The Scriptures and Their Commentaries
The word of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Vinaya as taught by him, consists of nine divisions, which are Sutta, Geyya, Veyyākaraṇa, Gāthā, Udāna, Itivuttaka, Jātaka, Abbhuta and Vedalla.
Sutta includes all Discourses, such as the Mangala sutta (Good Discourse, “Minor Readings”, V), and also the Vinaya Piṭaka and the “Niddesa”.
Geyya includes all suttas with verses (gāthā), such as the Sagāthā-vagga of the “Saṃyutta Nikāya”, or “Kindred Sayings” (I).
Veyyākaraṇa, or “Exposition”, includes the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, the suttas without verses and the words of the Buddha that are not included in the other eight divisions.
Gāthā or “Verses” include the “Dhammapada”, “Theragāthā”, “Therīgāthā” (“Psalms of the Brothers and Sisters”) and those parts of the “Sutta-Nipāta” not called Sutta and entirely in verse.
Udāna or “Verses of Uplift” include eighty-two suttas connected with verses recited by the Buddha, inspired by knowledge and joy.
Itivuttaka or “As it was said” includes one hundred ten suttas beginning with “Thus it was said by the Blessed One” (in Pāli: “Vuttaṃ h’etaṃ Bhagavatā”).
ātaka or Birth Stories include five hundred fifty stories of the past lives of the Buddha and his disciples, beginning with the Apaṇṇaka Jātaka.
Abbhuta, “Marvellous,” includes suttas connected with wonderful and marvellous things (dhammas with extraordinary qualities, which are amazing).
Vedalla includes suttas with questions and answers that have as result understanding and delight, such as the Cullavedalla sutta.
The word of the Buddha consists of eighty-four thousand units of text. The venerable Ānanda learnt eighty-two thousand units of text from the Exalted One, and two thousand units of text from the bhikkhus, mainly from the venerable Sāriputta. Each theme is one unit of text. Thus, the sutta containing one theme is one unit of text. Where there are questions and answers, each question forms one unit of text and each answer forms one unit of text.
When the scriptures are classified as the Tipiṭaka, they are classified as threefold, namely: the Vinaya, the Suttanta and the Abhidhamma.
The Vinaya Piṭaka or “Books of Discipline” consist of five Books, namely:
“Mahāvibhaṅga”
“Bhikkhunīvibhaṅga”
“Mahāvagga”
“Cullavagga”
“Parivāra”
The commentary that explains the Vinaya is the “Samantapāsādikā”.
The Suttanta Piṭaka, or Discourses, consists of five Nikāyas, namely, “Dīgha Nikāya” or “Dialogues of the Buddha,” “Majjhima Nikāya” or “Middle Length Sayings,” “Saṃyutta Nikāya” or “Kindred Sayings,” “Aṅguttara Nikāya” or “Gradual Sayings,” “Khuddaka Nikāya” or “The Minor Collection.”
The “Dīgha Nikāya” is a collection of long dialogues (dīgha means long), consisting of thirty-four suttas. This collection is divided into three sections (in Pāli: vagga):
Sīla-kkhandha-vagga (sīla means morality and khandha means group);
Mahā-vagga (mahā means great);
Pāṭika-vagga (called after the first sutta; Pāṭika is a proper name).
The commentary to this collection is the “Sumaṅgalavilāsinī”.
The “Majjhima Nikāya” is a collection of suttas of medium length (majjhima means middle), and it consists of one hundred fifty-two suttas. It is divided into three parts, which are called in Pāli “paṇṇāsa,” meaning fifty. The first two parts consist of fifty suttas each and the third part of fifty-two suttas. They are called:
Mūla-paṇṇāsa (mūla means root), consisting of five sections of ten suttas;
Majjhima-paṇṇāsa, consisting of five sections of ten suttas;
Upari-paṇṇāsa (upari means above or later), consisting of five sections, of which four have ten suttas and the fifth has twelve suttas.
The commentary to this collection is the “Papañcasūdanī”.
The “Saṃyutta Nikāya” is a group of suttas (saṃyutta means joined, connected) divided into five main divisions, namely:
Sagāthā-vagga (gāthā means verse, with verses), with eleven sections;
Nidāna-vagga (nidāna means origin or cause), consisting of nine sections;
Khandha-vagga (dealing with the five khandhas), consisting of thirteen sections;
Saḷāyatana-vagga (saḷāyatana is the sixfold āyatana or sense spheres), consisting of ten sections;
Mahā-vagga (great chapter), consisting of twelve sections.
The commentary to this collection is the “Sāratthappakāsinī”.
The “Aṅguttara Nikāya” consists of suttas grouped according to the numbers of Dhamma subjects or points dealt with. They are arranged in order, from one to eleven. Thus, there are eleven “nipāta,” or sections in all. “Book of the Ones” consists of suttas dealing with one kind of subject, and so on up to the Book of the Elevens. Summarizing them, they are:
Eka-nipāta (eka means one), Book of the Ones;
Duka-nipāta (duka, from dve, two, meaning pair), Book of the Twos;
Tika-nipāta, Book of the Threes;
Catuka-nipāta, Book of the Fours;
Pañcaka-nipāta, Book of the Fives;
Chaka-nipāta, Book of the Sixes;
Sattaka-nipāta, Book of the Sevens;
Aṭṭhaka-nipāta, Book of the Eights;
Navaka-nipāta, Book of the Nines;
Dasaka-nipāta, Book of the Tens;
Ekādasaka-nipāta, Book of the Elevens.
The commentary to the “Aṅguttara Nikāya” is the “Manorathapūranī”.
Apart from these four Nikāyas, there is the “Khuddaka Nikāya”, which contains the word of the Buddha. This consists of the following books:
“Khuddakapāṭha” or “Minor Readings”;
“Dhammapada” (pada means word or phrase);
“Udāna” or “Verses of Uplift”;
“Itivuttaka” or “As it was said”;
“Suttanipāta” or “The Group of Discourses”;
“Vimānavatthu” or “Stories of the Mansions” (in “Minor Anthologies IV”);
“Petavatthu” or “Stories of the Departed” (in “Minor Anthologies IV”);
“Theragāthā” or “Psalms of the Brethren”;
“Therīgāthā” or “Psalms of the Sisters”;
“Jātaka” or “Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births” (in three volumes by P.T.S.);
“Mahā-Niddesa” (niddesa means descriptive exposition);
“Cūḷa-Niddesa” (cūḷa or culla means small);
“Paṭisambhidāmagga” or “The Path of Discrimination”;
“Apadāna” (life histories);
“Buddhavaṃsa” or “Chronicle of the Buddhas” (in “Minor Anthologies III”);
“Cariyāpiṭaka” or “Basket of Conduct” (in “Minor Anthologies III”).
The commentaries to these collections of the “Khuddaka Nikāya” are the following:
The “Paramatthajotikā”, which is the commentary to the
“Khuddaka-pātha” and the “Suttanipāta”;
“Dhammapadaṭṭhakathā” or “Buddhist Legends” (in three volumes by the P.T.S.), which is the commentary to the “Dhammapada”;
The “Paramatthadīpanī”, which is the commentary to the “Udāna”, the “Itivuttaka”, the “Petavatthu”, the “Theragāthā”, the “Therīgāthā”, the “Cariyāpiṭaka” and the “Vimānavatthu”;
The “Jātakatthavaṇṇanā”, which is the commentary to the “Jātaka”;
The “Saddhammapajjotika”, which is the commentary to the “Mahā-Niddesa” and the “Cūḷa-Niddesa”;
The “Saddhammappakāsinī”, which is the commentary to the “Paṭisambhidāmagga”;
The “Visuddhajanavilāsinī”, which is the commentary to the “Apadāna”;
The “Madhuratthavilāsinī”, or “The Clarifier of Sweet Meaning” (P.T.S.), which is the commentary to the “Buddhavaṃsa”.
The Abhidhamma Piṭaka consists of the following seven Books:
“Dhammasaṅgaṇī” (translated by PTS as “Buddhist Psychological Ethics,” and also translated by U Kyaw Khine) and this has as commentary the “Aṭṭhasālinī” (“The Expositor”);
“Vibhaṅga” or “The Book of Analysis,” which has as commentary the “Sammohavinodanī” or “Dispeller of Delusion”;
“Dhātukathā” or “Discourse on Elements”;
“Puggalapaññatti” or “a Designation of Human Types”;
“Kathāvatthu” or “Points of Controversy”;
“Yamaka”;
“Paṭṭhāna” or “Conditional Relations”.
As to the commentary to the last five Books of the Abhidhamma, this is the “Pañcappakaraṇatthakathā”.
The greater part of the commentaries to the Tipiṭaka is from the hand of the great commentator Buddhaghosa. He translated into Pāli, compiled and arranged material from the ancient commentaries, which were in Sinhalese. These commentaries, the “Mahā-Atthakathā”, the “Mahā-Paccarī” and the “Kuruṇḍi”, stemmed from the time of the Thera Mahinda, the son of the great King Asoka who came to Sri Lanka in order to propagate Buddhism.
Furthermore, there are sub-commentaries, called ṭīkā in Pāli, which explain the commentaries. These are the “Sāratthadīpanī”, a sub-commentary to the “Samantapāsādikā”, which is the commentary to the Vinaya; the “Sārattha Mañjūsā”, a sub-commentary to the Suttanta Piṭaka, the “Paramatthapakāsinī”, a sub-commentary to the Abhidhamma Piṭaka; and the anuṭīkā (anu meaning: along, alongside), which explains words and expressions in the sub-commentaries. Apart from the aforementioned works, there are several other texts in Buddhism needed for the study of the Dhamma that were composed by the “Elders” who were qualified to pass on the tradition of the Dhamma. These are the following texts:
“Milindapañha” or “Milinda’s Questions,” composed
about 500 Buddhist Era (43 B.C.);
“Visuddhimagga” or “Path of Purification,” an
Encyclopedia on Buddhism, composed by Buddhaghosa about 1000 B.E.
(457 A.D.);
“Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha” or “A Manual of Abhidhamma,” composed by Ven. Anuruddha about 1000 B.E. (457 A.D.);
“Sārattha Saṅgaha”, composed by Nanda about 1000 B.E. (457 A.D.);
“Paramattha Mañjūsā”, a sub-commentary to the “Visuddhimagga”, composed by Ven. Dhammapāla;
“Saccasaṇkhepa” (meaning Exposition of the Truth), composed by Ven. Dhammapala;
“Abhidhammattha-vibhāvinī-ṭīkā”, a sub-commentary to the “Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha” composed by Sumangala, of Sri Lanka;
“Moha Vicchedanī”, an explanation of the “Dhammasangaṇi” and the “Vibhaṅga” (the first and second Books of the Abhidhamma), composed by Ven. Kassapa of Sri Lanka, about 1703 B.E. (1160 A.D.);
“Mangalattha Dīpanī”, an explanation of the Mangala sutta (Good Omen Discourse, Khuddakapāṭha, “Minor Readings”, no 5) composed by Ven. Sirimangala in Chiangmai.
Last updated