The Foundations of Buddhism

40 The Word of Buddha: Scriptures and Schools

took place some three months after the Buddha's death at the

town of Rajagrha (Pali Rajagaha) in northern India when soo

arhats took part in a 'communal recitation' (sar[lglti). This event

is commonly referred to in modern writings as 'the first Buddhist

council'. Significantly the earliest Buddhist tradition attempts

to resolve any tension between theory and practice by insisting

that the first commmial recitation of scriptures was carried out by

soo individuals who had each realized direct and perfect know-

ledge of Dharma. According to the accounts of this communal

recitation, what was remembered of the Buddha's teachings fell

into two classes: the general discourses of the Buddha, the siitra.s

(Pali sutta ), and his prescriptions for the lifestyle of the Buddhist

monk, the 'discipline' or vinaya. Some accounts suggest there

was a third category, miitrkiis (Pali miitikii) or summary mne-

monic lists of significant points of the teaching. At any rate, later

canonical collections of Buddhist writings were subsequently

often referred to as 'the three baskets' (tri-pi{akalti-pi{aka): the

basket of discipline, the basket of discourses, and the basket of
'further dharma' (abhidharma/abhidhamma), whose development

is in part related to the use of the summary mnemonic lists or

miitrkas.
Three principal 'canons' of Buddhist scriptures survive today
corresponding to the three main traditions of living Bud-

dhism: the Pali or Theravada canon of the southern t.radition of

Sri Lanka and South-East Asia, the Chinese Tripitaka of the

eastern tradition of China, Korea, and Japan, and the Tibetan

Kanjur (bKa' 'gyur) and Tenjur (bsTan 'gyur) of the northern tra-
dition of Tibet and Mongolia. All three of these collections are
extensive. Modern printed editions of the Pali canon run to some

fifty moderately sized volumes; the Taisho edition of the Chi-

nese Tripitaka comprises fifty-five volumes, each containing some
I,ooo pages of Chinese characters; together the Tibetan Kanjur
and Tenjur comprise 300 traditional poti volumes. When the
contents of the three canons are compared it is apparent that,
while significant portions of the Pali canon are paralleled in the
Chinese collection, and there is considerable overlap between the
Chinese Tripitaka and the Kanjur and Tenjur, Buddhism as l;l