Pali Canon

The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the

Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language.[1]
It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon.[2][3] It derives
mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.[4]

During the First Buddhist Council, three months after the

parinibbana of Gautama Buddha in Rajgir, Ananda recited the Sutta
Pitaka, and Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka. The Arhats present
accepted the recitations, and henceforth, the teachings were
preserved orally by the Sangha. The Tipitaka that was transmitted to
Sri Lanka during the reign of King Asoka was initially preserved
orally and was later written down on palm leaves during the Fourth
Buddhist Council in 29 BC, approximately 454 years after the
death of Gautama Buddha.[a][6] The claim that the texts were
"spoken by the Buddha" is meant in this non-literal sense.[7]

The existence of the bhanaka tradition existing until later periods, Standard edition of the Thai Pali
along with other sources, shows that oral tradition continued to exist Canon
side by side with written scriptures for many centuries to come.
Thus, the so-called writing down of the scriptures[8] was only the
beginning of a new form of tradition, and the innovation was probably opposed by the more conservative
monks. As with many other innovations, it was only after some time that it was generally accepted.
Therefore, it was much later that the records of this event were transformed into an account of a "council"
(sangayana or sangiti) which was held under the patronage of King Vattagamani.

Textual fragments of similar teachings have been found in the agama of other major Buddhist schools in
India. They were however written down in various Prakrits other than Pali as well as Sanskrit. Some of
those were later translated into Chinese (earliest dating to the late 4th century AD). The surviving Sri
Lankan version is the most complete,[9] but was extensively redacted about 1,000 years after Buddha's
death, in the 5th or 6th century CE.[10] The earliest textual fragments of canonical Pali were found in the
Pyu city-states in Burma dating only to the mid 5th to mid 6th century CE.[11]

The Pāli Canon falls into three general categories, called pitaka (from Pali piṭaka, meaning "basket",
referring to the receptacles in which the palm-leaf manuscripts were kept).[12] Thus, the canon is
traditionally known as the Tipiṭaka ("three baskets"). The three pitakas are as follows:

1. Vinaya Piṭaka ("Discipline Basket"), dealing with rules or discipline of the sangha[12][9]
2. Sutta Piṭaka (Sutra/Sayings Basket), discourses and sermons of Buddha, some religious
poetry; the largest basket[12]
3. Abhidhamma Piṭaka, treatises that elaborate Buddhist doctrines, particularly about mind;
also called the "systematic philosophy" basket
The Vinaya Pitaka and the Sutta Pitaka are remarkably similar to the works of the early Buddhist schools,
often termed Early Buddhist Texts. The Abhidhamma Pitaka, however, is a strictly Theravada collection
and has little in common with the Abhidhamma works recognized by other Buddhist schools.[13]

The Canon in the tradition

The Canon is traditionally described by the Theravada as the Word
of the Buddha (buddhavacana), though this is not intended in a
literal sense, since it includes teachings by disciples.[14]

The traditional Theravādin (Mahavihārin) interpretation of the Pali

Canon is given in a series of commentaries covering nearly the
whole Canon, compiled by Buddhaghosa (fl. 4th–5th century AD)
and later monks, mainly on the basis of earlier materials now lost.
Subcommentaries were written afterward, commenting further on
In pre-modern times the Pali Canon
the Canon and its commentaries. The traditional Theravādin
was not published in book form, but
interpretation is summarized in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga.[15]
written on thin slices of wood (called
a palm-leaf manuscript) or bamboo.
A spokesman for the Buddha Sasana Council of Burma states[16]
The leaves are kept together by thin
that the Canon contains everything needed to show the path to
sticks, and the scripture is covered
nirvāna; the commentaries and subcommentaries sometimes include
in cloth and kept in a box.
much speculative matter, but are faithful to its teachings and often
give very illuminating illustrations. In Sri Lanka and Thailand,
"official" Buddhism has in large part adopted the interpretations of Western scholars.[17]

Although the Canon has existed in written form for two millennia, its earlier oral nature has not been
forgotten in Buddhist practice: memorization and recitation remain common. Among frequently recited texts
are the Paritta. Even lay people usually know at least a few short texts by heart and recite them regularly;
this is considered a form of meditation, at least if one understands the meaning. Monks are of course
expected to know quite a bit more (see Dhammapada below for an example). A Burmese monk named
Vicittasara even learned the entire Canon by heart for the Sixth Council (again according to the usual
Theravada numbering).[18][19]

The relation of the scriptures to Buddhism as it actually exists among ordinary monks and lay people is, as
with other major religious traditions, problematic: the evidence suggests that only parts of the Canon ever
enjoyed wide currency, and that non-canonical works were sometimes much more widely used; the details
varied from place to place.[20] Rupert Gethin suggests that the whole of Buddhist history may be regarded
as a working out of the implications of the early scriptures.[21]

Origins
According to a late part of the Pali Canon, the Buddha taught the three pitakas.[22] It is traditionally
believed by Theravadins that most of the Pali Canon originated from the Buddha and his immediate
disciples. According to the scriptures, a council was held shortly after the Buddha's passing to collect and
preserve his teachings. The Theravada tradition states that the Canon was recited orally from the 5th century
to the first century BC, when it was written down.[23] The memorization was reinforced by regular
communal recitations. The tradition holds that only a few later additions were made. The Theravādin
pitakas were first written down in Sri Lanka in the Alu Viharaya Temple no earlier than 29–17 BC.[24]
The geographic setting of identifiable texts within the Canon generally corresponds to locations in the
Ganges region of northeastern India, including the kingdoms of Kosala, Kasi, Vajji, and Magadha.[25]
While Theravada tradition has generally regarded Pali as being synonymous with the language of the
kingdom of Magadhi as spoken by the Buddha, linguists have identified Pali as being more closely related
to other prakrit languages of western India, and found substantial incompatibilities with the few preserved
examples of Magadhi and other north-eastern prakrit languages.[26] Linguistic research suggests that the
teachings of the Buddha may have been recorded in an eastern Indian language originally, and transposed
into the west Indian precursor of Pali sometime before the Asokan era.[25]

Much of the material in the Canon is not specifically Theravādin, but is instead the collection of teachings
that this school preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to Peter Harvey, it
contains material which is at odds with later Theravādin orthodoxy. He states that "the Theravādins, then,
may have added texts to the Canon for some time, but they do not appear to have tampered with what they
already had from an earlier period."[27] A variety of factors suggest that the early Sri Lankan Buddhists
regarded canonical literature as such and transmitted it conservatively.[28]

Theravada tradition generally treats the Canon as a whole as originating with the Buddha and his immediate
disciples (with the exception of certain, generally Abhidhamma texts, that explicitly refer to events long
after his death). Scholars differ in their views regarding the origin of the Pali Canon, but generally believe
that the Canon includes several strata of relatively early and late texts, but with little consensus regarding the
relative dating of different sections of the Canon or which texts belong to which era.[25]

Authorship

Authorship according to Theravadins

Prayudh Payutto argues that the Pali Canon represents the teachings of the Buddha essentially unchanged
apart from minor modifications. He argues that it also incorporates teachings that precede the Buddha, and
that the later teachings were memorized by the Buddha's followers while he was still alive. His thesis is
based on study of the processes of the first great council, and the methods for memorization used by the
monks, which started during the Buddha's lifetime. It's also based on the capability of a few monks, to this
day, to memorize the entire canon.[29]

Bhikkhu Sujato and Bhikkhu Brahmali argue that it is likely that much of the Pali Canon dates back to the
time period of the Buddha. They base this on many lines of evidence including the technology described in
the canon (apart from the obviously later texts), which matches the technology of his day which was in
rapid development; that it doesn't include back written prophecies of the great Buddhist ruler King Ashoka
(which Mahayana texts often do) suggesting that it predates his time; that in its descriptions of the political
geography it presents India at the time of Buddha, which changed soon after his death; that it has no
mention of places in South India, which would have been well known to Indians not long after Buddha's
death; and various other lines of evidence dating the material back to his time.[7]

Authorship according to academic scholars

The views of scholars concerning the authorship of the Pali Canon can be grouped into three categories:

1. Attribution to the Buddha himself and his early followers

2. Attribution to the period of pre-sectarian Buddhism
 3. Agnosticism

Views concerning authorship of the Buddha himself

Several scholars of early Buddhism argue that the nucleus of the Buddhist teachings in the Pali Canon may
derive from Gautama Buddha himself, but that part of it also was developed after the Buddha by his early
followers. Richard Gombrich says that the main preachings of the Buddha (as in the Vinaya and Sutta
Pitaka) are coherent and cogent, and must be the work of a single person: the Buddha himself, not a
committee of followers after his death.[b][31]

Other scholars are more cautious, and attribute part of the Pali canon to the Buddha's early followers. Peter
Harvey[32] states that "much" of the Pali Canon must derive from the Buddha's teaching, but also that
"parts of the Pali Canon clearly originated after the time of the Buddha."[c] A.K. Warder stated that there is
no evidence to suggest that the shared teaching of the early schools was formulated by anyone else than the
Buddha and his immediate followers.[d] J.W. de Jong said it would be "hypocritical" to assert that we can
say nothing about the teachings of earliest Buddhism, arguing that "the basic ideas of Buddhism found in
the canonical writings could very well have been proclaimed by him [the Buddha], transmitted and
developed by his disciples and, finally, codified in fixed formulas."[34]

Alex Wynne said that some texts in the Pali Canon may go back to the very beginning of Buddhism, which
perhaps include the substance of the Buddha's teaching, and in some cases, maybe even his words.[e] He
suggests the canon was composed soon after Buddha's paranirvana, but after a period of free improvisation,
and then the core teachings were preserved nearly verbatim by memory.[35] Hajime Nakamura writes that
while nothing can be definitively attributed to Gautama as a historical figure, some sayings or phrases must
derive from him.[36]

Views concerning authorship in the period of pre-sectarian Buddhism

Most scholars agree there was a rough body of sacred literature that an early community maintained and
transmitted.[37][f]

Much of the Pali Canon is found also in the scriptures of other early schools of Buddhism, parts of whose
versions are preserved, mainly in Chinese. Many scholars have argued that this shared material can be
attributed to the period of Pre-sectarian Buddhism. This is the period before the early schools separated in
about the fourth or third century BC.

Views concerning agnosticism

Some scholars see the Pali Canon as expanding and changing from an unknown nucleus.[38] Arguments
given for an agnostic attitude include that the evidence for the Buddha's teachings dates from long after his
death.

Some scholars of later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism say that little or nothing goes back to the
Buddha. Ronald Davidson[39] has little confidence that much, if any, of surviving Buddhist scripture is
actually the word of the historical Buddha.[37] Geoffrey Samuel[40] says the Pali Canon largely derives
from the work of Buddhaghosa and his colleagues in the 5th century AD.[41] Gregory Schopen argues[42]
that it is not until the 5th to 6th centuries AD that we have any definite evidence about the contents of the
Canon. This position was criticized by A. Wynne.[5]

Authorship of the Abhidhamma Pitaka

Western scholarship suggests that the composition of the Abhidhamma Pitaka likely began around 300
BCE, but may have drawn on an earlier tradition of lists and rubrics known as "matrika".[12][43] Traditional
accounts include it among the texts recited at the First Buddhist Council and attribute differences in form
and style to its composition by Sariputra.[44][45]

The earliest books of the Pali Canon

Opinions differ on what the earliest books of the Canon are. The majority of Western scholars consider the
earliest identifiable stratum to be mainly prose works,[46] the Vinaya (excluding the Parivāra)[47] and the
first four nikāyas of the Sutta Pitaka,[48][49] and perhaps also some short verse works[50] such as the
Suttanipata.[47] However, some scholars, particularly in Japan, maintain that the Suttanipāta is the earliest of
all Buddhist scriptures, followed by the Itivuttaka and Udāna.[51] However, some of the developments in
teachings may only reflect changes in teaching that the Buddha himself adopted, during the 45 years that
the Buddha was teaching.[g]

Scholars generally agree that the early books include some later additions.[52] Aspects of these late additions
are or may be from a much earlier period.[53][54][55] Aspects of the Pali Canon, such as what it says about
society and South Asian history, are in doubt because the Pali Canon was extensively redacted in the 5th- or
6th-century AD, nearly a thousand years after the death of the Buddha.[10] Further, this redacted Pali Canon
of Sri Lanka itself mentions that it was previously redacted towards the end of 1st-century BC. According
to Early Buddhism scholar Lars Fogelin, the Pali Canon of Sri Lanka is a modified Canon and "there is no
good reason to assume that Sri Lankan Buddhism resembles Early Buddhism in the mainland, and there are
numerous reasons to argue that it does not."[56]

Dr. Peter Masefield M.P.T.S. researched a form of Pali known as Indochinese Pali or "Kham Pali". It had
been considered a degraded form of Pali, but Masefield states that further examination of texts will probably
show it is an internally consistent Pali dialect. The reason for the changes is that some combinations of
characters are difficult to write in those scripts. Masefield says records in Thailand state that upon the third
re-introduction of Theravada Buddhism into Sri Lanka (The Siyamese Sect), large number of texts were
also taken. When monastic ordination died out in Sri Lanka, many texts were lost also. Therefore the Sri
Lankan Pali Canon had been translated first into Indo-Chinese Pali, and then, at least in part, back again
into Pali.[57]

One of the edicts of Ashoka, the "Calcutta-Bairat edict", lists several works from the canon which Ashoka
considered advantageous. According to Alexander Wynne:

The general consensus seems to be that what Asoka calls Munigatha correspond to the
Munisutta (Sn 207–221), Moneyasute is probably the second half of the Nalakasutta (Sn 699–
723), and Upatisapasine may correspond to the Sariputtasutta (Sn 955–975). The identification
of most of the other titles is less certain, but Schmithausen, following Oldenberg before him,
identifies what Asoka calls the Laghulovada with part of a prose text in the Majjhima Nikaya,
the Ambalatthika-Rahulovada Sutta (M no. 61).[58]
This seems to be evidence that some of these texts were already fixed by the time of the reign of Ashoka
(304–232 BC), which means that some of the texts carried by the Buddhist missionaries at this time might
also have been fixed.[58]

According to the Sri Lankan Mahavamsa, the Pali Canon was written down in the reign of King
Vattagāmini (Vaṭṭagāmiṇi) (1st century BCE) in Sri Lanka, at the Fourth Buddhist council. Most scholars
hold that little if anything was added to the Canon after this,[59][60][61] though Schopen questions this.

Texts

Manuscripts

The climate of Theravāda countries is not conducive to the survival

of manuscripts. Apart from brief quotations in inscriptions and a
two-page fragment from the eighth or ninth century found in Nepal,
the oldest manuscripts known are from late in the fifteenth
century,[62] and there is not very much from before the
eighteenth.[63]

Printed editions and digitized editions Burmese-Pali manuscript copy of the

Buddhist text Mahaniddesa, showing
The first complete printed edition of the Canon was published in three different types of Burmese
Burma in 1900, in 38 volumes.[64] The following editions of the script, (top) medium square, (centre)
Pali text of the Canon are readily available in the West: round and (bottom) outline round in
red lacquer from the inside of one of
Pali Text Society edition (in Roman script), published the gilded covers
1877–1927 (a few volumes subsequently replaced by
new editions), in 57 volumes (including indexes).[63]
The Pali scriptures and some Pali commentaries were digitized as an MS-DOS/extended
ASCII compatible database through cooperation between the Dhammakaya Foundation
and the Pali Text Society in 1996 as PALITEXT version 1.0: CD-ROM Database of the
Entire Buddhist Pali Canon ISBN 978-974-8235-87-5.[65]
Thai Tipitaka in Thai script, published during the reign of Rama VII (1925–35), 45 volumes,
with fewer variant readings than PTS;[66]

BUDSIR on Internet[67] free with login; and electronic transcript by BUDSIR: Buddhist
scriptures information retrieval,[67] CD-ROM and online, both requiring payment.
Sixth Council Tipiṭaka, Rangoon (1954–56), 40 volumes in Burmese script; with fewer
variant readings than the Thai edition;[68]

electronic transcript by Vipāssana Research Institute available online[69] in searchable

database free of charge, or on CD-ROM (p&p only) from the institute.[70]
Another transcript of this edition, produced under the patronage of the Supreme Patriarch
of Thailand, World Tipitaka Edition, 2005, 40 volumes, published by the Dhamma
Society Fund,[71] claims to include the full extent of changes made at the Sixth Council,
and therefore reflect the results of the council more accurately than some existing Sixth
Council editions. Available for viewing online (registration required) at Tipiṭaka Quotation
WebService.[72]
 Sinhalese (Buddha Jayanti) edition, (1957–1993?), 58 volumes including parallel
Sinhalese translations, searchable, free of charge (not yet fully proofread.) Available at
Journal of Buddhist Ethics.[73] The only accurate version of the Sri Lankan text available, in
individual page images. Cannot be searched though.[74]

Transcript in BudhgayaNews Pali Canon.[75] In this version it is easy to search for

individual words across all 16,000+ pages at once and view the contexts in which they
appear.
Cambodian Tipiṭaka in Khmer script. Edited and published by the Institut Bouddhique in
Phnom Penh (1931–69).[76]
The Complete Collection of Chinese Pattra Scripture as preserved by the Dai people.[77]

Translations
Pali Canon in English Translation, 1895-, in progress, 43 volumes so far, Pali Text Society, Bristol; for
details of these and other translations of individual books see the separate articles. In 1994, the then
President of the Pali Text Society stated that most of these translations were unsatisfactory.[78] Another
former President said in 2003 that most of the translations were done very badly.[30] The style of many
translations from the Canon has been criticized[79] as "Buddhist Hybrid English", a term invented by Paul
Griffiths for translations from Sanskrit. He describes it as "deplorable", "comprehensible only to the initiate,
written by and for Buddhologists".[80]

Selections: see List of Pali Canon anthologies.

A translation by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi of the Majjhima Nikaya was published by Wisdom
Publications in 1995.

Translations by Bhikkhu Bodhi of the Samyutta Nikaya and the Anguttara Nikaya were published by
Wisdom Publications in 2003 and 2012, respectively.

In 2018, new translations of the entirety of the five Nikayas were made freely available on the website
suttacentral (https://suttacentral.net/) by the Australian Bhikkhu Sujato, the translations were also released
into the Public domain.

A Japanese translation of the Canon, edited by Takakusu Junjiro, was published in 65 volumes from 1935
to 1941 as The Mahātripiṭaka of the Southern Tradition ( 南伝大蔵経 Nanden daizōkyō).

A Chinese translation of the above-mentioned Japanese translation was undertaken between 1990–1998
and thereafter printed under the patronage of Kaoshiung's Yuan Heng Temple.

Contents of the Canon

As noted above, the Canon consists of three pitakas.

Vinaya Pitaka (vinayapiṭaka)

Sutta Pitaka or Suttanta Pitaka
Abhidhamma Pitaka
Details are given below. For more complete information, see standard references on Pali literature.[81][82]

Vinaya Pitaka

The first category, the Vinaya Pitaka, is mostly concerned with the rules of the sangha, both monks and
nuns. The rules are preceded by stories telling how the Buddha came to lay them down, and followed by
explanations and analysis. According to the stories, the rules were devised on an ad hoc basis as the Buddha
encountered various behavioral problems or disputes among his followers. This pitaka can be divided into
three parts:

Suttavibhanga (-vibhaṅga) Commentary on the Patimokkha, a basic code of rules for monks
and nuns that is not as such included in the Canon. The monks' rules are dealt with first,
followed by those of the nuns' rules not already covered.
Khandhaka Other rules grouped by topic in 22 chapters.
Parivara (parivāra) Analysis of the rules from various points of view.

Sutta Pitaka

The second category is the Sutta Pitaka (literally "basket of threads", or of "the well spoken"; Sanskrit:
Sutra Pitaka, following the former meaning) which consists primarily of accounts of the Buddha's
teachings. The Sutta Pitaka has five subdivisions, or nikayas:

Digha Nikaya (dīghanikāya) 34 long discourses.[83] Joy Manné argues[84] that this book was
particularly intended to make converts, with its high proportion of debates and devotional
material.
Majjhima Nikaya 152 medium-length discourses.[83] Manné argues[84] that this book was
particularly intended to give a solid grounding in the teaching to converts, with a high
proportion of sermons and consultations.
Samyutta Nikaya (saṃyutta-) Thousands of short discourses in fifty-odd groups by subject,
person etc. Bhikkhu Bodhi, in his translation, says this nikaya has the most detailed
explanations of doctrine.
Anguttara Nikaya (aṅguttara-) Thousands of short discourses arranged numerically from
ones to elevens. It contains more elementary teaching for ordinary people than the preceding
three.
Khuddaka Nikaya A miscellaneous collection of works in prose or verse.

Abhidhamma Pitaka

The third category, the Abhidhamma Pitaka (literally "beyond the dhamma", "higher dhamma" or "special
dhamma", Sanskrit: Abhidharma Pitaka), is a collection of texts which give a scholastic explanation of
Buddhist doctrines particularly about mind, and sometimes referred to as the "systematic philosophy"
basket.[12][43] There are seven books in the Abhidhamma Pitaka:

Dhammasangani (-saṅgaṇi or -saṅgaṇī) Enumeration, definition and classification of

dhammas
Vibhanga (vibhaṅga) Analysis of 18 topics by various methods, including those of the
Dhammasangani
Dhatukatha (dhātukathā) Deals with interrelations between ideas from the previous two
books
 Puggalapannatti (-paññatti) Explanations of types of person, arranged numerically in lists
from ones to tens
Kathavatthu (kathā-) Over 200 debates on points of doctrine
Yamaka Applies to 10 topics a procedure involving converse questions (e.g. Is X Y? Is Y X?)
Patthana (paṭṭhāna) Analysis of 24 types of condition[53]

The traditional position is that abhidhamma refers to the absolute teaching, while the suttas are adapted to
the hearer. Most scholars describe the abhidhamma as an attempt to systematize the teachings of the
suttas:[53][85] Cousins says that where the suttas think in terms of sequences or processes the abhidhamma
thinks in terms of specific events or occasions.[86]

Use of Brahmanical Language

The Pali Canon uses many Brahmanical terminology and concepts. For example, the Sundarika Sutta
includes an analogy, quoted in several other places in the Canon, where the Buddha describes the Agnihotra
as the foremost sacrifice and the Gayatri mantra as the foremost meter:

aggihuttamukhā yaññā sāvittī chandaso mukham.

— Sacrifices have the agnihotra as foremost; of meter the foremost is the Sāvitrī.[87]

These Brahmanical motives are sometimes introduced in order to "establish a link with the deeds and beliefs
of Brahmins", referencing "shared ideas" that were part of the culture of ancient India.[88] In many other
instances, they are introduced in order to establish unfavorable comparisons with Buddhist teachings or
practices- after identifying the fire sacrifice as the foremost of the Brahminist sacrifices, the Buddha goes on
to explain how it is surpassed by the kindling of "inner light" that he practices as an arhat.[89]

Comparison with other Buddhist canons

The other two main Buddhist canons in use in the present day are the Chinese Buddhist Canon and the
Tibetan Kangyur.

The standard modern edition of the Chinese Buddhist Canon is the Taishō Revised Tripiṭaka, with a
hundred major divisions, totaling over 80,000 pages. This includes Vinayas for the Dharmaguptaka,
Sarvāstivāda, Mahīśāsaka, and Mahāsaṃghika schools. It also includes the four major Āgamas, which are
analogous to the Nikayas of the Pali Canon. Namely, they are the Saṃyukta Āgama, Madhyama Āgama,
Dīrgha Āgama, and Ekottara Āgama. Also included are the Dhammapada, the Udāna, the Itivuttaka, and
Milindapanha. There are also additional texts, including early histories, that are preserved from the early
Buddhist schools but not found in Pali. The canon contains voluminous works of Abhidharma, especially
from the Sarvāstivāda school. The Indian works preserved in the Chinese Canon were translated mostly
from Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit, or from regional Prakrits. The Chinese generally referred
to these simply as "Sanskrit" (Ch. 梵語 , Fànyǔ). The first woodblock printing of the entire Chinese
Buddhist Canon was done during the Song dynasty by imperial order in China in AD 971; the earliest dated
printed Buddhist sutra was the Diamond Sutra printed in AD 868 (printed by an upāsaka for free
distribution); although printing of individual Buddhist sutras and related materials may have started as early
as the 7th century AD.[90]
The Tibetan Kangyur comprises about a hundred volumes and includes versions of the Vinaya Pitaka, the
Dhammapada (under the title Udanavarga) and parts of some other books. Due to the later compilation, it
contains comparatively fewer early Buddhist texts than the Pali and Chinese canons.
The Chinese and Tibetan canons are not translations of the Pali and differ from it to varying extents, but
contain some recognizably similar early works. However, the Abhidharma books are fundamentally
different works from the Pali Abhidhamma Pitaka. The Chinese and Tibetan canons also consist of
Mahāyāna sūtras and Vajrayāna tantras, which have few parallels in the Pali Canon.[h]

See also
Access to Insight
Atthakatha, Pali commentaries on the Pali Canon
Aṭṭhakavagga and Pārāyanavagga
Bhikkhu Analayo
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bhikkhu Sujato
Buddhaghosa
Buddhist Publication Society
Dhamma Society Fund
Dhammapada, one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures
Dhammapāla
Early Buddhist Texts
Ho trai, library in Thai Temples
Karl Eugen Neumann
List of Sāsana Azani recipients
Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu
Niddesa
Nikāya
Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanatiloka Mahathera
Pali Literature
Pali Text Society
Palm-leaf manuscript
Paracanonical texts (Theravada Buddhism)
Pariyatti (bookstore)
Pitakataik
Rerukane Chandawimala Thero
Sacca-kiriya
Sanam Luang Dhamma Studies
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Theravada Buddhism
Thomas William Rhys Davids
Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examinations
Tripiṭaka tablets at Kuthodaw Pagoda

Notes
a. If the language of the Pāli canon is north Indian in origin, and without substantial Sinhalese
additions, it is likely that the canon was composed somewhere in north India before its
 introduction to Sri Lanka.[5]
b. "I am saying that there was a person called the Buddha, that the preachings probably go
back to him individually ... that we can learn more about what he meant, and that he was
saying some very precise things."[30]
c. "While parts of the Pali Canon clearly originated after the time of the Buddha, much must
derive from his teaching."[2]
d. "there is no evidence to suggest that it was formulated by anyone else than the Buddha and
his immediate followers." [33]
e. "If some of the material is so old, it might be possible to establish what texts go back to the
very beginning of Buddhism, texts which perhaps include the substance of the Buddha's
teaching, and in some cases, maybe even his words".
f. Ronald Davidson states, "most scholars agree that there was a rough body of sacred
literature (disputed) that a relatively early community (disputed) maintained and
transmitted."[37]
g. "as the Buddha taught for 45 years, some signs of development in teachings may only reflect
changes during this period."[2]
h. Most notably, a version of the Atanatiya Sutta (from the Digha Nikaya) is included in the
tantra (Mikkyo, rgyud) divisions of the Taisho and of the Cone, Derge, Lhasa, Lithang,
Narthang and Peking (Qianlong) editions of the Kangyur.[91]

References
1. Gombrich 2006, p. 3.
2. Harvey 1990, p. 3.
3. Maguire 2001, p. 69–.
4. Hahn, Thich Nhat (2015). The Heart of Buddha's Teachings. Harmony. p. 16.
5. Wynne 2003.
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basis is a short passage, two verses long, found in both the fourth or fifth-century Dīpavaṃsa
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Further reading
Hinüber, Oskar von (2000). A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-
11-016738-7.
B. C. Law, History of Pali Literature (https://archive.org/details/historyofpalilit035453mbp),
volume I, Trubner, London 1931
Russell Webb (ed.), Analysis of the Pali Canon (http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh217-u.html),
The Wheel Publication No 217, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 3rd ed.
2008.
 Ko Lay, U. (2003), Guide to Tipiṭaka (https://web.archive.org/web/20080724041344/http://we
b.ukonline.co.uk/buddhism/tipintro.htm), Selangor, Malaysia: Burma Piṭaka Association.
Editorial Committee, archived from the original on 2008-07-24

External links
Sayadaw U Vicittasara Mingun Sayadaw: A Fabulous Memory (https://web.archive.org/web/
20160131094918/http://www.aimwell.org/Books/Suttas/Paritta/BioMingun/biomingun.html)
Beginnings: The Pali Suttas (http://pathpress.wordpress.com/bodhesako/beginnings-the-pali
-suttas/) by Samanera Bodhesako
Pali Canon (https://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Pali_Canon) at Citizendium, mostly by Peter
Jackson, has an extensive Bibliography and more detail about some things

English translations
Access to Insight (http://www.accesstoinsight.org) has many suttas translated into English
Tipitaka Online (http://www.nibbana.com/tipitaka/tipilist.htm) of Nibbana.com. Burma
(Myanmar)
English translations by Bhikkhu Bodhi of selected suttas of the Majjhima Nikaya are made
available by the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition at Wisdom
Publications (http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/middle-length-discourses-buddha/selections)
English translations by Bhikkhu Bodhi of selected suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya at
Wisdom Publications (https://web.archive.org/web/20171107020120/http://www.wisdompub
s.org/book/numerical-discourses-buddha/selections)

Pali Canon online

Vipassana Research Institute (http://www.tipitaka.org/) (Based on 6th Council – Burmese
version) (this site also offers a downloadable program which installs the entire Pali Tipitaka
on your desktop for offline viewing)
Sutta Central (https://suttacentral.net/) Early Buddhist texts, translations, and parallels
(Multiple Languages)
Thai Tripitaka (http://www.84000.org/) (Thai version)
Sinhala Tipitaka (http://www.aathaapi.org/Thripitaka.php) (Translated into Sinhala by a
Government of Sri Lanka initiative)
Tipitaka Online (http://tipitaka.sutta.org/)
Theravada Buddhism Tipitaka Download (http://dhamma.sutta.org/index2.htm)

Pali dictionary
Online Pali-English Dictionary (https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/)
Pāli Dictionary Online (http://dict.sutta.org/)
Pāli Dictionary (Pāli to Chinese, Pāli to English, Pāli to Japanese, Pāli-Vietnamese, Pāli-
Burmese) (http://dictionary.sutta.org/)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pali_Canon&oldid=1187641089"