Person

Nagasena

c. 2nd century BCE · 2nd century BCE

Nagasena was a Buddhist monk who, according to the Milindapanha, debated questions of doctrine with King Milinda, the Indo-Greek ruler Menander I, and won him over to Buddhism. His arguments, notably the image of a chariot to explain that there is no permanent self, became classic statements of Buddhist teaching. Little is known of him beyond this text.

Nagasena
Image: Horace van Ruith · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Indo-Greek KingdomNagas of Padmavati

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Nagasena. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nagasena
MLA
“Nagasena.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nagasena. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Nagasena.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nagasena.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Nagasena’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/nagasena (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻