The many teachings of the Buddha are written down in traditional scriptures. The oldest collection of these were written in the Pali and Sinhalese language, and form the basis of the current Theravada tradition; the Pali Canon. The teachings of the Mahayana school were written in Sanskrit. (For a brief explanation of these schools, see The Three Vehicles.)
(The following text is mainly derived from the Asian Studies website of the Australian National University.)
The early Buddhist canon is traditionally referred to as the "Three Baskets" (Skt: Tripitaka; Pali: Tipitaka), consisting of:(1) Vinaya: rules of conduct, which are mainly concerned with the regulation of the monastic order;
(2) Sutras: discourses purportedly spoken by the Buddha, and sometimes by his immediate disciples;
(3) Abhidharma, which includes scholastic treatises that codify and interpret the teachings attributed to the Buddha.
According to Buddhist tradition, this division was instituted at the First Buddhist Council. This canon was written in the Pali language which is believed to have been derived from a dialect used in the region of Magadha. The Second Council introduced some modifications to the rules of monastic discipline, and later councils added other texts to the canon. Initially, the canon was transmitted orally, but after a time of political and social turmoil King Vattagamani of Sri Lanka ordered that it be committed to writing. This was accomplished between 35 and 32 BCE. The Sutras and Vinaya were written in Pali, but some of the commentaries were in Sinhala. The Sinhala texts were translated into Pali in the fifth century CE. (More historical information in the Timeline page.)
The Vinaya Pitaka section of the Pali canon consists of rules of conduct, most of which are aimed at monks and nuns. Most of these are derived from specific cases in which the Buddha was asked for a ruling on the conduct of particular members of the order, and the general rules he promulgated still serve as the basis for monastic conduct. The Buddha never gave an exhaustive 'list of rules', so the vows for monks and nuns have been compiled afterwards.
The Vinaya section consists of five books:
The Vinaya section consists of five books:
(1) Pârâjika Pâli
(2) Pâcittiya Pâli
(3) Mahâvagga Pâli
(4) Culavagga Pâli
(5) Parivâra Pâli
The Sutra Pitaka (Pali: Sutta) section of the Pali canon is the collection of general teachings by the Buddha, traditionally divided into five collections (Nikaya):
(1) the "long" (Digha) discourses;
(2) the "medium length" (Majjhima) discourses;
(3) the "grouped" (Samyutta) discourses;
(4) the "enumerated" (Anguttara) discourses, which are arranged according to the enumerations of their topics; and
(5) the "minor" (Khuddaka) discourses, which comprise the largest section of the canon and the one that contains the widest variety of materials. It includes stories of the Buddha's former births (Jataka), which report how he gradually perfected the exalted qualities of a Buddha; accounts of the lives of the great disciples (apadana); didactic verses (gatha); an influential work entitled the Path of Truth (Dhammapada); and a number of other important texts.
The Abhidharma Pitaka (Pali: Abhidhamma) section includes seven treatises, which organise the doctrines of particular classes of Buddha's discourses. The Abhidharma writers attempted to systematise the profusion of teachings attributed to Buddha into a coherent philosophy. Their texts classify experience in terms of impermanent groupings of factors referred to as Dharma (Pali: Dhamma), which in aggregations are the focus of the doctrine (Dharma) taught by Buddha.
The Abhidharma section consists of seven books:
The Abhidharma section consists of seven books:
(1) The Dhammasangani Pâli
(2) Vibhanga Pâli, Book of Analysis
(3) Dhâtukathâ Pâli
(4) Puggalapaññatti Pâli
(5) Kathâvatthu Pâli
(6) Yamaka Pâli
(7) Patthâna Pâli
The Theravada tradition in countries of Southeast Asia follow the Pali canon and generally consider the texts of Mahayana to be heterodox. (See also the Three Vehicles.)
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