14 THE BUDDHI S T T R A D I T I ON

of fundam ental im portance in any study of Buddhism . I t is w ritten in Pali, a language related to Sanskrit, and based on an ancient vernacular, probably spoken in th e western part o f India.

T h e canon is generally known as Tripifaka (th e Three Baskets) after the th ree sections in to which it is divided, nam ely C onduct [V inaya), Discourses (S u tta ) , and Supple­m entary D octrines (A b h id h a m m a ). T h e first Pifaka contains the rules o f conduct o f th e B uddhist order of monks and nuns, usually in connection w ith narratives which purport to tell the circumstances in which the B uddha laid down each rule. T h e second Pifaka is the m ost im portant; it con­tains discourses, mostly a ttribu ted to the Buddha, divided in to five sections: the L ong G roup (D igha Nikaya) contain­ing long discourses; the M edium G roup {M ajjhim a N ikaya) w ith discourses of shorter length; th e C onnected Group {Sam yutta N ikaya ), a collection of shorter pronouncem ents on connected topics; the Progressive Group {Ahguttara N ika ya ), short passages arranged in eleven sections according to th e num ber of topics dealt w ith in each— thus th e th ree types of sin, in act, word and thought, occur in section three, and so on; and finally th e M inor G roup {Khuddaka N ikaya ), a num ber of works of varying type, including the beautiful and very ancient B uddhist poem s of th e W a y o f R i^ te o u s - ness (D ham m apada) and a collection of verses which are

'filled ou t by a lengthy prose com m entary to form the Birth Stories (Jdtaka) relating th e previous b irths of the B uddha.

T h e th ird Pifaka, the Supplem entary Doctrines, is a collec­tion of seven works on B uddhist psychology and metaphysics, which are little m ore than a system atization of ideas con­ta ined in the Discourses, an d are definitely later th a n the m ain body of the canon.

T here is considerable disagreem ent about th e date of the canon. Some earlier studen ts,o f Buddhism believed th a t the C onduct and Discourse Baskets existed in m uch the same form as they do now w ith in a hundred years o f th e B uddha’s death . L ater authorities are inclined to believe th a t the growth of th e canon was considerably slower. O n the other hand m any of the discourses may look back to th e B uddha himself, though all have been m ore or less worked over, and