Patisambhidamagga

Theravāda

   

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Pali Canon

    Vinaya Pitaka    
   
                                       
Sutta-
vibhanga
Khandhaka Pari-
vara
               
   
    Sutta Pitaka    
   
                                                      
Digha
Nikaya
Majjhima
Nikaya
Samyutta
Nikaya
                     
   
   
                                                                     
Anguttara
Nikaya
Khuddaka
Nikaya
                           
   
    Abhidhamma Pitaka    
   
                                                           
Dhs. Vbh. Dhk.
Pug.
Kvu. Yamaka Patthana
                       
   
         

The Patisambhidamagga (paṭisambhidā-; Pali for "path of discrimination"; sometimes called just Patisambhida for short; abbrevs.: Paṭis, Pṭs) is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. It is included there as the twelfth book of the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya. Tradition ascribes it to the Buddha's disciple Sariputta. It comprises 30 chapters on different topics, of which the first, on knowledge, makes up about a third of the book.

Contents

History

Tradition ascribes the Patisambhidamagga to the Buddha's great disciple, Sariputta.[1] Recent scholarship assesses that this text was likely composed around the 2nd c. CE.[2]

The Patisambhidamagga has been described as an "attempt to systematize the Abhidhamma" and thus as a possible precursor to the Visuddhimagga.[2]

Overview

The Patisambhidamagga has three divisions (vagga) composed of ten "chapters" (kathā) each for a total of thirty chapters. The three divisions are:

Translations

Translation: The Path of Discrimination, tr Nanamoli, 1982, Pali Text Society[1], Bristol

In addition, Mindfulness of Breathing, tr Nanamoli, 1998 (6th ed.), Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, includes a translation of the Anapanakatha in the Patisambhidamagga, along with the Anapanasati Sutta and other material from Pali literature on the subject.

Notes

  1. ^ This ascription can be found in the Pali commentary to the Patisambhidamagga (Pais-a I 1,18) (Hinüber, 2000, p. 60).
  2. ^ a b c Hinüber (2000), p. 60.

Sources

See also