Sutta Piṭaka

The Sutta Piṭaka, also called the Sūtra Piṭaka or Suttanta Piṭaka—meaning "Basket of Discourse"—is the second of three sections in the Pali Tripitaka, the authoritative scriptural collection of Theravada Buddhism. The other two are the Vinaya Piṭaka (Basket of Discipline) and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka (Basket of Higher Doctrine). This collection holds over 10,000 suttas, or teachings, credited to the Buddha or his close disciples.

According to tradition, the material that later became the written Sutta Piṭaka was first recited orally by the Buddha’s cousin, Ānanda, at the First Buddhist Council, convened shortly after the Buddha’s death. That same council also established the Vinaya, the rules for monks and nuns. Tradition maintains that little was added to the canon after this event. Scholars, however, vary in how much they question this. Richard Gombrich believes that the content—though not the exact wording—of the first four nikayas (see below) largely dates back to the Buddha. The late Hirakawa Akira proposed that the First Council only collected brief prose passages or verses on key doctrines, which were later expanded into full suttas over the following century.

The suttas are organized into five nikayas, or collections:

- **Digha Nikāya**: The "long" discourses, containing 34 suttas. Notable examples include *The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness*, *The Fruits of the Contemplative Life*, and *The Buddha's Last Days*. - **Majjhima Nikāya**: The "middle-length" discourses, with 152 suttas. These include *Shorter Exposition of Kamma*, *Mindfulness of Breathing*, and *Mindfulness of the Body*. - **Saṁyutta Nikāya**: The "connected" discourses. One count puts this at 2,889 shorter suttas, while the commentary lists 7,762. - **Anguttara Nikāya**: The "numerical" discourses, arranged by number. According to the commentary, it contains 9,565 short suttas grouped from ones to elevens. Keown notes a significant difference between the Pāli and Sarvāstivādin versions, with over two-thirds of the sūtras appearing in only one of the two, suggesting much of this section was formed relatively late. - **Khuddaka Nikāya**: The "minor collection," a varied mix of sermons, doctrines, and poetry attributed to the Buddha and his disciples. Its contents differ by edition. The Thai edition includes items 1–15 below, the Sinhalese edition 1–17, and the Burmese edition 1–18: (1) Khuddakapatha, (2) Dhammapada, (3) Udana, (4) Itivuttaka, (5) Suttanipata, (6) Vimanavatthu, (7) Petavatthu, (8) Theragatha, (9) Therigatha, (10) Jataka, (11) Niddesa, (12) Patisambhidamagga, (13) Apadana, (14) Buddhavamsa, (15) Cariyapitaka, (16) Nettipakarana or Netti, (17) Petakopadesa, (18) Milinda Panha.

Translations of the first four nikayas and over half of the fifth are available from the Pali Text Society. The first four have also been published in the Teachings of the Buddha series by Wisdom Publications. Additionally, the first four nikayas and six books from the Khuddaka Nikāya have been translated from Pali by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, released under a Creative Commons license, and can be found at dhammatalks.org. Several selections covering at least two nikayas exist, including works edited or translated by T. W. Rhys Davids, Nyanatiloka, I. B. Horner, Piyadassi, Bodhi, John J. Holder, Rupert Gethin, and Glenn Wallis.