The Majjhima Nikāya (-nikāya; "Collection of Middle-length Discourses") is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

Tipitaka (lit. "Three Baskets") of

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school ...

Buddhism. Composed between 3rd century BCE and 2nd century CE. This nikaya consists of 152 discourses attributed to the Buddha and his chief disciples.A version of the

original is available in The Majjhima Nikaya corresponds to the '' Madhyama Āgama'' found in the Sutra Pitikas of various Sanskritic early Buddhist schools, fragments of which survive in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and in Tibetan translation. A complete Chinese translation from the Sarvāstivādin recension appears in the Chinese Buddhist canon, where it is known as the ''Zhōng Ahánjīng'' (中阿含經). The Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school contains 222 sūtras, in contrast to the 152 suttas in the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya.

Structure and contents

List of Majjhima Nikaya suttas Bhikkhu Bodhi in the introduction to his translation describes the collection as follows:

If the Majjhima Nikāya were to be characterised by a single phrase to distinguish it from among the other books of the Pali Canon, this might be done by describing it as the collection that combines the richest variety of contextual settings with the deepest and most comprehensive assortment of teachings.

The 152 discourses come in three parts each with five divisions. All divisions save the penultimate contain 10 discourses.

Translations

Full translations

Bhikkhu Nanamoli A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics (" nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

and Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), ''The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya'', 1995, Somerville: Wisdom Publications . * Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan translated Majjhima Nikaya from

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

. * Lord Chalmers, trans. (1898–1926), ''Further Dialogues of the Buddha'', 1926–7, vol.1, vol. 2, London: Pali Text Society. Reprint: Ann Arbor: Books on Demand, University of Michigan. *

I.B. Horner Isaline Blew Horner OBE (30 March 1896 – 25 April 1981), usually cited as I. B. Horner, was an English Indologist, a leading scholar of Pali literature and late president of the Pali Text Society (1959–1981). Life On 30 March 1896 Horner wa ...

(trans.), ''The Book of Middle Length Sayings'', 1954–9, 3 volumes, Bristol: Pali Text Society. * David W. Evans (trans.), ''Discourses of Gotama Buddha: Middle Collection'', 1991, Janus Pubns. "Translation in an abridged form ... just about one third the size of Horner's translation, but with well over 90% of the significant content" *Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.), ''The Middle Discourses'', 2018
published online at SuttaCentral
and released into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

Selections

* ''A Treasury of the Buddha's Words'', tr Nanamoli, revised Khantipalo, Bangkok; later revised & expanded to give MLDB above * ''Twenty-Five Suttas from Mula-Pannasa'', Burma Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1986?; reprinted Sri Satguru, Delhi * ''Twenty-Five Suttas from Majjhima-Pannasa'', Myanmar Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1987; reprinted Sri Satguru, Delhi * ''Twenty-Five Suttas from Upari-Pannasa'', Myanmar Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1988?; reprinted Sri Satguru, Delhi

References

External links