Origins

This
scripture describes the first Buddhist council. It was held shortly
after the Buddha’s death, and collected the set of rules (Vinaya) and five sets of Dhamma.
Tradition holds that little was added to the Canon after this. Scholars
are more skeptical, but differ in their degrees of skepticism. Richard Gombrich thinks most of the first four nikayas (see below) go back to the Buddha, in content but not in form.^[1] The late Professor Hirakawa Akira says^[2]
that the First Council collected only short prose passages or verses
expressing important doctrines, and that these were expanded into full
length suttas over the next century.

Contents

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There are five nikayas (collections) of suttas:

1. Digha Nikāya (dīghanikāya), the “long” discourses.
2. Majjhima Nikāya, the “middle-length” discourses.
3. Saṁyutta Nikāya (saṃyutta-), the “connected” discourses.
4. Anguttara Nikāya (aṅguttara-), the “numerical” discourses.
5. Khuddaka Nikāya, the “minor collection”.

Digha Nikāya

This includes The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness, The Fruits of the Contemplative Life, and The Buddha’s Last Days. There are 34 long suttas in this nikaya.

Majjhima Nikāya

This includes Shorter Exposition of Kamma, Mindfulness of Breathing, and Mindfulness of the Body. There are 152 medium-length suttas in this nikaya.

Samyutta Nikaya

There are, according to one reckoning, 2,889, but according to the commentary 7,762, shorter suttas in this Nikaya.

Anguttara Nikāya

These teachings are arranged numerically. It includes, according to
the commentary’s reckoning, 9,565 short suttas grouped by number from
ones to elevens. According to Keown,
“there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the Sarvāstivādin
versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not
the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the
Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date.”^[3]

Khuddaka Nikāya

This is a heterogeneous mix of sermons, doctrines, and poetry
attributed to the Buddha and his disciples. The contents vary somewhat
between editions. The Thai edition includes 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

For more on these editions also see Pali Canon

Translations

The first four nikayas and more than half of the fifth have been translated by the Pali Text Society[1]. The first four have also been translated in the Teachings of the Buddha series by Wisdom Publications.

Selections (including material from at least two nikayas):

• Buddhist Suttas, ed & tr T. W. Rhys Davids, Sacred Books of the East, volume XI, Clarendon/Oxford, 1881; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (& ?Dover, New York)
• The Word of the Buddha, ed & tr Nyanatiloka, 1935
• Early Buddhist Poetry, ed I. B. Horner, Ananda Semage, Colombo, 1963
• The Book of Protection, tr Piyadassi, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1981; translation of the paritta
• In the Buddha’s Words, ed & tr Bodhi, Wisdom Pubns, 2005
• Early Buddhist Discourses, ed & tr John J. Holder, 2006
• Sayings of the Buddha, ed & tr Rupert Gethin, Oxford University Press, 2008
• Basic Teachings of the Buddha, ed & tr Glenn Wallis, New York: Random House, 2007