The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction

(Sean Pound) #1

312 AN OVERVIEW OF THE BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES



  1. Anguttara-nikaya ("Collection of Item-More Discourses")-more
    than 2,300 suttas grouped by the number of factors in their topics.

  2. Khuddaka-nikaya ("Collection ofLittle Texts")
    a. Khuddaka-pa{ha ("Little Readings")-a breviary.
    b. Dhammapada ("Verses on Dharma")-423 verses in 26
    chapters.
    c. Udana ("Utterances")-80 exalted pronouncements of the
    Buddha, with circumstantial tales.
    d. Itivuttaka ("Thus-saids")-112 short suttas.
    e. Sutta-nipata ("Collection ofSuttas")-short suttas, mostly in
    verse of high poetic quality.
    f. Vimana-vatthu ("Tales ofHeavenly Mansions")-gods tell the
    deeds that earned them celestial rebirths.
    g. Peta-vatthu ("Tales of Ghosts")-how various persons attained
    that unfortunate rebirth.
    h. Thera-gatha ("Verses of the Elders")--stanzas attributed to 264
    early monks.

  3. Theri-gatha ("Verses of the Eldresses")--stanzas attributed to 73
    early nuns.
    j. Jataka ("Lives")-tales ostensibly reporting the former lives of
    Sakyamuni. The verses in each tale are supposed to have been
    uttered by the Buddha, and so are considered canonical; but
    the 547 tales themselves are extracanonical.
    k. Niddesa ("Exposition")-verbal notes to part of the Sutta-
    nipata. The Niddesa is second or third century C.E.

  4. Pa{isambhida-magga ("The Way ofDiscrirnination")--scholastic
    treatment of doctrinal topics.
    m. Apadana ("Stories")-lives and former lives of the saints.
    n. Buddhavalflsa ("Lineage of the Buddhas")-lives of 24 previous
    Buddhas, of Sakyamuni, and of Maitreya, presented as being
    told by Sakyamuni.
    o. Cariya-pi{aka ("Basket of Conduct")-verse retellings of jatakas
    illustrating the Bodhisattva's practice of the perfections.
    III. Abhidhamma-pitaka ("Basket of Scholasticism")

  5. Dhamma-sangini ("Enumeration ofDharmas")

  6. Vibhanga ("Analysis")-more on sets of dharmas.

  7. Dhatu-katha ("Discussion of Elements")

  8. Puggala-paiiiiatti ("Designation ofPersons")-classifies types of in-
    dividuals according to their spiritual traits and stages.

  9. Katha-vatthu ("Subjects ofDiscussion")-arguments about theses in
    dispute among the Hinayana and early Mahayana schools.

  10. Yamaka ("The Pairs")-arranged in pairs of questions; deals with
    distinctions among basic sets of categories.

  11. Patthana ("Conditional Relations")-24 kinds of causal relation
    and their almost infinite permutations.

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