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There are several Buddhist canons, which refers to the various scriptural collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures or the various Buddhist scriptural canons.


Tipitaka
Encyclopædia Britannica (2015)
Some of these collections are also called ''Tipiṭaka'' () or ''Tripiṭaka'' () , meaning "Triple Basket", a traditional term for the three main divisions of some ancient canons. In ancient India, there were several Buddhist scriptural canons that were organized into three main textual divisions:
Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...
(monastic rule),
Sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...
(which contains teachings of the Buddha) and
Abhidharma The Abhidharma are a collection of Buddhist texts dating from the 3rd century BCE onwards, which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. It also refers t ...
(which are more systematic and scholastic works). For example, the ''Pāli Tipiṭaka'' is composed of the ''
Vinaya Piṭaka The ''Vinaya Piṭaka'' (English: ''Basket of Discipline'') is the first of the three divisions of the Pali Tripitaka, the Pali Canon, definitive canonical collection of Buddhist texts, scripture of Theravada Buddhism. The other two parts of ...
'', the ''
Sutta Piṭaka The ''Sutta Piṭaka'' (also referred to as ''Sūtra Piṭaka'' or ''Suttanta Piṭaka''; English: ''Basket of Discourse'') is the second of the three division of the Pali Tripitaka, the definitive canonical collection of scripture of Therava ...
'', and the '' Abhidhamma Piṭaka''. In
East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism which developed across East Asia and which rely on the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Kore ...
meanwhile, the traditional term for the canon is Great Storage of Scriptures (
traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...
: 大藏經;
pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
: ''Dàzàngjīng''). The
Pāli Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
maintained by the Theravāda tradition in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, the
Chinese Buddhist Canon The Chinese Buddhist canon refers to a traditional collection of Chinese language Buddhist texts which are the central canonical works of East Asian Buddhism. The traditional term for the canon is Great Storage of Scriptures ().Jiang Wu, "The ...
maintained by the East Asian Buddhist tradition, and the
Tibetan Buddhist Canon The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a compilation of the Buddhist sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Canon includes the Kangyur, which is the Buddha's recorded teachings, and the Tengyur, which is commentaries by gr ...
maintained by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition are the three main important scriptural canons in the contemporary Buddhist world. The Nepalese canon, particularly its Buddhist Sanskrit literature has also been very important for modern Buddhist studies scholarship since it contains many surviving Sanskrit manuscripts. The Mongolian Buddhist canon (mostly a translation from the Tibetan into
Classical Mongolian Classical Mongolian was the literary language of Mongolian that was first introduced shortly after 1600, when Ligdan Khan set his clergy the task of translating the whole of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, consisting of the Kangyur and Tengyur, into ...
) is also important in Mongolian Buddhism. While ''Tripiṭaka'' is one common term to refer to the scriptural collections of the various
Buddhist schools The schools of Buddhism are the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism, which have often been based on historical sectarianism and the differing teachings and interpretations of specific Buddhist texts. The branching of Buddhi ...
, most Buddhist scriptural canons (apart from the Pāli Canon) do not really follow the strict division into three piṭakas.Mizuno, ''Essentials of Buddhism'', 1972, English version by Ritik Bhadana, Tokyo, 1996 Indeed, many of the ancient Indian Buddhist schools had canons with four or five divisions rather than three. Likewise, neither the East Asian Buddhist canon nor the Tibetan canon is organized in a traditional Indian Tripiṭaka schema.


Textual categories

''Tipiṭaka'' (
Pāli Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of 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 '' Therav� ...
), or ''Tripiṭaka'' (Sanskrit: त्रिपिटक), means "Three Baskets". It is a compound of the Pali ''ti'' or Sanskrit word of ''tri'' (त्रि), meaning "three", and ''piṭaka'' (पिटक), meaning "basket". These "three baskets" recall the receptacles of
palm-leaf manuscript Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and spread to ot ...
s and refer to three important textual divisions of early Buddhist literature:
Suttas Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...
, the
Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...
, and the
Abhidhamma The Theravada Abhidhamma tradition, also known as the Abhidhamma Method, refers to a scholastic systematization of the Theravāda school's understanding of the highest Buddhist teachings ( Abhidhamma). These teachings are traditionally believed ...
.
Sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...
s were the doctrinal teachings in aphoristic or narrative format. The historical Buddha delivered all of his sermons in
Magadhi Prakrit Magadhi Prakrit (''Māgadhī'') is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India following the decline of Pali. It was a vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language, replacing earlier Vedic Sanskrit. History and over ...
. This language was related to other Prakrits like Pali, though its exact nature is not fully known. The sutras were transmitted orally until eventually being written down in the first century BCE. Even within the Sūtra Piṭaka it is possible to detect older and later texts. The Vinaya Piṭaka appears to have grown gradually as a commentary and justification of the monastic code (Prātimokṣa), which presupposes a transition from a community of wandering mendicants (the Sūtra Piṭaka period) to a more sedentary monastic community (the Vinaya Piṭaka period). The
Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...
focuses on the rules and regulations, or the morals and ethics, of monastic life that range from dress code and dietary rules to prohibitions of certain personal conducts.Korean Buddhism has its own unique characteristics different from other countries
, koreapost.com, Jun 16, 2019.
The
Abhidharma The Abhidharma are a collection of Buddhist texts dating from the 3rd century BCE onwards, which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. It also refers t ...
refers to more scholastic philosophical works. Many of these texts are later than the sutras and are school specific. Hence, the Sarvastivada school's Abhidharma Pitaka contains a completely different set of texts than the Theravada school's
Abhidhamma The Theravada Abhidhamma tradition, also known as the Abhidhamma Method, refers to a scholastic systematization of the Theravāda school's understanding of the highest Buddhist teachings ( Abhidhamma). These teachings are traditionally believed ...
collection. While these three textual categories were very common in the canons of the
early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools refers to the History of Buddhism in India, Indian Buddhist "doctrinal schools" or "schools of thought" (Sanskrit: ''vāda'') which arose out of the early unified Buddhist monasticism, Buddhist monastic community (San ...
, they were not the only ones. Some schools also had additional Pitakas other than the main three. These extra Pitakas included collections of incantations, magical spells or
Dhāraṇī Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) ''vidyās'' and ''paritas'' or (Pal.) ''parittas'', are lengthier Buddhism, Buddhist mantras functioning as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, and almost exclusively written originally in Sanskri ...
which were called Vidyādhāra Piṭaka, Mantra Piṭaka or
Dhāraṇī Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) ''vidyās'' and ''paritas'' or (Pal.) ''parittas'', are lengthier Buddhism, Buddhist mantras functioning as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, and almost exclusively written originally in Sanskri ...
Piṭaka. Likewise, some Buddhist schools in India also maintained
Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
Piṭakas, which contained texts that were later termed "Mahayana".


Early canons

Each of the
early Buddhist Schools The early Buddhist schools refers to the History of Buddhism in India, Indian Buddhist "doctrinal schools" or "schools of thought" (Sanskrit: ''vāda'') which arose out of the early unified Buddhist monasticism, Buddhist monastic community (San ...
likely had their own versions of the ''Tripiṭaka''. According to some sources, there were some Indian schools of Buddhism that had five or seven piṭakas. According to
Yijing The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...
, an 8th-century Chinese pilgrim to India, the Nikaya Buddhist schools kept different sets of canonical texts with some intentional or unintentional dissimilarities. Yijing notes four main textual collections among the non-Mahayana schools: * The
Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi script, Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha", ) was a major division (nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities th ...
''Tripiṭaka'' (amounting to 300,000
slokas Shloka or śloka ( , from the root , Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927).) in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is "any verse or stan ...
), which were maintained in a
Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...
language or Hybrid Sanskrit * The
Sarvāstivāda The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particularl ...
''Tripiṭaka'' (also 300,000 slokas), which was maintained in Sanskrit * The Sthavira ''Tripiṭaka'' (also 300,000 slokas), the
Pali canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
is one version of this Tripiṭaka which belonged to the Southern Theravada school * The Saṃmitīya ''Tripiṭaka'' (in about 200,000 slokas), none of the original texts have survived in the original language Yijing notes that though there were numerous sub-schools and sects, the sub-sects shared the ''Tripiṭaka'' of their mother tradition (which he termed the "four principal schools of continuous tradition" or the "arya" traditions).Zhihua Yao (2012) ''The Buddhist Theory of Self-Cognition,'' p. 9. Routledge. However, this does not mean that the various sub-schools did not possess their own unique ''Tripiṭaka''.
Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
is said to have brought to China the ''Tripiṭaka'' of seven different schools, including those of the above-mentioned schools as well as the
Dharmaguptaka The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools from the ancient region of Gandhara, now Pakistan. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas f ...
,
Kāśyapīya Kāśyapīya (Sanskrit: काश्यपीय; Pali: ''Kassapiyā'' or ''Kassapikā''; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools in India. Etymology The name ''Kāśyapīya'' is believed to be derived from Kāśyapa, one of the original missionar ...
, and
Mahīśāsaka Mahīśāsaka (; ) is one of the early Buddhist schools according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the Second Buddhist council. The Dharmaguptaka sect is thought to have branched out from the Mahīśāsaka sect toward ...
. According to A. K. Warder, the Tibetan historian ''Bu-ston'' said that around or before the 1st century CE there were eighteen schools of Buddhism each with their own ''Tripiṭaka'' transcribed into written form. However, except for one version that has survived in full and others, of which parts have survived, most of these texts are lost to history or yet to be found.


Mahāsāṃghika

The
Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi script, Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha", ) was a major division (nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities th ...
(Great Community) were a major early Buddhist branch, arising from the first schism in the Buddhist sangha (which occurred at some point around the time of
Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
). While there is no single complete collection from any of the
Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi script, Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha", ) was a major division (nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities th ...
school branches, there are several surviving texts including the '' Mahāvastu'' (''Great Event''), the ''
Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi script, Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha", ) was a major division (nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities th ...
Vinaya'' (translated into Chinese by Buddhabhadra and
Faxian Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...
in 416 CE,
Taishō Tripiṭaka The ''Taishō Tripiṭaka'' (; Japanese: ''Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō''; " Taishō Revised Tripiṭaka") is a definitive edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon and its Japanese commentaries used by scholars in the 20th century. The name is abbr ...
1425), the ''Lokānuvartanā sūtra'' ( Taishō No. 807) and the ''Śariputraparipṛcchā'' ( Taisho 1465).Xing, Guang, The Lokānuvartanā Sūtra, Journal of Buddhist Studies, Vol IV, 2006. Various ancient sources (like Bhāvaviveka, and Paramārtha) also indicate that the different branches of the Mahāsāṃghika tradition (such as the
Bahuśrutīya Bahuśrutīya (Sanskrit: बहुश्रुतीय) was one of the early Buddhist schools, according to early sources such as Vasumitra, the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'', and other sources, and was a sub-group which emerged from the Mahāsā� ...
) had a Bodhisattva Piṭaka in their canon.Baruah, Bibhuti. ''Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism.'' 2008. p. 48Walser, Joseph. ''Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture.'' 2005. p. 53 The 6th century CE Indian monk Paramārtha wrote that 200 years after the parinirvāṇa of the Buddha, much of the Mahāsāṃghika school moved north of Rājagṛha, where they became divided over whether the
Mahāyāna sūtras The Mahayana sutras are Buddhist texts that are accepted as wikt:canon, canonical and authentic Buddhist texts, ''buddhavacana'' in Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist sanghas. These include three types of sutras: Those spoken by the Buddha; those spoke ...
should be incorporated formally into their Tripiṭaka. According to this account, they split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of these Mahāyāna texts. Paramārtha states that the Kukkuṭika sect did not accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as ''
buddhavacana Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...
'' ("word of the Buddha"), while the
Lokottaravāda The Lokottaravāda (Sanskrit, लोकोत्तरवाद; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools according to Mahayana doxological sources compiled by Bhāviveka, Vinitadeva and others, and was a subgroup which emerged from the Mahāsā ...
sect and the
Ekavyāvahārika The Ekavyāvahārika (; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools, and is thought to have separated from the Mahāsāṃghika sect during the reign of Aśoka. History Relationship to Mahāsāṃghika Tāranātha viewed the Ekavyāvahārikas, Lo ...
sect did accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as ''buddhavacana''. Also in the 6th century CE, Avalokitavrata writes of the Mahāsāṃghikas using a "Great Āgama Piṭaka," which is then associated with Mahāyāna sūtras such as the '' Prajñāparamitā'' and the '' Daśabhūmika Sūtra''. According to some sources, Abhidharma was not accepted as canonical by the Mahāsāṃghika school. The Theravādin '' Dīpavaṃsa'', for example, records that the Mahāsāṃghikas had no Abhidharma. However, other sources indicate that there were such collections of Abhidharma, and the Chinese pilgrims
Faxian Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...
and
Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
both mention Mahāsāṃghika Abhidharma. On the basis of textual evidence as well as inscriptions at Nāgārjunakoṇḍā, Joseph Walser concludes that at least some Mahāsāṃghika sects probably had an Abhidharma collection, and that it likely contained five or six books.


Caitika

The
Caitika Caitika () was an Early Buddhist schools, early Buddhist school, a sub-sect of the Mahāsāṃghika. They were also known as the Caityaka sect. The Caitikas proliferated throughout the mountains of South India, from which they derived thei ...
s included a number of sub-sects including the Pūrvaśailas, Aparaśailas, Siddhārthikas, and Rājagirikas. In the 6th century CE, Avalokitavrata writes that Mahāyāna sūtras such as the '' Prajñāparamitā'' and others are chanted by the Aparaśailas and the Pūrvaśailas. Also in the 6th century CE, Bhāvaviveka speaks of the Siddhārthikas using a Vidyādhāra Piṭaka, and the Pūrvaśailas and Aparaśailas both using a
Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
Piṭaka, implying collections of
Mahāyāna Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
texts within these Caitika schools.


Bahuśrutīya

The
Bahuśrutīya Bahuśrutīya (Sanskrit: बहुश्रुतीय) was one of the early Buddhist schools, according to early sources such as Vasumitra, the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'', and other sources, and was a sub-group which emerged from the Mahāsā� ...
school is said to have included a Bodhisattva Piṭaka in their canon. The ', also called the ', is an extant abhidharma from the Bahuśrutīya school. This abhidharma was translated into Chinese in sixteen fascicles (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1646). Its authorship is attributed to Harivarman, a third-century monk from central India. Paramārtha cites this Bahuśrutīya abhidharma as containing a combination of
Hīnayāna Hīnayāna is a Sanskrit term that was at one time applied collectively to the '' Śrāvakayāna'' and '' Pratyekabuddhayāna'' paths of Buddhism. This term appeared around the first or second century. The Hīnayāna is considered as the prelim ...
and Mahāyāna doctrines, and Joseph Walser agrees that this assessment is correct.


Prajñaptivāda

The Prajñaptivādins held that the Buddha's teachings in the various piṭakas were nominal (Skt. ''prajñapti''), conventional (Skt. '), and causal (Skt. ''hetuphala''). Therefore, all teachings were viewed by the Prajñaptivādins as being of provisional importance, since they cannot contain the ultimate truth. It has been observed that this view of the Buddha's teachings is very close to the fully developed position of the Mahāyāna sūtras.


Sthavira canons

The Sthavira nikāya (Sanskrit "Grouping of the Elders") was a branch of the
early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools refers to the History of Buddhism in India, Indian Buddhist "doctrinal schools" or "schools of thought" (Sanskrit: ''vāda'') which arose out of the early unified Buddhist monasticism, Buddhist monastic community (San ...
. They were one of the original two main divisions (the other being
Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi script, Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha", ) was a major division (nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities th ...
) during the first schism. The Sinhalese
Theravāda ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...
school's
Pāli Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
is the only canon of the early Buddhist schools which survived in complete form. However, individual and fragmentary texts from other Sthavira branches have survived as well.


Dharmaguptaka

A complete version of the ''Dīrgha Āgama'' (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1) of the
Dharmaguptaka The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools from the ancient region of Gandhara, now Pakistan. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas f ...
school was translated into Chinese by Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) in the
Later Qin Qin, known in historiography as the Later Qin ( zh, s=后秦, t=後秦, p=Hòuqín; 384–417) or Yao Qin (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Yao clan of Qiang ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period in northern China. As the onl ...
dynasty, dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sūtras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin Dīgha Nikāya. A. K. Warder also associates the extant '' Ekottara Āgama'' (''Taishō Tripiṭaka'' 125) with the Dharmaguptaka school, due to the number of rules for monastics, which corresponds to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya is also extant in Chinese translation (''Taishō Tripiṭaka'' 1428), and Buddhist monastics in
East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
adhere to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya. The Dharmaguptaka Tripiṭaka is said to have contained a total of five piṭakas. These included a
Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
Piṭaka and a
Mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...
Piṭaka (Ch. 咒藏), also sometimes called a
Dhāraṇī Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) ''vidyās'' and ''paritas'' or (Pal.) ''parittas'', are lengthier Buddhism, Buddhist mantras functioning as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, and almost exclusively written originally in Sanskri ...
Piṭaka.Baruah, Bibhuti. ''Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism.'' 2008. p. 52 According to the 5th-century Dharmaguptaka monk Buddhayaśas, the translator of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya into Chinese, the Dharmaguptaka school had assimilated the Mahāyāna Tripiṭaka (Ch. 大乘三藏).


Mahīśāsaka

The
Mahīśāsaka Mahīśāsaka (; ) is one of the early Buddhist schools according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the Second Buddhist council. The Dharmaguptaka sect is thought to have branched out from the Mahīśāsaka sect toward ...
Vinaya is preserved in Chinese translation (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1421), translated by Buddhajīva and Zhu Daosheng in 424 CE.


Kāśyapīya

Small portions of the of the
Kāśyapīya Kāśyapīya (Sanskrit: काश्यपीय; Pali: ''Kassapiyā'' or ''Kassapikā''; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools in India. Etymology The name ''Kāśyapīya'' is believed to be derived from Kāśyapa, one of the original missionar ...
school survive in Chinese translation. An incomplete Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama of the Kāśyapīya school by an unknown translator circa the Three Qin (三秦) period (352-431 CE) survives.


Sārvāstivāda

The
Sarvāstivāda The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particularl ...
school was a major sect in North India. Since it enjoyed the patronage of
Kanishka Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadp ...
(c. 127–150 CE), emperor of the
Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...
, they soon became one of the dominant sects of Buddhism in north India for centuries, flourishing throughout Northwest India, North India, and
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
. The Sarvāstivāda school held a council in
Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
during the reign of Kanishka II (c. 158–176). In this council, their canonical texts were rendered into
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and their main canonical
Abhidharma The Abhidharma are a collection of Buddhist texts dating from the 3rd century BCE onwards, which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. It also refers t ...
text was composed, the '' Mahāvibhaṣa''.Westerhoff, 2018, p. 61. Scholars at present have "a nearly complete collection of sūtras from the
Sarvāstivāda The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particularl ...
school" thanks to a recent discovery in Afghanistan of roughly two-thirds of Dīrgha Āgama in Sanskrit." The '' Madhyama Āgama'' (
Taishō Tripiṭaka The ''Taishō Tripiṭaka'' (; Japanese: ''Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō''; " Taishō Revised Tripiṭaka") is a definitive edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon and its Japanese commentaries used by scholars in the 20th century. The name is abbr ...
no. 26) was translated by Gautama Saṃghadeva, and is available in Chinese translation as part of the Chinese canon. The ''Saṃyukta Āgama'' (Taishō Tripiṭaka no. 99) translated by
Guṇabhadra Gunabhadra (394–468) (, zh, p=Qiúnàbátuóluó, w=Ch'iu-na-pa-t'o-lo, s=求那跋陀罗, t=求那跋陀羅) was a monk and translator of Mahayana Buddhism from Magadha, Central India. His biography is contained in the work of a Chinese m ...
, is also available in Chinese translation. The Sarvāstivāda is therefore the only early school besides the Theravada for which we have substantial number of sutras. The Sārvāstivāda
Vinaya Piṭaka The ''Vinaya Piṭaka'' (English: ''Basket of Discipline'') is the first of the three divisions of the Pali Tripitaka, the Pali Canon, definitive canonical collection of Buddhist texts, scripture of Theravada Buddhism. The other two parts of ...
is also extant in Chinese translation, as are the seven books of the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma Piṭaka, including the ''
Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra The ''Abhidharma Śāstra'' () is an ancient Buddhist text. It is thought to have been authored around 150 CE. It is an encyclopedic work on Abhidharma—scholastic Buddhist philosophy. Its composition led to the founding of a new doctrinal schoo ...
'' (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1545), which was the main canonical Abhiodharma text of the
Vaibhāṣika Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika () or simply Vaibhāṣika () is an ancient Buddhist tradition of Abhidharma (scholastic Buddhist philosophy), which was very influential in north India, especially Kashmir.Westerhoff 2018, pp. 60–61. In various tex ...
Sarvāstivādins of northwest India.


Mūlasārvāstivāda

Portions of the Mūlasārvāstivāda Tripiṭaka survive in Tibetan translation and Nepalese manuscripts. The relationship of the Mūlasārvāstivāda school to Sarvāstivāda school is indeterminate; their vinayas certainly differed but it is not clear that their Sūtra Piṭaka did. The Gilgit manuscripts may contain Āgamas from the Mūlasārvāstivāda school in Sanskrit. The Mūlasārvāstivāda Vinaya Piṭaka survives in Tibetan translation and also in Chinese translation (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1442). The Gilgit manuscripts also contain vinaya texts from the Mūlasārvāstivāda school in Sanskrit.


Canons of living Buddhist traditions


Theravāda Pāli Canon

The
Pāli Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
is the complete Tripiṭaka set maintained by the
Theravāda ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...
tradition as written and preserved in
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
. The dating of the ''Tripiṭaka'' is unclear.
Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...
states that the current structure and contents of the Pali Canon took shape in the 3rd century BCE after which it continued to be transmitted orally from generation to generation until finally being put into written form in the 1st century BCE (nearly 500 years after the lifetime of Buddha). The Theravada chronicle called the '' Dipavamsa'' states that during the reign of
Valagamba of Anuradhapura Valagamba (Sinhala: වට්ඨ ගාමණී අභය, වලගම්බා), also known as the Great Black Lion, Vattha gamani Abhaya and Valagam Abha, was a king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom of Sri Lanka. Five months after becoming king, ...
(29–17 BCE) the monks who had previously remembered the Tipiṭaka 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. According to Sri Lankan sources more than 1000 monks who had attained
Arahant In Buddhism, an ''Arhat'' () or ''Arahant'' (, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved '' Nirvana'' and has been liberated from the endless cycle of rebirth. The und ...
ship were involved in the task. The place where the project was undertaken was in Aluvihare, Matale, Sri Lanka. The resulting texts were later partly translated into a number of East Asian languages such as Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian by ancient visiting scholars, which though extensive are incomplete. Each Buddhist sub-tradition had its own Tripiṭaka for its monasteries, written by its
sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...
, each set consisting of 32 books, in three parts or baskets of teachings: (“Basket of Discipline”), (“Basket of Discourse”), and '' Abhidhamma Piṭaka'' (“Basket of Special r FurtherDoctrine”). 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. Much of the surviving Tripiṭaka literature is in Pali, with some in Sanskrit as well as other local Asian languages. The Pali Canon does not contain the Mahayana Sutras and Tantras as Mahayana schools were not influential in Theravada tradition as in East Asia and Tibet. Hence, there is no major Mahayana (neither Hinayana or Pratyekabuddhayana) schools in Theravada tradition. The Tantric schools of Theravada tradition use Tantric texts independently, and not as the part of the Collection. Some of the well known preserved Pali Canons are the Chattha Sangayana Tipitaka, Buddha Jayanthi Tripitaka, Thai Tipitaka, etc.


Chinese Buddhist Canon

The
Chinese Buddhist Canon The Chinese Buddhist canon refers to a traditional collection of Chinese language Buddhist texts which are the central canonical works of East Asian Buddhism. The traditional term for the canon is Great Storage of Scriptures ().Jiang Wu, "The ...
is the ''Tripiṭaka'' collection maintained by the East Asian Buddhist tradition. This canon contains texts translated from various Indian languages (such as
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and Gandhari prakrit) into Buddhist Chinese, a form of traditional
literary Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...
. The traditional term for the canon is "Great Storage of Scriptures" ().Jiang Wu, "The Chinese Buddhist Canon" in ''The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism'', p. 299, Wiley-Blackwell (2014). Wu and Chia state that emerging evidence, though uncertain, suggests that the earliest written Buddhist Tripiṭaka texts may have arrived in China from India by the 1st century BCE. An organised collection of Buddhist texts began to emerge in the 6th century CE, based on the structure of early bibliographies of Buddhist texts. However, it was the 'Kaiyuan Era Catalogue' by Zhisheng in 730 that provided the lasting structure. Zhisheng introduced the basic six-fold division with two sets of sutra, vinaya, and abhidharma works classified as Mahāyāna and
Hīnayāna Hīnayāna is a Sanskrit term that was at one time applied collectively to the '' Śrāvakayāna'' and '' Pratyekabuddhayāna'' paths of Buddhism. This term appeared around the first or second century. The Hīnayāna is considered as the prelim ...
. It is likely that Zhisheng's catalogue proved decisive because it was used to reconstruct the Canon after the persecutions of 845 CE; however, it was also considered a "perfect synthesis of the entire four-hundred-year development of a proper Chinese form of the Canon." One of the most well known preserved edition of the Chinese Canon is the woodblock edition of the
Tripitaka Koreana The is a Korean collection of the ( Buddhist scriptures), carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century. They are currently located at the Buddhist temple Haeinsa, in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the oldest ...
. These woodblocks became the basis for the modern edition of the Japanese
Taishō Tripiṭaka The ''Taishō Tripiṭaka'' (; Japanese: ''Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō''; " Taishō Revised Tripiṭaka") is a definitive edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon and its Japanese commentaries used by scholars in the 20th century. The name is abbr ...
, the most widely used and digitized edition for modern scholarship. The Taishō Daizōkyō is the standard modern edition as systematized by Japanese scholars, published in Japan from 1924 to 1929.Harvey, Peter (2013), ''An Introduction to Buddhism (Second ed.),'' Cambridge University Press, Appendix 1: Canons of Scriptures. While still referred to by the traditional term "Tripiṭaka", it is actually divided into many more textual categories, including: Āgamas (equivalent to Nikāyas), Jātakas,
Mahāyāna Sūtras The Mahayana sutras are Buddhist texts that are accepted as wikt:canon, canonical and authentic Buddhist texts, ''buddhavacana'' in Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist sanghas. These include three types of sutras: Those spoken by the Buddha; those spoke ...
, Esoteric texts, Vinaya, Sutra Commentaries, Abhidharma, Mahayana Śāstras (‘Treatises’), Chinese commentaries, Chinese Treatises, Histories and biographies. In the modern era, the Chinese Buddhist Canon was translated in full into modern Korean. It was also fully translated into Japanese by Japanese scholars. While many texts have also been translated into English, many others remain untranslated.


Tibetan Buddhist Canon

The
Tibetan Buddhist canon The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a compilation of the Buddhist sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Canon includes the Kangyur, which is the Buddha's recorded teachings, and the Tengyur, which is commentaries by gr ...
is a collection of
sacred text Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...
s recognized by various sects of
Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...
. In addition to sutrayana texts, the Tibetan canon includes tantric texts. The Tibetan Canon underwent a final compilation in the 14th century by
Buton Rinchen Drub Butön Rinchen Drup (), (1290–1364), 11th Abbot of Shalu Monastery, was a 14th-century Sakya (Tibetan Buddhist school), Sakya master and Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist leader. Shalu was the first of the major monasteries to be built by nob ...
. The Tibetan Canon has its own scheme which divided texts into two broad categories: *
Kangyur The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur and the Tengyur. The ''Kangyur'' or ''Kanjur'' is Buddha's recorded teachings (or the 'Translation of ...
( Wylie: ''bka'-'gyur'') or "Translated Words or Vacana", consists of works supposed to have been said by the Buddha himself. All texts presumably have a Sanskrit original, although in many cases the Tibetan text was translated from Chinese from Chinese Canon, Pali from Pali Canon or other languages. *
Tengyur The Tengyur or ''Tanjur'' or ''Bstan-’gyur'' (Tibetan: "Translation of Teachings") is the collected commentaries by great buddhist masters on Buddha Shakyamuni's teachings. The Tengyur is included in the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, which consi ...
( Wylie: ''bstan-'gyur'') or "Translated Treatises or
Shastra ''Śāstra'' ( ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The word is ge ...
s", is the section to which were assigned commentaries, treatises and abhidharma works (both Mahayana and non-Mahayana). The Tengyur contains 3,626 texts in 224 Volumes. There many editions of the Tibetan Canon, some of the major editions include the
Derge Derge (), officially Gengqing Town (; ), is a town in Dêgê County in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, China. It was once the center of the Kingdom of Derge in Kham. History Historically, Derge, which means "land of mercy", was ...
edition, the
Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...
edition, the Peking edition and the Jiang edition. The Tibetan Kangyur and Tengyur were also translated into
Classical Mongolian Classical Mongolian was the literary language of Mongolian that was first introduced shortly after 1600, when Ligdan Khan set his clergy the task of translating the whole of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, consisting of the Kangyur and Tengyur, into ...
, and these texts compose the Mongolian Buddhist Canon.


Mongolian Canon

The Mongolian Buddhist Canon is a corpus of
classical Mongolian Classical Mongolian was the literary language of Mongolian that was first introduced shortly after 1600, when Ligdan Khan set his clergy the task of translating the whole of the Tibetan Buddhist canon, consisting of the Kangyur and Tengyur, into ...
Buddhist translations central to the Buddhist tradition in
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
. It is mostly based on the Tibetan Buddhist canon but also contains texts not found in the standard Tibetan canon collections. Like the Tibetan canon, the Mongolian canon consists of two major divisions: the Kanjur (translated words of the Buddha) and the Tenjur (commentaries and treatises by Indian and Tibetan masters). Tibetan texts were translated into classical Mongolian from Tibetan beginning in the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
. But the translation of the canon was not finished until the 17th century, when
Ligdan Khan Khutugtu Khan (; ), born Ligdan (; ), (1588–1634) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1604 to 1634. During his reign, he vigorously attempted to reunify the divided Mongol Empire, achieving moderate levels of success. Howev ...
and the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, led by leader
Zanabazar Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (born Eshidorji) was the first '' Jebtsundamba Khutuktu'' and the first ''Bogd Gegeen'' or supreme spiritual authority, of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism in Mongolia. The son of a Mongol ...
, supervised a translation project. The Mongolian canon was fully completed when the Chinese
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
(1711–99), the fifth Emperor of the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
(1636–1912), supervised a grand project to finish translating and then to print the Mongolian canon (with
woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of textile printing, printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page ...
technology).


Nepalese Sanskrit Buddhist Canon

The Newar Buddhist tradition of
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
has preserved many Buddhist texts in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
. The Nepalese Buddhist textual tradition is a unique collection of Buddhist texts preserved primarily in Nepal, particularly within the
Newar Newar (; , endonym: Newa; , Pracalit script: ), or Nepami, are primarily inhabitants in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and its surrounding areas, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Page 15. Newars are a distinct linguisti ...
Buddhist community of the
Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley (), also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley (, Newar language, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः), National Capital Area, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayas, Hima ...
. It is distinct for its emphasis on preserving the Sanskrit originals of many Mahayana and Vajrayana scriptures, which have otherwise been lost in India and survived only in translations in regions like Tibet and China. The Newars have continued to copy Sanskrit manuscripts up to the present day. The Kathmandu Valley has long been a center for Buddhist scholarship, particularly following the destruction of Indian monasteries after the 12th-century
Muslim conquests The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc. *Early Muslim conquests ** Ridda Wars **Muslim conquest of Persia *** Muslim co ...
. Tibetan scholars often visited to acquire texts, and local Newar Buddhists, including householder clergy (śākyabhikṣus and vajrācāryas), were proficient in Sanskrit, making it a significant language for Buddhist scholarship in the region. From the 19th century onwards, Sanskrit manuscripts from Nepal were collected and sent to academic institutions in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
and Europe by figures like Brian H. Hodgson, contributing to modern Buddhist studies.Lewis, Todd T. ''Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal: Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism,'' p. 11. SUNY Press, Sep 14, 2000. However, the focus of modern Newar Buddhist literature was largely on local compositions in the Newari vernacular, reflecting the distinct practices of Newar Buddhism. Newar texts often used bilingual formats, integrating Sanskrit and Newari, and employed diverse calligraphic scripts like Newā Lipi and Rañjana.


Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon

A recent
digital humanities Digital humanities (DH) is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or Information technology, digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanitie ...
project is compiling a Sanskrit Buddhist canon based on surviving
Sanskrit Buddhist literature Sanskrit Buddhist literature refers to Buddhist texts composed either in classical Sanskrit, in a Register (sociolinguistics), register that has been called "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit" (also known as "Buddhistic Sanskrit" and "Mixed Sanskrit"), ...
. The University of the West, in collaboration with the Nagarjuna Institute in
Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
,
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, has worked to digitize and distribute Sanskrit scriptures into the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon (DSBC) project. The scope of the DSBC project is vast, encompassing the digitization of at least 600 Mahayana Buddhist sutras that have survived in Sanskrit. As of now, the DSBC has successfully digitized over 604 texts, equating to roughly 50,000 pages, with more than 369 scriptures available on its official website. The collection continues to expand as additional texts are digitized and made accessible to the public.


As a title

The Chinese form of , "sānzàng" (三藏), was sometimes used as an honorary title for a Buddhist monk who has mastered the teachings of the Tripiṭaka. In Chinese culture, this is notable in the case of the Tang Dynasty monk
Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
, whose pilgrimage to India to study and bring Buddhist texts back to China was portrayed in the novel ''
Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...
'' as "Tang Sanzang" (Tang Dynasty Tripiṭaka Master). Due to the popularity of the novel, the term "sānzàng" is often erroneously understood as a name of the monk
Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
. One such screen version of this is the popular 1979
Monkey (TV series) , (titled ''Monkey'' in English, but often referred to as ''Monkey Magic'' due to the lyrics of its title music), is a Japanese television drama based on the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. Filmed in Northwe ...
. The modern Indian scholar Rahul Sankrityayan is sometimes referred to as ''Tripiṭakacharya'' in reflection of his familiarity with the .


See also

*
Āgama (Buddhism) In Buddhism, an ''āgama'' (आगम Sanskrit and Pāli, Tibetan: ལུང་ ( Wylie: lung) for "sacred work"Monier-Williams (1899), p. 129, see "Āgama," retrieved 12 Dec 2008 from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/s ...
* Early Buddhist Texts *
Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...
*
Pāli Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
* Tripiṭaka tablets at Kuthodaw Pagoda * Tripiṭaka Koreana * Zhaocheng Jin Tripiṭaka *
Pali Text Society The Pāli Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts." Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...
* Dhamma Society Fund *
Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...


Notes


Further reading

* * *


External links

Pali Canon:
British Library has digitised four Sinhalese palm leaf manuscripts
(Sinhalese Manuscripts Pilot Digitisation Project)

has many suttas translated into English
Sutta Central
Early Buddhist texts, translations, and parallels (Multiple Languages)
Tipiṭaka Network
(ongoing)
The Pali Tipiṭaka Project
(texts in 7 Asian languages)

has

(continuing, text in Vietnamese)
Search in English translations of the Tipiṭaka


has summaries of the entire Tipiṭaka in English
Tipiṭaka Online
Myanmar Version of Buddhist Canon (6th revision):
Buddhist Bible Myanmar Version
(without original Pali text) Chinese Buddhist Canon:
Buddhist Text Translation Society: Sutra Texts


(English PDFs)

(English index of some East Asian Tripiṭakas)
Tripiṭaka Titles and Translations in English

CBETA: Full Chinese language canon and extended canon
(includes downloads) Tibetan tradition:
Kangyur & Tengyur Projects
(Tibetan texts)
Kangyur & Tengyur Translating Projects
(Tibetan texts) Tripiṭaka collections:



Sri Lankan version of Tipiṭaka:
Buddha Jayanthi Edition of Tipiṭaka in Sinhala
(Sri Lankan version)
Tipiṭaka in Sinhala
(Sri Lankan version)
Tipiṭaka Chanting in Pali
(Sri Lankan version) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tripitaka