Sutta Pitaka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Contents |
[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
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.
- Khuddakapatha
- Dhammapada
- Udana
- Itivuttaka
- Suttanipata
- Vimanavatthu
- Petavatthu
- Theragatha
- Therigatha
- Jataka
- Niddesa
- Patisambhidamagga
- Apadana
- Buddhavamsa
- Cariyapitaka
- Nettipakarana or Netti
- Petakopadesa
- Milinda Panha
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
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
