The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pali language.[1]It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down.[2] It was transcribed from the more ancient North Indian[3] oral tradition, during the Fourth Buddhist Council in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BC[4][5]. The Pali Canon was first printed in the nineteenth century[6], and is now also available in electronic form and on the Internet.

　　The Pāli Canon falls into three general categories, called pitaka (piṭaka, basket) in Pali. Because of this, the canon is traditionally known as the Tipitaka (Tipiṭaka; three baskets). The three pitakas are as follows:[7]

　　Vinaya Pitaka, dealing with rules for monks and nuns

　　Sutta Pitaka, discourses, mostly ascribed to the Buddha, but some to disciples

　　Abhidhamma Pitaka, variously described as philosophy, psychology, metaphysics etc.

　　The Vinaya Pitaka and the Sutta Pitaka are remarkably similar to the works of other early Buddhist schools. The Abhidhamma Pitaka however is a strictly Theravada collection, and has little in common with the Abhidhamma works recognized by other Buddhist schools.

　　As noted above, the Canon consists of three pitakas.

　　Vinaya Pitaka (vinayapiṭaka)

　　Sutta Pitaka or Suttanta Pitaka

　　Abhidhamma Pitaka

　　Details are given below. For fuller information, see standard references on Pali literature.[53]

　　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.[54] Joy Manné argues[55] that this book was particularly intended to make converts, with its high proportion of debates and devotional material.

　　Majjhima Nikaya 152 medium-length discourses.[56] Manné argues[57] 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. See below.

　　Khuddaka Nikaya

　　The contents of this nikaya vary somewhat between different editions of the Canon. The "standard" list, given in most western sources,[58] contains the following.

　　Khuddakapatha (-pāṭha) Nine short texts in prose or verse. This seems to have been intended as an introductory handbook for novices.[59] Most of its contents are found elsewhere in the Canon.

　　Dhammapada 423 verses ascribed by tradition to the Buddha in 26 chapters by topic. About half the Pali verses are found elsewhere in the canon. In the Sinhalese tradition, monks have been required to know this book by heart before they can be ordained.[60] In the Burmese examination system, this is one of the texts to be studied in the first stage of the syllabus.[61]

　　Udana (udāna) 80 short passages, mostly verse, ascribed to the Buddha, with introductory stories.

　　Itivuttaka 112 short prose teachings ascribed to the Buddha followed by verse paraphrases or complements. These are arranged numerically, from ones to fours.

　　Suttanipata(-nipāta) Poems, some in prose frameworks. In five parts, of which the first four contain 54 poems. The fifth part is a single poem in 16 sections, plus an introduction and a conclusion, which last includes a little prose.

　　Vimanavatthu (vimāna-) 85 poems telling of celestial mansions resulting from good karma.

　　Petavatthu 51 poems telling of the suffering of ghosts resulting from bad karma. It gives prominence to the idea that gifts to monks can benefit one's deceased relatives' ghosts.

　　Theragatha(-gāthā) 264 poems ascribed to early monks, arranged roughly by increasing number of verses.

　　Therigatha (therī-) 73 poems ascribed to early nuns, arranged by increasing number of verses.

　　Jataka (jātaka) 547 poems said to relate to the Buddha's previous lives,[62] arranged roughly by increasing number of verses. Professor Oskar von Hinüber[63] says only the last 50 were intended to be intelligible on their own without the Commentary. As a result of the arrangement, these make up the greater part of the book.[64] according to A. K. Warder,[65] this is the most popular book of the Canon.

　　Niddesa Commentary on parts of Suttanipata:[66] the last two parts and one other sutta. Traditionally ascribed to the Buddha's disciple Sariputta.

　　Patisambhidamagga (paṭisambhidā-) 30 treatises on various topics. Traditionally ascribed to Sariputta. Gethin[67] says this book presents the awakening experience as having many different dimensions and aspects, related to the whole of the teaching, and yet as a simple, coherent whole.

　　Apadana (apadāna) About 600 poems, most telling how their authors performed a meritorious act in a distant past life, resulting in favourable rebirths and eventual nirvana. There are 589 in the Pali Text Society's edition, 603 in the Sixth Council edition and 592 in a number of others.[68]

　　Buddhavamsa (-vaṃsa) Short verse book, mainly telling of the previous 24 Buddhas and the current Buddha's meritorious acts towards them in his previous lives.

　　Cariyapitaka (cariyā-) 35 poems telling of Gotama Buddha's practice of 7 of the perfections in his previous lives.

　　However, some editions contain in addition some works that have been described by western scholars as paracanonical or semicanonical.

　　Paracanonical or semicanonical works

　　The following works are included in the Sixth Council edition of the Canon,[69] including the new transcript from Thailand.[70]

　　Nettipakarana (nettipakaraṇa, nettippakaraṇa or just netti) This book presents methods of interpretation. The colophon ascribes it to the Buddha's disciple Kaccana.

　　Petakopadesa (peṭakopadesa) Presents the same methods as the preceding book. They have a large amount of overlap. The text of this book is very corrupt. The colophon ascribes it to the Buddha's disciple Kaccana.

　　Milindapanha (-pañha or -pañhā) A dialogue between King Menander of Bactria (second century B.C.E.) and the monk Nagasena. Rhys Davids describes this as the greatest work of classical Indian prose literature.

　　The first two of these, but not the third, are included in the Sinhalese (printed) edition. All are omitted from the Thai edition. Inclusion in printed editions is not the same as canonicity (cf. Apocrypha). Professor George Bond of Northwestern University says of the first of these books that some Theravadins regard it as quasi-canonical, others as canonical, especially in Burma.[71] About 1800, the head of the Burmese sangha regarded at least the first two of these books as canonical.[72] On the other hand, at least one recent Burmese teacher has not.[73]

　　Ancient style of scripture used for the Pali Canon

　　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 systematic philosophical description of the nature of mind, matter and time. 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[74]

　　The traditional position is that the Abhidhamma is 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: Harvey,[75] Gethin.[76] Cousins says that where the suttas think in terms of sequences or processes the abhidhamma thinks in terms of specific events or occasions.[77]