdoms, of various sizes and stability.

His legacy as a Buddhist arhat reached the Greco-Roman world and [[Plutarch]] writes:

{{quote|But when one Menander, who had reigned graciously over the Bactrians, died afterwards in the camp, the cities indeed by common consent celebrated his funerals; but coming to a contest about his relics, they were difficultly at last brought to this agreement, that his ashes being distributed, everyone should carry away an equal share, and they should all erect monuments to him."|''Moralia'' 28.6}}

The above seems to corroborate the claim: 
{{quote|It is unlikely that Menander’s support of Buddhism was a pious reconstruction of a Buddhist legend, for his deification by later traditions resonates with Macedonian religious trends that granted divine honours to monarchs and members of their family and worshipped them, like Alexander, as gods. It is no coincidence that similar motifs highlight the Buddha’s deification and his funereal rituals are commensurate with those of Macedonian kings and universal monarchs. The evidence is in favour of the conversion of King Menander to Buddhism, which is neither an isolated historical incident nor an invention of later traditions."<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/5974580/When_the_Greeks_Converted_the_Buddha_Asymmetrical_Transfers_of_Knowledge_in_Indo-Greek_Cultures Halkias (2014: 94)]</ref>}}Though modern scholarship doubts his conversion to Buddhism. Though he certainly took an interest and patronised it perhaps for political purposes, which was then the religion of many of his subjects.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Menandro di battriana |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/menandro-di-battriana/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=[[Treccani]] |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=МИЛИНДА, МЕНАНДР |url=https://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/istoriya/MILINDA_MENANDR.html |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=[[Krugosvet]] |language=ru}}</ref>