Khuddaka Nikāya

Khuddaka Nikāya
Type	Pāli literature

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The Khuddaka Nikāya (lit. 'Minor Collection') is the last of the five

.

The word khuddaka in the title means ‘small’ in Pali and Nikāya is ‘collection’. The equivalent collection in the Chinese and Tibetan canons is the Kṣudraka Āgama, but there is substantial variation among the collections.

Historical development

Hirakawa Akira has stated that the Khuddaka Nikaya represent a stage in the development of the Pali Canon / Agamas in which new material was not added any more to the rest of the Sutta Pitaka, but was added to a 'Khuddaka Pitaka' instead.

On the dating of the various books in the Khuddaka Nikaya, Oliver Abeynayake notes that:

The Khuddaka Nikaya can easily be divided into two strata, one being early and the other late. The texts Sutta Nipata, Itivuttaka, Dhammapada, Therigatha (Theragatha), Udana and Jataka belong to the early stratum. The texts Khuddakapatha, Vimanavatthu, Petavatthu, Niddesa, Patisambhida, Apadana, Buddhavamsa and Cariyapitaka can be categorized in the later stratum.[3]

Contents

Pāli Canon
1. Vinaya Piṭaka
1. Suttavibhaṅga 2. Khandhaka 3. Parivāra
2. Sutta Piṭaka
1. Dīgha Nikāya 2. Majjhima Nikāya 3. Saṃyutta Nikāya 4. Aṅguttara Nikāya 5. Khuddaka Nikāya
3. Abhidhamma Piṭaka
1. Dhammasaṅgaṇī 2. Vibhaṅga 3. Dhātukathā 4. Puggalapaññatti 5. Kathāvatthu 6. Yamaka 7. Paṭṭhāna
v t e

This nikaya contains some or all of the following texts:

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 (included in Burmese and Sinhalese editions, but not in Thai edition)
17. Petakopadesa
    (included in Burmese and Sinhalese editions, but not in Thai edition)
18. Milindapanha
    (included in Burmese edition, but not in Sinhalese and Thai editions)

The introduction to the Sumangalavilasini, the commentary on the

, which gives 1-15 for this nikaya, though it also includes an alternative classification in which the Vinaya and Abhidhamma are also included in this nikaya, so that the five nikayas are a classification of the whole Canon, not just the Sutta Pitaka. Scholars conclude on the basis of these lists that 13-15 were added later, and 1 later still.

Both surviving subcommentaries on the passage about reciters explain the apparent difference between the reciters as being, not a substantive disagreement on the contents of the Canon, but merely a nominal one on its classification. Thus they say for example that the Digha reciters did regard 15 as canonical but counted it as part of 10 instead of a separate book. Similarly, the more recent subcommentary, compiled by the head of the Burmese sangha about two centuries ago, says that 16 and 17 were counted as part of 11 and/or 12.^[4]

The full list of 18 books is included in the inscriptions approved by the Burmese

.

Translations

The following translations include material from at least two books of the Khuddaka Nikaya. For translations of individual books, see the separate articles.

• Psalms of the Early Buddhists, 9 & 8 tr C. A. F. Rhys Davids, Pali Text Society[1], Bristol; originally published separately
• Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, 1931–75, 4 volumes, Pali Text Society, Bristol; translations of 2, 1, 3, 4, 14, 15, 6, 7
• The Udana and the Itivuttaka, tr John D. Ireland, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka; originally published separately

See also

• Pāli Canon
• Sutta Piṭaka
• Anguttara Nikaya
• Digha Nikaya
• Majjhima Nikaya
• Samyutta Nikaya
• Aṭṭhakavagga and Pārāyanavagga
• Niddesa
• Early Buddhist Texts
  • Dhammapada
  • Udāna
  • Itivuttaka
  • Sutta Nipāta
  • Theragatha
  • Therīgāthā

Notes

External links

• Khuddaka Nikaya in Pali and English at "MettaNet - Lanka"
• Khuddaka Nikaya in English at "Access to Insight"