Pali Canon/Addendum

This addendum will give a detailed account of the Pali Canon.

In the Canon itself we find a number of classifications of the teachings, some of which might be regarded as tables of contents. A very common one is into two, or occasionally three:

• dhamma
• vinaya
• sometimes, mātikā

A quite different one, mainly found in the Aṅguttara:

• sutta
• geyya
• veyyākaraṇa
• gāthā
• udāna
• itivuttaka
• jātaka
• abbhutadhamma
• vedalla

This one seems to be a list of genres rather than a table of contents. The meanings of some of the terms are unclear.

One passage in the Bhikkhunīvibhaṅga has the following:

• suttanta
• vinaya
• abhidhamma

The account of the 1st Council gives the following brief account of the texts recited there:

1. vinaya
2. dhamma in 5 nikāyas (not listed)

In the Parivāra we find two other listings, both in verse:

• vinaya
• 5 nikāyas
• 7 pakaraṇas

3 piṭakas

• suttanta
• abhidhamma
• vinaya

In the Sumaṅgalavilāsinī, Buddhaghosa's commentary on the Dīgha, we get a more detailed account of the texts recited at the 1st Council:

1. Vinaya(-piṭaka)
2. dhamma
   1. Suttanta-piṭaka
      1. Dīgha-nikāya
      2. Majjhima-nikāya
      3. Saṃyutta-nikāya
      4. Aṅguttara-nikāya
   2. Abhidhamma-piṭaka
   3. Khuddakagantha, counted in the Abhidhamma by the Dīgha reciters, but Suttanta by the Majjhima reciters

The Sixth Council recited the texts in the order listed above.

That commentary then goes on to cover various classifications of "the whole Word of the Buddha in three baskets". One of those classifications is into 3 piṭakas:

1. Vinaya-piṭaka
2. Sutta- or Suttanta-piṭaka
   1. Dīgha-nikāya: 34 suttas
   2. Majjhima-nikāya: 152 suttas
   3. Saṃyutta-nikāya: 7762 suttas
   4. Aṅguttara-nikāya: 9557 suttas
   5. Khuddaka-nikāya: 15 books (listed below)
3. Abhidhamma-piṭaka: 7 books (listed below)

Printed editions with verified volume numbering follow this arrangement.

(The term piṭaka appears in early inscriptions, but the earliest known references to three piṭakas are in the Parivāra and other sources of similar age.)

That commentary also gives an arrangement in nikāyas:

1. Dīgha-nikāya
2. Majjhima-nikāya
3. Saṃyutta-nikāya
4. Aṅguttara-nikāya
5. Khuddaka-nikāya
   1. Vinaya-piṭaka
   2. Abhidhamma-piṭaka
   3. 15 books

The Gandhavaṃsa, a bibliography composed in Burma a few centuries ago, arranges the Khuddaka-nikāya differently in the above, with the suttanta parts first, and also arranges the piṭaka list differently, followed in that by the inscriptions approved by the Fifth Council:

1. Vinaya-piṭaka
2. Abhidhamma-piṭaka
3. Sutt(ant)a-piṭaka

Abbreviations

• B: 6th Council (Burma) edition; volume numbers are taken from the imprints pages of the 2008 Latin-script issue at [2] (other editions may have different or no volume numbering)
• C: Buddha Jayanti (Ceylon / Sri Lanka) edition
• E: English/European edition, PTS
• K: Khmer edition
• N: Nalanda Nagari edition
• PTS: Pali Text Society
• S: Siamese edition (in fact a number of Siamese/Thai editions, though not all, seem to have the same volumes, though Citizendium has not been able to verify the numbering)

Vinaya-piṭaka

B1-5; C1-6; K1-13; EN 5 volumes; S 8 volumes.

This division of the Canon is primarily concerned with the rules of monastic discipline, though the stories of the origins of the rules sometimes seem to take on a life of their own.

The above commentarial account of the first council details the Vinaya as follows:

1. 2-fold vibhaṅga
   1. Mahā-vibhaṅga
   2. Bhikkhunī-vibhaṅga
2. Khandhaka
3. Parivāra

In the piṭaka classification above there are the following deatils:

1. both Pātimokkhas
2. 2 vibhaṅgas
3. 22 khandhakas
4. 16 parivāras

The Saddhammasaṅgaha (14th century) has the following divisions:

1. Pārājika
2. Pācittiya
3. Bhikkhunīnaṃ vibhaṃga
4. Mahā-vagga
5. Cūla-vagga
6. Parivāra

The title pages of the various editions usually do not use these exact divisions. Instead, BC divide as

1. Pārājika (B1; C1)
2. Pācittiya (B2; C2)
3. Mahā-vagga (B3; C3-4)
4. Cūḷa- (B4) or Culla- (C5) -vagga
5. Parivāra (B5; C6)

while KS have

1. Mahā-vibhaṅga (K1-4; S 2 volumes)
2. Bhikkhunī-vibhaṅga (K5; S 1 volume)
3. Mahā-vagga (K6-8; S 2 volumes)
4. Culla-vagga (K9-11; S 2 volumes)
5. Parivāra (K12-13; S 1 volume)

In each case 1 and 2 constitute the Suttavibhaṅga, 3 and 4 the Khandhaka. The editor of E chose to interchange these two parts, and N does likewise in its forewords.

The term vinaya is frequent in the early texts, but the earliest appearance of the name Vinaya-piṭaka is in the Parivāra. It is generally agreed among scholars to be older (on average) than the Abhidhamma. According to Professor von Hinüber, tentatively supported by Professor Gethin (President of the PTS), the Vinaya is, on the whole, later than the first four nikāyas of the Sutta-piṭaka. Professor Oberlies has it later than the Sutta-piṭaka as a whole. Hinüber gives an overall date of 3rd century BC, with some earlier and later material. Gombrich dates most before the 2nd Council. Nakamura gives the date 100 AD, which is probably intended as the date of completion, with which other scholars would not significantly disagree.

There is a Tibetan version, the 'Dul-ba (pronounced Dülwa). There are also five Chinese versions, one of which is said to be incomplete.

Bibliography:

• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... The Book of the Discipline (Vinaya-piṭaka), [6 volumes,] translated by I. B. Horner, London [: different publishers], 1938-1966; reprinted with an appendix of translations of previously untranslated passages by Petra Kieffer-Pülz, Pali Text Society; [3] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which remains in copyright)
• Shan-chien-p'i-p'o-sha: a Chinese Version by Saṅghabhadra of Samantapāsādikā, Commentary on Pali Vinaya, translated into English for the first time by P. V. Bapat, in collaboration with A. Hirakawa, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1970
• Discipline: the Canonical Buddhism of the Vinayapiṭaka, John Clifford Holt, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1981
• "Die Gāthās des Vinayapiṭaka und ihre Parallellen", Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 1910
• online translation by Ajahn Brahmali at [4]

There are at least four Pali subcommentaries on the Samantapāsādikā, which is traditionally ascribed to Buddhaghosa.

Suttavibhaṅga

This is a commentary on the Pātimokkha, a text not actually included in printed editions of the Canon as such, though most of it appears embedded in this commentary. (It appears in the Burmese and Sinhalese collected editions of the commentaries.) This consists of a set of rules for monks and nuns. The division into Mahā-vibhaṅga and Bhikkhunī-vibhaṅga follows the division of the Pātimokkha into monks' and nuns' sections. Mahā means great, this division being substantially longer. Bhikkhunī means nun.

Each of these in turn is divided into groups of different types of offences, with the most serious first. The first of these is called Pārājika, and the first in the second volume of BC is called Pācittiya, so the volume titles used in BC are artificial incipit-type titles. The whole of the nuns' division is in the second volume.

The pattern of the commentary on each rule is to start with an introductory story telling how the Buddha came to lay down the rule, and then to follow it with a detailed explanation. Scholars disagree on whether the rules go back to the Buddha himself, but agree that the rest of the material is later. The earliest appearance of the name Suttavibhaṅga is in the Khandhaka's account of the Second Council.

Khandhaka

This is arranged topically in 22 khandhakas. The division into vaggas is common in the Canon. They are usually groups of 10 or so.

Each khandhaka presents rules on a particular topic, embedded in a single narrative framework, explaining as above how the Buddha came to lay down the rules, except for the last two. These give narratives of the first two Buddhist councils.

The earliest reference to this book is in the Parivāra.

Bibliography:

• Sacred Books of the East ... Vinaya Texts, translated from the Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg, 3 volumes, Clarendon, Oxford, 1881-5; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1965 and 1968-9; includes the monks' Patimokkha as well as the Khandhaka

Parivāra

This book mostly abandons the narrative framework, analysing the vinaya in many ways.

It is first mentioned in the Dīpavaṃsa (4th century AD). It includes a long list of Vinaya teachers in Ceylon, starting from the introduction of Buddhism there around 250 BC, so even fundamentalists accept that, in its present form at least, it must be late. Unlike the other two parts, there is little in Chinese or Tibetan corresponding to this. Scholars tend to give dates around the first century AD. BE have a set of verses at the end that seem to name the author as Dīpa or Dīpanāma. The commentaries say this text was recited at the First Council, shortly after the Buddha's death; the subcommentaries add that the list of Vinaya teachers was added by the Fourth Council in the last century BC.

Sutta- or Suttanta-piṭaka

B6-28; C7-40; K14-77; S 25 volumes

Sutta- is used by Western scholars and the forewords in N. BCKS have Suttanta- on their title pages.

Suttas as a genre are frequently mentioned in the early texts, but the earliest mention of a Sutt(ant)a-piṭaka is in the Parivāra.

This is divided into five as listed above. The first four are fairly similar collections, mainly prose, with a narrative framework similar in style to those in the Vinaya above.

Early inscriptions and the Khandhaka's account of the First Council mention five nikāyas, but the first explicit listing is in the commentaries (5th century AD).

On the relation between the first four nikāyas and unspecified early verse books in the Khuddaka-nikāya, on the one hand, and the original teaching of the Buddha, on the other, Professor Lambert Schmithausen, followed by other scholars, identified three different approaches among scholars.

• The first of these argues that at least large parts of these texts show such coherence they must represent in substance the work of a single mind, that of the Buddha himself.
• The second argues that there is very little hard evidence so very little can be known.
• The third avoids such generalizations and concentrates on detailed examination of particular points.

In terms of dates, there are three main positions held by scholars:

• Most Buddhist and some others say these texts were essentially completed shortly after the Buddha's death
• Many hold they were similar to their present versions by about the 3rd century BC
• Others say substantial additions continued after this, perhaps for a long time

Professor Warder considers that each of the five was expanded over time by the addition of new suttas, and that the order of authenticity is the canonical order. That is, he considers the Dīgha has the least later material. The late Professor Hirakawa, in contrast, held that suttas started short, as in the Saṃyutta and Aṅguttara, and were later expanded and combined. L. S. Cousins, meanwhile, pictures early suttas as improvised within a pattern of teaching and only gradually becoming fixed, that process starting perhaps at the 2nd Council and continuing till the texts were written down ([5]).

Bibliography:

• The Comparative Catalogue of Chinese Āgamas and Pāli Nikāyas, Akanuma Chizen, Hajinkaku shobō, Nagoya, Japan, 1929; reprinted Sankinbō Busshorin, 1958, and Sri Satguru, Delhi, 1990

The first four nikayas and much of the fifth have been translated by the Pali Text Society, and the first four in the Teachings of the Buddha series by Wisdom Publications; for details see separate headings below. Translations of the first four by Sujāto are now available at [6].

Selections from all five nikayas:

• The Word of the Buddha: an Outline of the Teachings of the Buddha in the Words of the Pali Canon, compiled, translated, and explained by Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Ceylon, 1935
• The Book of Protection: Pirit Potha, translated from the original Pali with introductory essay and explanatory notes, Piyadassi Thera, Colombo, 1975; reprinted Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1981; translation of paritta
• Wings to Awakening: an Anthology from the Pali Canon, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, 6th revised edition, 2011: [7]

Selections from the first four nikayas:

• Teachings of the Buddha: In the Buddha's Words: an Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, edited and introduced by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, Somerville, Mass., 2005: [8]
• Early Buddhist Discourses, edited, with translations, by John J. Holder, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., Indianapolis/Cambridge, 2006
• Basic Teachings of the Buddha: a New Translation and Compilation, with a Guide to Reading the Texts, by Glenn Wallis, Modern Library, New York, 2007
• Sayings of the Buddha: a Selection of Suttas from the Pali Nikāyas, translated with an introduction and notes by Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press, 2008

Selections from the first three nikayas:

• Sacred Books of the East, volume XI: Buddhist Suttas, translated from Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1881; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, & Dover, New York

No information:

• The Buddha's Path to Deliverance: a Systematic Exposition in the Words of the Sutta Pitaka, ed. & tr. Nyanatiloka Thera, 1952, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka
• The Teachings of the Buddha: The Buddha's Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony: an Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, edited and revised by Bhikkhu Bodhi; foreword by the Dalai Lama; Wisdom Publications [2016?]
• Buddhist Suttas for Recitation: a Companion for Walking the Buddha's Path, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana; foreword by Bhikkhu Bodhi; Wisdom Publications, forthcoming: [9]

Dīgha-nikāya

B6-8; C7-9; K14-19; ENS 3 volumes

Consists of 34 "long" (dīgha) discourses (BCNS sutta; E has suttanta for some). This length classification is not precise: the shortest of these are shorter than the longest below, and so on.

It is first mentioned in the Milindapañha.

Bibliography:

• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... Dialogues of the Buddha, [3 volumes,] translated from the Pali of the Dīgha nikāya by T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids, London ... Oxford University Press ... 1899-1921; reprinted Pali Text Society [10]: vol 1; vols 2 & 3
• Thus Have I Heard: the Long Discourses of the Buddha: Dīgha nikāya, translated from the Pali by Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, London, 1987
  • reprinted as Teachings of the Buddha: The Long Discourses of the Buddha: a Translation of the Dīgha nikāya, translated from the Pali by Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, Boston [Mass.], 1995 (ISBN 0-86171-103-3)
• The Buddha's Philosophy of Man: Early Indian Buddhist Dialogues, arranged and edited by Trevor Ling, Everyman, London, 1981; 10 suttas revised from the Rhys Davids translation: 2, 4, 5, 9, 12, 16, 22, 26, 27, 31
• Ten Suttas from Dīgha Nikāya: Long Discourses of the Buddha, Burma Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1984; reprinted Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath [India], 1987; 1, 2, 9, 15, 16, 22, 26, 28-9, 31
• The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Digha nikaya), Fr P. Anatriello; a study, not a translation; reviewed in Buddhist Studies Review, 7.1-2, page 109
• [11]
• another translation in 3 volumes is available online: volume 1; volume 2; volume 3

There is a traditional commentary, Sumaṅgalavilāsinī by Buddhaghosa (5th century AD according to most scholars). This in turn has a subcommentary, attributed to Dhammapāla (10th century?).

The Chinese version comprises 30 discourses, most of which are variants of ones included in the Pali, but in a different order.

Majjhima-nikāya

B9-11; C10-12; K20-28; ENS 3 volumes

152 medium-length (majjhima) discourses.

It is first mentioned in the Peṭakopadesa and Milindapañha.

Bibliography:

• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... Further Dialogues of the Buddha, [2 volumes,] translated from the Pali of the Majjhima nikāya by Lord Chalmers, London ... Oxford University Press ... 1926, 1927; available from Books on Demand, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Collection of the Middle Length Sayings (Majjhima-nikāya), [3 volumes,] translated from the Pali by I.B. Horner, published for the Pali Text Society by Luzac, London, 1954-1959
• The Discourses of Gotama Buddha: Middle Collection: a New Translation in an Abridged Form of the Majjhima-nikāya Taken from the Pali Text Society Edition, 1888–1902, translated by David W. Evans, Janus Publications, London, 1991
• Teachings of the Buddha: The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: a Translation of the Majjhima nikāya, translated from the Pali: original translation by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli; translation edited and revised by Bhikkhu Bodhi; Wisdom Publications, Boston [Mass.], in association with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, 1995; [2nd edition], Somerville [Mass.]: ISBN 0-86171-072-X. The Pali Text Society also issues its own edition of this, which is its preferred translation. review
• another translation in 3 volumes is available online: volume 1; volume 2; volume 3
• The Chinese Madhyama āgama and the Pāli Majjhima nikāya: a Comparative Study, Bhikṣu Thich Minh Chau, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 2009

Commentary: Papañcasūdanī by Buddhaghosa. Subcommentary attributed to Dhammapāla.

The Chinese version comprises 222 discourses, of which nearly 100 are variants of some in the Pali. Some of the other discourses in the Chinese are variants of texts found elsewhere in the Pali Canon, and vice versa.

Saṃyutta-nikāya

B12-14; C13-17; K29-39; ES 5 volumes; N 4 volumes

This book consists of discourses grouped together by topic, person or whatever. The correct number of such saṃyuttas seems to be 56 as in BEN. There are some anomalies in the headings of CS.

Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is unclear. The editor of the Pali Text Society edition of the text made it 2889, Bodhi in his translation has 2904, while the commentaries give 7762. A study by Dr Rupert Gethin gives the totals for the Burmese and Sinhalese editions as 2854 and 7656, respectively, and his own calculation as 6696; he also says the total in the Thai edition is unclear.

It is first explicitly mentioned in the Milindapañha, with the shorter form Saṃyutta appearing in the Peṭakopadesa.

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Book of the Kindred Sayings (Saŋyutta-nikāya), or Grouped Suttas, [5 volumes,] translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids [and] F. L. Woodward, London: published for the Pali Text Society[12] by the Oxford University Press, 1917-1930
• Teachings of the Buddha: The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: a New Translation of the Saṃyutta nikāya, translated from the Pāli by Bhikkhu Bodhi, [2 volumes, later reprinted as 1,] Wisdom Publications, Boston [Mass.], 2000, ISBN 0-86171-331-1; the Pali Text Society also issues its own edition of this, which is its preferred translation
• another translation in 5 volumes is available online: volume 1; volume 2; volume 3; volume 4; volume 5
• "What's in a repetition? On counting the suttas of the Saṃyutta-nikāya" R.M.L. Gethin, Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume XXIX

Commentary: Sāratthappakāsinī by Buddhaghosa. Subcommentary attributed to Dhammapāla.

There is a Chinese version (and also part of another).

Aṅguttara-nikāya

B15-17; C18-23; K40-51; ES 5 volumes; N 4 volumes

This book comprises thousands of short discourses, like the previous one, but this time arranged numerically, by the numbers of items listed, from 1 to 11. The commentaries give a figure of 9557 suttas, E about 2344, while Bodhi makes it 8122.

It is first explicitly mentioned in the commentaries, but the alternative name Ekuttara-nikāya appears in the Milindapañha, with the shorter form Aṅguttara appearing in the Peṭakopadesa.

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Book of the Gradual Sayings (Anguttara-nikāya), or More-Numbered Suttas, [5 volumes,] translated by F. L. Woodward [and] E. M. Hare, published for the Pali Text Society[13] by the Oxford University Press, 1932-1936
• Teachings of the Buddha: The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: a Translation of the Aṅguttara nikāya, translated from the Pāli by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, Boston [Mass.], 2012; the Pali Text Society issues its own edition of this translation, which is its preferred version
• "Where's that sutta? A subject index to the Aṅguttara-nikāya", Phra Khantipalo, Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume X (1985)

Commentary: Manorathapūraṇī. Only part of the "old" subcommentary attributed to Dhammapäla is known to have survived, it having been superseded by the "new" one, Sāratthamañjūsā by Sāriputta (12th century).

There is a Chinese version. The majority of material differs between the two, but again some is found elsewhere in the respective canons.

Khuddaka-nikāya

B18-28; C24-40; K52-77; S 9 volumes

The contents of this collection vary between editions. B has the following:

1. Khuddakapāṭha
2. Dhammapada
3. Udāna
4. Itivuttaka
5. Suttanipāta
6. Vimānavatthu
7. Petavatthu
8. Theragāthā
9. Therīgāthā
10. Apadāna
11. Buddhavaṃsa
12. Cariyāpiṭaka
13. Jātaka
14. Niddesa
15. Paṭisambhidāmagga
16. Nettippakaraṇa
17. Peṭakopadesa
18. Milindapañha

C has 1-9, 13-15, 10-12, 16-17; K has 1-9, 13-15, 10-12, as do ENS, though the order of texts is not given on the title pages of those three. The first Siamese edition, which has no volume numbering, has only 1-5, 11, 12. Other sources have further variations. In particular, two other works are sometimes included: most Burmese manuscripts include the Suttasaṅgaha; and at least two secondary sources include the Anāgatavaṃsa: Upatissa (10th century: [14]) and Sumaṅgala's Milindapraśnaya (also known as Saddharmādāsaya; 1777/8.) It is first explicitly mentioned in the commentaries, but the Milindapañha mentions Khuddaka reciters.

Bibliography:

• A Textual and Historical Analysis of the Khuddaka Nikāya, Oliver Abeynayake, Colombo, 1984

Translations of more than one book:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... Psalms of the Early Buddhists, by Mrs. Rhys Davids, [2 volumes reprinted as 1,] published for the Pali Text Society ... 1909, 1913 (9, 8)
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, [4 volumes,] London [: different publishers], 1931-1942; Pali Text Society, new edition (2, 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 6, 7): volume I (out of copyright) is available online at [15]
• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Elders' Verses, [2 volumes,] translated with ... introduction[s] and notes by K. R. Norman, London: published for the Pali Text Society by Luzac, 1969, 1971 (8, 9)

Khuddakapāṭha

In B18, C24, K52

This consists of 9 short texts in prose or verse.

Professor Norman tentatively argues this is the latest text in this nikaya. Its first apparent mention is in the 5th-century commentaries, but a Chinese translation of one of them made in 489 omits it, so it may be a later interpolation.

Bibliography:

• "Khuddaka Páṭha, a Páli text, with a translation and notes" by R. C. Childers, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, volume IV (1869), pages 309-339
• "The short sectiion", in Some Sayings of the Buddha According to the Pali Canon, translated by F. L. Woodward, Oxford World Classics, 1924
• "Khuddakapāṭha: the text of the minor sayings", re-edited and translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part I, 1931; out of print (also out of copyright)
• The Minor Readings (Khuddakapāṭha), the First Book of the Minor Collection (Khuddakanikāya) [and] The Illustrator of Ultimate Meaning (Paramatthajotikā), Commentary on the Minor Readings, by Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa, translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, London: published for the Pali Text Society by Luzac, 1960; though the translator accepts the traditional ascription of the commentary to Buddhaghosa, probably most scholars do not; [16] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright)
• In Handful of Leaves (Vol. 4), tr Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, Santa Cruz, 2003

Dhammapada

In B18, C24, K52

423 verses in 26 chapters.

Traditionally ascribed to the Buddha. Professor Warder, on the basis of metrical analysis, gives an average date of early 3rd century BC. Some scholars place it earlier. It is first mentioned in the Milindapañha.

Selected bibliography (there are dozens of English translations):

• the first English translation (a Latin translation by V. Fausbøll had appeared in 1855) is by F. Max Müller, republished a number of times:
  • in Buddhaghosha's Parables, translated from Burmese by Captain T. Rogers ... With an introduction, containing Buddha's Dhammapada, or "Path of Virtue", translated from Pāli by F. Max Müller, London: Trübner, 1870; [17]
  • in The Sacred Books of the East, volume X, Part I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1881: The Dhammapada: a Collection of Verses: Being One of the Canonical Books of the Buddhists, translated from Pâli by F. Max Müller[18]
  • in Buddhism: a Religion of Infinite Compassion: Selections from Buddhist Literature, edited with an introduction and notes by Clarence H. Hamilton;
  • separately by Watkins, 2006;
  • reprinted 2008 by Red and Black Publishers, St Petersburg, Florida, ISBN 978-1-934941-03-4;
  • revised Jack Maguire, SkyLight Pubns, Woodstock, Vermont, 2002
• "Dhammapada: verses on Dhamma", re-edited and translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part I, 1931; verse translation; out of print (also out of copyright)
• The Dhammapada, translated with notes by Nārada Thera, John Murray, London, [1954]; a traditional Theravada version
• Tr Buddharakkhita, Maha Bodhi Society, Bangalore, 1959; 4th edn, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1996; includes Pali text; another traditional one
• The Word of the Doctrine (Dhammapada), translated with an introduction and notes by K. R. Norman, Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1997
• Harvard Oriental Series: Buddhist Legends, translated from the original Pali text of the Dhammapada commentary by Eugene Watson Burlingame, [3 volumes,] 1921; reprinted Pali Text Society; transcript at [19]
• The Dhammapada: a New English Translation with the Pali Text and the First English Translation of the Commentary's Explanation of the Verses, with Notes Translated from Sinhala Sources and Critical Textual Comments, by John Ross Carter and Mahinda Palihawadana, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York, 1987
• The Path of Wisdom: a Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada, by Leo D. Lefebure and Peter Feldmeier, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan / Peeters, Leuven [Louvain, Belgium], 2011
• "On translating the Dhammapada", K. R. Norman, Buddhist Studies Review, 6.2, pages 153-65; reprinted in his Collected Papers, volume IV, Pali Text Society, pages 72-9

There are versions in Chinese and Tibetan, and manuscripts, not always complete, in other Indian languages. There are substantial differences between versions, though they are recognizably variants of the "same" book.

Udāna

In B18, C24, K52

Consists of 80 narratives in sutta style leading up to the udānas proper, short passages nearly all in verse.

A genre by this name is mentioned in the early texts, but the first clear reference to it as a book is in the commentaries.

Bibliography:

• The Udāna, or, the Solemn Utterances of the Buddha, translated from the Pali by Major General D. M. Strong, London: Luzac ... 1902; [20]
• "Udāna: verses of uplift", translated by F. L. Woodward, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part II, 1935
• The Udāna: Inspired Utterances of the Buddha, translated from the Pāli by John D. Ireland, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1990; later reprinted in 1 volume with his translation of the Itivuttaka
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... The Udāna, translated from the Pāli by Peter Masefield, the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1994; the PTS's preferred translation; its declared aim is to translate in accordance with the commentary's interpretation; later reprinted in 1 volume with his translation of the Itivuttaka
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... The Udāna Commentary (Paramatthadīpanī nāma Udānaṭṭhakathā), by Dhammapāla, translated from the Pāli by Peter Masefield, [2 volumes,] published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1994, 1995
• [21]

Itivuttaka

In B18, C24; K53

Consists of 112 pieces, each consisting of prose followed by verse. In some, the verse is just a paraphrase of the prose; in others it complements it. The framing formulae ascribe the text to the Buddha. They are arranged numerically, from ones to fours. (There is a Chinese version, which has no fours.)

A genre by this name is mentioned in the early texts, but the first clear reference to it as a book is in the commentaries.

Bibliography:

• "A Chinese Collection of Itivuttakas", K. Watanabe, Journal of the Pali Text Society, 1906-7, pages 44-9
• Sayings of Buddha: the Iti-vuttaka: a Pali Work of the Buddhist Canon, for the first time translated, with an introduction and notes, by Justin Hartley Moore, New York: the Columbia University Press, 1908
• "Itivuttaka: as it was said", translated by F. L. Woodward, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part II, 1935
• Tr John D. Ireland, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1991; later reprinted in 1 volume with his translation of the Udana
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... The Itivuttaka, translated by Peter Masefield, published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 2000; the PTS's preferred translation; its declared aim is to translate in accordance with the commentary's interpretation; later reprinted in 1 volume with his translation of the Udana
• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Commentary on the Itivuttaka: the Itivuttaka-aṭṭhakathā (Paramatthadīpanī II) of Dhammapāla, translated by Peter Masefield, [2 volumes,] Pali Text Society, Oxford, 2008, 2009
• Itivuttakapāḷi: Book of This Was Said: a Contemporary Translation, Anāgārika Mahendra, Dhamma Publishers, 2018, ebook: [22]

Suttanipāta

In B18; C25; K54

This book is divided into five sections. The first four comprise 54 suttas. The last is one long text in 16 sections plus introduction and conclusion. It is basically a poetic book, though some of the suttas embed the verse in a prose narrative framework.

Some scholars consider this the oldest of all Buddhist scriptures. Others put it on a par with the first four nikāyas. It is first mentioned in the Milindapañha.

Bibliography:

• in The Sacred Books of the East, volume X, Part II, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1881: The Sutta-nipāta: a Collection of Discourses; Being One of the Canonical Books of the Buddhists, translated from Pali by V. Fausbøll; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (?and by Dover, New York); separately reprinted as The Discourses of Lord Buddha, Lotus Press, Delhi, 2010; [23]
• Harvard Oriental Series ... Buddha's Teachings: Being the Sutta-nipāta or Discourse-Collection, edited in the original Pali text, with an English translation facing it by Lord Chalmers, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press / London ... Oxford University Press, 1932
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... Woven Cadences of Early Buddhists, translated by E. M. Hare, London ... Oxford University Press, 1947; reprint or revision of 1944 edition published in Ceylon; out of print
• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Group of Discourses (Sutta-nipāta), volume I, translated by K. R. Norman, with alternative translations by I. B. Horner and Walpola Rahula, published by the Pali Text Society, London, 1984
  • reprinted in paperback under the title The Rhinoceros Horn and Other Early Buddhist Poems
  • volume II, revised as Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Group of Discourses (Sutta-nipāta), second edition, translated with introduction and notes by K. R. Norman, published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 2001
• The Sutta-nipāta, translated by H. Saddhatissa, Curzon Press ... 1985 ... London [/Humanities Press, New York]
• Suttanipāta: Pali text, with translation into English and notes by N. A. Jayawickrama, University of Kelaniya, 2001
• The Suttanipata: an Ancient Collection of the Buddha's Discourses Together with Its Commentaries—Paramatthajotikā II and Excerpts from the Niddesa—translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications / Pali Text Society, 2017
• another translation
• "Sutta-nipāta in Chinese", M. Anesaki, Journal of the Pali Text Society, 1906-7, pages 50f
• "The Sutta nipāta in a Sanskrit version from Eastern Turkestan", A. F. R. Hoernle, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1916, pages 709-32
• "The analysis of the Sutta-nipāta", N. A. Jayawickrama, in instalments, University of Ceylon Review, 1948-50
• The Pādas of the Suttanipāta: with Parallels from the Āyāraṅga, Sūyagaḍa, Uttarajjhāyā, Dasaveyāliya and Isibhāsiyāiṃ, edited by Willem B. Bollée, Wezler, Reinbek, 1980
• "Notes on the Sutta-nipāta", K. R. Norman, Sri Lanka Journal of Buddhist Studies, volume I, pages 100-116; reprinted in his Collected Papers, volume III, Pali Text Society, pages 137-56
• "Die Suttanipāta-gāthās und ihren Parallelen", R. Otto Franke, in instalments, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 63, 64, 66

There is a commentary, traditionally called Paramatthajotikā and ascribed to Buddhaghosa, neither of these being accepted by modern scholarship. A manuscript fragment of the lost subcommentary on this has been found.

Vimānavatthu

In B19; C26; K55

This book consists of 85 poems. Typically, someone, most often the Buddha's disciple Moggallāna, addresses a deity, describing their "mansion" (vimāna), and asking what meritorious deed it is the reward of, and the deity replies.

Professor Warder says the contents are all later than 200 BC and the average date may be as much as a century later. It is first mentioned in the commentaries.

Bibliography:

• "Stories of the mansions", tr Jean Kennedy, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, volume IV, 1st edn, 1942
• ? Kennedy mentions an ongoing translation in instalments by P. Vajiranana and B. L. Broughton appearing in the Maha-Bodhi Journal; it is not clear from this reference whether the translation was ever completed
• "Vimānavatthu: stories of the mansions", new translation of the verses and commentarial excerpts by I. B. Horner, assisted by N. A. Jayawickrama, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part IV, [2nd edn,] 1974, Pali Text Society[24]
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... Elucidation of the Intrinsic Meaning, So Named: the Commentary on the Vimāna Stories (Paramattha-dīpanī nāma Vimānavatthu-aṭṭhakathā), translated by Peter Masefield assisted by N. A. Jayawickrama, Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1989; the commentary is by Dhammapāla

Petavatthu

In B19, K56; C27

This book is the obverse of the preceding one. It consists of 51 poems. In this case a ghost (peta) is addressed, their sufferings are described, and the explanation is in terms of demeritorious deeds, most often meanness in donations to the monks. It gives prominence to the doctrine that giving alms to monks may benefit the ghosts of one's relatives.

Date as the preceding book. It is first mentioned in the commentaries.

Bibliography:

• "Petavatthu: Stories of the departed", translated by H. S. Gehman, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part IV, 1942
• Translation of the Pali Commentaries in Celebration of the Centenary of the Pali Text Society 1881-1981 ... Elucidation of the Intrinsic Meaning, So Named: the Commentary on the Peta-Stories (Paramatthadīpanī nāma Petavatthu-aṭṭhakathā), translated by U Ba Kyaw, edited and annotated by Peter Masefield, published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1980; another commentary by Dhammapāla

Theragāthā

In B19, K56-7; C28

Consists of 264 poems, in roughly increasing order of length. They are ascribed to various monks, most personal disciples of the Buddha. Warder gives an average date of 4th century BC. It is first mentioned in the commentaries.

Bibliography:

• Psalms of the Early Buddhists II: Psalms of the Brethren: [25]
• The Elders' Verses I: Theragāthā; the PTS's preferred translation
  • also available in paperback as Poems of Early Buddhist Monks, without the translator's notes

Therīgāthā

In B19, K57; C29

Corresponding work for nuns; 73 poems. Warder gives an average date of 4th century BC. Collins says nearly all dates to the Buddha's lifetime or shortly after.It is first mentioned in the commentaries.

Bibliography:

• Psalms of the Early Buddhists I: Psalms of the Sisters; verse translation, together with some stories from the commentary; online at [26]
• The Elders' Verses II: Therīgāthā
• Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns, the two translations reprinted in one paperback volume without Mr Norman's notes, but including extracts from the commentary translated by Mrs Rhys Davids.
• Therīgāthā: Poems of the First Buddhist Women, translated by Charles Hallisey, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts / London, England, 2015; includes Pali text on facing pages
• The Commentary on the Verses of the Therīs (Therīgāthā-aṭṭhakathā Paramatthadīpanī VI) by Ācariya Dhammapāla, translated by William Pruitt, published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1998

Jātaka

B22-23; C30-32; K58-63; E 6 volumes (including commentary); N 1 volume in 2; S 2 volumes

This book comprises 547 poems, one of which also includes a substantial amount of prose. They are arranged roughly in increasing order of length. They are often more or less unintelligible through lack of context. The Niddesa says the Buddha taught them with reference to the past of himself and others. The traditional commentary gives stories of the Buddha's previous lives, providing a context, not necessarily correct. The translation includes these stories, but does not always clearly distinguish Canon and commentary.

Warder, on the basis of metrical analysis, said that this book has roughly the same time distribution as the Canon as a whole. In a later publication, gives an average date of 4th century BC. Later again, he says mostly 4th century. Oberlies, on linguistic grounds, places this book in the oldest stratum.

A genre of this name is mentioned in the early texts.

Bibliography:

• The Jātaka, or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births. Translated from the Pāli by various hands under the editorship of Professor E. B. Cowell, [7 volumes, including index volume,] Cambridge University Press, 1895-1907; reprinted in three volumes, Pali Text Society; [27]
• A Concordance of Buddhist Birth Stories, Leslie Grey, Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1990
  • supplement in Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume XXIV
• Entstehung und Aufbau der Jätaka-Sammlung, von Oskar von Hinüber, Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur / Stuttgart: F. Steiner, c. 1998
• "Les Jātakas", Léon Feer, Journal Asiatique (1875)
• "The Jātakas and Sanskrit grammarians", by Professor F. Kielhorn, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, new series, volume XXX (1898), pages 17-21
• "Canonical Jātaka tales in comparative perspective – the evolution of tales of the Buddha's past lives", Bhikkhu Anālayo, Fuyan Buddhist Studies, No. 7, pp. 75-100 (2012): [28]

Niddesa

B24-25; C33-34; K64-8; E 3 volumes reprinted in 2; N 1 volume in 2; S 2 volumes.

Although this is usually described as a single book in secondary sources, even traditional ones, the actual title pages generally have no such heading, instead treating it as 2 books, Mahā- and Cūḷa- (BS) or Culla- (CE) -niddesa.

This book is a commentary on parts of the Suttanipāta.

Tradition ascribes this book to the Buddha's disciple Sāriputta. Scholars do not accept this. Some date it around 250 BC, others to the 2nd century AD. It is first mentioned in the Peṭakopadesa.

There is a traditional commentary, Saddhammappajjotikā by Upasena.

Bibliography:

• The Suttanipata: an Ancient Collection of the Buddha's Discourses Together with Its Commentaries—Paramatthajotikā II and Excerpts from the Niddesa—translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications / Pali Text Society, 2017
• English translation by Zac Anger, 2021

Paṭisambhidāmagga

B26; C35; K69-71; E 2 volumes reprinted in 1; NS 1 volume

Consists of 30 treatises.

Again traditionally ascribed to Sāriputta. A wide range of dates have been suggested by scholars. It is first mentioned in the Dīpavaṃsa.

Bibliography:

• The Path of Discrimination (Paṭisambhidāmagga), translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, with an introduction by A. K. Warder, published by the Pali Text Society, London, 1982; [29] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright)

There is a traditional commentary, Saddhammappakāsinī, by Mahānāma

Apadāna

C36-37; K72-6; in B20-21

Consists of 603 (BCN), 592 (S) or 589 (E) poems. Typically, each is told by a monk or nun, and tells how they performed some meritorious act in a distant past life, and as a result experienced favourable rebirths and eventually attained nirvana. The meritorious deeds are mostly devotional in nature, but sometimes moral.

Generally recognized by scholars as one of the latest books of the Canon; Warder says all later than 200 BC, average date may be as much as a century later. It is first mentioned in the commentaries.

Bibliography:

• "Les Apadāna du Sud", Éd. Müller-Hess, Actes de dixième Congrès International des Orientalistes, Brill, 1897, pages 165-73
• "The Apadāna of the Khuddaka Nikāya" (review), L. D. Barnett, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume 58 (2), pages 340-42
• "Studies in the Apadāna", B. C. Law, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume 13 (1937), pages 23-35
• "Buddhakhetta in the Apadāna", D. L. Barua, in B. C. Law Volume, Part II, ed D. R. Bhandarkar et al., Poona, 1946, pages 183-90
• "Grammatisches aus dem Apadānabuch", Heinz Bechert, Zeitschrift der deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, volume 108, pages 308-16
• "Über das Apadānabuch", Heinz Bechert, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Süd- und Ostasiens, Band II, 1958, pages 1-21
• "A critical edition, with translation, of selected portions of the Pāli Apadāna", Sally Mellick, PhD thesis, University of Oxford, 1993
• "The Pāli Apadāna collection", Sally Mellick Cutler, Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume XX (1994), pages 1-42
• Visuddhajanavilāsini, or, the Commentary to the Apadāna, Part II: English translation, Daya Gunasekara, Buddhist Cultural Centre, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka, 2011
• "Nibbāna as the fruit of meritorious deeds in the Apadāna", in Asian Horizons, Monash University Publishing, Melbourne, 2015
• "A sudy of the Apadāna, including an edition and annotated translation of the second, third and fourth chapters", Chris Clark, PhD thesis, University of Sidney, 2015
• Legends of the Buddhist Saints: Apadānapāli, Translated by Jonathan S. Walters, Whitman College, 2017
• The Commentary on the Verses of the Therīs (Therīgāthā-aṭṭhakathā Paramatthadīpanī VI) by Ācariya Dhammapāla, translated by William Pruitt, published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1998; quotes 25 apadanas in full

There seems to be no printed English translation.

Buddhavaṃsa

In B21, C38, K77

Another verse book, in which the Buddha tells of previous Buddhas and the acts of merit he performed in previous lives towards them.

Professor Warder says this is later than the Apadāna, Professor von Hinüber the reverse. It is first mentioned in the Milindapañha.

Bibliography:

• "Buddhavaṃsa: the lineage of the Buddhas", translated by Bimala Churn Law, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part III, [1st edition,] 1938
• The Genealogy of the Buddhas, tr M. V. Takin, Bombay University Publications, 1969
• "Chronicle of Buddhas (Buddhavaṃsa)", translated by I. B. Horner, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, Part III, new edition, 1975, Pali Text Society
• Translations of the Pali commentaries in celebration of the centenary of the Pali Text Society ... The Clarifier of Sweet Meaning (Madhuratthavilāsinī), by Buddhadatta Thera, translated by I. B. Horner, Pali Text Society, London, 1978

Cariyāpiṭaka

In B21, C38, K77

Verse book in which the Buddha tells of his practice of the perfections in previous lives.

Warder dates this as later than the Apadāna. It is first mentioned in the Milindapañha.

There is a traditional commentary by Dhammapāla.

Bibliography:

• "Cariyāpiṭaka: The collection of the ways of conduct", translated by Bimala Churn Law, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, part III, [1st edition,] 1938
• "Basket of conduct (Cariyāpiṭaka)", translated by I. B. Horner, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, Part III, new edition, 1975, Pali Text Society

Nettippakaraṇa or Netti

C39; in B27; also in the Phayre manuscript (1841/2), and in the inscriptions approved by the Fifth Council (1871)

The title is Netti in B, Nettippakaraṇa in C, Nettipakaraṇa in the PTS edition (which is not included in its set of the Canon).

This book deals with methods of interpretation.

The Netti itself says that the methods were taught by the Buddha's disciple Kaccāna (also Kaccāyana), and the colophon says he composed the book, that it was approved by the Buddha and that it was recited at the First Council. Scholars do not take this literally, but the translator admits the methods may go back to him. Suggested dates range from 2nd century BC to around the Christian era. It is first mentioned in the commentaries, but the earliest source so far discovered that regards it as canonical is Ñāṇābhivaṃsa's Sādhu(jana)vilāsinī, c. 1800.

There are at least three commentaries, and subcommentaries on at least two.

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Guide (Netti-ppakaraṇaṃ), according to Kaccāna Thera, translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, London: published for the Pali Text Society by Luzac, 1962: [30] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright)
• Introduction to Nettipakaraṇa - The Guide - Venerable Sayadaw dr. [sic] Nandamālābhivaṃsa ... 2018 ... Published by the Dhammasahāya Sāsana Centre - Institute for Dhamma Education (IDE), Aung Chan Thar, Pyin-Oo-Lwwin, Myanmar; [31]

Peṭakopadesa

C40; in B27; also in the inscriptions approved by the Fifth Council (1871)

A similar work to the preceding, with a lot of overlap. The chapter colophons ascribe it to Kaccāna. Scholars disagree on which came first. It is first clearly mentioned in Dhammapāla's commentary on the Netti, which also uses the short form Peṭaka. The latter also appears in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga (5th century), but it is not clear whether this refers to the same work. The earliest source so far discovered that regards it as canonical is Ñāṇābhivaṃsa's Sādhu(jana)vilāsinī, c. 1800.

A version of one chapter was translated into Chinese in the 2nd century AD.

A Pali commentary was written in the 20th century. (A reference in a traditional bibliography to an earlier commentary is thought to be a mistake.)

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Piṭaka-Disclosure (Peṭakopadesa), according to Kaccāna Thera, translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, London: published for the Pali Text Society by Luzac, 1964
• Stefano Zacchetti, "An early Chinese translation corresponding to Chapter 6 of the Peṭakopadesa: An Shigao's Yin chi ru jing T603 and its Indian original: a preliminary survey", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 65.1 (2002), pages 74ff

Milindapañha

B28; also in the inscriptions approved by the Fifth Council (1871)

A dialogue between King Menander of Bactria (2nd century BC) and a Buddhist monk called Nāgasena.

According to Hinüber, the later parts of this book were complete by the 5th century AD. It is first mentioned in the commentaries. The earliest source so far discovered that includes it in the Canon is the inscriptions of the latter produced at Mandalay in the 1860s.

There are two Chinese versions of the earlier parts.

There are a short mediaeval commentary and a fuller 20th-century one.

Bibliography:

• Sacred Books of the East ... Questions of King Milinda, translated from the Pali by T. W. Rhys Davids, [2 volumes,] Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890, 1894; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (?& Dover, New York); [32]
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... Milinda's Questions, translated from the Pali by I. B. Horner ... [2 volumes,] London: Luzac, 1963, 1964
• The Milinda-Questions: an Inquiry into Its Place in the History of Buddhism with a Theory As to Its Author, by Mrs. Rhys Davids, London: Routledge, 1930
• another translation

Abhidhamma-piṭaka

B29-40; C41-52; K78-110; N 13 volumes; S 12 volumes

Consists of seven books. BKN have them in the following order:

1. Dhammasaṅgaṇi
2. Vibhaṅga
3. Dhātukathā
4. Puggalapaññatti
5. Kathāvatthu
6. Yamaka
7. Paṭṭhāna

C has 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, 6, 7.

Abhidhamma has been variously described as philosophy, psychology, metaphysics etc. L. S. Cousins says that the abhidhamma methodology looks at things in terms of occasions or events instead of sequences or processes.

The Parivāra says the Buddha taught this, but scholars agree these texts are late, giving various dates from 4th century BC to 2nd AD. However, some say the methods are older. There are some passages in the suttas that may refer to abhidhamma, or this may be two separate words, abhi dhamma. The first clear reference to abhidhamma is in the Suttavibhaṅga, but the name Abhidhammapiṭaka first appears in the Parivāra, which also refers to seven books. These are first listed in the Milindapañha.

Bibliography:

• Guide through the Abhidhamma-piṭaka, Being a Synopsis of the Philosophical Collection Belonging to the Buddhist Pali Canon, Followed by an Essay on the Paṭicca-samuppāda, by Nyanatiloka, Colombo, printed by The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon ltd, 1938: [33]
• "Abhidhamma Studies III: Origins of the Canonical Abhidha(r)mma Literature", L. S. Cousins: [34]

The traditional ascription of the commentaries on this section to Buddhaghosa is a matter of disagreement among scholars. There is a subcommentary on these commentaries, by Ānanda, known as the Mūlaṭīkā, which in turn has a subsubcommentary known as the Anuṭīkā, traditionally ascribed to Dhammapāla. A later subcommentary was composed by Ñāṇakitti.

Dhammasaṅgaṇi

B29; C41; K78-9

Lists and classifies "dhammas", variously translated as ideas, phenomena etc.

Dates have been suggested from 4th to 2nd century BC.

Bibliography:

• A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, Now Made for the First Time from the Original Pali, of the First Book in the Abhidhamma piṭaka, Entitled Dhammasangani (Compendium of States or Phenomena), with introductory essay and notes by Caroline A. F. Rhys Davids, London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1900; 3rd edition, Pali Text Society Translation Series, 1974
• The Dhammasaṅganī: Enumeration of the Ultimate Realities, translated by U Kyaw Khine, Department for the Promotion and Propagation of the Sasana, Rangoon, ?1996; reprinted by Sri Satguru Pubns, Delhi, 2 volumes: [35]
• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Expositor (Atthasālinī), Buddhaghosa's Commentary on the Dhammasangaṇī, the First Book of the Abhidhamma piṭaka, [2 volumes,] translated by Pe Maung Tin ... edited and revised by Mrs. Rhys Davids ... published for the Pali Text Society by the Oxford University Press ... 1920, 1921; reprinted in 1 volume

Vibhaṅga

B30; C42-43; K80-82

This book consists of 18 chapters on various topics, which use ideas in the preceding book. Scholars disagree which came first.

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... The Book of Analysis (Vibhaṅga): the Second Book of the Abhidhamma piṭaka, translated from the Pāḷi of the Burmese Chaṭṭhasaṅgīti edition by Paṭhamakyaw Ashin Thiṭṭila (Seṭṭhila) Aggamahāpaṇḍita, London: published for the Pali Text Society by Luzac, 1969: [36] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright)
• Sacred Books of the Buddhists ... The Dispeller of Delusion ... [2 volumes] translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, revised for publication by L. S. Cousins, Nyanaponika Mahāthera and C. M. M. Shaw ... Pali Text Society, 1987, 1991 [reprinted in 1 volume, 2017]; the commentary; PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright, and th etwo volumes are currently available separately online: volume I; volume II

Dhātukathā

In B31, C47, K83

This book combines ideas from the two preceding abhidhamma books.

Dates have been suggested in the 3rd and last centuries BC.

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... Discourse on Elements (Dhātu-kathā): the Third Book of the Abhidhamma piṭaka, a translation with charts and explanations by U Nārada, Mūla Paṭṭhāna Sayadaw ... assisted by Thein Nyun, London: published for the Pali Text Society by Luzac, 1962: [37] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright)

Puggalapaññatti

In B31, C47, K83

This book deals with classifications of persons, which are arranged numerically, from 1-fold to 10-fold.

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... Designation of Human Types (Puggala-paññatti), translated into English for the first time by Bimala Charan Law, London / New York / ... published for the Pali Text Society by the Oxford University Press, [1922?]: [38] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright)
• Abhidhammapiṭake Puggalapaññattipāli: with English Translation, editors Om Prakash Pathak and Veena Gaur, Eastern Book Linkers, Delhi, 2000
• another translation

Kathāvatthu

B32; C44-46; K84-6; E 2 volumes reprinted in 1

This book is a collection of debates on points of doctrine. The text does not identify the participants, but tradition, followed by many scholars, interprets the debates as between Theravada and other schools of Buddhism. However, L. S. Cousins says

In spiritual traditions the world over, instructors have frequently employed apparent contradictions as part of their teaching method – perhaps to induce greater awareness in the pupil or to bring about a deeper and wider view of the subject in hand. The Pali Canon contains many explicit examples of such methods. (Indeed much of the Kathāvatthu makes better sense in these terms than as sectarian controversy.)

According to tradition, this work was compiled by the venerable Moggaliputta Tissa in his role as leader of the Third Council, which took place around 250 BC, based on a framework taught by the Buddha. Some scholars accept this date; others hold that additions were made as new "heresies" came to the attention of the authorities.

Bibliography:

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... Points of Controversy, or, Subjects of Discourse, Being a Translation of the Kathāvatthu from the Abhidhamma-piṭaka, by Shwe Zan Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids, published for the Pali Text Society by H. Milford, [Oxford University Press] ... 1915: [39]
• The Debates Commentary (Kathāvatthuppakaraṇa-aṭṭhakathā), translated into English for the first time by Bimala Charan Law, London, H. Milford ... Oxford University Press ... 1940 [Pali Text Society]; the commentary
• Kathāvatthu: (a Critical and Philosophical Study), by Alka Barua, New Bharatiya Book Corporation, Delhi, 2006

Yamaka

B33-35; C48-49; K87-93; ES 2 volumes; N 3 volumes

In 10 chapters on various topics, consisting of often converse pairs (yamaka) of questions and answers.

It has been suggested this may be the latest Abhidhamma book.

Bibliography:

• The Book on Pairs (Yamaka), tr Nārada & Kumārābhivaṃsa, Penang [Malaysia], 1998; 1st volume; apparently no more published
  • completion at [40]
• The Book of Pairs and Its Commentary: a Translation of the Yamaka and Yamakappakaraṇaṭṭhakathā, [3 volumes,] translated by C. M. M. Shaw and L. S. Cousins [respectively], published by the Pali Text Society, 2018- , in progress

Paṭṭhāna

B36-40; C50-52; K94-110; E 4 volumes reprinted in 2; NS 6 volumes

Treats causality and conditionality.

Yamada makes this the latest Abhidhamma book.

Bibliography:

[Note: this seems to be the only book without a (more or less) complete English translation, either in print or online.]

• Pali Text Society Translation Series ... Conditional Relations (Paṭṭhāna), Being ... the Chaṭṭhasaṅgāyana Text of the Seventh Book of the Abhidhamma piṭaka, a translation by U Narada Mūla Paṭṭhāna Sayadaw ... assisted by Thein Nyun, 1969-, in progress, 2 volumes so far, PTS: [41] (PTS has authorized non-commercial copying of this translation, which is still in copyright)
• Guide to Conditional Relations [...], by U Narada Mūla Paṭṭhāna Sayadaw ... assisted by [...] Thein Nyun
  • Part I, being a guide to pages 1-12 ... an explanation of the conditions and of the methods for working out the answers in the 6 chapters of the faultless triplet Paṭṭhāna where only the numbers of answers are given ... Pali Text Society, London, 1979
  • Part II, being a guide to pages 13-141 ... Department of Religious Affairs, Rangoon, 1986
• "The Paṭṭhāna and the development of the Theravādin Abhidhamma", L. S. Cousins, Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume IX (1981), pages 22-46