Introduction

1. Buddhism is not a philosophy

Before going on to talk about the Pali Canon, it is necessary to make a
distinction between philosophy and religion. Philosophy is primarily
concerned with rational speculation, to try to arrive at the truth of something
through reasoning or argumentation. What is at issue or being investigated
might not have anything to do with how ones life is actually conducted. For
instance, philosophers might debate the question of the origin and the end of
the universe, the doomsday, or the origin of life. Furthermore, the ways
philosophers lead their live do not necessarily follow any principle, or even
conform to what they investigate. While they are doing their philosophical
thinking, their personal lives might be just the opposite. Some philosophers,
for example, could be highly volatile and unpredictable, some could be
habitually up to no good, indulging in drinking or gambling, and some were
so miserable and depressed that they committed suicide.
By contrast, religion involves practice, a way of living, or useful
application in real life. The way a religion is practiced has to be based on a
definitive canon, or fundamental principle accepted as axiomatic, with a
clearly stated goal.
Thus, practitioners of a give religion will at the outset have to abide by
the tenets of that religion as laid down by its founder, which are referred to as
his teachings. For this reason, a religious practitioner will direct his attention
to the founders teachings, which are collected, preserved, and handed down
in the form of a scripture.
Viewed from this perspective, Buddhism is not a philosophy, but a
religion. With Gotama the Buddha being the founder, whose Enlightenment
all Buddhists believe in Buddhism teaches a way of life which ultimately
leads to the goal of final deliverance from suffering. The voluminous scripture
where the tenets of Buddhism can be found is called the Pali Canon. To derive
the most benefit from the religion, a true Buddhist has to practice it properly.

2. The word of the Buddha: the quintessence of Buddhism

Generally speaking, the term Buddhasasana Buddhism has a very broad
sematic coverage, embracing everything ranging from the teachings, the
Order of monks, organizations, institutions and religious affairs, down to
religious places and objects. However, if we delve deeply into its real
signification, this term refers to the teaching of the Buddha as suggested by
its literal meaning itself. This indeed constitutes the quintessence of
Buddhism, anything other than this being merely its extension or offshoot.
One this true meaning is grasped, it can be seen that the survival of
Buddhism means in effect the existence of the Buddhas teachings. Should his
teachings fade away, no matter how many individuals, religions affairs, and
huge religious places and objects there might be, Buddhism cannot be said to
exist anymore.
Conversely, even if the foregoing external concrete things should be lost,
but if the teachings survive, Buddhism can still become known. For this
reason, the true preservation of Buddhism all boils down to maintain the
Buddhas teachings.
To be more specific, the teachings of the Buddha refer to the word of the
Buddha or what the Buddha said ( buddhavacana ). Essentially, then, to
maintain Buddhism is to preserve the word of the Buddha. By the word of
the Buddha are meant the Doctrine (Dhamma) and Discipline(Vinaya) set
forth and laid down by him. Not long before his final Nibbana, the Buddha
himself said thatn not any one monk was to be appointed his successor as
teacher after his passing. Instead, he had it made known to all Buddhists that
the Doctrine and discipline would take his place. A great number of Buddhists
even remember the exact wording in Pali, thus:
Yo vo nada may dhammo ca vinayo ca desito paatto so vo
mamaccayena satth
nanda! The Doctrine and Discipline I have set forth and laid down for you
all shall be your teacher after iam gone
On this account, the word of the Buddha is both Buddhism ( i.e. what
the Buddha taught ) and the dwelling place of the teacher by virtue of
maintaining and proclaiming the Doctrine and Discipline on his behalf.

Background and development of Tree Ptaka

1. History of Buddhism ( Siddartha Gautama: c.430 BC )
At the age of twenty-nine Siddhartha Gautama, prince of
a ruling house in Nepal, abandons the luxuries of home, and the affections of
a wife and a young son, to become a wandering ascetic. He is following a
pattern not uncommon in India at this time, when the rigidities of a priestdominated Hinduism are causing many to seek a more personal religion. Only
a few years previously, in a nearby district, a young man by the name of
Vardhamana has done exactly the same - with lasting results in the form of
Jainism. (The conventional dates for both men, revised by modern
scholarship, have been a century earlier.) Gautama differs from Vardhamana
in one crucial respect. He discovers that asceticism is almost as unsatisfactory
as luxury.
According to the traditional account (first written down in the 3rd
century BC) Gautama follows an ascetic life for six years before deciding that
a middle path between mortification and indulgence of the body will provide
the best hope of achieving enlightenment.
He resolves to meditate, in moderate comfort, until he sees the light of
truth. One evening he sits under a pipal tree at Buddh Gaya, a village in Bihar.
By dawn he is literally buddha, an 'enlightened one'. Like any other religious
leader he begins to gather disciples. He becomes known to his followers as the
Buddha.

2. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path: c.424 BC

Gautama preaches his first sermon at Sarnath, about 5 miles (8km)
north of the sacred Hindu city of Varanasi. In this sermon, still a definitive
text for all Buddhists, he proposes a path to enlightenment very different from
the elaborate ceremonies and colourful myth attached to the Hindu deities.
Gautama's message is plain to the point of bluntness, at any rate when
reduced to a simple list - as it usually is in primers on Buddhism. He states
that enlightenment can be achieved by understanding Four Noble Truths; and
that the pain of life, with which the Noble Truths are concerned, can be
avoided by following an Eightfold Path.
The four Noble Truths are that pain is inextricably part of mankind's
everyday life; that our cravings of all kinds are the cause of this pain; that the
4

way off this treadmill is to free oneself of these cravings; and that this can be
achieved by following the Eightfold Path.
The Path encourages the Buddhist to live a virtuous life by following the
'right' course of action in eight contexts. Many of these are moral evils to be
avoided (as in the Jewish Commandments). But the eighth step, 'Right
Concentration', goes to the heart of the Buddhist ideal.
Right Concentration is described in Buddhist scripture as concentrating
on a single object, so as to induce a special state of consciousness through
deep meditation. In this way the Buddhist hopes to achieve complete purity of
thought, leading ideally to nirvana.
Nirvana means 'blowing out', as of a flame. It is common to Hinduism
and Jainism as well as Buddhism. But in the two older religions it leads to
moksha, release from the cycle of rebirth, total extinction. In Buddhism it is a
blissful transcendent state which can be achieved either in life or after death and which is achieved by anyone who becomes Buddha.

3. Introduction of tree Pitaka

It is made up of two words, it means 'three' and pitaka means 'baskets'.
The first part of the name refers to the fact that the Buddhist scriptures consist
of three sections. The first section, called the Sutta Pitaka, contains all the
Buddha's discourses as well as some by his enlightened disciples. The type of
material in the Sutta Pitaka is very diverse which allows it to communicate the
truths that the Buddha taught to all different types of people. Many of the
Buddha's discourses are in the form of sermons while others are in the form of
dialogues. Other parts like the Dhammapada present the Buddha's teachings
through the medium of poetry. The Jatakas, to take another example, consist
of delightful stories in which the main characters are often animals. The
second section of the Tipitaka is called the Vinaya Pitaka. This contains the
rules for monks and nuns, advice on monastic administration and procedure
and the early history of the monastic order. The last section is called the
Abhidhamma Pitaka. This is a complex and sophisticated attempt to analyse
and classify all the constituents that make up the individual. Although the
Abhidhamma is somewhat later than the first two sections of the Tipitaka it
contains nothing that contradicts them.
Now for the word pitaka. In ancient India construction workers used
to move building materials from one place to another by means of a relay of
baskets. They would put the baskets on their heads, walk some distance to the
next worker, pass it to him, and he would repeat the process. Writing was
5

known in the Buddha's time but as a medium it was considered less reliable
than human memory. A book could rot in the monsoon damp or be eaten by
white ants but a person's memory could last as long as they lived.
Consequently, monks and nuns committed all the Buddha's teachings to
memory and passed it on to each other just as construction workers passed
earth and bricks to each other in baskets. This is why the three sections of the
Buddhist scriptures are called baskets. After being preserved in this manner
for several hundred years the Tipitaka was finally written down in about 100
B.C. in Sri Lanka.
3.1.

Vinaya Pitaka

The first basket we'll tackle is the Vinaya Pitaka. Often called the
Discipline Basket, the Vinaya Pitaka comprises the collection of rules given to
the community of Buddhist believers. In its pages are found the rules and
regulations by which a Buddhist congregation of believers, called a Sangha,
should operate. With hundreds of rules about basic morality, and even a few
on how to dress, it's sort of a Buddhist code of conduct. To help me remember
it, I like to think of the Vinaya Pitaka as 'very firm rules to stay away from
vices!'
3.2.

Sutta Pitaka

The next basket we'll cover is the Sutta Pitaka. Held as the most
important of the Three Baskets, it's also called the Discourse Basket and is
believed to be a written collection of Buddha's teachings. Included in this
basket is the uber-important Dhammapada, or Buddha's exposition on the
law.
However, since nothing about Buddha's life was even written down
until hundreds of years after his death, many scholars disagree on the
historical dating, and even the validity of these works - feeling they aren't
really, truly Buddha's words but instead a sort of postmortem summary of
his teachings. Regardless of its Regardless of its authenticity, this basket is
believed to contain over 10,000 teachings from Buddha himself.
For this reason, I think it'll be okay if we sort of Westernize the Sutta Pitaka
as the 'sermons of Buddha.
3.3.

Abhidhamma-pitaka
6

The Abhidhamma-pitaka developed out of the need to explain the

deeper meaning of the words of the Buddha. The Higher Teachings of the
abhidhamma explain the nature of reality: they contain psychological maps of
what makes up a person and the world as well as explanations of the spiritual
levels of development a person passes through on the path to perfection.

The Buddhist councils (Sagyana)

1. The rehearsal of Buddhist
As the maintenance of the word of the Buddha is essential to the
maintenance of Buddhism, it is regarded as an absolute necessity and also and
issue of crucial importance in Buddhism to preserve the word of the Buddha.
therefore, great efforts have been made to preserve the word of the
Buddha ever since the Buddha's time, even when he was still alive. It was
towards the end of the Buddha's lifetime when Nigantha Nataputta, the
founder of Jainism, passed away. His disciples had failed to collect his
teachings and no agreement had been reached so that once their teacher was
no longer alive, they were greatly divided and engaged in heated arguments as
to what exactly their teacher had preached. Meanwhile, the Venerable Cunda
brought the news to the Buddha, who recommended that all the monks should
take part in rehearsing. or communally reciting, the Dhamma to ensure the
sustainable existence of the Teaching for the welfare and benefit of the
multitude.
At that time, the Venerable Sariputta, the chief disciple, was still alive.
On one occasion, when addressing this matter, he said that the problem with
Jainism arose because the founder's teachings had not been collected and
compiled. We all the disciples of our Lord Buddha should therefore conduct a
rehearsal to collect and compile his teachings, so that uniform standards could
be established. Having said this, the Elder Sariputta demonstrated how a
rehearsal should be conducted right before the Buddha and the assembly of
monks. He collected the Buddha's teaching and expounded them, arranging
them in groups of itemised dhamma according to the number of items
involved, ranging from groups of one to groups of ten. Once the rehearsal was
over, the Buddha voiced his approval, thereby endorsing the teachings
collected and expounded by the Venerable Sariputta. The teaching thus
enumerated constitute a discourse called Sangitisutta 'the discourse on
communal recitations (sangiti)' , and can be found in the Dighanikaya of the
Suttantapitaka. Phra Brahmagunabhorn (P.A. Payutto) 24 March 2006 , 00:09

2. The Buddhist order of councils (Sagyana)

During the forty-fives of his ministry, Buddha never thought of appointing
a successor to take charge of the order, after his Passing a way his wish was
that the Dhamma be kept as the teacher. In Vakkali Sutta, the Buddha said to
Vakkali, What is there in looking at this decomposing body of mine? It is
enough to see the Dhamma. He, who has see the Dhamma, see me. Yo
Dhammam passati, so mam passati.

1. First Buddhist council

The First Buddhist council was convened in the year following the
Buddha's parinirvana (death), which is 543542 BCE according to Theravada
tradition, at various earlier dates according to certain Mahayana traditions,
and various later dates according to certain Western estimates.
According to late commentarial accounts, King Ajtasattu sponsored the
council. Tradition holds that on the full moon day of Shravan lunar month the
Council was held in a hall erected by Ajtasattu outside Saptaparni Cave in
Rajgir, three months after Gautama Buddha had died. Detailed accounts of the
council can be found in the Khandhaka sections of the canonical Vinayas.
Other sources state that the Buddha died 218 years before the coronation of
Asoka in 269 BCE, so by this definition, the Buddha died in 483 BCE, which
matches the reign of Ajtasattu.
According to this record, the incident which prompted Mahkassapa to
call this meeting was his hearing a disparaging remark about the strict rule of
life for monks. The monk Subhadda, who had ordained late in life, upon
hearing that the Buddha had expired, voiced his resentment at having to abide
by all the rules for monks laid down by the Buddha. Many monks lamented
the passing of the Buddha and were deeply grieved but Subhadda spoke up to
show happiness and relief that Buddha was gone. And Subhadda, the latereceived one, said to the Bhikkhus: "Enough, Sirs! Weep not, neither lament!
We are well rid of the great Samana. We used to be annoyed by being told,
'This beseems you, this beseems you not.' But now we shall be able to do
whatever we like; and what we do not like, that we shall not have to do.
Mahakassapa was alarmed by his remark and feared that the dhamma
and Vinaya might be corrupted and not survive intact if other monks were to
behave like Subhadda and interpret the Dhamma and the Vinaya rules as they
8

pleased. To avoid this he decided that the Dhamma must be preserved and
protected. To this end after gaining the Sangha's approval he called to council
five hundred Arahants.[3] Ananda was to be included in this provided he
attained the state of the arahant by the time the council convened.With the
Mahkassapa presiding, the five hundred arahant monks met in council during
Vassa. The first thing Mahkassapa did was to question the foremost expert on
the Vinaya of the day, Upali, on particulars of the monastic rule. Mahkassapa
asked him specifically about the ruling on the first parajika, with regard to the
subject, the occasion, the individual introduced, the proclamation, the
repetition of the proclamation, the offense and the case of non-offense. Upali
gave knowledgeable and adequate answers and his remarks met with the
unanimous approval of the presiding Sangha. Thus, the Vinaya was formally
approved.
The Mahkassapa then turned his attention to Ananda in virtue of his
reputable expertise in all matters connected with the Dhamma. The night
before the Council was to meet, Ananda had attained Arahantship and joined
the Council. Mahkassapa was able to question him at length about the
Dhamma with specific reference to the Buddha's sermons. This interrogation
on the Dhamma sought to verify the place where all the discourses were first
preached and the person to whom they had been addressed. Ananda aided by
his word-perfect memory was able to answer accurately and so the Discourses
met with the unanimous approval of the Sangha. The First Council also gave
its official seal of approval for the closure of the chapter on the minor and
lesser rules, and approval for their observance. It took the monks seven
months to recite the whole of the Vinaya and the Dhamma and those monks
sufficiently endowed with good memories retained all that had been recited.
This historic first council came to be known as the Pancasatika because five
hundred fully enlightened Arahants had taken part in it.

2. Second Buddhist council

The Second Buddhist council took place approximately one hundred
years after the Buddha's parinirvn a. Virtually all scholars agree that the
second council was a historical event.Traditions regarding the Second Council
are confusing and ambiguous, but it is agreed that the overall result was the
first schism in the Samgha, between the Sthaviras and the Mahsmghikas,
although it is not agreed upon by all what the cause of this split was.
Mahdeva has nothing to do with the primary schism between the
Mahsmghikas and Sthaviras, emerging in a historical period considerably
later than previously supposed, and taking his place in the sectarian movement
9

by instigating an internal schism within the already existing Mahsmghika

school.
2.1.

Addition of Vinaya rules

Under the influence of materials from the Theravda school, some
western historians have tended to see the Mahsmghikas as a lax, breakaway
group. However, the account by the Mahsmghika school itself saw the
Sthaviras as being the breakaway group which was attempting to modify the
original Vinaya. Skilton has suggested that the problems of contradictory
accounts are solved by the Mahsmghika riputraparipr cch, which is the
earliest surviving account of the schism. In this account, the council was
convened at Pt aliputra over matters of vinaya, and it is explained that the
schism resulted from the majority (Mahsamgha) refusing to accept the
addition of rules to the Vinaya by the minority (Sthaviras).Regarding this
matter, L.S. Cousins writes, "The Mahsmghikas were essentially a
conservative party resisting a reformist attempt to tighten discipline. The
likelihood is that they were initially a larger body, representing the mass of the
community, the mahsamga."
The riputraparipr cch contains an account in which an old monk
rearranges and augments the traditional Vinaya, consequently causing
dissention among the monks that required the king's arbitration and eventually
precipitating the first schism. As stated in the riputraparipr cch:
He copied and rearranged our Vinaya, developing and augmenting what
Kyapa had codified and which was called "Vinaya of the Great Assembly"
(Mahsmghavinaya). The king considered that [the doctrines of the two
parties represented] were both the work of the Buddha, and since their
preferences were not the same, [the monks of the two camps] should not live
together. As those who studied the old Vinaya were in the majority, they were
called the Mahsmghika; those who studied the new [Vinaya] were in the
minority, but they were all Sthaviras; thus they were named Sthavira.
Scholars have generally agreed that the matter of dispute was indeed a
matter of vinaya, and have noted that the account of the Mahsmghikas is
bolstered by the vinaya texts themselves, as vinayas associated with the
Sthaviras do contain more rules than those of the Mahsmghika Vinaya. For
example, the Mahsmghika Prtimoks a has 67 rules in the aiks a-dharma
section, while the Theravda version has 75 rules.

10

2.2.

Vinaya antiquity
Modern scholarship is generally in agreement that the Mahsmghika
Vinaya is the oldest. This agrees well with the views of the Chinese monk
Faxian, who travelled to India in order to procure the Mahsmghika Vinaya,
which was regarded as the original. According to Andrew Skilton, future
scholars may determine that a study of the Mahsmghika school will
contribute to a better understanding of the early Dharma-Vinaya than the
Theravda school.
2.3.

Theravadin account

According to the traditional Theravadin account, the dispute arose over

the 'Ten Points.' This is a reference to claims of some monks breaking ten
rules, some of which were considered major. The specific ten points were:
1. Storing salt in a horn.
2. Eating after midday.
3. Eating once and then going again to a village for alms.
4. Holding the Uposatha Ceremony with monks dwelling in the same
locality.
5. Carrying out official acts when the assembly was incomplete.
6. Following a certain practice because it was done by one's tutor or
teacher.
7. Eating sour milk after one had his midday meal.
8. Consuming strong drink before it had been fermented.
9. Using a rug which was not the proper size.
10. Using gold and silver.
The key issue was the use of 'gold and silver', which is an Indic idiom
that includes any kind of money. The monks of Vesali had taken to wandering
11

for alms with the specific goal of collecting money, to which the visiting
monk Yasa objected. Some of the other points are also important, for example
point 6, which would allow monks to not follow the Vinaya on any point
which their teacher did not follow or practice. This behaviour was noted,
became an issue and caused a major controversy. The monastic Sangha is
structured so that all actions and decisions must be unanimously agreed upon
through consensus. Since the monks accused of breaking these ten rules
refused to be reprimanded or acknowledge fault, the Sangha was unable to
resolve this dispute in any other way than by convening the Second Buddhist
Council.
Some of the Ten Points were against minor (dukkata or sekhiya) rules. Before
the Buddha's Parinibbna he told Ven. Ananda that the community may
(unanimously) relinquish the minor rules of the Vinaya but at the First
Buddhist Council there was uncertainty about which rules he was referring to
and it was unanimously decided to keep the Vinaya as it was during the
Buddha's lifetime. However, 100 years later some monks felt that certain rules
could be relaxed.
The Second Buddhist Council made the unanimous decision not to relax
any of the rules, and censured the behaviour of the monks who were accused
of violating the ten points.

3. Third Buddhist council

The Third Buddhist council was convened in about 250 BCE at
Asokarama in Pataliputra, supposedly under the patronage of Emperor Asoka,
a grave question mark hangs over this though as Asoka never mentioned it in
his edicts, which one might have expected if he had called the council.
The traditional reason for convening the Third Buddhist Council is
reported to have been to rid the Sangha of corruption and bogus monks who
held heretical views. It was presided over by the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa and
one thousand monks participated in the Council. The council is recognized
and known to both the Theravada and Mahayana schools, though its
importance is central only to the Theravada school. Tradition has it that Asoka
had won his throne through shedding the blood of all his father's sons except
his own brother, Tissa Kumara, who eventually got ordained and achieved
Arahantship.
3.1.

Historical background

12

The account of the background to the Third Council is as follows:

Emperor Asoka was crowned in the two hundred and eighteenth year after the
Buddha's Mahaparinibbna. At first he paid only token homage to the
Dhamma and the Sangha and also supported members of other religious sects
as his father had done before him. However, all this changed when he met the
pious novice-monk Nigrodha who preached him the Appamada-vagga.
Thereafter he ceased supporting other religious groups and his interest in and
devotion to the Dhamma deepened. He used his enormous wealth to build, it
is said, eighty-four thousand pagodas and viharas and to lavishly support the
bhikkhus with the four requisites. His son Mahinda and his daughter
Sanghamitta were ordained and admitted to the Sangha.
Eventually, his generosity was to cause serious problems within the
Sangha. In time the order was infiltrated by many unworthy men, holding
heretical views and who were attracted to the order because of the Emperor's
generous support and costly offerings of food, clothing, shelter and medicine.
Large numbers of faithless, greedy men espousing wrong views tried to join
the order but were deemed unfit for ordination. Despite this they seized the
chance to exploit the Emperor's generosity for their own ends and donned
robes and joined the order without having been ordained properly.
Consequently, respect for the Sangha diminished. When this came to light
some of the genuine monks refused to hold the prescribed purification or
Uposatha ceremony in the company of the corrupt, heretical monks.
When the Emperor heard about this he sought to rectify the situation and
dispatched one of his ministers to the monks with the command that they
perform the ceremony. However, the Emperor had given the minister no
specific orders as to what means were to be used to carry out his command.
The monks refused to obey and hold the ceremony in the company of their
false and 'thieving' companions (Pali: theyya-sinivsaka).
In desperation the angry minister advanced down the line of seated
monks and drawing his sword, beheaded all of them one after the other until
he came to the King's brother, Tissa who had been ordained. The horrified
minister stopped the slaughter and fled the hall and reported back to the
Emperor. Asoka was deeply grieved and upset by what had happened and
blamed himself for the killings. He sought Thera Moggaliputta Tissa's
counsel. He proposed that the heretical monks be expelled from the order and
a third Council be convened immediately.
So it was that in the seventeenth year of the Emperor's reign the Third
Council was called. Thera Moggaliputta Tissa headed the proceedings and
13

chose one thousand monks from the sixty thousand participants for the
traditional recitation of the Dhamma and the Vinaya, which went on for nine
months. The Emperor, himself questioned monks from a number of
monasteries about the teachings of the Buddha. Those who held wrong views
were exposed and expelled from the Sangha immediately. In this way the
Bhikkhu Sangha was purged of heretics and bogus bhikkhus.
According to the Pali and Chinese accounts, the Elder Moggaliputta
Tissa, in order to refute a number of heresies and ensure the Dhamma was
kept pure, compiled a book during the council called the Kathavatthu. This
book consists of twenty-three chapters, and is a collection of discussions on
the points of controversy. It gives refutations of the 'heretical' views held by
various Buddhist sects on matters philosophical. The Kathavatthu is the fifth
of the seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. However, the historicity of this
has been questioned, as the account preserved in the San Jian Lu Pi Po Sho
(Sudassanavinayavibhasha), although otherwise almost identical, does not
mention the Kathavatthu.
Moggaliputtatissa told Ashoka that the doctrine taught by the Buddha was
the Vibhajjavada, the Doctrine of Analysis. This term is used in various
senses, and it is not clear exactly what it meant in this context. Traditionally,
however, the Sri Lankan Theravadins and other mainland schools of Early
Buddhism identified themselves as Vibhajjavada.
One of the most significant achievements ascribed by Theravada
tradition to this Dhamma assembly and one which was to bear fruit for
centuries to come, was the Emperor's sending forth of monks, well versed in
the Buddha's Dhamma and Vinaya who could recite all of it by heart, to teach
it in nine different countries.
Tens of Emissaries

Country name
1. (1) Kasmira-Gandhara
2. (2) Mahisamandala (Mysore)

Missionary name
Majjhantika/Mahyantika
Thera
Mahadeva Thera

3. (3) Vanavasi

Rakkhita Thera

4. (4) Aparantaka (Northern Gujarat,

Kathiawar, Kachch and Sindh)

Yona-Dhammarakkhita
Thera

14

5. (5) Maharattha (Maharastra)

Mahadhammarakkhita Thera

6. (6) Yona (Greece)

Maharakkhita Thera

7. (7) Himavanta (area in Himalayas)

Majjhima Thera

8. (8) Suvannabhumi (Myanmar / Mon) /

Thailand)
9. (9) Lankadipa (Sri Lanka)

Sona Thera and Uttara Thera

Mahamahinda Thera

3.2.

Results of missions
The Dhamma missions to Sri Lanka and Kashmir and Gandhara were
very successful, leading to a long-term presence and dominance of Buddhism
in those areas.
It is not clear exactly how influential the interactions to Egypt and
Greece may have been, but some authors have commented that some level of
syncretism between Hellenist thought and Buddhism may have started in
Hellenic lands at that time. They have pointed to the presence of Buddhist
communities in the Hellenistic world around that period, in particular in
Alexandria (mentioned by Clement of Alexandria), and to the pre-Christian
monastic order of the Therapeutae (possibly a deformation of the Pali word
"Theravada"), who may have "almost entirely drawn (its) inspiration from the
teaching and practices of Buddhist asceticism" (Robert Linssen).
Possibly Buddhist
gravestones from the Ptolemaic
period have also been found in
Alexandria, decorated with
what may be depictions of the
Dharma wheel (Tarn, "The
Greeks in Bactria and India").
Commenting on the presence of
Buddhists in Alexandria, some
scholars have even pointed out
that It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of
Christianity were established (Robert Linssen "Zen living"). In the 2nd
century CE, the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria recognized
Bactrian Buddhists (Sramanas) and Indian Gymnosophists for their influence
on Greek thought:
15

"Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity

among the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And afterwards it
came to Greece. First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the
Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the
Sramanas among the Bactrians (" "); and the
philosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the
Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judaea guided by a star. The Indian
gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers.
And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sramanas
(""), and others Brahmins ("")." Clement of Alexandria
"The Stromata, or Miscellanies" Book I, Chapter XV.

4. Fourth Buddhist council

Fourth Buddhist Council is the name of two separate Buddhist council
meetings. The first one was held in the 1st century BC, in Sri Lanka. In this
fourth Buddhist council the Theravadin Pali Canon was for the first time
committed to writing, on palm leaves. The second one was held by the
Sarvastivada school, in Kashmir around the 1st century AD.
4.1.

First Buddhist Council in Sri Lanka

The Fourth Buddhist council of Theravada Buddhism was held at the
Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka under the patronage of Valagamba
of Anuradhapura in 25 BCE, but there is a major inconsistency if this
Valagamba of Anuradhapura died in 77 BCE and so was not around to
patronize this Council some 52 years later. Norman places the life of this
King in the period 29BCE to 17BCE which is in stark disagreement to a death
year of 77BCE for Valagamba of Anuradhapura:
The Dipavamsa states that during the reign of Vattagamani Abhaya (29-17
B.C.) the monks who had previously remembered the Tipitaka and its
commentary orally now wrote them down in books, because of the threat
posed by famine, war, and the growing power of the newly established
Abhayagiri vihdra, which enjoyed the king's favour. The Mahavamsa also
refers briefly to the writing down of the canon and the commentaries at this
time. The council was held in response to a year in which the harvests in Sri
Lanka were particularly poor and many Buddhist monks subsequently died of
starvation. Because the Pli Canon was at that time oral literature maintained
in several recensions by dhammabhn akas (dharma reciters), the surviving
monks recognized the danger of not writing it down so that even if some of
the monks whose duty it was to study and remember parts of the Canon for
later generations died, the teachings would not be lost.
16

After the Council, palm-leaf manuscripts containing the completed Canon

were taken to other countries such as Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
4.2.

Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir

The 2nd Fourth Buddhist Council (Sarvastivada tradition) is said to

have been convened by the Kushan emperor Kanishka (r. 127-151 CE),
perhaps in 78 CE at Jalandhar or in Kashmir. The Fourth Council of Kashmir
is not recognized as authoritative in Theravada; reports of this council can be
found in scriptures which were kept in the Mahayana tradition. The Mahayana
tradition based some of its scriptures on (refutations of) the Sarvastivadin
Abhidharma texts, which were systematized at this council.[citation needed]
It is said that for the Fourth Council of Kashmir, Kanishka gathered 500
monks headed by Vasumitra, partly, it seems, to compile extensive
commentaries on the (Sarvastivadin) Abhidharma, although it is possible that
some editorial work was carried out upon the existing canon itself. The main
fruit of this Council was the vast commentary known as the Mah-Vibhsh
("Great Exegesis"), an extensive compendium and reference work on a
portion of the Sarvstivdin Abhidharma.
Scholars[who?] believe that it was also around this time that a
significant change was made in the language of the Sarvstivdin canon, by
converting an earlier Prakrit version into Sanskrit. Although this change was
probably effected without significant loss of integrity to the canon, this event
was of particular significance since Sanskrit was the official holy language of
Brahmanism in India, and was also being used by other thinkers (regardless of
their specific religious or philosophical allegiance), thus enabling a far wider
audience to gain access to Buddhist ideas and practices. For this reason, all
major (Sarvastivad and Mahayana) Buddhist scholars in India thereafter wrote
their commentaries and treatises in Sanskrit.

5. Fifth Buddhist council

The Fifth Buddhist council (Burmese: ) took place in

Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) in 1871 AD in the reign of King Mindon. The
chief objective of this meeting was to recite all the teachings of the Buddha
according to the Theravada Pali Canon and examine them in minute detail to
see if any of them had been altered, distorted or dropped. It was presided over
by three Elders, the Venerable Mahathera Jagarabhivamsa, the Venerable
17

Narindabhidhaja, and the Venerable Mahathera Sumangalasami in the

company of 2,400 monks. Their joint Dhamma recitation lasted five months.
The Fifth Buddhist council was a Burmese affair, and most other Buddhist
countries were not involved in it. It is not generally recognized outside
Burma.[1] It has been argued that, since the Theravadin multinational Sixth
Buddhist council received the name of "Sixth Buddhist council", this involved
implicitly recognizing the fifth, even though most other nations were not
involved in the fifth council, and the results of the fifth council were limited
to the Burmese edition of the Pali Canon only. However, there were a number
of other councils held in Ceylon and Thailand between the fourth and sixth, so
the total can be made up in other ways.

6. Sixth Buddhist council

The Sixth Buddhist Council (Pali: Chat t ha Sagyana;
Burmese: or ; Sinhala: )
was a general council of Theravada Buddhism, held in a specially built cave
and pagoda complex at Kaba Aye Pagoda in Yangon, Burma. The council was
attended by 2,500 monastics from eight Theravada Buddhist countries. The
Council lasted from Vesak 1954 to Vesak 1956, its completion coinciding with
the traditional 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha's Parinibbna. In the
tradition of past Buddhist councils, a major purpose of the Sixth Council was
to preserve the Buddha's teachings and practices as understood in the
Theravada tradition.
Over the two-year period, monks (sangti-kraka) from different countries
recited from their existing redaction of the Pali Canon and the associated postcanonical literature. As a result, the Council synthesized a new redaction of
the Pali texts ultimately transcribed into several native scripts.
1. Timing and participants
The Council was convened 83 years after the Burmese Fifth Buddhist
council was held in Mandalay. The Council commenced proceedings on
Vesak, 17 May 1954, in order to allow sufficient time to conclude its work on
Vesak, 24 May 1956, the day marking the 2,500-year Jayanti celebration of
the Lord Buddha's Parinibbna, according to the traditional Theravada dating.
The Sixth Council was sponsored by the Burmese Government led by
the Prime Minister, the Honorable U Nu. He authorized the construction of the
Kaba Aye Pagoda and the Maha Passana Guha, or "Great Cave", in which the
18

work of the council took place. This venue was designed to be like the cave in
which the First Buddhist Council was held.
As in the preceding councils, the Sixth Council's aim was to affirm and
preserve the genuine Dhamma and Vinaya. The 2,500 participating
Theravadan Elders came from eight different countries, being Myanmar,
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal. A temple in
Japan also sent delegates. The only Western monks to participate were
German-born, Sri-Lanka-residing Ven. Nyanatiloka and Ven. Nyanaponika.
The late Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw was appointed to ask the required questions
about the Dhamma to the Ven. Bhadanta Vicittasarabhivamsa, who answered
them.
2. Resultant texts
By the time this council met all the participating countries had had the
Pali Tipitaka rendered into their native scripts, with the exception of India.
During the two years that the Council met, the Tipitaka and its allied literature
in all scripts were painstakingly examined with their differences noted down,
the necessary corrections made, and collated. Not much difference was found
in the content of any of the texts. Finally, after the Council had officially
approved the texts, all of the books of the Tipitaka and their commentaries
were prepared for printing on modern presses. This notable achievement was
made possible through the dedicated efforts of the 2,500 monks and numerous
lay people. Their work came to an end with the rise of the full moon on the
evening of 24 May 1956, the 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha's
Parinibbna, according to the traditional Theravada dating.
This Council's work was a unique achievement in Buddhist history.
After the scriptures had been examined thoroughly several times, they were
put into print, covering 52 treatises in 40 volumes. At the end of this Council,
all the participating countries had the Pali Tipitaka rendered into their native
scripts, with the exception of India.
3. Dhamma Society Fund 6th Buddhist Council Tipitaka Edition
Since the year 1999, the Dhamma Society Fund in Thailand has been
revising the 1958 Sixth Council Edition with other editions to remove all
printing and editorial errors. This romanized version in 40 volumes, known as
the World Tipitaka Edition, was completed in 2005. The 40-volume Tipitaka
Studies Reference appeared in 2007.

19

The Dhamma Society Fund is currently printing the World Tipitaka

Edition in Roman Script based on the B.E. 2500 Great International Tipitaka
Council Resolution (1958 Sixth Buddhist Council) with sponsorship from the
Royal Matriarch of Thailand, Tipitaka patrons and leaders of business
community, for distribution as a gift of Dhamma worldwide, with a priority
for the libraries and institutes around the world which had received the Siamscript Tipitaka as a royal gift from King Chulalongkorn Chulachomklao of
Siam over a century ago.

Introduction of Three Pitaka (Bakets Buddhism)

1. Pitaka In the Buddhism
The word of the Buddha, which is originally called the Dhamma, consists
of three aspects, namely: Doctrine (Pariyatti), Practice (Patipatti) and
Realization (Pativedha). The Doctrine is preserved in the Scriptures called the
Tipitaka. English translators of the Tipitaka have estimated it to be eleven
times the size of the Christian Bible. It contains the Teachings of the Buddha
expounded from the time of His Enlightenment to Parinibbana over forty-five
years.
Tipitaka in Pali means Three Baskets (Ti = Three, Pitaka = Basket), not
inthe sense of function of storing but of handing down, just like workers carry
earth with the aid of baskets handed on from worker to worker, posted in a
long line from point of removal to point of deposit, so the Baskets of
Teachings are handed down over the centuries from teacher to pupil.
The Three Baskets are: Basket of Discipline (Vinaya Pitaka), which deals
mainly with the rules and regulations of the Order of monks and nuns; Basket
of Discourses (Sutta Pitaka) which contains the discourses delivered by the
Buddha to individuals or assemblies of different ranks in the course of his
ministry; Basket of Ultimate Things (Abhidhamma Pitaka) which consists of
the four ultimate things: Mind (Citta), Mental-factors (Cetasikas), Matter
(Rupa) and ibbana. The contents of the Pali Tipitaka are shown in the
Appendix.
According to Ven. Sayadaw U Thittila1, the versions of the Pali Canon
existing in Theravada countries such as Burma, Sri Lanka,Thailand,Cambodia
and Laos differ very slightly, with only a few minor grammatical forms and
spelling. In substance and meaning and even the phrases used, they are in
complete agreement. The Pali Tipitaka contains everything necessary to show
forth the Path to the ultimate goal of ibbana, the cessation of all suffering.
20

2. Each Tradition has its own Version of the Tipitaka

There are three versions of the Tipitaka adopted by the three branches of
Buddhism in existence today, namely: (i) the Pali Tipitaka of the Theravada
tradition, (ii) the vast Mahayana Tipitaka in Chinese consisting primarily of
translations of Sanskrit Texts and (iii) the Tibetan Tripitaka in the Tibetan
language, called the Kagyur (consisting of translations of Sanskrit Texts & the
FourGreat Tantras) and Tangyur (consisting of works of Indian and Tibetan
scholars). Theravada, the orthodox Buddhist school which traces its origin
to the Buddhas time, rejects the Mahayana and Tibetan scriptures as later
creations that do not reflect the Buddhas Teachings.
According to Warder2, although Mahayana claims to have been founded
by the Buddha himself, the consensus of the evidence is that Mahayana
teachings originated in South India somewhere in Andhra Pradesh during the
1st century AD. Several of its leading teachers were born in South India,
studied there and afterwards went to the North to teach, one of whom was
Nagarjuna. The idea that the sutras had been confined to the South was a
convenient way for Mahayanists to explain to Buddhists in the North why it
was that they had not heard these texts directly from their own teachers,
without admitting that they were recent fabrications.
Another alternative explanation recorded by the Tibetan historian
Taranatha was that though the Buddha had taught the Mahayana sutras, they
were not in circulation in the world of men for many centuries, there being no
competent teachers and no intelligent students. The sutras were transmitted
secretly to various supernatural beings and preserved by the gods and nagas
(dragons). These secretmteachings were brought out from their hiding places
when Mahayana teachers who were capable of interpreting these sacred texts
appeared around the 2nd century AD. This is as good as admitting that no
Mahayana texts existed until the 2nd century AD. As pointed out by Warder2,
such fanciful accounts cannot be accepted as historical facts. Since everything
about early Buddhism suggests that the Buddhas Teaching was never meant
to be secret, the possibility of a secret transmission amounts to an aspersion
on the powers of the Buddha that he failed to do what others were able to
accomplish 600 years later. Also, in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta,
the Buddha had declared that there was nothing with regard to the teaching
that he held to the last with the closed fist of the teacher who keeps some
things backThe claim by Mahayana that there were no competent teachers and
21

intelligent students during Buddhas time is aimed at exalting their own status
and disparaging the accomplishments of the Chief Disciples and Arahants. In
fact, one of the earliest Mahayana sutras, the Ratnakuta Sutra denounces the
pupils (Savakas or Arahants) as not really sons of the Buddha i.e. not really
Buddhists! Practically every Mahayana sutra repeats this denunciation of the
inferior (hina) way of the pupil rather unpleasantly in sharp contrast to the
tolerance and understanding characteristic of most of the earlierBuddhist texts
that display the true spirit of the Dhamma taught by the Buddha.

3. Language of Buddhas Words

In Cullavagga V, 33 of the Book of Discipline4, the Buddha made
an injunction allowing monks to learn his Teachings in saka nirutti or own
dialect, which the great Pali commentator Ven. Buddhaghosa had interpreted
to mean the Magadhi dialect spoken by the Buddha, and forbidding them to
put the teachings into Sanskrit verses. It appears that two brothers, both
bhikkhus named Yamelu and Tekula, once approached the Buddha
complaining that monks of different castes and clans were corrupting the
Buddhas words by preaching them in their own dialects. They wanted to put
his words into Sanskrit verses (chandaso), but the Buddha forbade them with
this injunction. For the last two thousand four hundred years, the term saka
nirutti had signified the Magadhi language. During the later part of the 19th
century, Western scholars began to show an interest in Buddhism and when
the Pali scholars Rhys Davids and Oldenberg began translating the Vinaya
Texts5 into English, they translated the Buddhas injunction as I allow you,
O Bhikkhus, to learn the words of the Buddha each in his own dialect,
to mean each monks own dialect. Most scholars have tended to accept this
interpretation, except Geiger, who concurred with Ven. Buddhaghosa that it
meant the Buddhas own language. Rhys Davids, on second thought, appears
to have been convinced of the interpretation of Ven. Buddhaghosa.
Consequently in his later works, he accepted saka nirutti as the Buddhas
own language but with an ingenious modification. In his Foreword to the PaliEnglish Dictionary by T.W. Rhys Davids and William Stede first published
in London 1921-1925, he argues that the Pali of the canonical books is based
on vernacular Kosalan, the Buddhas native dialect. Recently, Law6, in his
book entitled A History of Pali Literature is of the opinion that Buddhaghosa
had taken the term chandasa indiscriminately as a synonym for the Sanskrit
language and the term saka nirutti as a synonym for the Magadhi dialect
used as a medium of instruction (vacanamagga) by the Buddha. According to
Law, the Sanskrit language was divided into Vedic and current usage and the
Buddhas injunction directed against Vedic only and notcurrent Sanskrit. It is
22

beyond our comprehension how Buddhaghosa went so far as to suggest that

by the term saka nirutti, the Buddha meant his own medium of instruction and
nothing but the Magadhi dialect. It would be irrational, erroneous and
dogmatic of the Buddha to promulgate this rule that Magadhi is the only
correct form of speech to learn his teaching and that every other dialect would
be the incorrect form, wrote Law.

4. The Pali Language

According to Childers9, Magadhi was one of the Prakrits or Aryan
vernaculars of ancient India. It was spoken in the sixth century BC in
Magadha, the region around modern Bihar, which was one of the most
important centres of Indian civilization in the Buddhas time. Magadhi has
been a dead language for about two thousand years. The word pali in
Sanskrit means line, row or series and the Theravada extended its use to
mean a series of books that form the text of the Buddhist Scriptures. So the
Pali Text is synonymous with the Scriptures of the Theravada tradition.
Palibhasa therefore means the language of the texts, which of course is
equivalent to saying Magadhi language. The term pali in the sense of the
sacred texts is ancient enough, but the term Palibhasa as the language of the
Scriptures is of modern introduction by the Singhalese from which the
English word is derived. Magadhi is the only name used in the old
Theravada texts for the sacred language of Buddhism. As a language, Pali is
unique in the sense that it is reserved entirely to one subject, namely, the
Buddhas Teachings. This has probably led some scholars to even speculate
that it was a kind of lingua franca created by Buddhist monks, for how else
can one explain this paradox? On the contrary, it may very well mean that the
ancient Elders (Theras) had truly memorized the Dhamma and Vinaya in the
original dialect of the Buddha, which is now a dead language! Theravada
monks are reputed to be the most orthodox so it is highly improbable that they
would change the original language of the Buddhas teaching unlike the other
sects who switched to Sanskrit or mixed Sanskrit, something forbidden by the
Buddha! This second explanation is more logical given the religious zeal,
dedication and legendary memory skills of the ancient monks in preserving
and perpetuating the Teachings of the Buddha by oral tradition. As a spoken
dialect, Pali does not have its own script and in each of the countries in which
it is the sacred language of the inhabitants, namely: Sri Lanka, Myanmar and
Thailand, it is written in the script of that country. In modern times, the
Roman alphabets are widely used, so it is usual to print Pali texts in Roman
23

letters, which areclear, simple and easily computerized, leading to the

widespread learning and dissemination of the Pali Texts.

5. The Origin and Home of Pali

There are many theories hatched by scholars regarding the original home
of Pali. Early Pali scholars were of the opinion that literary Pali is the
vernacular Magadhi used by the Buddha to preach the Dhamma. Later
scholars based their opinion on philological grounds that Pali bears some
resemblances to Paisaci, which they claimed is a western dialect while
Magadhi is an eastern dialect. So Pali cannot be the Magadhi dialect spoken
by the Buddha. But the Magadhi that scholars know of today is the language
of the Asoka Edicts carved on rocks and pillars that were drafted by his
scribes at the time when the majority of the populace could hardly read or
write, as recent studies by Salomon19 suggest that there was no written
language during the Buddhas time. On the other hand, the dialect spoken by
the Buddha was the vernacular Magadhi (note 1) understood by the common
people, by which the monks transmitted his Teaching and later became known
as the Pali language of the Scriptures. An exhaustive review by the Indian
scholar Law5 concluded that it is difficult to come to a definite conclusion
about the original home of Pali. According to Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi10 current
scholarly opinion holds that Pali was probably created as a kind of lingua
franca for use by Buddhist monks in Northern India two hundred years after
Parinibbana and may not be identical with the one used by the Buddha!
Evidently these are scholars conjectures and new theories are often propose
as academic exercises, many of which lack proper understanding of the
traditions and practices of the Sangha.

6. The classification of scriptures in the Pali Canon.

We can now turn to the structure and organisation of the Pali Canon. In
Thailand the Pali Canon was published in book form using the Thai script for
the first time during the reign of King Rama V in B.E. 2431. After the
publication was completed, there was celebration in B.E. 2436 along with the
Kings Silver Jubilee. The Pali Canon published on that occasion came in a set
of 39 volumes. In B.E. 2468 during the reign of King Rama VII, the Pali
Canon.
was reprinted by royal command to dedicate the merit to the late King
Rama VI. Known in Thai as phra traipidok chabap sayamrat or the Siamese
official version of the Tipiaka, the new impression came in complete set o
45 volumes, and has ever since served as the standard for volume division o
24

any Thai-script version in Thailand. For convenience sake, references in the

following summary of the Pali Canon will also be made to this version.
Generally speaking, it is the Doctrine and Discipline contained in the Pali
Canon that serve as the basis for its classification.

Outline of the classification of the Pali Canon

Three Pit aka

Vinayapit aka

Suttanatapit ak
a

Abhidhammapit aka

Mahvibhaga

Dghanikya

Dhammasagan gan

Bhikkhunvibhaga

Majjhimanikya

Vibhaga

Mahvagga

Sayuttanikya

Dhtukath

Aguttaranikya

Puggalapaatti

Khuddakanikya

Kathvatthu

Cullavagga

Parivra

Yamaka
Patthna
25

Introduction the Vinaya Pit aka

1. Vinaya Pit aka
The Vinaya Pitaka, the first division of the Tipitaka, is the textual
framework upon which the monastic community (Sangha) is built. It includes
not only the rules governing the life of every Theravada bhikkhu (monk) and
bhikkhuni (nun), but also a host of procedures and conventions of etiquette
that support harmonious relations, both among the monastics themselves, and
between the monastics and their lay supporters, upon whom they depend for
all their material needs When the Buddha first established the Sangha, the
community initially lived in harmony without any codified rules of conduct.
As the Sangha gradually grew in number and evolved into a more complex
society, occasions inevitably arose when a member would act in an unskillful
way. Whenever one of these cases was brought to the Buddha's attention, he
would lay down a rule establishing a suitable punishment for the offense, as a
deterrent to future misconduct. The Buddha's standard reprimand was itself a
powerful corrective:
It is not fit, foolish man, it is not becoming, it is not proper, it is
unworthy of a recluse, it is not lawful, it ought not to be done. How could you,
foolish man, having gone forth under this Dhamma and Discipline which are
well-taught, [commit such and such offense] It is not, foolish man, for the
benefit of un-believers, nor for the increase in the number of believers, but,
foolish man, it is to the detriment of both unbelievers and believers, and it
causes wavering in some.
A compilation of the word of the Buddha in the domain of the Discipline,
or the rules laid down by the Buddha concerning the conduct, ways of living,
customs, and administration of monastic affairs for monks and nuns, the
Vinayapitaka is divided into five scriptures (known by their abbreviations as:
, P, Ma, Cu, Pa.).
26

 : thikhamma is name of group rule importance (big) in Vinaya

pitaka and they are Prjika, Saghdisesa, Aniyata,
P : Pcittiya is name of group rule(small) in Vinayaand they are
Nissaggiya Pcittiya, Pt idesanya,Sekhiya, Adhikaran a-Samatha.

Ma : Mahvagga is includes accounts of the Buddha's and his great

disciples' awakenings, as well as rules for uposatha days and monastic
Cu : Cullavagga is includes accounts of the First and Second Buddhist
Councils and the establishment of the community of Buddhist nuns, as
well as rules for addressing offenses within the community.
Pa : Parivara is is the third and last book of the Theravadin Vinaya Pitaka.
It includes a summary and multiple analyses of the various rules identified
in the Vinaya Pitaka's first two books, the Suttavibhanga and the
Khandhaka, primarily for didactic purposes. As it includes a long list of
teachers in Ceylon, even Theravada fundamentalists recognize that, at least
in its present form, it is of late date. Scholars give it a late date, some
suggesting it may be even later than the Fourth Council in Ceylon in the
last century BCE, at which the Pali Canon was written down from oral
tradition.

27

2. The Vinaya Pitaka

The Vinaya Pit a ka is a Buddhist scripture, one of the three parts that make
up the Tripitaka. Its primary subject matter is the monastic rules for monks
and nuns. The name Vinaya Pit aka (vinayapit aka) is the same in Pli,
Sanskrit and other dialects used by early Buddhists, and means basket of
discipline.
When the Scholarly consensus places the composition of the
Mlasarvstivda Vinaya in the early centuries of the first millennium,
though all the manuscripts and translations are relatively late.

3. A concise summary of the Pali Canon in 45 volumes

(arranged by volume number)
Volume 1: Mahvibhaga, Part 1. Covering the first 19 training rules
within the Ptimokkha (major monastic rules) for monks, this volume deals
with grave offences, i.e. the four rules of Defeat (Prjika), the 13 rules
entailing Initial and Subsequent Meetings of the Sangha (Saghdisesa), and
the two Indefinites (Aniyata).
Volume 2: Mahvibhaga, Part 2. This volume covers the rest of the
monks Ptimokkha training rules-those concerned with minor offences, i.e.
starting with the 30 rules entailing Expiation with Forfeiture
(Nissaggiyapcittiya), thereby bringing the total of the Ptimokkha training
rules (often called precepts) to 227.
Volume 3: Bhikkhunvibhaga. It deals with the 311 training
rules for nuns.
Volume 4: Mahvagga, Part 1. This volume deals with the training rules
outside of the Ptimokkha, i.e. the general regulations on the monks ways of
living and administration of monastic affairs. The major, or former, portion in
this volume covers four divisions (khandhaka), i.e. rules for admission to the
28

Order, the Uposatha meeting and recital of the Ptimokkha, residence during
the rainy season, and the Invitation.
Volume 5: Mahvagga, Part 2. Still on the major, or former, portion of the
training rules outside of the Patimokkha, this volume covers six more
divisions (khandhaka), i.e. rules on the use of leather, medicines, the annual
presentation of robes (kathina),
matters concerning robes, formal censure, and

disputes and harmony.

Volume 6: Cullavagga, Part 1, This volume deals with the minor, or
latter, portion of the training rules outside of the Ptimokkha, covering four
divisions (khandhaka), i.e. formal censure, rules for reinstatement of a monk,
and ways of settling a legal procedure.
Volume 7: Cullavagga, Part 2, Still on the minor, or latter, portion of the
training rules outside of the Ptimokkha, this volume covers eight more
divisions (khandhaka), i.e. miscellaneous rules, dwellings and furniture,
schism, specific rules and etiquette, abrupt termination of the Ptimokkha
recital, nuns, and the First and Second Rehearsals.
Volume 8: Parivra. This volume is a manual, compiled in the form of
a catechism, for reviewing ones knowledge of the Discipline.

Structure of Vinaya
Vinaya pit ak

Bhikkhunvibhaga

Mahvagg
a

Mahvibhaga

29

Cullavagga

Parivra

Introduction the Sutta Pit aka

1. The Sutta Pit aka
The Sutta Pitaka (suttapit aka; or Suttanta Pitaka; cf Sanskrit
Stra Pit aka) is the first of the three divisions of the Tripitaka or Pali Canon,
the Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada
Buddhism. The Sutta Pitaka contains more than 10,000 suttas (teachings)
attributed to the Buddha or his close companions.
This is a compilation of the word of the Buddha in the department of the
discourses, i.e. his sermons, lectures or explanations of dhamma that were
adaptively given to suit particular individuals and occasions, along with
compositions, narratives, and stories that were of early Buddhism. Printed in
25 volumes, the Suttantapiaka is classified into five collections (known by
their abbreviations as D , Ma, Sa, A, Khu) as follows:
2. There are five nikayas (collections) of suttas:
1. D : Dgha Nikaya (dghanikya), the "long" discourses.
2. Ma : Majjhima Nikaya, the "middle-length" discourses.
3. Sa : Sayutta Nikaya (samyutta-), the "connected" discourses.
4. A : Aguttara Nikaya (aguttara-), the "numerical" discourses.
5. Khu : Khuddaka Nikaya, the "minor collection".

3. Main article
1. Digha Nikaya : This includes The Greater Discourse on the Foundations
of Mindfulness, The Fruits of the Contemplative Life, and The Buddha's Last
Days. There are 34 long suttas in this nikaya.

30

2. Majjhima Nikaya : This includes Shorter Exposition of Kamma,

Mindfulness of Breathing, and Mindfulness of the Body. There are 152
medium-length suttas in this nikaya.
3. Sayutta Nikaya: There are, according to one reckoning, 2,889, but
according to the commentary 7,762, shorter suttas in this Nikaya.
4. Aguttara Nikaya: 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 to Keown, "there is
considerable disparity between the Pli and the Sarvstivdin versions, with
more than two-thirds of the stras found in one but not the other compilation,
which suggests that much of this portion of the Stra Pit aka was not formed
until a fairly late date.
5. Khuddaka Nikaya: 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

10. Jataka

2. Dhammapada

11. Niddesa

3. Udana

12. Patisambhidamagga

4. Itivuttaka

13. Apadana

5. Suttanipata

14. Buddhavamsa

6. Vimanavatthu

15. Cariyapitaka

7. Petavatthu

16. Nettipakarana or Netti

8. Theragatha

17. Petakopadesa

9. Therigatha

18. Milinda Panha

31

19.
1. The Digha Nikaya (dghanikya; "Collection of Long Discourses")
20.
21. Volume 9: Slakkhandhavagga. This volume contains 13 long
discourses, starting with Brahmajlasutta. Several discourses deal with
the attainment in morality, which is sometimes divided into Minor
Morality (cullasla), Middle Morality (majjhimasla), and Major
Morality (mahsla). Hence the collective name of the whole division:
Slakkhandhavagga the Division Concerning Morality.
22.
23. Volume 10: Mahvagga. This volume contains 10 long discourses,
mostly starting with the word mah great, e.g. Mahparinibbnasutta,
24. Mahsamayasutta, Mahsatipat th nasutta, etc.
25.
26. Volume 11: Ptikavagga
(also known as Pthikavagga). This volume

covers 11 long discourses, starting with P tikasutta.

There are also

well-known discourses such as Cakkavattisutta, Agga asutta,

Saglakasutta and Sagtisutta.
27.
2.

The Majjhimanikya Collection of Middle Length Discourses

28.

29.
Volume 12: Mlapan n saka the first batch of 50. This
30. volume covers the first 50 middle length discourses, some of whose
31. names
might
sound
familiar,
e.g.
Dhammadydasutta,
Sammdit t hisutta,
32. Satipaht t nasutta, Rathavintasutta, Vmasakasutta.
33.
34.
Volume 13: Majjhimapan n saka the middle batch of 50. This
35. Volume covers the next 50 middle length discourses. Among those
discourses whose names might sound familiar are Sekhapat ipadsutta,
Jvakasutta, Uplivdasutta, Abhayarjakumrasutta, Mgan d iyasutta,
Rat t haplasutta,
Bodhirjakumrasutta,
Agulimlasutta,
Dhammacetiyasutta, and
36. Vset t hasutta.
37.

38. Volume 14: Uparipan n saka the last batch of 50. This volume
covers the remaining 52 middle length discourses, their subject matters
being multifarious. Among the discourses are, for example,
Devadahasutta,
Gopakamoggallnasutta,
Sappurisasutta,
Mahcattrisakasutta,

39.

npnasatisutta,
Kyagatsatisutta,
Bhaddekarattasutta,
Clakammavibha
gasutta, Pun n ovdasutta, Sal yatanavibhagasutta,

and Indriyabhvansutta.

40.

3. Sayutta Nikaya The Collection of Connected Discourses

41. (Thiscollection of 7,762 discourses is classified into 56 groups
(sayutta),
42. arranged in a special order by subject matter. Each group deals with a
specific doctrine or personality.)
43.
44. Volume 15: Sagthavagga. This volume is a collection of verses
mostly uttered by the Buddha and in response to different personalities,
e.g. deities, Mra the Evil One, nuns, brahmins, King of Kosala, etc.
This section is classified mainly according to the individuals and places
concerned into 11 sayuttas.
45.
46. Volume 16: Nidnavagga. Half of this volume deals with causes and
conditions, i.e. the law of the Dependent Origination. The rest deals
with the elements, the penetration of Dhamma, the round of rebirths,
material gain, etc. This section is classified into 10 sayuttas.
47.
48. Volume 17: Khandhavravagga. This volume deals with the various
aspects of the five aggregates and miscellaneous subjects including
concentration, together with some false views. This section is classified
into 13 sayuttas.
49.
50. Volume 18: Salyatanavagga. Almost half of this volume deals with
the six sense-bases in accordance with the Three Characteristics. The
rest deals with the five precepts, ways of practice leading to the
unconditioned, extremist views, etc. This section is classified into 10
sayuttas.
51. Volume 19: Mahvravagga. This volume covers the 37 virtues
partaking of enlightenment, which are rearranged, starting with the
Noble Eightfold Path (including other virtues prior to the Path) the
seven enlightenment factors, the four bases of mindfulness, the five
controlling faculties, the four right efforts, the five powers, the four
paths of accomplishment, including other related topics, e.g. the five
hindrances, the ten fetters, the Four Noble Truths, the absorptions,
along with the attributes of Stream Entrants and the meritorious
52. consequences of the fruition of Stream Entry. This section is
53.

4. The Aguttaranikya Collection of Numerical Sayings (This

54. collection of 9,557 discourses is classified into 11 divisions known as
nipta, which are arranged in progressive numerical order, starting
from the groups of single items, followed by the groups of two and so
on, to the groups of eleven.)
55.
56. Volume 20: Eka-, Duka-, and Tikanipta. This volume covers those
topics of dhamma classified into groups of one (e.g. the prime object
which when trained is apt for work, i.e. the mind; the inner prime
virtue that is for great benefit, i.e. heedfulness; etc. including accounts
of the Buddhas foremost disciples), groups of two (e.g. 13 sets of two
types of happiness, two types of fool, two types of wise man, two types
of kind reception, two types of prosperity, etc.), and groups of three
(e.g. the three parental statuses with respect to their children, three
types of intoxication, the three supremacies, the Threefold Training,
etc.).
57.
58. Volume 21: Catukkanipta. This volume covers those topics of
dhamma classified into groups of four (e.g. the four noble dhammas,
the Four Assemblies, the four efforts, the four biases, the four virtues
wheeling one to prosperity, the four bases of social solidarity, etc.)
59.
60. Volume 22: Pacaka-, and Chakkanipta. This volume covers those
topics of dhamma classified into groups of five (e.g. the five powers,
the five hindrances, the five ideas to be constantly reviewed, the five
worriors), and groups of six (e.g. the six states of conciliation, the six
excellent experiences, the six reverences, the six impossibilities,etc.)
61.
62. Volume 23: Sattaka-, At t haka- and Navakanipta. This volume covers
those topics of dhamma classified into groups of seven (e.g. the seven
noble treasures, the seven latent tendencies, the seven conditions of
welfare, the seven qualities of a good man, the seven qualities of a
good friend, the seven types of wife, etc.), groups of eight (e.g. the
eight worldly conditions, the eight qualities of a messenger-to-be, the
eight donations, the eight bases of donation, the eight levels on which
to perfect the three bases of meritorious action, the eight gifts of a good
man, the eight virtues conducive to the present and future benefits), and
groups of nine (e.g. the nine objects of malice, the nine mental states of
gradual attainment, the nine progressive abidings, the nine states of
immediate Nibbna).
63.

64. Volume 24: Dasaka-, and Ekdasakanipta. This volume covers those
topics of dhamma classified into groups of ten (e.g. the ten fetters, the
ten perceptions, the ten virtues which make for protection, the ten
growths, etc.), and groups of eleven (e.g. the eleven phenomena that
naturally arise one after another without volition, the eleven advantages
of loving kindness, etc.). In the Aguttaranikya, the teachings included
are multifarious in nature, ranging from the present benefit
(dit t hadhammikattha) to the highest benefit (paramattha), meant for
both the ordained and the laity. Scattered all over the whole collection,
such teachings are arranged in groups according to the number of items
in each group.
65.
5. The Khuddakanikya Collection of Minor Works
66. (This is a collection of discourses, verses, explanations, and
miscellaneous
67. subjects that cannot fit into the first four collections. There are 15
68. scriptures.)
69.
70. Volume 25: includes five minor scriptures, namely: (1) The
Khuddakapt ha Shorter Texts covers minor discourses commonly
used for chanting, e.g. Magalasutta, Ratanasutta, Karan iyamettasutta.
(2) The Dhammapada Anthologies of Sayings contains 423 verses of
dhamma. (3) The Udna Paeans of Joy covers 80 discourses with the
Buddhas solemn utterances in verse, but with introductory prose. (4)
The Itivuttaka Thus Said covers 112 discourses, none of which begin
with Eva me suta Thus have I heard, but all of which use the
expression Iti vuccati It is thus said to connect the
71. introductory text in prose with the verses that follow. (5) The
Suttanipta Collected Discourses is a special collection of 71
discourses, composed either entirely in verse, or mostly in verse but
with introductory prose.
72.
73. Volume 26: comprises four scriptures composed entirely in
74. verse, namely: (1) The Vimnavatthu Stories of Celestial Mansions
covers
75. accounts of those born in heaven, narrating their own good deeds in
their past lives that brought about their present births. There are 85
such stories. (2) The Petavatthu Stories of the Departed covers
accounts narrated by ghosts (peta) of their own evil deeds in the past.
There are 51 such accounts. (3) The Theragth Verses of the Elders

contains verses uttered by 264 Arahant elders, expressing the calm and
delicate feeling in the penetration of Dhamma.
76. (4) The Thergth Verses of the Women Elders contains verses
uttered by 73 female Arahant elders, expressing the same kind of
feeling as in the Theragth.
77.
78. Volume 28: The Jtaka Birth Stories, Part 2. This volume is an
additional collection of verses like those in Part 1. But the stories are
longer, ranging from those with 50 verses (Pasanipta) to those
with a great number of verses (Mahnipta), the last one being
Mahvessantarajtaka, with 1,000 verses. There are 22 stories in this
part, bringing the total to 547 in both parts.
79.
80. Volume 29: Mahniddesa Great Expositions. This volume covers the
Elder Sriputtas explanations on the 16 discourses preached by the
Buddha in the At t hakavagga of the Suttanipta.
81.
82. Volume 30: Cl aniddesa. Small Expositions. This volume covers the
Elder Sriputtas explanations on the 16 discourses preached by the
Buddha in the Pryanavagga and Khaggavisasutta in the
Uragavagga of the Suttanipta.
83.
84. Volume 31: Patisambidmagga
Way of Analysis. This volume covers

the Elder Sariputtas explanations in great detail on such profound

topics as insights, false views, mindfulness on breathing, spiritual
faculties, and deliverance, all of which constitute the way of
discriminating knowledge.
85.
86. Volume 32: Apadna Lives of Arahants, Part 1. This volume is a
collection of verses about the personal histories of Arahants, especially
in their past lives. It covers histories of Buddhas (Buddhaapadna),
accounts of Individually Enlightened Ones (Paccekabuddha- apadna),
and autobiographies of Arahant elders (Theraapadna), beginning with
the Elder Sriputta, Mahmoggallna, Mahkassapa, Anuruddha,
nanda, etc., totalling 410 in number.
87.
88. Volume 33: Apadna Lives of Arahants, Part 2. This volume is a
continuation of the first part, covering additional autobiographies of
Arahant elders, to be concluded with the 550ths. Then comes the
Ther-apadna Lives of Female Arahants, which covers the stories of
40 female Arahant elders, starting with 16 elders whose names might

not sound familiar, to be followed by such major female elders as

Mahpajpati Gotami, Khem, Uppalavan n , Pat cr, Yasodhar
and others.
89.
90. After the Apadna comes the Buddhavasa at the end of Volume 33. It
is a collection of verses dealing with the stories of the 24 past Buddhas
with whom the present Buddha had an audience, and by whom his own
future Buddhahood was also predicted. It is then concluded with the
history of the present Buddha himself, thus bringing the total to 25
Buddhas.
91.
92.
At the end of this whole collection is a short treatise called
Cariypit aka. It deals with the 35 stories of the Buddhas modes of
conduct in his past lives which are already covered in the Jtaka but
which are retold, also in verse, exemplifying certain stages of the Ten
Perfections. As a whole, the Khuddakanikya can be seen as a
collection of miscellaneous treatises. Although there are 15 scriptures
in nine volumes, only the first volume (Volume 25) focuses on the
substance of the Buddhas teachings. All the five scriptures included in
this single volume, albeit small, are quite important and very profound.
The other three volumes (2830), namely Niddesa and
Pat isambhidmagga, though directly dealing with the Buddhas
teachings, are actually explanations given by his disciple (i.e. the
Venerable Sriputta). These explanations further clarify the Buddhas
teachings which are already in the previous volume, and can thus be
regarded as prototypes of the commentaries. The remaining eight
scriptures are all composed in verse, aiming for poetic beauty and to
rouse feelings, e.g. to boost confidence:
93.
94.
Volume 26 (Vimnavatthu, Petavatthu, Theragth, and
Thergth). This volume deals with experiences, feelings, and ways of
life of virtuous and vicious individuals, as well as Arahant disciples,
which should serve as examples or models for rousing the sense of
urgency, providing admonitions, and raising morale for Buddhists not
to do any evil, to do good, and to cultivate the Noble Path with
diligence.
95.
96.
Volumes 2728 (Jtaka). These stories give moral lessons, which
provide instruction, admonition, and moral support, from the Buddhas
own experiences in perfecting the ten qualities leading to Buddhahood.

97.

Volumes 3233 (Apadna, Buddhavasa, and Cariypit aka).

Composed in verse, they describe the personal history, way of practice,
and conduct of the Buddhas, Individually Enlightened Ones
(Paccekabuddha), and Arahant disciples in such a literary style that will
enhance ones appreciation of, and boost ones confidence in, the Triple
Gem.

98.
99.
100.
101.

102.
Introduction the Abhidhammapitaka

103.
1. The Abhidhammapit aka
104.
The Abhidhamma Pitaka (abhidhammapit aka) is the last
of the three pitakas (Pali for "baskets") constituting the Pali Canon, the
scriptures of Theravda Buddhism. The Abhidhamma Pitaka is a
detailed scholastic reworking of material appearing in the Suttas,
according to schematic classifications. It does not contain systematic
philosophical treatises, but summaries or enumerated lists. The other
two collections are the Sutta Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka.
105.

1. Nature of Abhidhamma
106.
Abhidhamma has been variously described as philosophy,
psychology, and metaphysics. L. S. Cousins says that the Abhidhamma
methodology looks at things in terms of occasions or events instead of
sequences or processes
107.
108.
The compilation of the Buddhas teachings classified as the
Abhidhamma
109.
deals with the quintessence of the Doctrine in purely academic
terms, without reference to individuals and events. Published in 12
volumes, the Abhidhamma is divided into seven treatises (known by
their abbreviations as Sa, Vi, Dh, Pu, Ka, Ya, and Pa) as follows:
110.
111.
1. Sa :
Dhammasagan Enumeration of Phenomena
112.
2. Vi :
Vibhaga The Book of Divisions
113.
3. Dh :
Dhtukath Discussion with Reference to the
Elements
114.
4. Pu:
Puggalapaatti Designation of Individuals
115.
5. Ka:
Kathvatthu Points of Controversy

116.
117.
118.

6. Ya :
7. Pa:

Yamaka The Book of Pairs

Pat thna
The Book of Relations

1. Main article
119.
The Abhidhamma Pitaka consists of seven books:
120.
1. Dhammasagan
121.
The Dhammasagan (Summary of Dharma) is a manual of
ethics for monks. It begins with a mtik (translated as matrix) which
lists classifications of dhammas (translated as phenomena, ideas, states,
etc.). The mtik starts with 22 threefold classifications, such as
good/bad/unclassified, and then follows with 100 twofold
classifications according to the Abhidhamma method. Many of these
classifications are not exhaustive, and some are not even exclusive.
The mtik ends with 42 twofold classifications according to the sutta
method; these 42 are only used in the Dhammasangani, whereas the
other 122 are used in some of the other books as well.
122.
The main body of the Dhammasangani is in four parts. The
first part goes through numerous states of mind, listing and defining by
lists of synonyms, factors present in the states. The second deals with
material form, beginning with its own mtik, classifying by ones,
twos and so on, and explaining afterwards. The third explains the
book's mtik in terms of the first two parts, as does the fourth, by a
different method (and omitting the sutta method).
2. Vibhaga
123.
The Vibhaga (Division or Classification)[1] consists of 18
chapters, each dealing with a different topic. For example, the first
chapter deals with the five aggregates. A typical chapter consists of
three parts. The first of these parts explains the topic according to the
sutta method, often word-for-word as in actual suttas. The second is
Abhidhamma explanation, mainly by lists of synonyms as in the
Dhammasangani. The third employs questions and answers, based on
the mtik, such as "How many aggregates are good ?
3. Dhtukath

124.
The Dhtukath (Discussion of Elements) covers both the
matika and various topics, mostly from the Vibhanga, relating them to
the 5 aggregates, 12 bases and 18 elements. The first chapter is fairly
simple: "In how many aggregates etc. are good dhammas etc.
included?" The book progressively works up to more complicated
questions: "From how many aggregates etc. are the dhammas
dissociated from attention etc. dissociated ?"
4. Puggalapaatti
125.
The Puggalapaatti (Designation of Person) starts with its
own matika, which begins with some standard lists but then continues
with lists of persons grouped numerically from ones to tens. This latter
portion of the matika is then explained in the main body of the work. It
lists human characteristics encountered on the stages of a Buddhist
path. Most of the lists of persons and many of the explanations are also
found in the Anguttara Nikaya.
126.
5. Kathavatthu
127.
The Kathavatthu (Points of Controversy) consists of more
than two hundred debates on questions of doctrine. The questions are
heretical in nature, and are answered in such a way as to refute them. It
starts with the question of whether or not a soul exists. It does not
identify the participants. The commentary says the debates are between
the Theravada and other schools, which it identifies in each case. These
identifications are mostly consistent with what is known from other
sources about the doctrines of different schools.It is the only portion
attributed to a specific author, Moggaliputta.
6. Yamaka
128.
The Yamaka (Pairs) consists of ten chapters, each dealing
with a different topic; for example, the first deals with roots. A typical
chapter (there are a number of divergences from this pattern) is in three
parts. The first part deals with questions of identity: "Is good root
root?" "But is root good root?" The entire Yamaka consists of such
pairs of converse questions, with their answers. Hence its name, which
means pairs. The second part deals with arising: "For someone for
whom the form aggregate arises, does the feeling aggregate arise?" The

third part deals with understanding: "Does someone who understands

the eye base understand the ear base?" In essence, it is dealing with
psychological phenomena.
7. Patthana
129.
Patthan (Activations or Causes) deals with 24 conditions in
relation to the matika: "Good dhamma is related to good dhamma by
root condition", with details and numbers of answers.
Volume 34: (Dhamma) sagan . The earlier portion of this
volume deals with matrices (mtik) or summaries of all phenomena
(dhamma) organised in sets of three, e.g. things wholesome
(kusaladhamma), unwholesome (akusaladhamma), and indeterminate
(avykatadhamma); things past (attadhamma), future
(angatadhamma), and present (paccuppannadhamma), etc.; and sets of
two, e.g. things conditioned (sakhatadhamma), and unconditioned
(asakhatadhamma); things mundane(lokiyadhamma), and
supramundane (lokuttaradhamma), etc.

130.

131.
132.
After this comes the important part of this scripture, which
comprises expositions on the first matrices as an example, showing
how wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate states are
distributed in terms of consciousness (citta), mental factors (cetasika),
corporeality (rpa) and nibbna. Towards the end of the scripture there
are two chapters, each giving brief explanations or definitions of the
dhammas in the foregoing matrices until all the 164 matrices are dealt
with, yielding two different sorts of definition of the dhammas in the
two chapters (though definitions of only 122 matrices are given in the
last chapter).
133.
134.
Volume 35: Vibhaga. In this volume 18 important topics of the
teachings are separately enumerated, analysed and discerned in all
aspects, namely the five aggregates, the 12 sense-fields, the 18
elements, the Four Noble Truths, the 22 faculties, the Dependent
Origination, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts,
the four paths of accomplishment, the seven enlightenment
135.
factors, the eightfold path, the absorptions, the four unbounded
states of mind, the five precepts, the four modes of practice, the various

types of insight and miscellaneous topics on the unwholesome states.

Each section dealing with one of these topics is called the vibhaga of
that topic, e.g. khandhavibhaga, on the five aggregates. Thus there are
18 sections (vibhaga) altogether.
136.
137.
Volume 36 comprises two scriptures: Dhtukath Discussion
with Reference to the Elements, and Puggalapaatti Designation of
Individuals. In the former, the teachings in the matrices (Mtik) and
other 125 items of dhamma are brought up to see whether each of them
can fit into any of the five aggregates, the 12 sense-fields, and the 18
elements. In the latter, definitions are given to designations of
individuals according to their virtue. For instance, a Sotpanna Stream
Entrant is an individual who has severed the first three fetters.
138.
139.
Volume 37: Kathvatthu. This treatise was compiled by the
Elder
140.
Moggalliputtatissa, who presided over the Third Rehearsal, to
correct the false views held by the various groups in Buddhism at that
time, which had been split into as many as 18 sects. Examples of the
false views are that it is possible for an Arahant to retrogress from the
Fruit of the Worthy One (arahattaphala); that it is possible for
Arahantship to be congenital; that all things are conditional on deeds.
There are altogether 219 subjects composed in the form of questions
and answers.
141.
142.
143.
144.
Volume 38: Yamaka, Part 1. This volume explains important
topics of dhamma to elucidate the meaning and scope and test ones
indepth knowledge of dhamma by means of posing a pair of questions
in reverse order of each other (literally, yamaka pair). For instance,
whether all phenomena that are wholesome are wholesome roots, or all
phenomena that are wholesome roots are wholesome; whether (all)
corporeality are corporeal aggregates, or (all) corporeal aggregates are
corporeal; whether (all) sufferings are the truth of suffering, or (all) the
truth of suffering is suffering. The topics of dhamma to be explained in
this volume are seven in number, namely roots (e.g. kusalamla),
aggregates, sense-fields, elements, truth, compounded things, and
latent dispositions. The question pairs as well as their answers and
explanations on each topic are known by the name of that topic, e.g.

Mlayamaka, Khandhayamaka. Thus there are altogether seven

yamakas.
145.
146.
Volume 39: Yamaka, Part 2. This volume covers questions and
answers explaining the teachings in addition to Part 1 with three more
topics: Cittayamaka, Dhammayamaka (wholesome, unwholesome and
neutral states) and Indriyayamaka, adding up to a total of 10 yamakas.
147.
148.
Volume 40: Pat t hna, Part 1. This treatise explains the 24
factors in detail, showing the interdependence and mutual
conditionality of all phenomena in various respects. The phenomena
explained are taken from those in the matrices, or summaries, already
dealt with in the earlier portion of the Sagan though only the first 122
matrices, i.e. the Abhidhamma-mtik are covered.
149.
150.
The first volume of Pat t hna explains the meaning of the
24 factors, providing background information before delving into the
main subject of the volume, namely anuloma-tika-pat t hna. It
explains the mutual conditionality of all phenomena in the group-ofthree matrices through the 24 factors; e.g. how wholesome states are
conditions for wholesome states through inducement conditions, how
wholesome states are conditions for unwholesome states through
inducement conditions, how unwholesome states are conditions for
wholesome states through inducement conditions, how wholesome
states are conditions for unwholesome states through object conditions,
etc. etc. This volume provides the explanations in regular order, rather
than in negative order; hence the term anulomapat t hna (anuloma
regular).
151.
152.
Volume 41: Pat t hna, Part 2, Anuloma-tika-pat t hna (cont.).
This volume further explains the mutual conditionality of all
phenomena in the group-of-three matrices as a continuation of volume
40; e.g. past states are conditions for present states through object
conditions (as grief arises when one contemplates the impermanence,
suffering and selflessness of visual forms and sounds that are gone and
past), etc.
153.
154.
Volume 42: Pat t hna, Part 3, Anuloma-duka-pat t hna. This
volume explains the mutual conditionality of all phenomena in the
group-of-two matrices; e.g. how mundane states are conditions for

supramundane states through object conditions (as when visible forms

are conditions for eye-consciousness), etc.
155.
Volume 43: Pat t hna, Part 4, Anuloma-duka-pat t hna (cont.)
156.
157.
Volume 44: Pat t hna, Part 5. This volume is still on
Anulomapat t hna,
158.
but explains the mutual conditionality of all phenomena in the
matrices across different groups. It comprises Anuloma-dukatikapat t hna, relating phenomena in the group-of-two matrices
(dukamtik) to those in the group-of-three matrices (tika-mtik); e.g.
how wholesome states that are supramundane are conditions for
wholesome. states that are mundane through predominance conditions;
Anuloma-tikaduka- Pat t hna, relating phenomena in the group-ofthree matrices (tika-mtik) to those in the group-of-two matrices
(duka- mtik); Anulomatika- tika-pat t hna, relating phenomena in
the group-of-three matrices (tika- mtik to different groups of
phenomena also in the group-of-three matrices (tika- mtik); e.g. how
past wholesome states are conditions for present unwholesome states;
and Anuloma-duka-duka- Pat t hna, relatingphenomena in the groupof-two matrices (duka- mtik) to different groups of phenomena also
in the group-of-two matrices (duka- mtik), e.g. the group of mundane
and supramundane states to the group of conditioned things and the
Unconditioned.
159.
160.
Volume 45: Pat t hna, Part 6. This volume deals with
paccanya Pat t hna. It explains the mutual conditionality of all
phenomena, just as in the previous volumes, but in a negative way. The
divisions are as follows: paccanya- Pat t hna, i.e. paccanya
(negative) + paccanya (negative); e.g. how non-wholesome states arise
from non-wholesome states through root conditions; anulomapaccanya- Pat t hna, i.e. anuloma (regular) + paccanya (negative);
e.g. how non-supramundane states arise from mundane states through
root conditions; and paccanynuloma Pat t hna, i.e. paccanya
(negative) + anuloma (regular); e.g. how unwholesome states arise
from non-wholesome states through root conditions. In each of the
three models, explanations are given using phenomena in the group-ofthree matrices, followed by those in the group-of-two, and then across
the groups, i.e. the group-of-two to the
161.
group-of-three, the group-of-three to the group-of-two, the
group-ofthree to the group-of-three, and the group-of-two to the groupof-two, until all are covered. Therefore, each model is further divided

into tika-, duka-, duka-tika-, tika-duka-, tika-tika-, and duka-duka-,

respectively (the full forms are: paccanya-tika-Pat t hna,
paccanyaduka-pat t hna, paccanya-duka-tika- Pat t hna, etc., to be
concluded with paccanynuloma-duka-duka- Pat t hna).
162.
163.
In the Pat t hna, fairly detailed explications are given only
in the earlier volumes, while in the later volumes merely bare outlines
can be found, thereby leaving it for those who have already grasped the
line of thought to elaborate for themselves. Part 6, in particular, gives
the briefest accounts of all. Even so, it comprises six tomes or some
3,320 printed pages. Had detailed explanations been all provided, the
number of volumes would have multiplied. Hence this scripture is
known as Mahpakaraa, literally meaning great scripture, both in
size and in significance.
164.
165.
According to the commentators, the Pali Canon comprises
84,000 units of teaching (dhammakkhandha), of which 21,000 units
belong to the Vinayapit aka, 21,000 units to the Suttantapit aka, and the
remaining 42,000 units to the Abhidhammapit aka.
166.

1. The commentaries and subsequent generations of scriptures

167.
168.
After the Buddha expounded his teachings, namely the
Doctrine and Discipline, his disciples, both ordained and lay, would
study them. When they found any teachings or words of the Buddha
that were difficult to understand or that needed explanations, not only
did they directly put queries to the Buddha himself, but they also
sought help from his senior disciples who were their preceptors or
teachers for advice, clarification and answers to their questions. The
important explanations and replies were then committed to memory
and handed down from one generation of disciples to the next in
tandem with the doctrinal and disciplinary items themselves. After the
classification of the Buddhas teachings in the form of the Tipitaka,
such explanations became systematised and arranged in accordance
with the Pali Canon.
169.
170.
The explanations of the words of the Buddha, or of doctrinal
and disciplinary itemsor the explanations of texts in the Pali Canonare called Atthakath (commentaries).
171.

172.
One important characteristic of the commentaries is that they
directly expound on texts in the Canon. This means that for individual
discourses, portions, sections, or subjects in the Canon, there will be
specific commentaries arranged in sequence, which provide
explanations on some technical terms or words, explanations on
passages, clarifications on meanings, explications on doctrinal and
disciplinary items, supplemental matters, as well as the circumstances
or background stories related to the given saying of the Buddha,
together with any
173.
174.
The scriptures that appeared after the commentaries period are
of two categories. There are scriptures that are exegetical of the Canon,
the
175.
commentaries, and some of these scriptures themselves,
successively down the hierarchy. There are also scriptures outside the
line of the Canon, e.g. legends, histories and grammars. These
scriptures or treatises are known by the various names that distinguish
their categories. The two subcategories of the former category worth
mentioning here are Tk (subcommentaries) and Anut k (subsubcommentaries), which are further exegetical down the line of
Atthakath (commentaries). Arranged along the line of the Pali Canon
and commentaries, all the scriptures are of the following hierarchy:
176.
(a) the Pali Canon, or the Tipit aka;
177.
(b) the commentaries (Atthakath), or the scriptures expounding
178.
on the Pali Canon;
179.
(c) the subcommentaries (Tk), or the scriptures elaborating
180.
on the commentaries;
181.
(d) the sub-subcommentaries (Anuk), or the scriptures
182.
183.
further clarifying the subcommentaries There are several
types of scripture other than these down the hierarchy, which are
sometimes collectively referred to as tabbinimutta scriptures over and
above the main ones.
184.

1. The Pali Canon volumes together with the corresponding

commentaries are given as follows.
185.
186.
Vinaya Pit aka
187.

188. 189.
Pali
N
Canon

190.
Com
mentaries

191.
r

Autho

192.
1
196.

194.

195.

Buddh
aghosa

193.

Vinayapit
aka (all)

Saman
tapsdik

197.
198.

199.
201.
N
205.
2

202.

Pali Canon

203.

Comme
ntaries

204.
A
uthor

206.

Dghanikya

207.

Sumaga
lavilsin

208.
B
uddhagh
osa

MajjhimaNiky
a

211.

Papacas
dan

Sayutta
Nikaya

215.

Srattha
paksin

Aguttaraniky
a

219.

Manorat
hapra

Khuddakapt h
a
KhuddakaNik
ya
224.
Dhammapada
KhuddakaNik
ya

225.

Paramatt
hajotik

212.
B
uddhagh
osa
216.
B
uddhagh
osa
220.
B
uddhagh
osa
226.
B
uddhagh
osa

230.

Dhamma
dat t hakath

209. 210.
3
213.
4

214.

217. 218.
5
221.
6

Suttanta Pit aka

200.

222.
223.

227. 228.
7
229.

231.
B
uddhagh
osa

232. 233.
8
236.
9

237.

240.
1

241.
242.

245.
1

246.

Udna(Khudda
kaNikya)

234.

Paramatt
hadpan

Itivuttaka(Khu
ddakaNikya)

238.

Paramatt
hadpan

Suttanipta
(KhuddakaNik
ya)
Vmnavatthu

243.

Paramatt
hajotik

247.

Paramatt
hadpan

249.
1

250.
Petavatthu
(Khuddakanikya)

251.

Paramatt
hadpan

253.
1

254.
Theragth
(Khuddakanikya)

255.

Paramatt
hadpan

257.
1

258.
Thergth
Khuddakanikya

259.

Paramatt
hadpan

264.

Paramatt
hadpan

268.

Saddham
mapajjotik

272.

Saddham
mapadaksin

276.

Visuddha
janavilsin

281.

Madhura
tthavilsin

261.
1

262.
Jtaka
263.
( Khuddakanik
ya)
266. 267.
Niddesa(Khudd
1
akanikya)
270.
1
274.
1

271.

Pat isambidm
agga
(Khuddakanikya)
275.
Apadna
(Khuddakanikya)

278. 279.
1
280.

Buddhavasa
(Khuddakanik
ya)

235.
D
hammap
la
239.
D
hammap
la
244.
B
uddhagh
osa
248.
D
hammap
la
252.
D
hammap
la
256.
D
hammap
la
260.
D
hammap
la
265.
D
hammap
la
269.
U
pasena
273.
M
ahnm
a
277.
A
uthor
unknow
n
282.
B
uddhada
tta

283.
2

285.
Cariypiaka
(Khuddakanikya)

286.
287.

Paramatt
hadpan

284.

294. 295.
N

290.
291.
292.
Abhidhammapt taka
293.
Pali Canon
296.
Comme
ntaries

298.
2

Dhammasa
gan

302.
2

299.

303.

306.
307.
2

300.

Vibhaga

304.

308.
309.
The
remaining five
scriptures

315.
316.

297.
A
uthor

At t hasl
in
Sammoha
vinodan

310.
311.

288.
289.
D
hammap
la

Pacapak
aran a t t hakath

301.
Bu
ddhaghos
a
305.
Bu
ddhaghos
a
312.
313.
Bu
ddhaghos
a

314.
List of the scriptures in the Pali Canon paired,
volume by volume, with the corresponding
commentaries
317.
318.
I. The Vinayapit aka
319.

320.
322.
N

Pali Canon

323.
Name
of scripture

321.
324.
Abbr
e
v

325.
N

Commentaries

326.
Name
of scripture

327.
Abb
r
e
v

328. 329.
Mahvi
1
bhaga 1
330.
331.
1.1
Verajakan da

332.
Prjik
akan d a
333.
334.
335.
1.2.
Terasakan d a
336.
Aniyat
akan d a
337.

338.
Vin.
1
*

339.
1
340.
341.
342.
343.
2

357.
2
358.
359.
360.
361.
362.
3
363.
364.
4

373.
Vin2
374.
375.
376.
377.
378.
Vin.
3
379.
380.
Vin.
4
.

381.
382.
383.
384.
385.
386.
387.
388.

365.

Mahvi
bhaga 2
366.
2.1Niss
aggiyakad a
367.
Adhika
ran a
368.
samath

369.
370.
Bhikkh
unvibhaga
371.
372.
Mahv
agga 1

344.

Vinaya
t t hakath
345.
(Sama
ntapsdik)
1
346.
1.1
Verajakad a
347.
Prjik
akad a
348.
Vinaya
t t hakath
349.
(Sama
ntapsdik)
2
350.
2.1
Terasakan d a

351.
Aniyat
akan d a
389.
2.2
Nissaggiyaka
d a
390.
Adhik
aran a
391.
Samat
h
392.
393.
2.3Bhi
kkhun
394.
vibha
ga
395.
Vinaya
t t hakath
396.
(Sama
ntapsdik)
3

352.
Vin
A
.
1
353.
354.
355.
356.
Vin
A
.
2

397.
398.
399.
400.
401.
402.
403.
404.
Vin
A
.
3

405.
5
406.
6
407.
7
408.
8

409.

Mahv
agga 2
410.
Cullava
gga 1
411.
Cullava
gga 2
412.
Parivr
a
413.

422.
424.

Pali Canon

426. 427.
Name
N
of scripture

432. 433.
9
Dghanikya
434.
Silakk
handhavagga
440. 441.
Dghan
1
ikya
442.
Mahv
agga
448. 449.
Dghan
1
ikya
450.
Pt ika
vagga

414.
Vin.
5
415.
Vin.
6
416.
Vin.
7
417.
Vin.
8
421.

418.3.1.
3.2.

Mahvagga
Cullavagga
419.
3.3. Parivra

420.

II. the Suttantapit aka

423.
425.
Commentaries
428.
Ab
b
r
e
v
435.
D.I

443.
D.I
I
451.
D.I
I
I

429. 430.
N

Name of
scripture

431.
Abbr
e
v

436. 437.
Dghanik
4
yat t thath
438.
(Sumaga
lavilsin)1
444. 445.
Dghanik
5
yat thath
446.
(Sumaga
lavilsin)2
452. 453.
Dghanik
6
yat thath
454.
(Sumaga
lavilsin)3

439.
DA.
2
447.
DA.
3
455.
DA.
3

456. 457.
Majjhi
1
manikya
458.
Mlap
an n saka
459.
12.1.M
lapariyyavaggaShandavagg
a

462.
M.I

460.

461.

483. 484.
12.2.O
pammavagga

485.
Cl ay
amakavagga
491. 492.
Majjhi
1
manikya
493.
Majjhi
mapan n saka

486.

501. 502.
Majjhi
1
manikya
503.
Uparip
an n saka

504.
M.I
I
I

494.

463.
7
464.
465.
466.
467.
468.
8

469.

Majjhima
nikyat thath
470.
(Papacas
dan)1
471.
7.1.Mlap
ariyya vaggaShandavagga472.
van n an
473.
Majjhima
nikyat thath474.
Kath
475.
(Papacas
dan) 2
476.
487.
488.
18
Opammavagga
489.
Cl ayam
akavaggavan n an
495. 496.
Majjhima
nikyat thath497.
Kath
498.
(Papacas
dan)3
499.
9.1
Majjhimapan n sakavan n an
505. 506.
Majjhima
1
nikyat thath507.
Kath
508.
(Papacas
dan)4
509.
Uparipan
n sakavan n an

477.
MA.
1
478.
479.
480.
481.
482.
MA.
2

490.

500.
MA.
3

510.
MA.
4

511.
1

Sayu
ttanikya
513.
Sagth
avagga

514.
S.I

519. 520.
Sayu
1
ttanikya
521.
Nidna
vagga

522.
S.II

528. 529.
Sayu
1
ttanikya
530.
Khand
havravagga
535. 536.
Sayu
1
ttanikya
537.
Sal ya
tanavagga

531.
S.II
I

544. 545.
Sayu
1
ttanikya
546.
Mahv
ravagga
551. 552.
Agutt
2
aranikya 1
553.
554.
555.
20.1
Ekanipta

547.
S.v

512.

538.
S.I
V

556.
A.I

515. 516.
Sayutta
1
nikya t thathKath
517.
(Sratthap
aksin)1
523. 524.
Sayutta
1
nikya t thathKath
525.
(Sratthap
aksin)2
526.
12.1
Nidnavaggavan n an
532.
533.
12.2
Khandhavaggavan n an

518.
SA.1

539. 540.
Sayutta
1
nikyat thathKath
541.
(Sratthap
aksin)3
542.
13.1
Sal yatanavagg
a- van n an
548.
549.
13.2
Mahvravaggavan n an

543.
SA.3

557. 563.
Aguttara
1
nikyat thathKath
558. 564.
(Manorat
559.
hapran )1
560.
565.
14.1
561.
Ekanipta-

568.
AA.
1

527.
SA.2

534.

550.

562.
1
566.

569. 570.
20.2
Dukanipta
571.
20.3
Tikanipta

572.

577. 578.
Agutt
2
aranikya 2
579.
21.1
catukkanipta
584. 585.
Agutt
2
aranikya 3
586.
587.
588.
22.1
Pacakanipt
a
589.
590.
22.2
Chakkanipta

580.
A.I
I

598. 599.
Agutt
2
aranikya 4
600.
23.1
Sattakanipta
601.
602.
23.2
Atthakanipta
603.
23.3.N
avakanipta

604.
A.I
V

591.
A.I
I
I

van n an
Aguttara
nikyat thathKath
567.
(Manorat
hapran ) 2
573.
574.
15.1
Dukanipta
van n an
575.
15.2
Tikanipta
van n an
581.
582.
15.3
Catukkaniptavan n an
592. 593.
Aguttara
1
nikyat thathKath
594.
(Manorat
hapran ) 3
595.
16.1
Pacakaniptavan n an
596.
16.2
Chakkaniptavan n an
605.
606.
16.3
Sattakaniptavan n an
607.
608.
16.4
Atthakaniptavan n an
609.
16.5
Navakanipta-

576.
AA.
2

583.

597.
AA.
3

610.

van n an

611. 612.
Agutt
2
aranikya 5
613.
24.1
Dasakanipta
614.
615.
24.2Ek
dasakanipta
622. 623.
Khudd
2
anikya 1
624.
25.1
Khuddakapt
ha
625.
626.
627.
628.
25.2
Dhammapada

616.
A.
V

617.

629.
Kh.
630.
631.
632.
633.
634.
Dh.

635.
1
636.
637.
638.
639.
640.
1
641.
642.
1
643.
644.
645.
646.
2

671. 672.
673.
674.
675.
676.

704.
705.
706.
707.
708.

734.
2
735.
736.

618.
619.
16.6
Dasakaniptavan n an
620.
16.7
Ekdasakanipta
- van n an
647.
Khuddani
kyat tha-kath
648.
Khuddaka
pt ha -van n an
649.
(Paramaat
thajotik)
650.
Dhamma
padat thakath651.
yamakava
gga van n an
652.
Dhamma
padat tha653.
kath 2
654.
Appamd
a-Cittavaggavan n an
655.
Dhamma
padat t ha-kath 3
656.
Pupphablavaggavan n an
768.
Dhamma
padat t ha- kath
4
769.
Pan d itaSahassa-vagga

621.

657.
658.
659.
660.
661.
662.
DhA
.1
663.
664.
DhA
.2
665.
666.
667.
668.
AhA
.3
669.
670.
792.
DhA
.4
793.
794.

677.
678.
679.
680.
681.
682.
683.
684.
685.
686.
687.
688.
689.
690.
691.
692.
25.3
Udna
693.
694.
695.
696.
25.4
Itivuttaka
697.
698.
699.
700.
701.
25.5
Suttanipta
702.
703.

709.
710.
711.
712.
713.
714.
715.
716.
717.
718.
719.
720.
721.
722.
723.
724.
Ud.
725.
726.
727.
728.
It
729.
730.
731.
732.
733.
Sn.

737.
van n an
738. 770.
Dhamma
2
padat tha- kath
5
739.
771.
Ppa740.
jarvagga741.
van n an
742.
772.
743. 773.
Dhamma
2
padat tha- kath
6
744.
774.
Atta745.
Kodha van n an
746. 775.
Dhamma
2
padat tha- kath
7
747. 776.
Mala748.
Ngavagga749.
van n an
750. 777.
Dhamma
2
padat t ha- kath
8
751. 778.
Tan h752.
Brhman a753.
vagga van n an
754. 779.
Khuddaka
2
nikyat thakath
755. 780.
Udvan n
756.
an
757. 781.
(Paramatt
758.
hadpan)
2
782.
Khuddaka
nikyat tha759.
kath
760. 783.
Itivuttaka

795.
796.
DhA
.5
797.
798.
799.
800.
801.
DhA
.6
802.
803.
804.
DhA
.7
805.
806.
807.
808.
DhA
.8
809.
810.
811.
812.
UdA
.
813.
814.
815.
816.
SnA.
817.
818.
819.

826. 827.
Khudd
2
akanikya 2
828.
26.1
Vimnavatthu

829.
Vv.

835. 836.
26.2Pe
tavatthu
837.
838.
839.
840.
26.3
Teragth
841.
842.
843.
844.
26.3.1

852.
Pv.
853.
854.
855.
856.
Tha
g
.
857.
858.

761.
van n an
762. 784.
(Paramatt
763.
hadpan)
2
785.
786.
Khuddaka
764.
nikyat tha765.
kath
766. 787.
Suttanipt
767.
avan n an
2
788.
(Paramatt
hajotk) 1
789.
Khuddaka
nikyat thakath
790.
Suttanipt
avan n an
791.
(Paramatt
hajotk) 2
830. 831.
Khuddaka
3
nikyat thakath
832.
Vimnava
tthuvan n an
833.
(Paramatt
hadpan)
870. 888.
Khuddaka
3
nikyat thakath
871. 889.
Petavatth
872.
uvan n an
873. 890.
(Paramatt
874.
hadpan) 1
3
891.
Khuddaka
nikyat tha875.
kath
876. 892.
Teragth

820.
821.
ItA.1
822.
823.
824.
825.
SnA.
2

834.
VvA
.

903.
PvA.
904.
905.
906.
907.
Thag
A
.1
908.
909.

EkaTikanipta
845.
846.
847.
848.
849.
850.
26.3.2
CatukkaMahnipta
851.
26.4
Thergth

924. 925.
Khudd
2
akanikya 3
926.
27.1
Jtaka 1 EkaCattl sanipt
a

859.
860.
861.
862.
863.
864.
865.
866.
867.
868.
869.
Th
g
.

927.
j.

877.
van n an
878. 893.
(Paramatt
879.
hadpan) 1
880. 894.
32.1 Eka3
Tikaniptavan n an
881. 895.
Khuddaka
882.
nikyat tha883.
kath
884. 896.
Teragth
885.
van n an
886. 897.
(Paramatt
887.
hadpan) 2
3
898.
32.2
CatukkaMahniptavan
n an
899.
900.
Khuddaka
nikyat thakath
901.
Thergth
-van n an
902.
(Paramatt
hadpan)
928. 945.
Jtakat th
3
akath 1
946.
EkaCatt
929.
l sanipta
930.
van n an (1)
931. 947.
Jtakat th
3
akath 2
948.
Ekanipta
932.
van n an (2)
933. 949.
Jtakat th
3
akath3

910.
911.
912.
913.
Thag
A
.2
914.
915.
916.
917.
918.
919.
920.
Thg
A
.
921.
922.
923.

959.
JA.1
960.
961.
962.
JA.2
963.
964.
JA.3
965.
966.

950.

979. 989.
Khudd
2
akanikya 4
990.
28.1
980.
Jtaka 2
981. 991.
982.
Pasa983. 992.
984.
Mahanipta
985. 993.
986. 994.
987. 995.
988. 996.
997.
998.

999.
J
1000.
1001.
1002.
1003.
1004.
1005.
1006.
1007.
1008.

Dukaniip
934.
tavan n an
935. 951.
Jtakat th
3
akath 4
952.
Tika936.
Papacakanipta
937.
- van n an
938. 953.
Jtakat th
3
akath 5
954.
Chakka939.
Dasakaniptava
940.
n n an
941. 955.
Jtakat th
4
akath 6
956.
Ekdasak
942.
anipta943.
van n an
944. 957.
Jtakat th
4
akath 7
958.
VsatiCattl sanipta- van n an
1009. 1013.
Jtakat th
4
akath 8
1014.
Pasa1010.
Satti-nipta
1011.
van n an
1012.
1015.
1023. 1026.
Jtakat th
4
akath 9
1027.
Mahanip
1024.
tanipta
1025.
van n an (1)
1034. 1037.
Jtakat th
4
akath 10
1038.
Mahanip

JA.4
967.
968.
969.
JA.5
970.
971.
972.
jA.6
973.
974.
975.
JA.7
976.
977.
978.

1016.
JA.8
1017.
1018.
1019.
1028.
JA.9
1029.
1030.
1039.
JA.1
0

1035.
1036.
1042. 1043.
Khudd
2
akanikya 5
1044.
29.1
Mahniddesa

1045.
Nd.

1060. 1061.
Khudd
3
akanikya 6
1062.
30.1
Cl aniddesa

1063.
Nd.

1069. 1070.
Khudd
3
akanikya 7
1071.
31.1
Pat isambhid
-magga

1072.
Ps.

tanipta
van n an (2)

1046. 1052.
Jtakat th
4
akatht thakath
1047. 1053.
Mahanip
1048.
tanipta
1049.
van n an
1050. 1054.
(Saddham
1051.
mapajjotik)
1055.
1064. 1065.
Khuddaka
4
nikyat thakath
1066.
Cl anidd
esa van n an
1067.
(Saddham
mapajjotik)
1073. 1074.
Khuddaka
4
nikyat thakath
1075.
Pat isamb
hid-magga
van n an
(Saddhamma
1076.
pajjotik)
1
1081. 1082.
Khuddaka
4
nikyat thakath
1083.
Pat isamb
hidmaggavan n an(Saddha
mma
1084.
pajjotik)

1040.
1041.
1056.
NdA
.1
1057.
1058.
1059.

1068.
Nd
A
.2

1077.
PsA.
1

1085.
PsA.
2

2
1086. 1087.
Khudd
3
akanikya 8
1088.
32.1
Apadna 1
1089.
1090.
1091.
1092.
32.1.1
Budda-vagga

1093.
Ap.

1108. 1109.
1110.
32.1.2
S ShsaniyaMetteyyavagg
a

1111.

1117. 1118.
Khudd
3
akanikya 9
1119.
33.1
Apadna 2
1120.
33.1.1
BhaddliBhaddiyavag
ga
1121.
33.1.2
Theriypadna
1122.
33.2.
Buddhavasa

1124.
Ap.
1125.
1126.
1127.
1128.
1129.
1130.
Cp.

1094. 1102.
Khuddaka
4
nikyat thakath
1095. 1103.
Apadnav
1096. an n an
1097. 1104.
(Visuddha
1098. jana-vilsin)1
1099. 1105.
49.1
1100.
Buddhavagga1101.
van n an
5
1106.
Khuddaka
nikyat thakath
Apadnavan n an

1112. 1114.
(Visuddha
1113.
jana-vilsin)
1115.
50.1
ShsaniyaMetteyyavaggavan n an
1131. 1132.
Khuddaka
5
nikyat t hakath
1133.
Buddhava
savan n an
1134.
(Madhura
tthavilsin)
1135.
1136.
1137.
Khuddaka
nikyat thakath
1138.
Cariypit

1107.
ApA
.1

1116.
BvA
.

1140.
1141.
1142.
1143.
1144.
1145.
1146.
CpA
.

1123.
33.3
Cariypit aka

akavan n an
1139.
(Paramatt
hadpan)

1147.

1148.

III. The Ahiddammapit aka

1149.
Pali Canon
1152.
Commentaries

1150.
1151.
No.
1153. 1154.
Name
N
of scripture

1155.
Abb
r
e
v

1156. 1157.
Name
N
of scripture

1158.
Ab
b
r
e
v

1159. 1160.
Dham
3
masgan

1161.
Dhs.

1165.
Dhs
A
.
1166.

1167. 1168.
3

Vibha
ga

1169.
Vbh.

1175. 1187.
Dhtu
3
kath
1188.
1176.
1189.
1177.
1190.
1178.
1191.
1179.
1192.

1199.
Dhtk
.
1200.
1201.
1202.
1203.

1162. 1163.
Ahidda
3
mmat thakath
1164.
Dham
masgan
van n an(At t
haslin)
1170. 1171.
Ahidda
5
mmat thakath
1172.
Vibha
ga
1173.
(Samm
ohavinodan)
1211. 1212.
Ahidda
5
mmat thakath
1213.
Dhtuk
athdivan n an

1214.
(paca
pakaran at tha-

1174.

1221.
Pa
c
A
.

1180. 1193.
2.Pug
1181.
galapaatti
1182. 1194.
1183. 1195.
Kath
3
vatthu
1196.
1184. 1197.
Yama
1185.
ka 1
3
1198.
1186.

1222. 1230.
Yama
3
ka 2
1231.
Pat t h
1223.
na 1
4
1232.
Pat t h
na 2
1224. 1233.
Pat t h
4
na 3
1234.
Pat t h
1225.
na 4
4
1235.
Pat t h
na 5
1226. 1236.
Pat t h
4
na 6
1227.
4
1228.
4

1204.
1205.
Pug.
1206.
1207.
Kvu
1208.
1209.
Yam
.
1
1210.

1237.
Yam
.
2
1238.
Pat .
1
1239.
Pat .
2
1240.
Pat .
3
1241.
Pat .
4
1242.
Pat .
5
1243.
Pat .

kath)
1215.
55.1
Dhtukathvan n an
1216.
55.2Pu
ggalapaatti
1217.
van n a
n
1218.
55.3
Kathvatthuvan n an
1219.
55.4
Yamakavan n a
n
1220.
1244. 1245.
1246.
55.5
Pat t hna
van n an

1247.

1229.
4

1251.

1248.
1249.
Some other important scriptures
1250.
(in particular, those texts used
in the traditional Pali studies curriculum in Laos,
Cambodia, Thailand)

1253. 1254.
Main
N
scripture

1259. 1261.
Milin
5
dapah
1262.
Visud
1260.
dhimagga 1
5

1252.
1255.
Abbr
e
v.
1263.
Mili
n
1264.
Vism
.
1

1274. 1275.
Visud
5
dhimagga 2

1276.
Vism
.
2

1282. 1283.
Visud
5
dhimagga 3
1284.

1285.
Vism
.
3
1286.

1256. 1257.
Exeget
N
ical scripture

1265.
1267.
1266. 1268.
Visudd
6
himaggaSavan n an
Maht
1269.
(Para
mattha1270.
maju
s) 1
1277. 1278.
Visudd
6
himaggaSavan n an
Maht
1279.
(Para
mattha1280.
maju
s)
1287. 1288.
Visudd
6
himaggaSavan n an
Maht
1289.
(Para
mattha1290.
maju

1258.
Abbr
ev
.
1271.
1272.
Vism
T
1
1273.

1281.
Vism
T
2

1291.
Vism
T
3

s) 3

1292. 1293.
Ahid
6
dammatthasagaha

1294.
Sag
a
h
a

1300. 1301.
Vina
1
yat t hakath

(Samantap
sdik)
1.1 Verjakan d avan n an
1302.
1.2Pa
t hamaCatutthaprjika
van n an
1314. 1315.
Vina
2
yat t hakath

1316.
(Sam
antapsdik
)2

1303.
Vin
A
.
1

1322. 1323.
Vina
3
yat t hakath

1324.
(Sam
antapsdik
)3

1325.
Vin
A

1317.
Vin
A
.
2

1295. 1296.
Ahidd
6
ammattha
sagaha tk
1297.
(Ahidd
amma
1298.
vibhv
in)
1304. 1307.
Vinaya
6
t t hakath
Samantaps
1305.
dik1306.
van n an
6
1308.
(Sratt
hadpan) 1

1299.
Sag
ah
a.
T

1318. 1319.
Vinaya
6
t t hakath
Samantaps
dikvan n an
1320.
(Sratt
hadpan) 3
1326. 1327.
Vinaya
6
t t hakath
Samantaps
dikvan n an
1328.
(Sratt

1321.
VinT
.3

1309.
VinT
.1
1310.
1311.
1312.
VinT
.2
1313.

1329.
VinT
.4

hadpan) 4

1330. 1331.
Khud
dakanikya
Suttanipta
Man galasutta

1332.
-

1333. 1336.
Maga
6
latthadpan 1
1337.
1334. 1338.
Maga
1335.
latthadpan 2
6

1341. 1342.
Bhik
7
kuptimokk
hapli

1343.
1344. 1345.
(Nos.1
pti
,2,3,64,65,66,
m
67)
o
k
k
h
a
1347.
1348.
1349.
1350.
1351.
1352.
1353.
1354.
1355.
1356.
1357.
1358.
1359.
1360.
1361.
1362.
1363.
1364.
1365.

1339.
Mag
al
.1
1340.
Mag
al
.2
1346.

1366.
1367.
1368.
1369.
1370.
1371.

1372.
1373.

The Tripitaka of Language country

1374.

1375.
1376.

1377.