Chapter (4)
The Theravada Piṭaka
What Theravada is
The meaning of Theravada is explained in the “Buddhasāsanā Vohāra Abhidhān” dictionary, page 274, as— “The word of the Buddha that must be preserved and maintained so that it is not lost through the succession of elders.”
“The doctrine that follows the Pāli canon, which has been preserved and maintained through successive councils by the elders, starting from Venerable Mahākassapa, without losing its original form.”
It is defined as such.
The venerable monks of the Theravada tradition have preserved their Dhamma teachings through oral recitation in the Pāli language and through written records. The collection of these teachings is called the “Piṭaka.”
The meaning of “Piṭaka” is “basket.” People carry things they need to transport in baskets. Similarly, because the teachings of the Buddha were carried down from the time of the Lord Buddha himself through successive generations of noble elders by passing them from hand to hand, they are metaphorically called Piṭaka, like a basket.
The Piṭakas preserved by the followers of Theravada Buddhism are:
- Vinaya Piṭaka,
- Sutta Piṭaka,
- Abhidhamma Piṭaka—
There are three types. The collection of all three is called the “Tipiṭaka” (Three Baskets).
(1) The Vinaya Piṭaka
These are the rules of conduct prescribed for male monks and female nuns. This Vinaya Piṭaka is further divided into 5 books:
- Pārājika Pāli: Contains 49 sikkhāpadas (training rules) intended for monks.
- Pācittiya Pāli: Contains 178 sikkhāpadas intended for monks and 311 sikkhāpadas intended for bhikkhunīs.
- Mahāvagga Pāli: Explains the rules of conduct and procedures that the Sangha must follow in 10 chapters.
- Cūḷavagga Pāli: Explains the regulations concerning the Sangha community in 12 chapters.
- Parivāra Pāli: A summary compilation for those who have memorized the Vinaya sikkhāpadas.
(2) The Sutta Piṭaka
These are the various Dhamma talks and sermons that the Lord Buddha preached, starting from his very first sermon until his final exhortation just before his Parinibbāna, spanning a period of 45 years.
This Sutta Piṭaka is organized into 5 collections (Nikāyas). They are:
- Dīgha Nikāya
- Majjhima Nikāya
- Saṃyutta Nikāya
- Aṅguttara Nikāya
- Khuddaka Nikāya
(a) Dīgha Nikāya: Because it consists of long suttas, it is called the Dīgha Nikāya. This Dīgha Nikāya contains:
(1) Sīlakkhandha-vagga, 13 suttas
(2) Mahā-vagga, 10 suttas
(3) Pāthika-vagga, 11 suttas
(b) Majjhima Nikāya: Because it consists of suttas of middle length, not too long and not too short, it is called the Majjhima Nikāya. This Majjhima Nikāya contains:
(1) Mūlapaṇṇāsa, 50 suttas
(2) Majjhimapaṇṇāsa, 50 suttas
(3) Uparipaṇṇāsa, 52 suttas
(c) Saṃyutta Nikāya: Suttas that share a common theme are collected together and are called the Saṃyutta Nikāya. This Saṃyutta Nikāya contains:
(1) Sagāthā-vagga, 11 saṃyuttas
(2) Nidāna-vagga, 10 saṃyuttas
(3) Khandha-vagga, 13 saṃyuttas
(4) Saḷāyatana-vagga, 12 saṃyuttas
(5) Mahā-vagga, 12 saṃyuttas
(d) Aṅguttara Nikāya: Organized into 11 sections (nipātas) from the Eka-nipāta (Book of Ones) to the Ekādasaka-nipāta (Book of Elevens), with a total of 9,557 suttas.
(e) Khuddaka Nikāya: Refers to the collection of scriptures that are supplementary to the previous four nikāyas.
This Khuddaka Nikāya contains the following books:
- Khuddakapāṭha: Contains 9 short texts.
- Dhammapada: 26 chapters, 423 verses.
- Udāna: Inspired utterances of the Buddha. 8 chapters and 82 udānas.
- Itivuttaka: 4 nipātas, 120 suttas.
- Suttanipāta: A collection of short suttas. 5 chapters, 54 suttas, and 61 questions.
- Vimānavatthu: Describes the celestial mansions of devas. 7 chapters, 83 stories.
- Petavatthu: Describes the suffering in the ghost realm. 4 chapters, 50 stories.
- Theragāthā: Verses of the elder monks. 107 elders’ sayings are organized into 21 nipātas.
- Therīgāthā: Verses of the elder nuns. 73 nuns’ statements are organized into 16 nipātas.
- Jātaka: Describes the previous lives of the Buddha. A small section with 22 nipātas, 547 Jātaka stories.
- Mahāniddesa: Further explanation of the Pāli of the Aṭṭhaka-vagga of the Suttanipāta.
- Cūḷaniddesa: Further elaboration on the last 3 vaggas of the Suttanipāta.
- Paṭisambhidāmagga: Analysis and explanation of the foundational points of the Dhamma. It has 3 great sections and many subsections.
- Apadāna: Describes the meritorious deeds of individuals. It describes the lives of 550 elder monks in 55 sections. Additionally, it describes the lives of 40 elder nuns in 4 sections, and continues with the Buddhāpadāna and Paccekabuddhāpadāna.
- Buddhavaṃsa: Describes the life stories of the Buddhas in chronological order. It also includes the Buddhapakiṇṇaka section and the Dhātubhājanīya Kathā.
- Cariyāpiṭaka: Describes the lives in which the Bodhisattva fulfilled the pāramīs. It contains only 35 of the Buddha’s previous lives.
(3) The Abhidhamma Piṭaka
Because it contains profound doctrines and subtle natural principles that surpass the Sutta and Vinaya, it is called the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. This Abhidhamma Piṭaka is divided into 7 books:
- Dhammasaṅgaṇī: Divided into 4 major sections, it enumerates the mental and material phenomena of all living and non-living beings.
- Vibhaṅga: Contains 18 chapters called Vibhaṅga which explain and analyze the phenomena of the Dhamma.
- Dhātukathā: Expounds extensively on the ultimate realities (paramattha-dhammas) divided into 14 chapters and 4 methods.
- Puggalapaññatti: Describes types of individuals from 1 to 10 in 10 major chapters, following the Niddesa.
- Kathāvatthu: Compiles and presents the tenets of the various Buddhist sects. It compares 500 suttas from the Theravada with 500 suttas from other sects in 23 chapters.
- Yamaka: Explains how Abhidhamma concepts occur, using 10 pairs (yamakas): Mūla (root), Khandha (aggregate), Āyatana (sense-base), Dhātu (element), Sacca (truth), Saṅkhāra (formation), Anusaya (latent tendency), Citta (consciousness), Dhamma, and Indriya (faculty).
- Paṭṭhāna: Pervaded by the 6 Paṭṭhānas, including the Duka-paṭṭhāna, resulting in 24 Paṭṭhānas. Each Paṭṭhāna is ranked by 7 vāras.
In addition to the Piṭaka texts mentioned above, there are other Pāli scriptures. These are the post-Piṭaka texts, the Pāli scriptures that precede the commentaries. These scriptures are found as follows:
- Nettipakaraṇa: Clarifies the terms and meanings related to the Dhamma.
- Peṭakopadesa: Compiles and presents selected points from the three Piṭakas.
- Milindapañhā: Thoroughly discusses and presents practices like sati (mindfulness), samādhi (concentration), paññā (wisdom), and phenomena like phassa (contact) and vedanā (feeling), which are included in the three Piṭakas.
Checking the Buddhist Scriptures
The followers of Theravada Buddhism inscribed the three Piṭakas, the collections of teachings preached by the Buddha, on palm leaves during the Fourth Council.
At the Fifth Council, they recorded them in writing on stone slabs.
At the Sixth Council, they recorded them in writing on metal plates. The records from the Sixth Council were printed in the following volumes, called the “Sixth Edition”:
| Scripture Name | Number of Books | Number of Volumes |
| Vinaya | 5 | 5 |
| Dīgha Nikāya | 3 | 3 |
| Majjhima Nikāya | 3 | 3 |
| Saṃyutta Nikāya | 5 | 3 |
| Aṅguttara Nikāya | 11 | 3 |
| Khuddaka Nikāya | 19 | 11 |
| Abhidhamma | 7 | 12 |
| Total | 53 | 40 |
At the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Councils, when recorded on palm leaves, stone slabs, and metal plates, the counts were found to be as follows:
- Number of palm leaves: 6,345 leaves
- Number of stone slabs: 729 slabs
- Number of books (volumes): 40 volumes
- Number of pages: 6,547 pages
- Number of folios: 13,094 folios
- Number of lines of text: 404,070 lines
The total number of characters in the three Piṭakas is 11,021,750 (eleven million, twenty-one thousand, seven hundred and fifty).
