View source for Sutta Piṭaka

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{{Short description|Division of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism}}
{{Infobox pali text|type=Canonical text|parent=[[Tipitaka]]|comment_by=|children=[[Dīgha Nikāya]], [[Majjhima Nikāya]], [[Saṃyutta Nikāya]], [[Aṅguttara Nikāya]], [[Khuddaka Nikāya]]|abbrev=}}
{{PaliCanon|sutta}}{{TheravadaBuddhism}}{{Buddhism}}

The '''''Sutta Piṭaka''''' (also referred to as '''''Sūtra Piṭaka''''' or '''''Suttanta Piṭaka'''''; English: ''Basket of Discourse'') is the second of the three division of the [[Pali Tripitaka]], the [[Pali Canon|definitive canonical collection]] of [[Buddhist texts|scripture]] of [[Theravada]] [[Buddhism]]. The other two parts of the Tripiṭaka are the [[Vinaya Piṭaka]] (''Basket of Discipline'') and the [[Abhidhamma Piṭaka]] (''Basket of Higher Doctrine''). The Sutta Pitaka contains more than 10,000 [[sutra|suttas]] (teachings) attributed to [[the Buddha]] or his close companions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dahiya|first=Poonam Dalal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbU6DwAAQBAJ|title=ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA EBOOK|year=2017|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|isbn=978-93-5260-673-3|page=165}}</ref>

==Origins==
What was later to become the written scripture of the ''Sutta Pitaka'' was first orally rehearsed by Buddha’s cousin [[Ānanda]] at the [[Buddhist_councils#First_Buddhist_council|First Buddhist Council]] that was held shortly after the Buddha's death. The first council also defined the set of rules ([[Vinaya]]) that governed the life of monks and nuns within the [[Sangha|monastic community]]. Tradition holds that little was added to the Canon after this. Scholars are more skeptical, but differ in their degrees of [[skepticism]]. [[Richard Gombrich]] thinks most of the first four nikayas (see below) go back to the Buddha, in content but not in form.<ref>''Theravada Buddhism'', 2nd edn, Routledge, London, 2006, pages 20f</ref> The late Professor Hirakawa Akira says 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.<ref>Hirakawa, ''[https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/23030 History of Indian Buddhism]'', volume 1, 1974, English translation University of Hawai'i Press, pages 69f</ref>

==Contents==
{{see|List of suttas}}
There are five [[nikaya]]s (collections) of suttas:
# [[Digha Nikāya]] ({{IAST|dīghanikāya}}), the "long" discourses.
# [[Majjhima Nikāya]], the "middle-length" discourses.
# [[Saṁyutta Nikāya]] ({{IAST|saṃyutta-}}), the "connected" discourses.
# [[Anguttara Nikāya]] ({{IAST|aṅguttara-}}), the "numerical" discourses.
# [[Khuddaka Nikāya]], the "minor collection".

=== Digha Nikāya ===
{{main|Digha Nikāya}}
This includes ''[[Mahasatipatthana Sutta|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.

=== Majjhima Nikāya ===
{{main|Majjhima Nikāya}}
This includes ''Shorter Exposition of Kamma'', ''Mindfulness of Breathing'', and ''Mindfulness of the Body''. There are 152 medium-length suttas in this nikaya.

=== Samyutta Nikaya ===
{{main|Saṁyutta Nikāya}}
There are, according to one reckoning, 2,889, but according to the commentary 7,762, shorter suttas in this Nikaya.

=== Anguttara Nikāya ===
{{main|Anguttara Nikāya}}
These teachings are arranged numerically. It includes, according to the commentary's reckoning, 9,565 short suttas grouped by number from ones to elevens. According to [[Damien Keown|Keown]], "there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the Sarvāstivādin versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date."<ref>A Dictionary of Buddhism, by Damien Keown, Oxford University Press: 2004</ref>

=== Khuddaka Nikāya ===
{{main|Khuddaka Nikāya}}
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]]
# [[Sutta Nipata|Suttanipata]]
# [[Vimanavatthu]]
# [[Petavatthu]]
# [[Theragatha]]
# [[Therigatha]]
# [[Jataka tales|Jataka]]
# [[Niddesa]]
# [[Patisambhidamagga]]
# [[Apadāna|Apadana]]
# [[Buddhavamsa]]
# [[Cariyapitaka]]
# [[Nettipakarana]] or Netti
# [[Petakopadesa]]
# [[Milinda Panha]]
For more on these editions also see [[Pali Canon]]

== Translations ==
* The first four nikayas and more than half of the fifth have been translated by the [[Pali Text Society]][http://www.palitext.com].
* The first four have also been translated in the Teachings of the Buddha series by Wisdom Publications.
* The first four nikayas, as well as six books from the Khuddaka Nikāya, have been translated from the Pali by [[Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu]] and released under a Creative Commons license, and are available at [https://www.dhammatalks.org dhammatalks.org]

Selections (including material from at least two nikayas):

* ''Buddhist Suttas'', ed & tr [[Thomas William Rhys Davids|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
* ''Basic Teachings of the Buddha'', ed & tr Glenn Wallis, New York: Random House, 2007

== See also ==

* [[Abhidhamma Pitaka]]
* [[Access to Insight]]
* [[Āgama (Buddhism)|Āgama]]
* [[Buddhist Publication Society]]
* [[Dhamma Society Fund]]
* [[List of suttas]]
* [[Nikāya]]
* [[Pāli Canon]]
* [[Pali Text Society]]
* [[Pariyatti (bookstore)]]
* [[Vinaya Pitaka]]

== Notes ==

<references/>

== External links ==
*[https://suttacentral.net/ SuttaCentral] [[Public domain]] translations in multiple languages from the Pali [[Tipitaka]] as well as other collections, focusing on [[Early Buddhist Texts]].
* [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sutta.html Access to Insight translations of Pali Suttas]
* [http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut055.htm How old is the Sutta Pitaka?] - Alexander Wynne, St John's College, Oxford University, 2003.

{{Buddhism topics}}
[[Category:Sutta Pitaka| ]]
[[Category:Theravada Buddhist texts]]