Samyutta Nikaya
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The Samyutta Nikaya (Saṃyutta Nikāya SN, "Connected Discourses" or "Kindred Sayings") is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is unclear. The editior of the Pali Text Society edition of the text made it 2889, Bodhi in his translation has 2904, while the commentaries give 7762. A study by Dr Rupert Gethin[1] gives the totals for the Burmese and Sinhalese editions as 2854 and 7656, respectively, and his own calculation as 6696; he also says the total in the Thai edition is unclear. The suttas are grouped into five vaggas, or sections. Each vagga is further divided into samyuttas, or chapters, each of which in turn contains a group of suttas on a related topic.
A similar collection, apparently translated from an earlier Sanskrit version, appears in the Chinese Buddhist canon. This is known as the Samyuktāgama or Zá Ahánjīng (雜阿含經); the Chinese name means "the mixed agama".
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[edit] Translations
- The Book of the Kindred Sayings, tr C. A. F. Rhys Davids & F. L. Woodward, 1917-30, 5 volumes, Pali Text Society[1], Bristol
- The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, tr Bhikkhu Bodhi, 2000, Wisdom Publications, Somerville, MA, ISBN 0-86171-331-1; the Pali Text Society also issues a private edition of this for members only, which is its preferred translation
[edit] Selections
- anthology published by Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka[2]
- Nidana Samyutta, published in Burma; reprinted Sri Satguru, Delhi
[edit] Divisions
The vaggas contained in this nikaya are (the numbering of chapters [samyuttas] here refers to the PTS and Burmese editions; the Sinhalese[3] and Thai editions divide the text up somewhat differently):
Part I. Sagatha-vagga (SN chapters 1-11)
- a collection of suttas containing verses (Pali, sagatha), many shared by other parts of the Pali canon such as the Theragatha, Therigatha, Suttanipata, Dhammapada and the Jatakas.[4]
Part II. Nidana-vagga (SN chapters 12-21)
- a collection of suttas primarily pertaining to causation (Pali, nidana).
Part III. Khandha-vagga (SN chapters 22-34)
- a collection of suttas primarily pertaining to the five aggregates (Pali, khanda).
Part IV. Salayatana-vagga (SN chapters 35-44)
- a collection of suttas primarily pertaining to the six sense bases (Pali, salayatana), including the "Fire Sermon" (Adittapariyaya Sutta).
Part V. Maha-vagga (SN chapters 45-56)
- the largest – that is, great (Pali, maha) – collection consists of the following chapters:
- Ch 45. the Noble Eightfold Path
- Ch 46. the Seven Factors of Enlightenment
- Ch 47. the Four Establishment of Mindfulness
- Ch 48. the Faculties
- Ch 49. the Four Right Striving
- Ch 50. the Five Powers
- Ch 51. the Four Bases for Spiritual Power[5]
- Ch 52. Anuruddha discourses
- Ch 53. the Jhanas
- Ch 54. Mindfulness of Breathing
- Ch 55. Factors of Stream-entry
- Ch 56. the Truths
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume XXIX, pages 369, 381
- ^ The BPS anthology was published in three parts, edited by John D. Ireland (1981), Bhikkhu Ñanananda (1983) and Maurice O'C. Walshe (1985).
- ^ While the PTS Samyutta Nikaya has 56 samyuttas (connected collections), the Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) edition has only 55 samyuttas. The reason for this is that the PTS samyutta 13 (Abhisamaya-samyutta, S ii 133-9) is represented as a single SLTP chapter (Abhisamaya-vaggo) that is added to the end of SLTP samyutta 12 (also entitled Abhisamaya-samyutta, vaggo 10). In other words, SLTP samyutta 12 (Abhisamaya-samyutta) combines PTS samyutta 12 (Nidana-samyutta) and 13 (Abhisamaya-samyutta).
- ^ Bodhi (2000), p. 69.
- ^ Bodhi (2000), pp. 1485-6, points out that the first seven chapters of the Maggavagga-samyutta pertain to the seven sets of qualities conducive to Enlightenment.
[edit] Bibliography
- Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, entry on Zá Ahánjīng
[edit] External links
- Samyutta Nikaya suttas in English at metta.lk
- Samyutta Nikaya suttas in English at accesstoinsight.org
- "Connected Discourses in Gandhāra" by Andrew Glass (2006 dissertation) - compares four Gandharan sutras related to the Samyutta Nikaya with Pali, Chinese and Tibetan versions.
