Sūtra Piṭaka

The Sutta Pitaka or Suttanta Pitaka (Faded), Sūtra Piṭaka or Sutra Pitaka (Sanskrit) सूत्रपिटक, “basket of suttas”, is the second of three divisions of the gun faded Tipitaka on which bases the current Theravada. It contains many suttas (lesson) divided into five sections (Nikaya), of which four are integrated under the name of Agamas in the gun Mahayana. These Sutta S would be the lesson of the Bouddha transmitted orally, then in writing lying probably to Ier front century J.C

Dating

The tradition brought back in the gun itself made go up the compilation of the Tipitaka to a council shortly after the death of the Buddha, during which the Sutta Pitaka would have been recited by Ananda, its assistant. The text mentions only the recitation, but some believe in a first written setting. The chronicle singhalaise Mahavamsa , it, date its drafting of the first century before our era on order of king Vattagamani (R. 86-76 or 29-17 av. J.C.). This assumption is regarded as probable by the majority of the modern historians. Their opinions diverge, on the other hand, with regard to later deteriorations to the version of the 5th century commented on by Buddhaghosa, which was rather well preserved. Some think that the version faded sri lankaise was improved little after its initial drafting, contrary to the Scandinavian Agamas , the first four sections transmitted by various schools to the current mahayana, available in Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, of which a fragment in kharosthi. Others, however, estimate that it is illusory to hope to find through the Visuddhimagga the faithful image of the Sutta Pitaka of Ier century.

Composition

The collection contains more than ten thousand suttas, including 8777 very short contents in the Anguttara Nikaya .

Five sections of the Sutta Pitaka :

the Digha Nikaya, long discourses, comprising 34 suttas;
the Majjhima Nikaya, speeches average length comprising 152 suttas gathered in 5 sections;
the Samyutta Nikaya, grouped or connected speeches, grouped in 5 sections from 10 to 15 suttas each one;
the Anguttara Nikaya, speeches of the later factors or numerical speech, classified in 11 groups, the first bearing one on a simple subject, the second on a double subject, the third on a triple subject, and so on up to 11;
the Khuddaka Nikāya, small speeches or short books, composed of 9 books among which well-known texts such as the Dhammapada are, the Sutta Nipata and the Udana.

References

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