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The
first part of the Pali Tipitaka, called the Sutta Pitaka,
contains all the discourses of the Buddha and is divided
into five parts:
- the
Long Collection containing 34 discourses
of great length;
- the
Middle Length Collection containing 152 discourses
of medium length;
- the
Kindred Collection in which 7,562 discourses
are grouped according to subject matter;
- The
Gradual Collection which contains 9,557 discourses
of different length grouped in ascending order from
1 to 11;
- and
the Miscellaneous Collection which is made
up of 15 separate works which could not be fitted into
the other Collections. The Dhammapada, the Jataka
and the Therigata are to be found in this collection.
(
For the other two parts of the Pali Tipitaka see Vinaya Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka
).
According
to tradition, the Pali Tipitaka was recited and arranged
at the first Council and then
orally transmitted until finally committed to writing
in about 100BC in Sri Lanka. Large parts of it were also
translated into Chinese and included in the Chinese Tipitaka.
K.R.
Norman, Pali Literature, Including the Canonical
Literature in Prakrit and Sanskrit of all the Hinayana
Schools of Buddhism. Wiesbaden, 1983.
W. Geiger, Pali Literature and Language. Calcutta,1943.
Guide to the Tipitaka. Bangkok, 1993.
S. Bodhesska. Beginnings - The Pali Suttas. Kandy,
1984.
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