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83-627: The Niddesa (abbrev., "Nidd") is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism . It is included in the Sutta Pitaka 's Khuddaka Nikaya . It is in the form of a commentary on parts of the Suttanipata . The tradition ascribes it to the Buddha's disciple Sariputta . It is divided into two parts: This text is believed to have been most likely composed no later than

166-485: A different means of oral transmission, for quite different texts, other mnemonic techniques were developed, based on communal chanting (saṅgīti). The texts explicitly state that this method was to be employed, and their actual form shows that it was, on a grand scale. Some scholars such as Wynne and Analayo generally hold that these texts were memorized in fixed form, to be recited verbatim (in contrast to other forms of oral literature, such as epic poetry ) and that this

249-500: A much earlier period. Aspects of the Pali Canon, such as what it says about society and South Asian history, are in doubt because the Pali Canon was extensively redacted in the 5th- or 6th-century AD, nearly a thousand years after the death of the Buddha. Further, this redacted Pali Canon of Sri Lanka itself mentions that it was previously redacted towards the end of 1st-century BC. According to Early Buddhism scholar Lars Fogelin,

332-596: A number of centuries, at the least to the period when it was written down in the first century BC, and probably further. The Early Buddhist material in the Pāli Canon mainly consists of the first four Pāli Nikāyas , the Patimokkha (basic list of monastic rules) and other Vinaya material as well as some parts of the Khuddaka Nikāya (mainly Sutta Nipata , Itivuttaka , Dhammapada , Therigatha , Theragatha , and

415-538: A scale which was simply inconceivable in the ancient world. The Edicts of Ashoka are some of the earliest Indian historical documents and they agree with the EBTs in some respects. According to Sujato, the MPE 2 (Sārnāth) edict makes use of various EBT specific terms such as: "bhikhusaṁgha, bhikhuni-saṁgha, sāsana, upāsaka, anuposatha, saṁgha bheta, saṁgha samaga (Sāñcī version), cila-thitīka (Sāñcī)." Sujato also notes that

498-500: Is a form of Ancient Chinese termed Buddhist Chinese ( fójiào Hànyǔ 佛教漢語) or Buddhist Hybrid Chinese ( fójiào hùnhé Hànyǔ 佛教混合漢語) which shows considerable vernacularity . Buddhist Chinese also shows a significant number of elements which derive from the source language, including calques and phonological transcriptions. Scholarly analysis of these texts have shown that they were translated from Middle Indic Prakrit source languages, with varying degrees of sanskritisation . While

581-527: Is an internally consistent Pali dialect. The reason for the changes is that some combinations of characters are difficult to write in those scripts. Masefield says records in Thailand state that upon the third re-introduction of Theravada Buddhism into Sri Lanka (The Siyamese Sect), large number of texts were also taken . When monastic ordination died out in Sri Lanka, many texts were lost also. Therefore

664-469: Is likely that much of the Pali Canon dates back to the time period of the Buddha. They base this on many lines of evidence including the technology described in the canon (apart from the obviously later texts), which matches the technology of his day which was in rapid development; that it doesn't include back written prophecies of the great Buddhist ruler King Ashoka (which Mahayana texts often do) suggesting that it predates his time; that in its descriptions of

747-797: Is probably the second half of the Nalakasutta (Sn 699–723), and Upatisapasine may correspond to the Sariputtasutta (Sn 955–975). The identification of most of the other titles is less certain, but Schmithausen, following Oldenberg before him, identifies what Asoka calls the Laghulovada with part of a prose text in the Majjhima Nikaya , the Ambalatthika-Rahulovada Sutta (M no. 61). This seems to be evidence that some of these texts were already fixed by

830-457: Is traditionally believed by Theravadins that most of the Pali Canon originated from the Buddha and his immediate disciples. According to the scriptures, a council was held shortly after the Buddha's passing to collect and preserve his teachings. The Theravada tradition states that the Canon was recited orally from the 5th century to the first century BC, when it was written down. The memorization

913-519: Is traditionally described by the Theravada as the Word of the Buddha ( buddhavacana ), though this is not intended in a literal sense, since it includes teachings by disciples. The traditional Theravādin ( Mahavihārin ) interpretation of the Pali Canon is given in a series of commentaries covering nearly the whole Canon, compiled by Buddhaghosa ( fl. 4th–5th century AD) and later monks, mainly on

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996-550: The Abhidhamma Pitaka (literally "beyond the dhamma", "higher dhamma" or "special dhamma", Sanskrit: Abhidharma Pitaka ), is a collection of texts which give a scholastic explanation of Buddhist doctrines particularly about mind, and sometimes referred to as the "systematic philosophy" basket. There are seven books in the Abhidhamma Pitaka: The traditional position is that abhidhamma refers to

1079-526: The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad , such as the single salty taste of the ocean (AN 8.157 vs. Bṛhadāraṇyaka 2.4.11). Regarding the setting, the EBTs generally depict the world of the second urbanisation period , which features small scale towns and villages, and small competing states (the mahajanapadas ) with a lower level of urbanisation compared to that of the Mauryan era. As such, the EBTs depict

1162-831: The Brahmajāla , the Sigalovada , the Dhammacakka , the Kasi-Bhāradvadja, the Mahāmangala ; all these I have found and compared with translations from the Pali, and find that in the main they are identical. I do not say literally the same; they differ in minor points, but are identical in plot and all important details. And when the Vinaya and Āgama collections are thoroughly examined, I can have little doubt we shall find most if not all

1245-681: The Gangetic Plain before the rise of the Nanda empire , who unified all these small competing states during the 4th century. They also depict Pataliputra as the small village of Pataligama , while it would later become the capital of the Mauryan empire and the largest city in India. They do not mention Ashoka but they mention the Jain leader Mahavira (a.k.a. Nātaputta ) as a contemporary of

1328-632: The Majjhima Nikaya was published by Wisdom Publications in 1995. Translations by Bhikkhu Bodhi of the Samyutta Nikaya and the Anguttara Nikaya were published by Wisdom Publications in 2003 and 2012, respectively. In 2018, new translations of the entirety of the five Nikayas were made freely available on the website suttacentral by the Australian Bhikkhu Sujato , the translations were also released into

1411-526: The Public domain . A Japanese translation of the Canon, edited by Takakusu Junjiro , was published in 65 volumes from 1935 to 1941 as The Mahātripiṭaka of the Southern Tradition (南伝大蔵経 Nanden daizōkyō ). A Chinese translation of the above-mentioned Japanese translation was undertaken between 1990–1998 and thereafter printed under the patronage of Kaoshiung's Yuan Heng Temple. As noted above,

1494-648: The Suttanipata . However, some scholars, particularly in Japan, maintain that the Suttanipāta is the earliest of all Buddhist scriptures, followed by the Itivuttaka and Udāna . However, some of the developments in teachings may only reflect changes in teaching that the Buddha himself adopted, during the 45 years that the Buddha was teaching. Scholars generally agree that the early books include some later additions. Aspects of these late additions are or may be from

1577-713: The Tamrashatiya school. During the First Buddhist Council , three months after the parinibbana of Gautama Buddha in Rajgir , Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka , and Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka . The Arhats present accepted the recitations, and henceforth, the teachings were preserved orally by the Sangha . The Tipitaka that was transmitted to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Asoka

1660-584: The Udana ). These texts have been widely translated into Western languages. The EBTs preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon include the Āgamas , collections of sutras which parallel the Pali Nikāyas in content as well as structure. There are also some differences between the discourses and collections as modern comparative studies has shown, such as omissions of material, additions and shifts in

1743-620: The "Sutta Pitaka" (Skt: Sūtra Pitaka, "Basket of sutras") section of the various early Buddhist Canonical collections called Tripitakas ("Three Baskets"). The suttas generally contain doctrinal, spiritual and philosophical content. There are EBTs from various Buddhist schools, especially from the Theravada and Sarvāstivāda schools, but also from the Dharmaguptaka , Mahāsāṅghika , Mahīśāsaka , Mūlasarvāstivāda , and other texts of uncertain prominence. According to Oskar von Hinüber

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1826-469: The 1st Century BCE. As noted by Alexander Wynne: Although there is no evidence for writing before Aśoka, the accuracy of oral transmission should not be underestimated. The Buddhist community was full of Brahmins who knew that the Vedic educational system had transmitted a mass of difficult texts, verbatim, in an increasingly archaic language, for more than a thousand years. Since the early Buddhists required

1909-561: The 1st century BC. This Theravada -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Buddhist text -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from

1992-507: The 5th century AD. Gregory Schopen argues that it is not until the 5th to 6th centuries AD that we have any definite evidence about the contents of the Canon. This position was criticized by A. Wynne. Western scholarship suggests that the composition of the Abhidhamma Pitaka likely began around 300 BCE, but may have drawn on an earlier tradition of lists and rubrics known as " matrika ". Traditional accounts include it among

2075-656: The Buddha's life from the EBTs are mentioned such as his awakening, the first teaching and his death. According to Lüders “… the visit of Ajātasattu [to the Buddha] is depicted even in details exactly according to the Sāmaññaphala Sutta ,” and “… the representation of the visit of Sakka follows the text of the Sakkapañha Sutta .” Other Indian inscriptions from the 1st and 2nd century CE include terms such as dhamma-kathika , peṭakin , and suttantika , indicating

2158-425: The Buddha, and that the later teachings were memorized by the Buddha's followers while he was still alive. His thesis is based on study of the processes of the first great council, and the methods for memorization used by the monks, which started during the Buddha's lifetime. It's also based on the capability of a few monks, to this day, to memorize the entire canon. Bhikkhu Sujato and Bhikkhu Brahmali argue that it

2241-480: The Buddha. The EBTs also depict a small scale local economy, during a time before the establishment of the long-distance trading networks, as noted by Brahmali and Sujato : King Pasenadi of Kosala is said to have used kāsi sandalwood (MN 87.28), indicating that even the highest social strata used locally produced luxuries. This situation is perhaps to be expected given the political divisions in North India at

2324-461: The Canon consists of three pitakas. Details are given below. For more complete information, see standard references on Pali literature. The first category, the Vinaya Pitaka , is mostly concerned with the rules of the sangha , both monks and nuns . The rules are preceded by stories telling how the Buddha came to lay them down, and followed by explanations and analysis. According to

2407-531: The Canon for some time, but they do not appear to have tampered with what they already had from an earlier period." A variety of factors suggest that the early Sri Lankan Buddhists regarded canonical literature as such and transmitted it conservatively. Theravada tradition generally treats the Canon as a whole as originating with the Buddha and his immediate disciples (with the exception of certain, generally Abhidhamma texts, that explicitly refer to events long after his death). Scholars differ in their views regarding

2490-765: The Canon was published in Burma in 1900, in 38 volumes. The following editions of the Pali text of the Canon are readily available in the West: Pali Canon in English Translation , 1895-, in progress, 43 volumes so far, Pali Text Society, Bristol; for details of these and other translations of individual books see the separate articles. In 1994, the then President of the Pali Text Society stated that most of these translations were unsatisfactory. Another former President said in 2003 that most of

2573-860: The Canon, where the Buddha describes the Agnihotra as the foremost sacrifice and the Sāvitrī as the foremost meter: Early Buddhist Texts Besides the large collections in Pali and Chinese, there are also fragmentary collections of EBT materials in Sanskrit , Khotanese , Tibetan and Gāndhārī . The modern study of early pre-sectarian Buddhism often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources. Various scholars of Buddhist studies such as Richard Gombrich , Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne and A. K. Warder hold that Early Buddhist texts contain material that could possibly be traced to

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2656-443: The EBTs are always historically situated in ancient Indian locales, unlike many later Mahayana works, which depict themselves as being taught by the Buddha in heavenly realms or other supernatural circumstances. Early Buddhist texts are believed to have been transmitted by lineages of bhāṇaka , monks who specialized in memorization and recitation of particular collections of texts, until they were eventually recorded in writing after

2739-527: The Early Buddhist texts, including prose " suttas " ( Skt : sūtra , discourses), monastic rules ( Vinaya ), various forms of verse compositions (such as gāthā and udāna ), mixed prose and verse works ( geya ), and also lists ( matika ) of monastic rules or doctrinal topics. A large portion of Early Buddhist literature is part of the "sutta" or "sutra" genre, these are usually placed in different collections (called Nikayas or Agamas ) and constitute

2822-678: The Majjhima Nikaya and Madhyama Agama contain mostly the same major doctrines. Recent work has also been done on other more fragmentary materials surviving in Sanskrit, Tibetan and Gandhāran collections. Andrew Glass has compared a small number of Gandhāran sutras with their Tibetan, Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese parallels and concludes that there is a unity in their doctrines, despite some technical differences. According to some Asian scholars like Yin Shun , Mizuno Kogen and Mun-Keat Choong,

2905-547: The Pali Canon is found also in the scriptures of other early schools of Buddhism, parts of whose versions are preserved, mainly in Chinese. Many scholars have argued that this shared material can be attributed to the period of Pre-sectarian Buddhism . This is the period before the early schools separated in about the fourth or third century BC. Some scholars see the Pali Canon as expanding and changing from an unknown nucleus. Arguments given for an agnostic attitude include that

2988-439: The Pali Canon of Sri Lanka is a modified Canon and "there is no good reason to assume that Sri Lankan Buddhism resembles Early Buddhism in the mainland, and there are numerous reasons to argue that it does not." Dr. Peter Masefield M.P.T.S. researched a form of Pali known as Indochinese Pali or "Kham Pali". It had been considered a degraded form of Pali, but Masefield states that further examination of texts will probably show it

3071-498: The Pali canon to the Buddha's early followers. Peter Harvey states that "much" of the Pali Canon must derive from the Buddha's teaching, but also that "parts of the Pali Canon clearly originated after the time of the Buddha." A.K. Warder stated that there is no evidence to suggest that the shared teaching of the early schools was formulated by anyone else than the Buddha and his immediate followers. J.W. de Jong said it would be "hypocritical" to assert that we can say nothing about

3154-756: The Pali suttas in a Chinese form. During the 20th century various scholars including Anesaki Masaharu and Akanuma Chizen began critical studies of these correspondences. Probably the most important early works in the comparative study of these two collections are Anesaki's The Four Buddhist Āgamas in Chinese – A Concordance of their Parts and of the Corresponding Counterparts in the Pāli Nikāyas and Akanuma's The Comparative Catalogue of Chinese Āgamas and Pāli Nikāyas . Over time this comparative study of these parallel Buddhist texts became incorporated into modern scholarship on Buddhism, such as in

3237-533: The RE 5 (Kālsī) edict states: “Good deeds are difficult to perform,” “bad acts are easy to commit”, which could be a quote from the Udana (5:8). Likewise, the RE 9 (Girnār) edict states “there is no gift like the gift of the Dhamma”, which could be a quote from the EBTs (see AN  9:5 or Dhp  354). A. Wynne notes that Minor Rock Edict #3 mentions some Buddhist texts which have been identified and which might show that at

3320-542: The Sri Lankan Pali Canon had been translated first into Indo-Chinese Pali, and then, at least in part, back again into Pali. One of the edicts of Ashoka , the "Calcutta-Bairat edict", lists several works from the canon which Ashoka considered advantageous. According to Alexander Wynne: The general consensus seems to be that what Asoka calls Munigatha correspond to the Munisutta (Sn 207–221), Moneyasute

3403-526: The absolute teaching, while the suttas are adapted to the hearer. Most scholars describe the abhidhamma as an attempt to systematize the teachings of the suttas: Cousins says that where the suttas think in terms of sequences or processes the abhidhamma thinks in terms of specific events or occasions. The Pali Canon uses many Brahmanical terminology and concepts. For example, the Sundarika Sutta includes an analogy, quoted in several other places in

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3486-571: The antiquity of the Pali texts, Alexander Wynne notes that: Canonical fragments are included in the Golden Pāli Text, found in a reliquary from Śrī kṣetra dating to the late 3rd or early 4th century AD; they agree almost exactly with extant Pāli manuscripts. This means that the Pāli Tipiṭaka has been transmitted with a high degree of accuracy for well over 1,500 years. There is no reason why such an accurate transmission should not be projected back

3569-735: The basis of earlier materials now lost. Subcommentaries were written afterward, commenting further on the Canon and its commentaries. The traditional Theravādin interpretation is summarized in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga . A spokesman for the Buddha Sasana Council of Burma states that the Canon contains everything needed to show the path to nirvāna ; the commentaries and subcommentaries sometimes include much speculative matter, but are faithful to its teachings and often give very illuminating illustrations. In Sri Lanka and Thailand , "official" Buddhism has in large part adopted

3652-589: The canon is traditionally known as the Tipiṭaka ("three baskets"). The three pitakas are as follows: The Vinaya Pitaka and the Sutta Pitaka are remarkably similar to the works of the early Buddhist schools, often termed Early Buddhist Texts . The Abhidhamma Pitaka, however, is a strictly Theravada collection and has little in common with the Abhidhamma works recognized by other Buddhist schools. The Canon

3735-457: The canon was composed soon after Buddha's paranirvana, but after a period of free improvisation, and then the core teachings were preserved nearly verbatim by memory. Hajime Nakamura writes that while nothing can be definitively attributed to Gautama as a historical figure, some sayings or phrases must derive from him. Most scholars agree there was a rough body of sacred literature that an early community maintained and transmitted. Much of

3818-590: The common ancestor of the Samyutta Nikaya and the Samyukta Agama is the basis for the other EBTs. The Pāli Canon of the Theravada school contains the most complete fully extant collection of EBTs in an Indic language which has survived until today. According to the Theravada tradition, after having been passed down orally, it was first written down in the first century BCE in Sri Lanka . While some scholars such as Gregory Schopen are skeptical of

3901-502: The death of the founder, Buddhist texts were transmitted orally in Middle Indo-Aryan dialects (Prakrits). While the southern tradition eventually settled on one of these dialects, Pāli, as its canonical language, in India and Central Asia Buddhist texts were successively Sanskritized and/or translated into other languages such as Chinese, Tokharian, Khotanese, Sogdian, and Tibetan. Also, new Buddhist texts in India, from at least

3984-428: The evidence for the Buddha's teachings dates from long after his death. Some scholars of later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism say that little or nothing goes back to the Buddha. Ronald Davidson has little confidence that much, if any, of surviving Buddhist scripture is actually the word of the historical Buddha. Geoffrey Samuel says the Pali Canon largely derives from the work of Buddhaghosa and his colleagues in

4067-413: The evidence suggests that only parts of the Canon ever enjoyed wide currency, and that non-canonical works were sometimes much more widely used; the details varied from place to place. Rupert Gethin suggests that the whole of Buddhist history may be regarded as a working out of the implications of the early scriptures. According to a late part of the Pali Canon, the Buddha taught the three pitakas. It

4150-563: The existence of a Buddhist literature during this time. Most modern scholarship has generally focused on the Pāli Nikāyas (which have been fully translated into Western languages) and the Chinese Āgamas (only partially translated). As early as the late 19th century, it was known that the Nikāyas and the Āgamas contain a great number of parallel texts. In 1882, Samuel Beal published his Buddhist Literature in China , where he wrote: The Parinibbāna ,

4233-590: The geographical location of the event they depict, including ancient place names, always preceded by the phrase "thus have I heard" ( evaṃ me sutaṃ ). The textual evidence from various traditions shows that by the 1st century BCE to the fourth century CE, slight differences developed among these parallel documents and that these differences reflected "school affiliation, local traditions, linguistic environment, nonstandardized scripts, or any combination of these factors." These texts were initially transmitted through oral methods . According to Marcus Bingenheimer, After

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4316-483: The historical Buddha himself or at least to the early years of pre-sectarian Buddhism . According to the Japanese scholar Akira Hirakawa, "any attempt to ascertain the original teachings of the historical Buddha must be based on this literature." In Mahayana Buddhism, these texts are sometimes referred to as " Hinayana " or " Śrāvakayāna " texts and are not considered Mahayana works. Different genres comprise

4399-542: The interpretations of Western scholars. Although the Canon has existed in written form for two millennia, its earlier oral nature has not been forgotten in Buddhist practice: memorization and recitation remain common. Among frequently recited texts are the Paritta . Even lay people usually know at least a few short texts by heart and recite them regularly; this is considered a form of meditation, at least if one understands

4482-447: The language of the kingdom of Magadhi as spoken by the Buddha, linguists have identified Pali as being more closely related to other prakrit languages of western India, and found substantial incompatibilities with the few preserved examples of Magadhi and other north-eastern prakrit languages. Linguistic research suggests that the teachings of the Buddha may have been recorded in an eastern Indian language originally, and transposed into

4565-537: The latest date for the composition of the Mahāparinibbānasuttanta , at least for this part of it, is around 350 to 320 BC. According to Alexander Wynne, The corresponding pieces of textual material found in the canons of the different sects... probably go back to pre-sectarian times. It is unlikely that these correspondences could have been produced by the joint endeavour of different Buddhist sects, for such an undertaking would have required organisation on

4648-654: The location of phrases. These various Agamas possibly come down to us from the Sarvastivada (the Samyukta and Madhyama Agamas ), Dharmaguptaka and Kasyayipa schools. The Mahasamghika Vinaya Pitaka also survives in Chinese translation. Some of the Agamas have been translated into English by the Āgama Research Group (ARG) at the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts . The language of these texts

4731-449: The main purpose for the composition of the EBTs was to "preserve and to defend an orthodox tradition." He adds that this literary effort was influenced by the Vedic prose of the Brāhmaṇas . As noted by von Hinüber , these collections also contain the first ever Indian texts to commemorate historical events, such as the Mahāparinibbānasuttanta , which recounts the death of the Buddha. The early suttas also almost always open by introducing

4814-421: The meaning. Monks are of course expected to know quite a bit more (see Dhammapada below for an example). A Burmese monk named Vicittasara even learned the entire Canon by heart for the Sixth Council (again according to the usual Theravada numbering). The relation of the scriptures to Buddhism as it actually exists among ordinary monks and lay people is, as with other major religious traditions, problematic:

4897-472: The nucleus of the Buddhist teachings in the Pali Canon may derive from Gautama Buddha himself, but that part of it also was developed after the Buddha by his early followers. Richard Gombrich says that the main preachings of the Buddha (as in the Vinaya and Sutta Pitaka ) are coherent and cogent, and must be the work of a single person: the Buddha himself, not a committee of followers after his death. Other scholars are more cautious, and attribute part of

4980-453: The origin of the Pali Canon, but generally believe that the Canon includes several strata of relatively early and late texts, but with little consensus regarding the relative dating of different sections of the Canon or which texts belong to which era. Prayudh Payutto argues that the Pali Canon represents the teachings of the Buddha essentially unchanged apart from minor modifications. He argues that it also incorporates teachings that precede

5063-591: The other Chinese Agamas are mostly doctrinally consistent with the Pali Nikayas, the Ekottara Agama (EA) has been seen by various scholars such as Johannes Bronkhorst and Etienne Lamotte as being influenced by later Mahayana concepts. According to Lamotte, these 'interpolations' are easily discernible. According to Analayo, the most often proposed hypothesis is that the EA derives from the Mahasamgika school. Modern discoveries of various fragmentary manuscript collections (the Gandhāran Buddhist texts ) from Pakistan and Afghanistan has contributed significantly to

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5146-401: The patronage of King Vattagamani . Textual fragments of similar teachings have been found in the agama of other major Buddhist schools in India. They were, however, written down in various Prakrits other than Pali as well as Sanskrit . Some of those were later translated into Chinese (earliest dating to the late 4th century AD). The surviving Sri Lankan version is the most complete, but

5229-454: The political geography it presents India at the time of Buddha, which changed soon after his death; that it has no mention of places in South India, which would have been well known to Indians not long after Buddha's death; and various other lines of evidence dating the material back to his time. The views of scholars concerning the authorship of the Pali Canon can be grouped into three categories: Several scholars of early Buddhism argue that

5312-500: The schools, the sūtras do not, however, constitute scholastic documents, but are the common heritage of all the sects. Bhiksu Thich Minh Chau (1918– 2012) conducted a comparative study (1991) of the contents in the Theravada Majjhima Nikaya and Sarvastivada Madhyama Agama and concluded that despite some differences in technical and practical issues, there was a striking agreement in doctrinal matters. A more recent study by Bhikkhu Analayo also agrees with this position. Analayo argues

5395-412: The so-called writing down of the scriptures was only the beginning of a new form of tradition, and the innovation was likely opposed by the more conservative monks. As with many other innovations, it was only after some time that it was generally accepted. Therefore, it was much later that the records of this event were transformed into an account of a "council" (sangayana or sangiti ) which was held under

5478-485: The stories, the rules were devised on an ad hoc basis as the Buddha encountered various behavioral problems or disputes among his followers. This pitaka can be divided into three parts: The second category is the Sutta Pitaka (literally "basket of threads", or of "the well spoken"; Sanskrit: Sutra Pitaka , following the former meaning) which consists primarily of accounts of the Buddha's teachings. The Sutta Pitaka has five subdivisions, or nikayas : The third category,

5561-414: The study of Early Buddhist texts. Most of these texts are written in the Gandhari Language and the Kharoṣṭhī script , but some have also been discovered in Bactrian . According to Mark Allon, the Gandhāran Buddhist texts contain several EBTs which parallel those found in other collections "such as the Ekottarikāgama and Vana-saṃyutta of the Saṃyutta-nikāya / Saṃyuktāgama." These texts include

5644-469: The teachings of earliest Buddhism, arguing that "the basic ideas of Buddhism found in the canonical writings could very well have been proclaimed by him [the Buddha], transmitted and developed by his disciples and, finally, codified in fixed formulas." Alex Wynne said that some texts in the Pali Canon may go back to the very beginning of Buddhism, which perhaps include the substance of the Buddha's teaching, and in some cases, maybe even his words. He suggests

5727-432: The texts recited at the First Buddhist Council and attribute differences in form and style to its composition by Sariputra . Opinions differ on what the earliest books of the Canon are. The majority of Western scholars consider the earliest identifiable stratum to be mainly prose works, the Vinaya (excluding the Parivāra) and the first four nikāyas of the Sutta Pitaka, and perhaps also some short verse works such as

5810-413: The texts themselves which indicates that they were to be memorized and recited, the lack of any evidence (whether archeological or internal to the texts) that writing was being used to preserve these texts and the stylistic features of the texts themselves. An important feature that marks the Early Buddhist texts are formal characteristics which reflect their origin as orally transmitted literature such as

5893-515: The third century onward, were directly composed in standard Sanskrit. Manuscripts from the northern tradition, especially those of Central Asian provenance, are therefore often in Prakrit (especially Gāndhārī) or some nonstandard form of Sanskrit, sometimes called Buddhist Sanskrit, an intermediate stage between some Prakrit and standard Sanskrit. As noted by Mark Allon there are various reasons why these texts are held to have been transmitted orally by modern scholars. These include internal evidence from

5976-591: The time of Ashoka (304–232 BCE) these were already fixed. These citations include the " Rāhulāvada ", which could refer to the Ambalaṭṭhikā Rāhulovāda Sutta (MN 61) . Some early archeological sites like the Bharhut stupa (most visible material dates from the 1st or 2nd century BCE) contain many details from the EBTs such as: the mention of Buddha Gotama and all five past Buddhas of the EBTs, as well as kings Ajātasatru and Pasenadi. Major events from

6059-538: The time of the reign of Ashoka (304–232 BC), which means that some of the texts carried by the Buddhist missionaries at this time might also have been fixed. According to the Sri Lankan Mahavamsa , the Pali Canon was written down in the reign of King Vattagāmini ( Vaṭṭagāmiṇi ) (1st century BCE) in Sri Lanka , at the Fourth Buddhist council . Most scholars hold that little if anything

6142-556: The time, which may have complicated long-distance trade. As noted by von Hinüber , the omission of any mention of the Mauryas in EBTs such as the Mahāparinibbānasuttanta , in contrast to other later Buddhist texts which do mention them, is also evidence of its pre-Mauryan date: Given the importance of the rise of the Maurya empire even under Candragupta , who is better known for his inclination towards Jainism, one might conjecture that

6225-426: The translations were done very badly. The style of many translations from the Canon has been criticized as "Buddhist Hybrid English" , a term invented by Paul Griffiths for translations from Sanskrit. He describes it as "deplorable", "comprehensible only to the initiate, written by and for Buddhologists". Selections: see List of Pali Canon anthologies . A translation by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi of

6308-428: The use of repetition and rhetorical formulas. Other stylistic features which betray orality include: the use of multiple synonyms, standardized phrases and passages, verse summaries similies, numbered lists and standard framing narratives. These stylistic features are in contrast to later works such as Mahayana sutras , which contain more elaborate and complex narratives, that would be more difficult to memorize. Also,

6391-526: The west Indian precursor of Pali sometime before the Asokan era. Much of the material in the Canon is not specifically Theravādin, but is instead the collection of teachings that this school preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to Peter Harvey , it contains material which is at odds with later Theravādin orthodoxy. He states that "the Theravādins, then, may have added texts to

6474-554: The work of Etienne Lamotte (1988), who commented on their close relationship: However, with the exception of the Mahāyanist interpolations in the Ekottara , which are easily discernable, the variations in question [between the Nikāyas and Āgamas] affect hardly anything save the method of expression or the arrangement of the subjects. The doctrinal basis common to the Nikāyas and Āgamas is remarkably uniform. Preserved and transmitted by

6557-493: Was added to the Canon after this, though Schopen questions this. The climate of Theravāda countries is not conducive to the survival of manuscripts. Apart from brief quotations in inscriptions and a two-page fragment from the eighth or ninth century found in Nepal , the oldest manuscripts known are from late in the fifteenth century, and there is not very much from before the eighteenth. The first complete printed edition of

6640-551: Was affirmed during communal recitations (where there is little room for improvisation), while others argue that they could have been performed in more poetic and improvisational ways ( L.S. Cousins , Rupert Gethin ) through the use of basic lists or formulas. The EBTs also show the influence of Vedic texts , including the adoption of certain Vedic poetic metres, as well as forms of organization (using topic and number). EBTs share similar terminology and ideas with Vedic texts. They also share certain metaphors and imagery with texts like

6723-542: Was extensively redacted about 1,000 years after Buddha's death, in the 5th or 6th century CE. The earliest textual fragments of canonical Pali were found in the Pyu city-states in Burma dating only to the mid 5th to mid 6th century CE. The Pāli Canon falls into three general categories, called pitaka (from Pali piṭaka , meaning "basket", referring to the receptacles in which the palm-leaf manuscripts were kept). Thus,

6806-562: Was initially preserved orally and was later written down on palm leaves during the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BC, approximately 454 years after the death of Gautama Buddha . The claim that the texts were "spoken by the Buddha" is meant in this non-literal sense. The existence of the bhanaka tradition existing until later periods, along with other sources, shows that oral tradition continued to exist side by side with written scriptures for many centuries to come. Thus,

6889-640: Was reinforced by regular communal recitations. The tradition holds that only a few later additions were made. The Theravādin pitakas were first written down in Sri Lanka in the Alu Viharaya Temple no earlier than 29–17 BC. The geographic setting of identifiable texts within the Canon generally corresponds to locations in the Ganges region of northeastern India, including the kingdoms of Kosala , Kasi , Vajji , and Magadha . While Theravada tradition has generally regarded Pali as being synonymous with

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