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Present Text
The Digha Nikaya is an important collection from the perspective of meditation practice. It contains thirty-four important long discourses of the Buddha, divided into three sections—the Silakkhandhavagga, Mahāvagga and Pathikavagga. In these discourses a lot of material related to sila, samādhi and pañña is available. Various aspects of practice have been elucidated by means of similes drawn from familiar objects and the everyday life of the times.
The Buddha's teachings were simple and endearing. His distinctive style was self-explanatory but still, in order to make the Dhamma all the more lucid, he introduced the use of affhakathā (commentaries), such as the Cusaniddesa and the Mahāniddesa. These were recited, along with the discourses of the Buddha, at the first Dhamma Council. In time the other atthakathā commenting on all his discourses came into being.
When Ven. Mahinda conveyed the words of the Buddha to Sri Lanka he also took the affhakatha with him. The Sinhalese monks preserved these atthakathā in their own language. Later on, when they had been lost in India, Ven. Buddhaghosa was able to translate them back to Pali, during the middle of the fifth century A.D. He then compiled the commentary on the Digha Nikāya named Sumangalavilasinī in three volumes to help clarify its meaning.
We sincerely hope that this publication, Pathikavagga-Atthakathā will provide immense benefit to practitioners of Vipassana as well as research scholars.
Director, Vipassana Research Institute,
Igatpuri, India.
17
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