Sutta Pitaka Information & Sutta Pitaka Links at HealthHaven.com


Sutta- vibhanga	Khandhaka	Pari- vara

Sutta Pitaka


Digha Nikaya	Majjhima Nikaya	Samyutta Nikaya

Anguttara
Nikaya

Khuddaka
Nikaya

Abhidhamma Pitaka


Dhs.	Vbh.	Dhk. Pug.	Kvu.	Yamaka	Patthana

Theravāda

Countries
	Sri Lanka Cambodia • Laos Burma • Thailand
Texts
	Pali Canon Commentaries Subcommentaries
History
	Pre-sectarian Buddhism Early schools • Sthavira Asoka • Third Council Vibhajjavada Mahinda • Sanghamitta Dipavamsa • Mahavamsa Buddhaghosa
Doctrine
	Saṃsāra • Nibbāṇa Middle Way Noble Eightfold Path Four Noble Truths Enlightenment Stages Precepts • Three Jewels
view • talk • edit

The Sutta Pitaka (suttapiṭaka; or Suttanta Pitaka; cf Sanskrit सूत्र पिटक Sūtra Piṭaka) is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the great 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.

[edit] Origins

The scriptures tell how the First Council held shortly after the Buddha's death collected together the discipline (vinaya), and the dhamma in five collections. Tradition holds that little was added to the Canon after this. Scholars are more skeptical, but differ in their degrees of scepticism. Dr Richard Gombrich, Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, former Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University and former President of the Pali Text Society, thinks most of the first four nikayas (see below) go back to the Buddha, in content but not in form.^[1] The late Professor Hirakawa Akira says^[2] that the First Council collected only short prose passages or verses expressing important doctrines, and that these were expanded into full length suttas over the next century.

[edit] Contents

Further information: List of suttas

There are five nikayas (collections) of suttas:

Digha Nikaya (dīghanikāya), the "long" discourses.
Majjhima Nikaya, the "middle-length" discourses.
Samyutta Nikaya (saṃyutta-), the "connected" discourses.
Anguttara Nikaya (aṅguttara-), the "numerical" discourses.
Khuddaka Nikaya, the "minor collection".

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Samyutta Nikaya

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

[edit] Anguttara Nikaya

These teachings are arranged numerically. It includes, according to the commentary's reckoning, 9,557 short suttas grouped by number, from ones to elevens.

[edit] 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.

For more on these editions also see Pali Canon

[edit] Translations

The first four nikayas and more than half of the fifth have been translated by the Pali Text Society [1]. The first three have also been translated in the Teachings of the Buddha series by Wisdom Publications, with a translation of the fourth in preparation.

Selections (including material from at least two nikayas):

Buddhist Suttas, ed & tr T. W. Rhys Davids, Sacred Books of the East, volume XI, Clarendon/Oxford, 1881; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (& ?Dover, New York)
The Word of the Buddha, ed & tr Nyanatiloka, 1935
Early Buddhist Poetry, ed I. B. Horner, Ananda Semage, Colombo, 1963
The Book of Protection, tr Piyadassi, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1981; translation of the paritta
In the Buddha's Words, ed & tr Bodhi, Wisdom Pubns, 2005
Early Buddhist Discourses, ed & tr John J. Holder, 2006
Sayings of the Buddha, ed & tr Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press, 2008

[edit] Notes

^ Theravada Buddhism, 2nd edn, Routledge, London, 2006, pages 20f
^ Hirakawa, History of Indian Buddhism, volume 1, 1974, English translation University of Hawai'i Press, pages 69f

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[2] Access to Insight translations of Pali Suttas in English
Pali Text and English Translations
How old is the Sutta Pitaka? - Alexander Wynne, St John's College, Oxford University, 2003.
Search in English translations of the Sutta Pitaka
Most of the pali canon in pali, sinhala and english http://www.mettanet.net or copy can be found at http://www.sammasambuddha.com/tripitaka

[0] Theravada Buddhism, 2nd edn, Routledge, London, 2006, pages 20f

[1] Hirakawa, History of Indian Buddhism, volume 1, 1974, English translation University of Hawai'i Press, pages 69f

[1]

[2]