Sutta Nipata
Encyclopedia
The Sutta Nipata is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta
collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya
, part of the Pali Canon
of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose. It is divided into five sections:
Some scholars consider this the oldest of all Buddhist scriptures. Others agree that it contains much very early material.
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya
Khuddaka Nikaya
The Khuddaka Nikaya is the last of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism...
, part of the Pali Canon
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose. It is divided into five sections:
- Uraga Vagga
- Cula Vagga
- Maha Vagga
- Atthaka Vagga
- Parayana Vagga
Some scholars consider this the oldest of all Buddhist scriptures. Others agree that it contains much very early material.
Translations
- Tr V. FausbøllViggo FausböllMichael Viggo Fausböll was a Danish pioneer of Pāli scholarship.Fausböll was a Professor of Sanskrit in Copenhagen. His version of the Dhammapada was the basis for the first translation of this text into English, by Max Müller in Vol...
, in Sacred Books of the East, volume X, Clarendon/Oxford, 1881; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (?and by Dover, New York) - Buddha's Teachings, tr Lord ChalmersRobert Chalmers, 1st Baron ChalmersRobert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers GCB PC , was a British civil servant.-Background and education:Chalmers was born in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, the son of John Chalmers and his wife Julia...
, Harvard Oriental Series, 1932 - Woven Cadences, tr E. M. Hare, 1945, out of print
- The Group of Discourses, tr K. R. NormanK. R. NormanKenneth Roy Norman is a leading scholar of Middle Indo-Aryan or Prakrit, particularly of Pali. He saw military service in India and Malaya and studied classics at Cambridge University, and spent most of his career teaching Prakrit at Cambridge University.He was a visiting professor at SOAS and...
, 1984, Pali Text SocietyPali Text SocietyThe Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...
http://www.palitext.com, Bristol; the original edition included alternative translations by I. B. Horner & Walpola RahulaWalpola RahulaThe venerable Prof Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera was a Buddhist monk, scholar and writer. He is considered to be one of the top Sri Lankan intellectuals of the 20th century. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, thus becoming the first bhikkhu to...
; these are currently available in the paperback edition under the title The Rhinoceros Horn and Other Early Buddhist Poems; the current edition under the original title omits these, but includes instead the translator's notes, not included in the paperback - Tr Saddhatissa, Curzon, London/Humanities Press, New York, 1985
- Tr N. A. Jayawickrama, University of Kelaniya, 2001
See also
- Sutta Nipata suttas (complete list)
- Atthakavagga and ParayanavaggaAtthakavagga and ParayanavaggaThe ' and the Pārāyanavagga are two small collections of suttas within the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. They are considered by modern scholars to be among the earliest existing Buddhist literature...
- Rhinoceros SuttaRhinoceros SutraThe Rhinoceros Sutra is a very early Buddhist text advocating the merit of solitary asceticism for pursuing enlightenment .-Origins:The Rhinoceros Sutra has long been identified, along with the and...
External links
- Sutta Nipata (Access to InsightAccess to InsightAccess to Insight is a popular Theravada Buddhist website providing access to a huge collection of translated texts from the Tipitaka, as well as contemporary materials published by the Buddhist Publication Society and many teachers from the Thai Forest Tradition.Access to Insight began in 1993 as...
) - Sutta Nipata Lectures taught by Bhikkhu BodhiBhikkhu BodhiBhikkhu Bodhi , born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area...