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Education, Literature and Sciences
the Rājapraśniya, in particular, seems to be based on an old tradition, since the Pāyāsisutta in the Dighanikāya is either an adaptation of it or draws on the same source. The painnas, as their title indicates, are miscellaneous pieces and their list is in reality quite indefinite. Of the Chhedasūtras, according to M. WINTERNITZ, only the Brihatkalpa, with its supplement -the Vauhāra-and the Āyāradasão, can be considered early.
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THE BUDDHIST CANON
It seems that Gautama Buddha, like Mahavira, preached his doctrines in Old Ardha-Magadhi, but he enjoined upon his disciples that his teachings should be studied by the people in their own dialects. We have definite evidence that Buddhist canon was redacted in Päli, Mägadhi and other dialects. of these, the Pāli version alone has survived in its entirety. Of the rest, only very small fragments have so far come to light.
The Pāli canon consists of three piṭakas (baskets) known as the Tripitaka. These are Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma Pițakas. There is yet another division of the canon into nine Angas. They are sermons in prose only (Sutta), sermons in prose and verse (Gavya), explanations (Veyyakarana), stanzas (Gāthā), epigrams (Udāna), short saying beginning with "Thus spoke the Buddha" (Itivuttaka), stories of previous incarnations (Jātaka), miracles (Abbhutadhamma), and teachings in the form of question and answer (Vedalla).
The Vinaya Pitaka comprises the following texts: Pätimokkha, Sutta Vibhanga, Khandhakas and Parivara. The Sutta Pitaka comprises the following five collections called Nikājas: (1) Digha, (2) Majjhima, (3) Samyutta, (4) Anguttara and (5) Khuddaka. The Abhidhamma comprises seven books commonly known as Sattapakarana which belong to a later date containing a more elaborate and classified exposition of the Dhamma than given in the Nikayas.
CHRONOLOGY OF THE BUDDHIST CANON
Like the Jaina canon, the Buddhist canon too was not compiled at one particular time. The quotations from scriptures in Aśokan edicts, references to persons well-versed in sacred texts in inscriptions of the second century B. C. and
