Tripiį¹aka, also referred to as Tipiį¹aka, is the traditional term for the Buddhist scriptures.[1][2] The version canonical to Theravada Buddhism is often referred to as Pali Canon in English. Mahayana
Buddhism also reveres the Tripitaka as authoritative but, unlike
Theravadins, it also reveres various derivative literature and
commentaries that were composed much later.[1][3]
The Tripitakas were composed between about 500 BCE to about
the start of the common era, likely written down for the first time in
the 1st century BCE.[3] The Dipavamsa states that during the reign of Valagamba of Anuradhapura
(29ā17 BCE) the monks who had previously remembered the Tipitaka and
its commentary orally now wrote them down in books, because of the
threat posed by famine and war. The Mahavamsa
also refers briefly to the writing down of the canon and the
commentaries at this time. Each Buddhist sub-tradition had its own
Tripitaka for its monasteries, written by its sangha, each set consisting of 32 books, in three parts or baskets of teachings: (1) the basket of expected discipline from monks (Vinaya Piį¹aka), (2) basket of discourse (SÅ«tra Piį¹aka, Nikayas), and (3) basket of special doctrine (Abhidharma Piį¹aka).[1][3][4]
The structure, the code of conduct and moral virtues in the Vinaya
basket particularly, have similarities to some of the surviving Dharmasutra texts of Hinduism.[5] Much of the surviving Tripitaka literature is in Pali, with some in Sanskrit as well as other local Asian languages.[4]
Tripiį¹aka, also called Tipiį¹aka (Pali), means Three Baskets. and pitaka (ą¤Ŗą¤æą¤ą¤) or pita (ą¤Ŗą¤æą¤) meaning “basket or box made from bamboo or wood” and “collection of writings”, according to Monier-Williams.[6] These terms are also spelled without diacritics as Tripitaka and Tipitaka in scholarly literature.[1]
Chronology
The dating of the Tripitakas is unclear. Max Muller
states that the texts were likely composed in the third century BCE,
but transmitted orally from generation to generation just like the Vedas
and the early Upanishads.[7]
The first version, suggests Muller, was very likely reduced to writing
in the 1st century BCE (nearly 500 years after the time of Buddha).[7]
According to the Tibetan historian Bu-ston, states Warder, around or
before 1st century CE, there were eighteen schools of Buddhism and their
Tripitakas were written down by then.[8]
However, except for one version that has survived in full, and others
of which parts have survived, all of these texts are lost to history or
yet to be found.[8]
The tripitaka was compiled into writing for the first time during the
reign of King Walagambahu of Sri Lanka (1st century BCE). It’s written
in the Sri Lankan history that more than 1000monks who were already
Arahath state (totally awakened)represented in writing. The place where
they carried out was in Aluvihare Matale Sri Lanka.[8]
These texts were written down in four related Indo-European languages
of South Asia: Sanskrit, Pali, Paisaci and Prakrit, sometime between 1st
century BCE and 7th century CE.[8]
Some of these were translated in East Asian languages such as Chinese,
Tibetan and Mongolian by ancient visiting scholars, which though vast
are incomplete.[9]
Wu and Chia state that emerging evidence, though uncertain, suggests
that the earliest written Buddhist Tripitaka texts may have arrived in
China from India by the 1st century BCE.[10]
Tripitaka comprises the three main categories of texts that is the
Buddhist canon. The three parts of the PÄli canon are not as
contemporary as the traditional Buddhist account seems to suggest: the
SÅ«tra Piį¹aka is older than the Vinaya Piį¹aka, and the Abhidharma Piį¹aka
represents scholastic developments originated at least two centuries
after the other two parts of the canon. The Vinaya Piį¹aka appears to
have grown gradually as a commentary and justification of the monastic
code (PrÄtimokį¹£a), which presupposes a transition from a community of
wandering mendicants (the SÅ«tra Piį¹aka period ) to a more sedentary
monastic community (the Vinaya Piį¹aka period). Even within the SÅ«tra
Piį¹aka it is possible to detect older and later texts.
The Buddha delivered all his sermons in local language[clarification needed]
of northern India. These sermons were collected during 1st assembly
just after the Parinibbana of the Buddha. Later these teachings were
translated into Sanskrit.
Philosophical and psychological discourse and interpretation of Buddhist doctrine.
In Indian Buddhist schools
Each of the Early Buddhist Schools
likely had their own recensions of the Tripiį¹aka. According to some
sources, there were some Indian schools of Buddhism that had five or
seven piį¹akas.[11]
The 6th century CE Indian monk ParamÄrtha wrote that 200 years after the parinirvÄį¹a of the Buddha, much of the MahÄsÄį¹ghika school moved north of RÄjagį¹ha, and were divided over whether the MahÄyÄna sÅ«tras
should be incorporated formally into their Tripiį¹aka. According to this
account, they split into three groups based upon the relative manner
and degree to which they accepted the authority of these MahÄyÄna texts.[12] ParamÄrtha states that the Kukkuį¹ika sect did not accept the MahÄyÄna sÅ«tras as buddhavacana (”words of the Buddha”), while the LokottaravÄda sect and the EkavyÄvahÄrika sect did accept the MahÄyÄna sÅ«tras as buddhavacana.[13]
Also in the 6th century CE, Avalokitavrata writes of the MahÄsÄį¹ghikas
using a “Great Ägama Piį¹aka,” which is then associated with MahÄyÄna
sÅ«tras such as the PrajƱÄparamitÄ and the DaÅabhÅ«mika SÅ«tra.[14]
According to some sources, abhidharma was not accepted as canonical by the MahÄsÄį¹ghika school.[15] The TheravÄdin DÄ«pavaį¹sa, for example, records that the MahÄsÄį¹ghikas had no abhidharma.[16] However, other sources indicate that there were such collections of abhidharma, and the Chinese pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang both mention MahÄsÄį¹ghika abhidharma. On the basis of textual evidence as well as inscriptions at NÄgÄrjunakoį¹įøÄ,
Joseph Walser concludes that at least some MahÄsÄį¹ghika sects probably
had an abhidharma collection, and that it likely contained five or six
books.[17]
Caitika
The Caitikas
included a number of sub-sects including the PÅ«rvaÅailas, AparaÅailas,
SiddhÄrthikas, and RÄjagirikas. In the 6th century CE, Avalokitavrata
writes that MahÄyÄna sÅ«tras such as the PrajƱÄparamitÄ and others are chanted by the AparaÅailas and the PÅ«rvaÅailas.[14] Also in the 6th century CE, BhÄvaviveka speaks of the SiddhÄrthikas using a VidyÄdhÄra Piį¹aka, and the PÅ«rvaÅailas and AparaÅailas both using a Bodhisattva Piį¹aka, implying collections of MahÄyÄna texts within these Caitika schools.[14]
BahuÅrutÄ«ya
The BahuÅrutÄ«ya school is said to have included a Bodhisattva Piį¹aka in their canon. The Satyasiddhi ÅÄstra, also called the Tattvasiddhi ÅÄstra,
is an extant abhidharma from the BahuÅrutÄ«ya school. This abhidharma
was translated into Chinese in sixteen fascicles (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka
1646).[18]
Its authorship is attributed to Harivarman, a third-century monk from
central India. ParamÄrtha cites this BahuÅrutÄ«ya abhidharma as
containing a combination of HÄ«nayÄna and MahÄyÄna doctrines, and Joseph Walser agrees that this assessment is correct.[19]
PrajƱaptivÄda
The PrajƱaptivÄdins held that the Buddha’s teachings in the various piį¹akas were nominal (Skt. prajƱapti), conventional (Skt. saį¹vį¹ti), and causal (Skt. hetuphala).[20]
Therefore, all teachings were viewed by the PrajƱaptivÄdins as being of
provisional importance, since they cannot contain the ultimate truth.[21]
It has been observed that this view of the Buddha’s teachings is very
close to the fully developed position of the MahÄyÄna sÅ«tras.[20][21]
SÄrvÄstivÄda
Scholars at present have “a nearly complete collection of sÅ«tras from the SarvÄstivÄda school”[22] thanks to a recent discovery in Afghanistan of roughly two-thirds of DÄ«rgha Ägama in Sanskrit. The Madhyama Ägama (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka
26) was translated by Gautama Saį¹ghadeva, and is available in Chinese.
The Saį¹yukta Ägama (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka 99) was translated by Guį¹abhadra,
also available in Chinese translation. The SarvÄstivÄda is therefore
the only early school besides the Theravada for which we have a roughly
complete SÅ«tra Piį¹aka. The SÄrvÄstivÄda Vinaya Piį¹aka is also extant in
Chinese translation, as are the seven books of the SarvÄstivÄda
Abhidharma Piį¹aka. There is also the encyclopedic Abhidharma MahÄvibhÄį¹£a ÅÄstra (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka 1545), which was held as canonical by the VaibhÄį¹£ika SarvÄstivÄdins of northwest India.
MÅ«lasÄrvÄstivÄda
Portions of the MÅ«lasÄrvÄstivÄda Tripiį¹aka survive in Tibetan translation and Nepalese manuscripts.[23]
The relationship of the MÅ«lasÄrvÄstivÄda school to SarvÄstivÄda school
is indeterminate; their vinayas certainly differed but it is not clear
that their SÅ«tra Piį¹aka did. The Gilgit manuscripts may contain Ägamas
from the MÅ«lasÄrvÄstivÄda school in Sanskrit.[24] The MÅ«lasÄrvÄstivÄda Vinaya Piį¹aka survives in Tibetan
translation and also in Chinese translation (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka 1442).
The Gilgit manuscripts also contain vinaya texts from the
MÅ«lasÄrvÄstivÄda school in Sanskrit.[24]
A complete version of the DÄ«rgha Ägama (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka 1) of the Dharmaguptaka school was translated into Chinese by BuddhayaÅas and Zhu Fonian (ē«ŗä½åæµ) in the Later Qin dynasty, dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sÅ«tras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin DÄ«gha NikÄya. A. K. Warder also associates the extant Ekottara Ägama (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka 125) with the Dharmaguptaka school, due to the number of rules for monastics, which corresponds to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya.[25] The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya is also extant in Chinese translation (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka 1428), and Buddhist monastics in East Asia adhere to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya.
The Dharmaguptaka Tripiį¹aka is said to have contained a total of five piį¹akas.[19] These included a Bodhisattva Piį¹aka and a Mantra Piį¹aka (Ch. åč), also sometimes called a DhÄraį¹Ä« Piį¹aka.[26]
According to the 5th century Dharmaguptaka monk BuddhayaÅas, the
translator of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya into Chinese, the Dharmaguptaka
school had assimilated the MahÄyÄna Tripiį¹aka (Ch. 大ä¹äøč).[27]
MahÄ«ÅÄsaka
The MahÄ«ÅÄsaka Vinaya is preserved in Chinese translation (TaishÅ Tripiį¹aka 1421), translated by BuddhajÄ«va and Zhu Daosheng in 424 CE.
KÄÅyapÄ«ya
Small portions of the Tipiį¹aka of the KÄÅyapÄ«ya
school survive in Chinese translation. An incomplete Chinese
translation of the Saį¹yukta Ägama of the KÄÅyapÄ«ya school by an unknown
translator circa the Three Qin (äøē§¦) period (352-431 CE) survives.[28]
In the Theravada school
The complete Tripiį¹aka set of the TheravÄda school is written and preserved in Pali in the Pali Canon. Buddhists of the TheravÄda school use the Pali variant Tipitaka to refer what is commonly known in English as the Pali Canon.[citation needed]
In MahÄyÄna schools
The term Tripiį¹aka
had tended to become synonymous with Buddhist scriptures, and thus
continued to be used for the Chinese and Tibetan collections, although
their general divisions do not match a strict division into three
piį¹akas.[29] In the Chinese tradition, the texts are classified in a variety of ways,[30] most of which have in fact four or even more piį¹akas or other divisions.[citation needed]
As a title
The Chinese form of Tripiį¹aka,
“sÄnzĆ ng” (äøč), was sometimes used as an honorary title for a Buddhist
monk who has mastered the teachings of the Tripiį¹aka. In Chinese culture
this is notable in the case of the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang, whose pilgrimage to India to study and bring Buddhist texts back to China was portrayed in the novel Journey to the West
as “Tang Sanzang” (Tang Dynasty Tripiį¹aka Master). Due to the
popularity of the novel, the term “sÄnzĆ ng” is often erroneously
understood as a name of the monk Xuanzang. One such screen version of this is the popular 1979 Monkey (TV series).[citation needed]
The modern Indian scholar Rahul Sankrityayan is sometimes referred to as Tripitakacharya in reflection of his familiarity with the Tripiį¹aka.[citation needed]
1. The upper half shows a text in Sanskrit (praise of Vishnu) written in Devanagari while the lower half shows a text in Pali from a Buddhist ceremonial scripture called “Kammuwa” from Burma, probably in the Mon script.
1. A school slogan asking elementary students to speak Putonghua is annotated with pinyin, but without tonal marks. 2. In Yiling, Yichang, Hubei, text on road signs appears both in Chinese characters and in Hanyu Pinyin 4. This table may be a useful reference for IPA vowel symbols
1. Old sign from the JNR era at Toyooka Station
shows inconsistent romanization. Although in principle Hepburn is used,
Kokuhu is the kunrei-shiki form (would be Kokufu in Hepburn).
TheravÄda (Pali, literally “school of the elder monks“) is a branch of Buddhism that uses the Buddha’s teaching preserved in the PÄli Canon as its doctrinal core. The Pali canon is the only complete Buddhist canon which survives in a classical Indic Language, Pali, which serves as the sacred language and lingua franca of Theravada Buddhism.
1. Map showing the three major Buddhist divisions. 2.Ashoka and Moggaliputta-Tissa at the Third Council, at the Nava Jetavana, Shravasti 3. Sanghamitta and the Bodhi Tree 4. Mihintale, the traditional location of Devanampiya Tissa’s conversion
1. Standard edition of the Thai Pali Canon 2. In pre-modern times the Pali Canon was not published in book form, but written on thin slices of wood (Palm-leaf manuscript or Bamboo). The leaves are kept on top of each other by thin sticks and the scripture is covered in cloth and kept in a box. 3. Burmese-Pali manuscript copy of the Buddhist text Mahaniddesa, showing three different types of Burmese script, (top) medium square, (centre) round and (bottom) outline round in red lacquer from the inside of one of the gilded covers
Valagamba (Sinhala: ą·ą· ą¶ą¶øą·ą¶¶ą·), also known as Vattagamani Abhaya and Valagambahu, was a king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom of Sri Lanka. Five months after becoming king, he was overthrown by a rebellion and an invasion from South India, but regained the throne by defeating the invaders after fourteen years. He is also known for the construction of the
1.
The Abhayagiri Stupa, built by Valagamba
Sangha (Pali: saį¹ gha; Sanskrit: saį¹gha; Thai: ąøąø£ąø°ąøŖąøąøą¹; Chinese: å§ä¼½; pinyin: SÄngjiÄ; Wylie: dge ‘dun) is a word in Pali and Sanskrit meaning “association”, “assembly”, “company” or “community” and most commonly refers in Buddhism to the monastic community of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns). These communities are traditionally referred to
2. Sangha (Luang Prabang, Laos) 3. Gautama Buddha and his followers, holding begging bowls, receive offerings: from an 18th-century Burmese watercolour 4.UpÄsakas and UpÄsikÄs performing a short chanting ceremony at Three Ancestors Temple, Anhui, China
1. The Buddha preaching the Abhidharma in TrÄyastriį¹Åa heaven. 2. The main entrance of the Aluvihare Rock Temple, where the Tipitaka was first written down 3. Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakosa is a major source in Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism.
1. Copy of a royal land grant, recorded on copper plate, made by Chalukya King Tribhuvana Malla Deva in 1083 2. A facsimile of an inscription in Oriya script on a copper plate recording a land grant made by RÄja Purushottam Deb, king of Odisha,
in the fifth year of his reign (1483). Land grants made by royal
decree were protected by law, with deeds often being recorded on metal
plates
1. Max MĆ¼ller as a young man 2. Portrait of the elderly Max MĆ¼ller by George Frederic Watts, 1894ā1895 3. 1875 ‘’Vanity Fair'’
caricature of MĆ¼ller confirming that, at the age of fifty-one, with
numerous honours, he was one of the truly notable “Men of the Day”.
1. The Tripiį¹aka Koreana in storage at Haeinsa. 2. Tripiį¹aka Koreana sutra page in 1371.
1. Ten Indus glyphs from the northern gate of Dholavira. 2. Vishnu holding Sudarshan Chakra 3. Worshipers under 24 spokes of the Buddhist Ashoka Chakra.
1. The Buddha giving sermon 2. The Maurya Empire under Emperor AÅoka was the world’s first major Buddhist state. It established free hospitals and free education and promoted human rights. 3. Fragment of the 6th Pillar Edict of AÅoka (238 BC), in BrÄhmÄ«, sandstone. British Museum. 4. Great Stupa (3rd century BC), Sanchi, India.
Lists
and numbering of Buddhist councils vary between and even within
schools. The numbering here is normal in Western writings. ā First
Buddhist council (c. 400 BCE) ā According to the scriptures of all
Buddhist schools, the first Buddhist Council was held soon after the
death of the Buddha, dated by the majority of recent scholars around 400 BCE,
In Buddhism, the term anattÄ (Pali) or anÄtman (Sanskrit) refers to the doctrine of “non-self”, that there is no unchanging, permanent self, soul or essence in living beings. It is one of the seven beneficial perceptions in Buddhism, and along with Dukkha (suffering) and Anicca (impermanence), it is one of three Right Understandings about the
PratÄ«tyasamutpÄda
(Sanskrit: ą¤Ŗą„ą¤°ą¤¤ą„ą¤¤ą„ą¤Æą¤øą¤®ą„ą¤¤ą„ą¤Ŗą¤¾ą¤¦; Pali: ą¤Ŗą¤ą¤æą¤ą„ą¤ą¤øą¤®ą„ą¤Ŗą„ą¤Ŗą¤¾ą¤¦ paį¹iccasamuppÄda),
commonly translated as dependent origination, or dependent arising,
states that all dharmas (”things”) arise in dependence upon other
dharmas: “if this exists, that exists; if this ceases to exist, that
also ceases to exist.” The principle is applied in the
ÅÅ«nyatÄ
(Sanskrit; Pali: suƱƱatÄ), translated into English as emptiness and
voidness, is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meanings depending on
its doctrinal context. It is either an ontological feature of reality, a
meditation state, or a phenomenological analysis of experience. ā In Theravada Buddhism, suƱƱatÄ often refers to the not-self
1. A simile from the Pali scriptures (SN 22.95) compares form and feelings with foam and bubbles. 2. The emptiness of phenomena is often compared to drops of dew
1. A thangka showing the bhavacakra
with the ancient five cyclic realms of saį¹sÄra in Buddhist cosmology.
Medieval and contemporary texts typically describe six realms of
reincarnation. 2. Hungry Ghosts realm of Buddhist samsara, a 12th-century painting from Kyoto Japan 3. In
some Buddhist traditions, rebirth is envisioned to occur in more than
six realms of existence. Above ten realms depiction in Vietnam.
