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Sutta Piṭaka

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Sutta Piṭaka
TypeCanonical text
Parent CollectionTipitaka
ContainsDīgha Nikāya,Majjhima Nikāya,Saṃyutta Nikāya,Aṅguttara Nikāya,Khuddaka Nikāya
Pāli literature

TheSutta Piṭaka(also referred to asSūtra PiṭakaorSuttanta Piṭaka;English:Basket of Discourse) is the second of the three division of thePali Tripitaka,thedefinitive canonical collectionofscriptureofTheravadaBuddhism.The other two parts of the Tripiṭaka are theVinaya Piṭaka(Basket of Discipline) and theAbhidhamma Piṭaka(Basket of Higher Doctrine). The Sutta Pitaka contains more than 10,000suttas(teachings) attributed tothe Buddhaor his close companions.[1]

Origins

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What was later to become the written scripture of theSutta Pitakawas first orally rehearsed by Buddha’s cousinĀnandaat theFirst Buddhist Councilthat was held shortly after the Buddha's death. The first council also defined the set of rules (Vinaya) that governed the life of monks and nuns within themonastic community.Tradition holds that little was added to the Canon after this. Scholars are more skeptical, but differ in their degrees ofskepticism.Richard Gombrichthinks most of the first four nikayas (see below) go back to the Buddha, in content but not in form.[2]The late Professor Hirakawa Akira says that the First Council collected only short prose passages or verses expressing important doctrines, and that these were expanded into full length suttas over the next century.[3]

Contents

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There are fivenikayas(collections) of suttas:

  1. Digha Nikāya(dīghanikāya), the "long" discourses.
  2. Majjhima Nikāya,the "middle-length" discourses.
  3. Saṁyutta Nikāya(saṃyutta-), the "connected" discourses.
  4. Anguttara Nikāya(aṅguttara-), the "numerical" discourses.
  5. Khuddaka Nikāya,the "minor collection".

Digha Nikāya

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This includesThe Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness,The Fruits of the Contemplative Life,andThe Buddha's Last Days.There are 34 long suttas in this nikaya.

Majjhima Nikāya

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This includesShorter Exposition of Kamma,Mindfulness of Breathing,andMindfulness of the Body.There are 152 medium-length suttas in this nikaya.

Samyutta Nikaya

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There are, according to one reckoning, 2,889, but according to the commentary 7,762, shorter suttas in this Nikaya.

Anguttara Nikāya

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These teachings are arranged numerically. It includes, according to the commentary's reckoning, 9,565 short suttas grouped by number from ones to elevens. According toKeown,"there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the Sarvāstivādin versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date."[4]

Khuddaka Nikāya

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This is a heterogeneous mix of sermons, doctrines, and poetry attributed to the Buddha and his disciples. The contents vary somewhat between editions. The Thai edition includes 1-15 below, the Sinhalese edition 1-17 and the Burmese edition 1-18.

  1. Khuddakapatha
  2. Dhammapada
  3. Udana
  4. Itivuttaka
  5. Suttanipata
  6. Vimanavatthu
  7. Petavatthu
  8. Theragatha
  9. Therigatha
  10. Jataka
  11. Niddesa
  12. Patisambhidamagga
  13. Apadana
  14. Buddhavamsa
  15. Cariyapitaka
  16. Nettipakaranaor Netti
  17. Petakopadesa
  18. Milinda Panha

For more on these editions also seePali Canon

Translations

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  • The first four nikayas and more than half of the fifth have been translated by thePali Text Society[1].
  • The first four have also been translated in the Teachings of the Buddha series by Wisdom Publications.
  • The first four nikayas, as well as six books from the Khuddaka Nikāya, have been translated from the Pali byṬhānissaro Bhikkhuand released under a Creative Commons license, and are available atdhammatalks.org

Selections (including material from at least two nikayas):

  • Buddhist Suttas,ed & trT. W. Rhys Davids,Sacred Books of the East,volume XI, Clarendon/Oxford, 1881; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (&?Dover, New York)
  • The Word of the Buddha,ed & tr Nyanatiloka, 1935
  • Early Buddhist Poetry,ed I. B. Horner, Ananda Semage, Colombo, 1963
  • The Book of Protection,tr Piyadassi, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1981; translation of theparitta
  • In the Buddha's Words,ed & tr Bodhi, Wisdom Pubns, 2005
  • Early Buddhist Discourses,ed & tr John J. Holder, 2006
  • Sayings of the Buddha,ed & tr Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press, 2008
  • Basic Teachings of the Buddha,ed & tr Glenn Wallis, New York: Random House, 2007

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Dahiya, Poonam Dalal (2017).ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA EBOOK.McGraw-Hill Education. p. 165.ISBN978-93-5260-673-3.
  2. ^Theravada Buddhism,2nd edn, Routledge, London, 2006, pages 20f
  3. ^Hirakawa,History of Indian Buddhism,volume 1, 1974, English translation University of Hawai'i Press, pages 69f
  4. ^A Dictionary of Buddhism, by Damien Keown, Oxford University Press: 2004
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