SUTTA
PITIKA
Sutta
Pitaka discourses of the Buddha and his chief disciples like venerable
Sariputta, MoggalLana,
Ananda
on Dhamma‖. In Sutta Pitaka are found not only fundamentals of Dhamma but also
practical guidelines to make the dhamma meaningful and applicable to daily
life. They are in the prose form sprinkled with verses. The individual suttas
vary according to the place and time of its origin. The Sutta Pitaka is divided
into five separate collections known as Nikayas. They are:
1.
Dighanikaya
2.
Majjhimnikaya
3.
Samyuttanikaya
4.
Anguttaranikaya
5. Khuddakanikaya
1.
Dighanikaya:
The
whole Dighanikaya is made into three divisions
·
Silakkhandavagga
(division pertaining to morality),
· Mahavagga
(larger division)
·
Pathikavagga
(division beginning with the discourse on pathika (naked ascetic).
Dighanikaya contains sutta like
Mahaparinibbana sutta, Mahasatipathana sutta etc.
Mahaparinibbana
sutta gives detailed description of the journey of last days of the Buddha.
Buddha‘s
last message to the disciples and instruction pertaining to how the stupa
should be built on the relics of the Tathagata and his Arahatta disciples,
where they
should
be built, which are the four sacred places followers should visit etc.
2.
Majjhimanikaya : This is the collection of middle-length‘ discourses
numbering 152 suttas divided into three books known as Mulapannasa (first fifty
sutta), Majjhimapannas (second fifty) and lastly, Uparipannas (last fifty two).
3.
Samyuttanikaya: The
third great collection is a collection of
grouped
discourses. It gets its designation from the fact that suttas
are
here grouped together‘ (samyutta) according to their contents.
Number of samyuttas is 56 and that of the suttas 2889.
4.
Anguttaranikaya:
It contains 9557 suttas divided into eleven sections (nipatas).
It
also contains a unique chapter entitled Etadavagga‖ of Ekakanipatta,
enumerating names of the foremost disciples amongst Bhikkhus, Bhikhunnis,
Upasaka and Upasikas, who have achieved pre-eminence in one sphere of
attainment or
meritorious
activities.
5)
Khuddakanikaya: term
khuddaka‘ means small),
it
contains the largest number of treaties and most numerous categories of dhamma.
It
contains 18 books as follows.
1)
Khuddaka Patha, 2) Dhammapada 3) Udana 4) Itivuttaka 5)
Sultanipata
6) Vimanvatthu 7) Petavatthu 8) Theragatha 9)
Therigatha
10)Jataka 11) Niddessa (Maha & Cula) 12)
Patisambhidamagga
13) Apadana 14) Buddhavamsa 15) Cariya
pitaka 16) Nettipakarana 17) Petakopadesa 18) Milind Panha.
1)
Khuddaka Patha:
It
contains important suttas like Ratana-sutta, Mangala-sutta, Mettasutta
and
kumarapanna-sutta, which is in the form of question answers.
These
suttas are arranged in a manner to form a continuous demonstration of the
practice of holy life. For novices itis to be daily recited and the book is
respected greatly in Ceylon and Burma.
2)
Dhammapada :
It contains four hundred twenty three gathas
(verses), arranged according to topics in 26 vaggas or chapters.
3)
Udana: It
is a collection of 80 joyful utterances of the Buddha on unique observation of
sheer bliss.
4)
Itivuttaka:-
It contains 112 verses, passages, of inspired sayings of the Buddha, divided
into four nipatas. Here each passage is preceded by the phrase, "Iti,
vuttam Bhagavata.
5)
Suttanipata:- it
is a work of great philosophical and literary merit, and one of the most
inspiring in the whole of the Tipitaka. The language style and it‘s content all
indicate it to be the oldest book of the Pali canon. For understanding
primitive Buddhism, it is of great use. On the Bhabru addict of Asoka, out of
seven discourses mentioned, three belong
to suttanipata only.
6)Vimanavatthu
and 7)Petavatthu:
The books contain vivid
accounts of the lives of the beings born in various heavenly abodes and of
beings who are born in lower realms respectively.
8)Theragatha
and 9)Therigatha: These
contain some of the finest pieces of poetry embodying the ecstatic sayings of
264 Arahat theras and 73 Arahatta theris through sheer joy at the moment of
their success and solitary life in the forest, the beauty of nature in forest
and the peace and calm that facilitates their meditation.
10)
Jataka:
These
are 547 stories of the Buddha's previous lives when he was the Bodhisatta,
engaged in training himself to become Buddha.These stories are embedded moral principles and practices that
Bodhisatta observed for attaining Buddhahood.
Ten
virtues to be developed are charity, morality, renunciation, wisdom, effort,
tolerance, truth, firm determination, loving kindness and equanimity.
11)
Niddesa:- Divided
into two books, Mahaniddesa and Culaniddesa, this work is a commentary by
venerable Sariputta on some important Suttas from Suttanipatta.
12)
Patisambhidamagga:- Entitled
"The path of Analysis," Sariputta analytically dealing with the
salient teachings of the Buddha, in the style of the Abhidhamma.
13)
Apadana: it
is a biographical work containing the life stories of various Arahatta theras
and theris.Theragatha and Therigatha reveal the moment of achievement while
Apadana describes the uphill work they undertook for these achievements.
14)
Buddhavamsa:
This
contains the biography of Gotama Buddha and of the 24 previous Buddhas prior to
him.
15)
Cariya pitaka:
This
contains 35 Jatakas of the Buddha's fulfilment of the ten paramitas (virtues),
which determines the attainment of Sambodhi, Supreme Enlightenment.
16)
Nettippakarama:-
It is a book written by Mahakaccayana. It is written in the style of
Abhidhamma. It serves as exegetical work .
17)
Petakopadesa:
It
lays down orderly procedures to explain the Dhamma. The book is ascribed to
Mahakaccana and is known as a book on instruction on the Tipitaka‘
18)
Milind Panha:
Entitled "Question's of Milinda ." it
is a book of dialogues between Greece bacterian king Milind who ruled over
sagala (W.Punjab) and the great Arahatta Nagasena who lived about five hundred
years after the Parinibbana of the Buddha.
