Sutta Piṭaka - an introduction

Sūtra Piṭaka (Sanskrit) or Sutta Piṭaka (Pali) is the major division of the Tipiṭaka. The Sutta Piṭaka comprises more than 10,000 sūtras or suttas that are the Teachings of Gautama Buddha. The extensive collections of sūtras are classified into five Nikayas. These include the – Digha Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya, Anguttara Nikaya and Khuddaka Nikaya.

Shortly after the Master’s parinibbãna, the greatest of his disciples and arahants came together, in what is now recognized as the First Council and collated the Sutta Piṭaka and classified them into the five Nikayas. It is recognized that there were no additions or editing to the original texts and the Canon was as exactly rendered as Gautama Buddha had meant it to be delivered to his disciples, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. There are several arguments to this aspect, but that is not for us to delve into.

The five Nikayas of the Sutta Piṭaka were classified according to their content and rendition. Thus, the five Suttas were expounded in separate collections.

(1) Digha Nikaya or Dīghanikāya, the ‘digha = long (Pali)’ discourses: Comprising 34 long suttas, these include the greater discourses on the Mahasatipatthana Sutta or the ‘foundations of mindfulness’, the Samaññaphala Sutta or the ‘fruits of contemplative life’ and the Mahaparinibbana Sutta or ‘the last days’, among others. Mostly folklore-like renditions of spiritual realms, and also include instructions on meditation and other perspectives.

(2) Majjhima Nikaya, the ‘majjhima = middle-length (Pali)’ discourses: Comprising 152 medium-length suttas, this Nikaya includes discourses on the Sabbasava Sutta or ‘All the Taints’, Culakammavibhanga Sutta or ‘exposition of kamma’, Anapanasati Sutta or ‘mindfulness of breathing’ and Kayagatasati Sutta or the ‘mindfulness of the body’ and the Angulimala Sutta or the ‘story of Angulimala’. The majjhima suttas are some of the most profound and difficult, and include discourses on human aspects and about action and results on ones’ life and after-life.

(3) Samyutta Nikaya or Saṃyuttanikāya, the ‘connected’ discourses: The numbers vary, and there could be 2,889 suttas. However, according to another reckoning, the Samyukta Nikaya includes about 7,762 shorter suttas. The samyutta (Pali) – ‘grouped’ or ‘connected’ discourses are in 56 clusters.

(4) Anguttara Nikaya or Aṅguttaranikāya, the ‘numerical’ discourses: Comprising 9,565 short suttas arranged numerically, the Nikaya is grouped in clusters of numbers of suttas. While some are singular, the largest cluster comprises eleven suttas. Anga (Pali) – ‘factor’ + Uttara – ‘further’ = Anguttara consisted of several thousand short suttas that were grouped together into one-to-eleven nipatas, such as eka-nipata (Book-of-Ones) and duka-nipata, (Book-of-Twos) that comprised a single sutta about Dhamma, or two suttas about Dhamma, and onwards to clusters of eleven suttas.

(5) Khuddaka Nikaya, the khudda (Pali) = ‘smaller’ or ‘lesser’ being the ‘minor collection’: Comprising several different forms of suttas, including sermons, discourses, poetry and teachings by the Master and his disciples, the numbers of clusters vary from 15 (Thai), 17 (Sinhalese) and 18 (Burmese). The Dhammapada and the Jataka are the most well known and easily recognizable collections of suttas within the Khuddaka Nikaya. On their own, the Dhammapada and the Jataka are recognized texts that stand out for their simplicity, clarity and relevance across hundreds of years.

The Khuddaka Nikaya includes – Khuddakapatha or the ‘Short Passages’, Dhammapada or the ‘Path of Dhamma’, Udana or the ‘Exclamations’, Itivuttaka or the ‘Thus-saids’, Suttanipata or the ‘Sutta Collections’, Vimanavatthu or the ‘Stories of the Celestial Mansions’, Petavatthu or the ‘Stories of the Hungry Ghosts’, Theragatha or the ‘Verses of the Elder Monks’, Therigatha or the ‘Verses of the Elder Nuns’, Jataka or the ‘Birth Stories’, Niddesa or the ‘Exposition’, Patisambhidamagga or the ‘Path of Discrimination’, Apadana or the ‘Stories’, Buddhavamsa or the ‘History of the Buddhas’, Cariyapitaka or the ‘Basket of Conduct’, Nettipakarana or Netti, Petakopadesa and Milinda Panha or the ‘Questions of Milinda’.

We are concerned with the Khuddaka Nikaya from the Sutta Pitaka of the Tipitaka. In order to understand the relevance, value and gem-like quality of the concise and precise verses of the Dhammapada, it is necessary to know that the clusters of suttas did not occur in a random manner. Of the many groups of suttas in the Khuddaka Nikaya, the Jataka alone has more contemporary recognition and repetitive memory among people.

The Angulimala Sutta and the Anapanasati Sutta are the most useful and relevant in terms of human society and individual behavior. Vipassana as an accepted form of meditation and in the understanding of one’s own breath is an extremely valuable elucidation of human survival. The story of Angulimala in comparison to the several hundred stories in the Dhammapada provides the perspective.