B MILINDA PANHA X The self is not a thing but a naming of relations—like a chariot, real in use, empty of essence

 A

Bullet gist (Milinda Pañha – Nāgasena & the chariot):

• Nāgasena denies being an independent entity; his name is only a designation.

• King Milinda objects: without a person, there is no moral agency or responsibility.

• Nāgasena shows that no single part (body, feelings, perceptions, consciousness) is the self.

• The king argues there must be something beyond the parts.

• Nāgasena introduces the chariot analogy: no chariot exists apart from its parts and their relations.

• Conclusion: the “self,” like the chariot, is not an entity, but a process—a web of relations and events.

• Identity persists through continuity and convention, not through an unchanging core.

• We are composite, temporary, and relational—yet functionally real.

Tagline / quote:

“The self is not a thing but a naming of relations—like a chariot, real in use, empty of essence.”

Ultra-short gist (one line):

• No fixed self; only processes, relations, and continuity without essence.