Sutta Piṭaka

Suttas from the Pāli Canon

translated by
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu

Introduction & about …

Introduction

Offline edition …

The sutta translations can also be browsed and read offline by downloading an eBook version. The entire Sutta Piṭaka, with full hyperlinked cross-references provides a similar, if not superior experience, to online browsing (or even offline browsing with a mirrored website stored locally). Page loading and following cross-references are snappier without internet latency, and the eBooks have some additional features like nested tables of contents, bookmarking, note taking and highlighting. There’s also the ability to load them onto handheld devices and eReaders like the Kindle or Kobe, and eReaders are particularly good for taking into the wilderness because of their light weight and extremely long battery life.

Due to the internal structure of the eBooks (specifically the epub, azw3 and mobi formats), even very large ones like this hardly lag in navigation and page rendering, even on the oldest, smallest and most underpowered devices. On a computer, the responsiveness is immediate. Large pdfs, on the other hand, are basically unusable on small devices, and not recommended even for powerful computers.

All that is needed is an eReader. For Kindles, the azw3 format is better, but the mobi also works. For everything else, the epub format is the best. For a laptop or desktop computer, Calibre is free and excellent eReader software that works on Windows, OSX and Linux. For Android eBookDroid is free and popular, and the iPhone has iBooks installed by default.

Translator’s note

Re accesstoinsight.org

Glossary

Abbreviations

Random sutta

Dīgha Nikāya …

The Dīgha Nikāya, or Long Collection, is named after the length not of the collection, but of its individual suttas. There are 34 in all, many of them among the most polished literary compositions in the Pali Canon. This anthology contains complete translations of twelve suttas, and partial translations of two.

Majjhima Nikāya …

The Majjhima Nikāya — the Middle Collection — is the second collection in the Sutta Piṭaka. It takes its name from the length of the discourses it contains: shorter than those in the Long Collection, longer than those in the Connected and Numerical Collections. There are 152 suttas in all. This anthology offers complete translations of 103 of these suttas, and excerpts from three. Majjhima Syllabus. The suttas in the Majjhima Nikāya are among the most interesting and informative of the Canon. However, when they were collected they were organized for ease of memorization, not for ease of study. So, as an introduction to the collection, here is a list of suttas organized by topic, from the more fundamental to the more advanced.

Saṁyutta Nikāya …

The Saṁyutta Nikāya, a collection of short to medium-length discourses, takes its name from the way the discourses are organized into groups connected (saṁyutta) by a particular theme. In some cases, the theme is a topic. In others it may be the name of an interlocutor, a place, a group of people, or—as in the Simile-Connected discourses—a formal attribute of the discourses themselves. The complete collection, counting all its formulaic expansions, contains more than 2,900 discourses, of which 457 are translated here.

Aṅguttara Nikāya …

The Aṅguttara Nikāya, a collection of short to medium-length discourses, takes its name from the way the discourses are grouped by the number of their parts (aṅga), with the number growing progressively higher (uttara) with each group. No single English term can convey the full meaning of this name, although the translation Numerical Collection gives a workable idea of the principle behind it. The complete collection, counting all its formulaic expansions, contains more than 9,500 discourses. When these expansions are not counted, the total comes to approximately 2,300 discourses, of which 427 are translated here.

Khuddaka Nikāya

Khuddakapāṭha…

This, the first book in the Khuddaka Nikāya (Collection of Short Discourses), appears to have been designed as a primer for novice monks and nuns. In nine short passages it covers the basic topics that one would need to know when beginning Buddhist monastic life; many of the passages also serve as useful introductions to Buddhist practice in general.

Dhammapada…

The Dhammapada, an anthology of verses attributed to the Buddha, has long been recognized as one of the masterpieces of early Buddhist literature.

Udāna…

As a genre of text, udāna means a style of narrative that developed in an effort to commit to memory the Buddha’s inspired exclamations, along with brief accounts of the events that inspired them.

Itivuttaka…

A collection of 112 short discourses, it takes its name from the statement at the beginning of each of its discourses: this (iti) was said (vuttaṁ) by the Blessed One. The collection as a whole is attributed to a laywoman named Khujjuttarā, who worked in the palace of King Udena of Kosambī as a servant to one of his queens, Sāmāvati. Because the Queen could not leave the palace to hear the Buddha’s discourses, Khujjuttarā went in her place, memorized what the Buddha said, and then returned to the palace to teach the Queen and her 500 ladies-in-waiting. For her efforts, the Buddha cited Khujjuttarā as the foremost of his laywomen disciples in terms of her learning. She was also an effective teacher: when the inner apartments of the palace later burned down, killing the Queen and her entourage, the Buddha commented (in Udāna 7:10) that all of the women had reached at least the first stage of awakening.

Sutta Nipāta…

The collection includes some of the most famous poems in the Pali Canon. It also contains two sets of poems that were apparently well-known in the Buddha’s time as deep expressions of advanced points of doctrine: the Aṭṭhaka Vagga, a set of sixteen poems on the theme of non-clinging, and the Pārāyana Vagga, a set of sixteen dialogues, with a prologue and epilogue, in which the Buddha provides succinct answers to questions posed to him by brahmans who appear to have been adept in concentration practice. In addition to these more well-known poems, the collection also contains many useful instructions of a highly practical nature, covering everything from the most basic standards of conduct to the most subtle issues of discernment.

Theragāthā…

This is an anthology consisting of 104 poems from the Theragāthā (Poems of the Elder Monks). It is the eighth text in the Khuddaka Nikāya. The Theragāthā contains a total of 264 poems, all attributed to early members of the monastic Saṅgha. Some of the poems are attributed to monks well-known from other parts of the Canon—such as Ānanda and Mahā Kassapa—whereas the majority are attributed to monks otherwise unknown. It is a landmark in the history of world literature. The Theragāthā contains the earliest extant descriptions extolling the beauties, not of domesticated nature, but of nature where it’s wild.

Therīgāthā…

This is an anthology consisting of 34 poems from the Therīgāthā (Poems of the Elder Nuns). It is the ninth text in the Khuddaka Nikāya. The Therīgāthā contains a total of 73 poems, all attributed to early members of the monastic Saṅgha. Some of the poems are attributed to nuns well-known from other parts of the Canon—such as Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī and Uppalavaṇṇā—whereas the majority are attributed to nuns otherwise unknown. It is a landmark in the history of world literature. The Therīgāthā is the earliest extant text depicting women’s spiritual experiences.

Sutta Piṭaka

Suttas from the Pāli Canon

translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu

translated by
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu