4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦

Khuddaka Nikāya

short/small collection

4👑☸ → KN‍ : Kp Dhp Ud Iti Snp Thag Thig Ps KN Ne Pe 🔝

🔗🔊 KN audio recordings in many languages

* Khuddaka Nikāya: name of a collection of canonical books comprising 15 books:
1) Kp = Pāṭha, Khuddaka-pāṭha: short-reading
2) Dhp = Dhamma-pada: a line or stanza of the Norm. (nt.)
3) Ud = Udāna: [inspired] Utterances
4) Iti = Iti-vuttaka: Thus (was it) said
5) Snp = Sutta Nipāta: discourse - section, falling down, descending
6) Vv = Vimāna-vatthu : mansion, heavenly palace - story
7) Pv = Peta-vatthu : ghost - story
8) Thag = Thera-gāthā: Elder [monk] - verses
9) Thig = Therī-gāthā: Elder [nun] - verses
10) Jātaka (verses only), Ja = Jātaka: birth
11) niddesa: description, analytic explanation
12) Ps = Paṭi-sambhidā-magga: Discrimination-path
13) Apadāna, Therā/i-(a)padāna: Elder [monks and nuns] legendary stories
14) Buddha-vaṃsa: Buddha - race, lineage, family
15) Cariyā-piṭaka: conduct, behavior - basket, container

* in Burmese tipitaka these 3 included under KN.
KN Ne = Netti: guide, conduit
Pe = Peṭako-padesa: Pitaka disclosure
Mil = KN: Milinda-pañha: Milinda-pañha: [King] Milinda's - questions

"Khuddaka" as nikāya not to be confused with Vin‍ subdivisions

* "Khuddaka" as a nikāya in the sutta pitaka, not to be confused with Vin‍ smaller sections or subdivisions of canonical books Vin v.145 sq (with ref. to the paññattis).

(1) Kp = Khuddaka-pāṭha: short-reading

Khuddaka-pāṭha: 9 short discourses, including 10 precepts
KN Kp 1 - 🔗🔊, KN Kp 7 - 🔗🔊 One of the fifteen books of the Khuddaka Nikāya, generally mentioned first in this list (E.g., DA.i.17). Its rightful claim to be included as part of the Tipitaka was disputed both by the Dīghabhānakas and the Majjhimabhānakas (DA.i.15). It is generally acknowledged (for a discussion see Law, Pāli Lit., i.7f; 34f) that the work is of later composition and that it contains extracts from earlier works. It may have been composed in Ceylon, and it is significant that its first mention as a canonical book should occur only in the commentaries. It is not mentioned even in the Milindapañha. The book consists of nine sections on texts: Saranattaya, Dasasikkhā-pada, Dvattimsākāra, Kumārapañha, and five suttas: Mangala, Ratana, Tirokudda, Nidhikanda, and Metta - all found elsewhere in the canon. According to the Commentary the book derives its name from the first four texts, which are shorter than the remaining five. KhpA.13. The Commentary was written by Buddhaghosa. See also Gv.59, 68.

(2) Dhp = Dhammapada: a line or stanza of the Norm. (nt.)

Dhammapada: The second book of the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Sutta Pitaka. It is probably a later anthology than the Thera-Therī-Gāthā, and its earliest mention by name is in the Milinda-pañha (p.408). It includes gāthas collected together from various books in the Canon, but contains hardly any from the Jātaka collection, or directly derived from the Sutta Nipāta. The present text of the Dhammapada contains four hundred and twenty-three verses divided into twenty-six vaggas. So far, five recensions of the Dhammapada have been discovered. (For details see Law: Pāli Lit., pp.215f). A commentary on it exists called the Dhammapadattha-kathā.

(3) Ud = Udāna: [inspired] Utterances

Udāna: A short collection of eighty stories, in eight vaggas, containing solemn utterances of the Buddha, made on special occasions. The Udāna proper, comprising the Buddha's utterances, is mostly in verse, in ordinary metres (Sloka, Tristubh, Jagatī), seldom in prose (E.g., iii.10; viii.1, 3, 4). Each Udāna is accompanied by a prose account of the circumstances in which it was uttered. The book forms the third division of the Khudda-kanikāya (DA.i.17; but see p.15, where it is the seventh). Udāna is also the name of a portion of the Pitakas in their arrangement according to matter (anga). Thus divided, into this category fall eighty-two suttas, containing verses uttered in a state of joy (DA.i.23-4; see also UdA. pp.2-3). The prose-and-verse stories of the Udāna seem to have formed the model for the Dhammapada Commentary (See Bud. Legends, i.28). The Udāna is also the source of twelve stories of the same Commentary and contains parallels for three others. About one-third of the Udāna is embodied in these stories. See, ibid., i.47-8, for details.

(4) Iti = Iti-vuttaka: Thus (was it) said

Iti-vuttaka: The fourth book of the Khuddaka Nikāya, containing 110 suttas, each of which begins with the words: vuttam h'etam Bhagavatā. According to Dhammapāla (ItA.24ff), the suttas were preached from time to time by the Buddha to Khujjuttarā at Kosambī. She then repeated them to the five hundred women of Udena's palace, chief of whom was Sāmāvatī. In order to emphasise to her audience the fact that she was reporting the Buddha's words and not her own, she prefaced each sutta with the phrase quoted above. There was no need to describe any special circumstances in which the suttas were preached, because they were familiar to Khujjuttarā's audience. At the Rājagaha Council, Ananda repeated the suttas to the Assembly and they were gathered into this collection. Itivuttaka is also the name given to one of the nine divisions (anga) into which the Buddha's preaching is divided and it is defined as follows: vuttam h'etam Bhagavatā ti ādinayappavattā dasuttarasatam suttantā Itivuttakam ti veditabbam (DA.i.24). In the scholiast of the Kummāsapinda Jātaka (J.iii.409; l.21)), the Itivuttaka is mentioned in the plural (Itivuttakesu) and a sutta is quoted from it, extolling the virtues of generosity. Perhaps, the Itivuttaka was compiled as a result of a critical study of the authentic teachings of the Buddha, considered in a certain light and made for a specific purpose.

(5) Snp = Sutta Nipāta: discourse - section, falling down, descending

Sutta Nipāta: One of the books, generally the fifth, of the Khuddaka Nikāya. It consists of five Vaggas - Uraga, Cūla, Mahā, Atthaka and Pārāyana - the first four consisting of fifty four short lyrics, while the fifth contains sixteen suttas. Of the thirty eight poems in the first three cantos, six are found in other books of the canon, showing that they had probably existed separately, as popular poems, before being incorporated in the Sutta Nipāta. The fourth canto is referred to in the Samyutta Nikaya, the Vinaya Pitaka and the Udāna, as a separate work, and this canto was probably very closely associated with the last, because the Niddesa is obviously an old Commentary on them and takes no notice of the remaining cantos. (For a detailed account see Law, Pāli Literature i.232f.) The Dīghabhānakas included the Sutta Nipāta in the Abhidhamma Pitaka (DA.i.15). A Commentary exists on the Sutta Nipāta, written by Buddhaghosa, and called the Paramatthajotikā (q.v.).

(6) Vv = Vimāna-vatthu : mansion, heavenly palace - story

The sixth book of the Khuddaka Nikāya. It describes the splendour of various celestial abodes belonging to different devas, obtained by them as reward for some meritorious act performed in a previous life. The stories were learnt from the devas themselves, by Moggallāna, Vangīsa and others, during their sojourn in the deva-worlds, and reported by them to the Buddha. A Commentary on the work exists by Dhammapāla, forming part of the Paramatthadīpanī, and sometimes called Vimalatthavilāsinī (q.v.). Stories from the Vimāna Vatthu were related by Mahinda in Ceylon in his first sermon to Anulā and her five hundred companions. Mhv.xiv.58.

(7) Pv = Peta-vatthu : ghost - story

The seventh book of the Khuddaka Nikāya. It consists of stories of persons born in the peta world owing to various misdeeds. Dhammapāla wrote on it a Commentary, called the Petavatthuvannanā, or Petavatthu Atthakathā, and forming a part of the Vimalavīlāsinī (GV.60). Mahinda preached the Peta Vatthu to Anulā and her companions on the day of his entry into Anurādhapura. Mhv.xiv.58.

(8) Thag = Thera-gāthā: Elder [monk] - verses

Thera-gāthā: The eighth book of the Khuddaka-Nikāya, a collection of poems, most of which are believed to have been composed by theras during the lifetime of the Buddha. Some poems contain life-histories of the theras, while others are paeans of joy, extolling their new-found freedom. The work has been published by the P.T.S. (1883) and translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, as Psalms of the Brethren. Dhammapāla wrote a commentary on the Theragāthā, as part of the Paramatthadīpanī.

(9) Thig = Therī-gāthā: Elder [nun] - verses

Therī-gāthā: The ninth book of the Khuddaka-Nikāya. It corresponds to the Theragāthā and is a unique collection in the literature of the world. Published by the P.T.S. (1883), and translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids as Psalms of the Sisters.

(10) Ja = Jātaka: birth

The tenth book of Khuddaka Nikāya of the Sutta Pitaka containing tales of the former births of the Buddha. The Jātaka also forms one of the nine angas or divisions of the Buddha's teachings, grouped according to the subject matter (DA.i.15, 24). The canonical book of the Jātakas (so far unpublished) contains only the verses, but it is almost certain that from the first there must have been handed down an oral commentary giving the stories in prose. This commentary later developed into the Jātakatthakathā. Some of the Jātakas have been included in a separate compilation, called the Cariyā Pitaka. It is not possible to say when the Jātakas in their present form came into existence nor how many of these were among the original number. In the time of the Culla Niddesa, there seem to have been five hundred Jātakas, because reference is made to pañcajātakasatāni (p.80; five hundred was the number seen by Fa Hsien in Ceylon (p.71)). Bas-reliefs of the third century have been found illustrating a number of Jātaka stories, and they presuppose the existence of a prose collection. Several Jātakas exist in the canonical books which are not included in the Jātaka collection. For a discussion on the Jātakas in all their aspects, see Rhys Davids Buddhist India, pp.189ff. The Dīghabhānakas included the Jātaka in the Abhidhamma Pitaka. (DA.i.15; the Samantapāsādikā (i.251) contains a reference to a Jātakanikāya). The Jātaka consists of twenty-two sections or nipātas.

(11.a) Mnd = Mahā-niddesa: great - description, analytic explanation

A commentarial work included in the Canon as part of the Khuddaka Nikāya. It is generally divided into two books: the Culla-Niddesa and the Mahā Niddesa. The Culla Niddesa contains comments on the Khaggavisāna Sutta and the sixteen suttas of the Parāyana Vagga of the Sutta Nipāta, while the Mahā Niddesa deals with the sixteen suttas of the Atthaka Vagga. It is significant that the Culla Niddesa contains no comments on the fifty six (Vatthugāthā) introductory stanzas, which preface the Parāyana Vagga as at present found in the Sutta Nipāta. This lends support to the suggestion that at the time the Culla Niddesa was written the Parāyana Vagga, was a separate anthology, and that the Khaggavisāna Sutta did not belong to any particular group. Similarly with the Mahā Niddesa and the Atthaka Vagga. The comments in the Niddesa seem to have been modeled on exegetical explanations such as are attributed here and there in the Pitakas to Mahā Kaccāna (E.g., Madhupindika Sutta (M.i.110f); also S.iii.9) and to Sāriputta (E.g., Sangitī Sutta, D.iii.207f). There is a tradition (NidA. p.1), which ascribes the authorship of the Niddesa to Sāriputta. There exists a Commentary on it, called the Saddhammapajjotikā, by Upasena. It was written in Ceylon at the request of a monk called Deva Thera.

(11.b) Cnd = Cūḷa-niddesa: lesser - description, analytic explanation

see māha-niddesa description.

(12) Ps = Paṭi-sambhidā-magga: Discrimination-path

KN Ps = Paṭi-sambhidā-magga: The twelfth "book" of the Khuddaka Nikāya. It really belongs to the literature of the Abhidhamma type, and describes how analytical knowledge can be acquired by an arahant. It presents a systematic exposition of certain important topics of Buddhism. It is possible that, before the development of the extant Abhidhamma Pitaka, it passed as one of the Abhidhamma treatises. The book consists of three Vaggas: Mahā Vagga, Yuganaddha Vagga Paññā Vagga and each Vagga contains ten topics (kathā). The treatment of the various topics is essentially scholastic in character, and whole passages are taken verbatim from the Vinaya and from various collections of the Sutta Pitaka, while a general acquaintance with the early Buddhist legends is assumed. (Published by the P.T.S. There is an index in J.R.A.S., 1908). A commentary exists, written by Mahānāma, a Thera of Ceylon, and called Saddhammappakāsinī.

(13.a) Tha Ap = Therā-(a)padāna: Elder [monks'] legendary stories

The thirteenth division of the Khuddaka Nikāya. It is a Buddhist Vitae Sanctorum and contains 547 biographies of monks and forty biographies of nuns, all mentioned as having lived in the time of the Buddha. The Cy. gives details of eleven more theras not found in the text: Yasa, Nadīkassapa, Gayākassapa, Kimbila, Vajjiputta, Uttara, Apara-Uttara, Bhaddaji, Sivika, Upavāna and Ralthapāla. In addition to these, there are two introductory chapters, the Buddhā-padāna and the Paccekabuddhā-padāna, dealing with the Buddha and the Pacceka Buddhas respectively. It is worth noting that the Buddhā-padāna contains no account of the Buddha's life, either as Gotama or earlier, as Bodhisatta (see, however, Pubbakammapiloti). Nor does the Paccekabuddhā-padāna contain any life-histories. The stanzas are what might be more appropriately described as udāna, and appear in the Khaggavisāna Sutta of the Sutta Nipāta. Cp. the Mahāpadāna Sutta (D.ii.1ff), where the word Apadāna is used as meaning the legend or life-story of a Buddha or a Great One - in this case the seven Buddhas. Or does Mahāpadāna mean the Great Story, i.e. the story of the Dhamma and its bearers and promulgation: cp. the title of the Mahāvastu (Dial.ii.3). Most of the stories are found in the Paramatthadīpanī, the Commentary to the Thera- and Therīgāthā, extracted from the Apadāna with the introductory words, "tena vuttam Apadāne." But in numerous instances the names under which the verses appear in the Paramatthadīpanī differ from those subjoined to the verses in the Apadāna. In several cases it is a matter of the Commentary giving a name while the Apadāna gives only a title. E.g., Usabha Thera (ThagA.i.320), called Kosumbaphaliya (Ap.ii.449); and Isidinna (ThagA.i.312), called (Ap.ii.415) Sumanavījaniya. Sometimes the stories are duplicated in the Apadāna itself, the same story occurring in two places with a very slight alteration in words, even the name of the person spoken of being the same. Most often no reason can be assigned for this, except, perhaps, careless editing. E.g., Annasamsāvaka i Ap.i.78 and again i.261; see also the Introduction to the P.T.S. Edition. The Apadāna is regarded as one of the very latest books in the Canon, one reason for this view being that while later books like the Buddhavamsa mention only twenty-four Buddhas previous to Gotama, the Apadāna contains the names of thirty-five. It is very probable that the different legends in the collection are of different dates. On these and other matters connected with the Apadāna, see Rhys Davids article in ERE. and Muller's Les Apadānas du Sud (Congress of Orientalists, Leyden, 1895). According to the Sumangala Vilāsinī (i.15. See also Przyluski: La Legende de l'Empereur Acoka, pp. viii f., 214), the Dīghabhānakas, who included the Khuddaka Nikāya in the Abhidhammapitaka, did not recognise the Apadāna. The Majjhimabhānakas included it in the Khuddaka Nikāya, which they regarded as belonging to the Suttapitaka. There is a Commentary to the Apadāna called the Visuddhajanavilāsinī. According to Gv. (p. 69) the Commentary on the Apadāna was written by Buddhaghosa at the request of five monks.

(13.b) Thi Ap = Therī-apadāna: Elder [nuns] - legendary stories

See Therā-(a)padāna, this is part of that book.

(14) Bv = Buddha-vaṃsa: Buddha - race, lineage, family

The fourteenth book of the Khuddaka Nikāya (DA.i.17). The Dīgha-bhānakas excluded it from the canon, but it was accepted by the Majjhima-bhānakas (DA.i.17). It contains, in verse, the lives of the twenty five Buddhas, of whom Gotama was the last. The name of the Bodhisatta under each Buddha is also given. The last chapter deals with the distribution of Gotama's relics. It is said (Bu.i.74) that the Buddhavamsa was preached, at Sāriputta's request, at the Nigrodhārāma in Kapilavatthu, after the Buddha had performed the miracle of the Ratanacankama. The Commentary on the Buddhavamsa is known as the Madhurattha-vilāsinī (q.v.). The Gandhavamsa (p.61) speaks of a Buddhavamsa written by an author named Kassapa. This is probably not the same work. Mention is also made (Gv.60) of a Tīkā to the Buddhavamsa, Paramatthadīpāni by name.

(15) Cp = Cariyā-piṭaka: conduct, behavior - basket, container

One of the fifteen books of the Khuddaka Nikāya, generally placed last in the list. It contains tales in metrical verse of the Buddha's previous births, chiefly setting forth the ten pāramī, by which he attained Enlightenment. Each story is called a Cariyā. The stories told here in verse are parallel to the corresponding Jātaka stories in prose, and pre-suppose a familiar acquaintance with all the incidents of the prose tales. The first two pāramī are illustrated by ten stories each, while the remaining pāramī have only fifteen stories between them. The Dīgha-bhānakas refused to include the Cariyāpitaka in their canonical books, but it was accepted by the Majjhima-bhānakas (DA.i.15, 23). There exists a Commentary on the Cariyāpitaka which is ascribed to Dhammapāla and which forms a part of the Paramathadīpanī. (Published in the Hewavitarane Bequest Series, vol.xxvi.; 1929). According to the Commentary (CypA.1, 2), the Cariyāpitaka was preached by the Buddha at the Nigrodhārāma, after the conclusion of the Buddhavamsa and at the request of Sāriputta. It was preached by Mahinda at the Nandanavana in Anurādhapura, soon after his arrival in Ceylon (Dpv.xiv.45; but see Mhv.xv.179).

Ne = Netti: guide, conduit

Netti-p-pakarana. pakaraṇa = an occasion; a literary work or exposition. (nt.)
Also called Netti-gantha. gantha = bond; fetter; a composition; a text. (m.)
An exegetical work on the Pitakas, traditionally ascribed to Mahā Kaccāna. There exists a Commentary on it by Dhammapāla (Gv.59, 60; SadS.65). Ñanābhivamsa wrote a tīkā on it. Svd.1215.

Pe = Peṭako-padesa: Pitaka disclosure

Peṭako-padesa: Peṭaka (adj.) [fr. piṭaka] "what belongs to the Piṭaka," as title of a non -- canonical book for the usual Peṭak' opadesa "instruction in the Piṭaka." dating from the beginning of our era (cp. Geiger, P.Gr. p. 18), mentioned at Vism 141 DhsA 165. Cp. tipeṭaka, see also piṭaka.

Padesa [fr. pa+diś, cp. late Sk. pradeśa] indication, location, range, district; region, spot, place

Pitaka disclosure: Not EBT, “composed probably in India beore 100 BCE”. Has valuable word commentary on STED four jhāna formula.

A treatise on textual and exegetical methodology, generally ascribed to Mahā Kaccāyana (Gv.59) and included (by the Burmese) in the Khuddaka Nikāya (Bode, op. cit., 5). A tīkā on this work is ascribed to a teacher named Udumbara (?). Gv.65.

Mil = Milinda-pañha: [King] Milinda's - questions

KN: Milinda-pañha: Records the conversation between Milinda and Nāgasena. It is believed that the book was compiled later than the time of the conversation and that many of the recorded conversations are spurious. For a discussion see Question of King Milinda, vol.i.xxv f. There is a Singhalese translation to it, which is called the Saddharmādāsaya, written in the eighteenth century by a monk named Sumangala. P.L.C.274.