Buddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways. The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while another says that scriptures can be categorized into canonical, commentarial, and pseudo-canonical. Buddhist traditions have generally divided these texts with their own categories and divisions, such as that between
These religious texts were written in different languages, methods and writing systems. Memorizing, reciting and copying the texts was seen as spiritually valuable. Even after the development and adoption of printing by Buddhist institutions, Buddhists continued to copy them by hand as a present authenticity exercise and spiritual practice [6]
In an effort to preserve these scriptures, Asian Buddhist institutions were at the forefront of the adoption of Chinese technologies related to
bookmaking, including paper, and block printing which were often deployed on a large scale. Because of this, the first surviving example of a printed text is a Buddhist charm, the first full printed book is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (c. 868) and the first hand colored print is an illustration of Guanyin dated to 947.[7]
Buddhavacana
The concept of buddhavacana (word of the Buddha) is important in understanding how Buddhists classify and see their texts. Buddhavacana texts have special status as sacred scripture and are generally seen as in accord with the teachings of the
Dharma". According to Donald Lopez, the criteria for determining what should be considered buddhavacana were developed at an early stage, and that the early formulations do not suggest that Dharma is limited to what was spoken by the historical Buddha.[8]
The
sangha, a small group of elders, or one knowledgeable elder.[9][10]
In
Taishō Tripiṭaka, itself based on the Tripiṭaka Koreana. This collection, unlike the Pāli Tripiṭaka, contains Mahāyāna sūtras, Śāstras (scholastic treatises), and Esoteric Buddhist literature
.
According to Venerable Hsuan Hua from the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, there are five types of beings who may speak the sutras of Buddhism: a Buddha, a disciple of a Buddha, a deva, a ṛṣi, or an emanation of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from a buddha that its contents are true Dharma.[12] Then these sutras may be properly regarded as buddhavacana.[12] Sometimes texts that are considered commentaries by some are regarded by others as buddhavacana.[13]
The earliest Buddhist texts were passed down orally in Middle
Pāli Canon was preserved in Sri Lanka where it was first written down in the first century BCE.[15]
There are early texts from various Buddhist schools, the largest collections are from the
Nikayas, as well as the corresponding Chinese Āgamas.[17] The modern study of early pre-sectarian Buddhism often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources.[18]
There are different genres of early Buddhist texts, including prose "
udāna), mixed prose and verse works (geya), and also lists (matika) of monastic rules or doctrinal topics. A large portion of Early Buddhist literature is part of the "sutta" or "sutra" genre. The Sūtras (Sanskrit; Pāli: Sutta) are mostly discourses attributed to the Buddha or one of his close disciples. They are considered to be buddhavacana by all schools. The Buddha's discourses were perhaps originally organised according to the style in which they were delivered. They were later organized into collections called Nikāyas ('volumes') or Āgamas
('scriptures'), which were further collected into the Sūtra Piṭaka ("Basket of Discourses") of the canons of the early Buddhist schools.
Most of the early sutras that have survived are from Sthavira nikaya schools, no complete collection has survived from the other early branch of Buddhism, the Mahāsāṃghika. However, some individual texts have survived, such as the Śālistamba Sūtra (rice stalk sūtra). This sūtra contains many parallel passages to the Pali suttas. As noted by N. Ross Reat, this text is in general agreement with the basic doctrines of the early sutras of the Sthavira schools such as dependent origination, the "middle way" between eternalism and annihilationism, the "five aggregates", the "three unwholesome roots", the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.[25] Another important source for Mahāsāṃghika sutras is the Mahāvastu ("Great Event"), which is a collection of various texts compiled into a biography of the Buddha. Within it can be found quotations and whole sutras, such as the Mahāsāṃghika version of the Dharmacakrapravartana.[26][27]
The other major type of text aside from the sutras are the
translations). In addition, portions survive of a number of Vinayas in various languages.
Aside from the Sutras and the Vinayas, some schools also had collections of "minor" or miscellaneous texts. The Theravāda Khuddaka Nikāya ('Minor Collection') is one example of such a collection, while there is evidence that the Dharmaguptaka school had a similar collection, known as the Kṣudraka Āgama. Fragments of the Dharmaguptaka minor collection have been found in Gandhari.[28] The Sarvāstivāda school also seems to have had a Kṣudraka collection of texts, but they did not see it as an "Āgama".[29] These "minor" collections seem to have been a category for miscellaneous texts, and was perhaps never definitively established among many early Buddhist schools.
Early Buddhist texts which appear in such "minor" collections include:
The Dharmapadas. These texts are collections of sayings and aphorisms, the most well known of which is the Pali
There is also a parallel in the Chinese translation of the Arthavargīya.
Therīgāthā two collections of verses related to the elder disciples of the Buddha. A Sanskrit Sthaviragāthā is also known to have existed.[30]
Abhidharma texts
Further information:
paramartha-satya) without using the conventional language and narrative stories found in the sutras.[33] The prominent modern scholar of Abhidharma, Erich Frauwallner has said that these Buddhist systems are "among the major achievements of the classical period of Indian philosophy." Modern scholars generally believe that the canonical Abhidharma texts emerged after the time of the Buddha, in around the 3rd century BCE. Therefore, the canonical Abhidharma works are generally claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of later Buddhists.[34]
There are different types and historical layers of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma works (like the
Only two full canonical Abhidharma collections have survived both containing seven texts, the Theravāda Abhidhamma and the Sarvastivada Abhidharma, which survives in Chinese translation. However, texts of other tradition have survived, such as the Śāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school, the Tattvasiddhi Śāstra (Chéngshílun), and various Abhidharma type works from the Pudgalavada school.
Later post-canonical Abhidharma works were written as either large treatises (śāstra), as commentaries (aṭṭhakathā) or as smaller introductory manuals. They are more developed philosophical works which include many innovations and doctrines not found in the canonical Abhidharma.
Other texts
The early Buddhist schools also preserved other types of texts which developed in later periods, which were variously seen as canonical or not, depending on the tradition.
One of the largest category of texts that were neither Sutra, Vinaya nor Abhidharma includes various collections of stories such as the
Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form.[38] The different Buddhist schools had their own collections of these tales and often disagreed on which stories were canonical.[39]
Another genre that developed over time in the various early schools were biographies of the Buddha. Buddha biographies include the Mahāvastu of the Lokottaravadin school, the northern tradition's Lalitavistara Sūtra, the Theravada Nidānakathā and the Dharmaguptaka Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra.[40][41]
One of the most famous of biographies is the
Buddhacarita, an epic poem in Classical Sanskrit by Aśvaghoṣa. Aśvaghoṣa also wrote other poems, as well as Sanskrit dramas. Another Sanskrit Buddhist poet was Mātṛceṭa, who composed various pious hymns in slokas.[42]Buddhist poetry is a broad genre with numerous forms and has been composed in many languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese. Aside from the work of Aśvaghoṣa, another important Sanskrit poet was Mātr̥ceṭa, known for his One Hundred and Fifty Verses. Buddhist poetry was also written in popular Indian languages, such as Tamil and Apabhramsa. One well known poem is the Tamil epic Manimekalai, which is one of the Five Great Epics of Tamil literature
There are also some unique individual texts like the Milinda pañha (literally The Questions of Milinda) and its parallel in Chinese, the Nāgasena Bhikśu Sūtra (那先比丘經).[44] These texts depict a dialogue between the monk Nagasena, and the Indo-Greek King Menander (Pali: Milinda). It is a compendium of doctrine, and covers a range of subjects.