The Pāli Language was derived from a Prakrit (folks’ dialect) of Magādha in ancient India. Its grammar is similar to those of Sanskrit and Latin. Pāli was chosen as the language to rehearse and record the Buddhist teachings at the First Rehearsal (Sangāyana) in 543 BCE. Pāli is unique among languages in that it is not used for any other purpose except to record Buddhist doctrines. Thus the meanings of its words were not ‘corrupted’ by common usage or ‘evolution’ over time.

The Three Major Divisions of Pāli Tipitaka

Vinayapitaka

The Vinayapitaka is a collection of monastic rules, their origin, issues regarding the administration of the monastic order, training rules outside the Patimokkha, and rules concerning the use of requisites. It also records the history of the Sangha’s formation, and the events leading to the first and second rehearsals of the Pāli Canon. This Pitaka is divided into five books – the Mahāvibhanga, Cullavibhanga, Mahāvagga, Cullavagga and Parivāra Pāli.

Novice monks are taught the Dhamma and Vinaya for many years before being allowed to undergo their “Higher Ordination” as full-fledged bhikkhus.

Suttapitaka

The Suttapitaka is a large collection of discourses, sermons and sayings of the Buddha, and some of His foremost disciples, delivered on various occasions to individuals and groups. It is divided into five major collections (Nikāya) – the Dīghanikāya, Majjhimanikāya, Samyuttanikāya, Anguttaranikāya, and Khuddakanikāya – which in turn are further divided into many books and sections. These discourses touch on mundane topics to the supramundane, as they were delivered to beginners as well as to adept Arahant disciples. Informative narrations and prose can be found in many longer texts, while shorter ones, such as the Dhammapada, Udāna, Theragātha and Therigātha, contain some of the most poetic literature in verse.

Abhidhammapitaka

The Abhidhammapitaka contains seven treatises – the Dhammasanganī, Vibhanga, Dhātukathā, Puggalapaññatti, Kathāvatthu, Yamaka, and Patthāna. These treatises deal with Dhamma subjects in purely academic terms, without referring to any individuals or providing narrations of events as found in the Suttapitaka. Important doctrinal points, such as consciousness, the mind, wholesome and unwholesome qualities, meditative absorption, the nature of elements, stages of purification and enlightenment, are all detailed in this massive collection.

Bhikkhus and novice monks often recite passages from the Abhidhamma in communal chantings.

Commentarial Tradition

Over the centuries, learned scholar-monks have composed commentaries to aid the learning of the Tipitaka. These are called Atthakathā in Pāli Language. Although they are not regarded as canonical, the Atthakathās are nevertheless indispensable in better understanding certain parts of the Canon. The most famous commentators were two 4th to 5th Century CE monks – the Elders Buddhaghosa and Dhammapala – both of whom authored the greater part of Pāli commentaries.

Additions to the Canon

The present structure of the Pāli Canon is largely the compilation of the Third Rehearsal of Dhamma-vinaya during Mauryan Emperor Asoka’s reign in the 3rd Century BCE. The Abhidhammapitaka was formally recited and incorporated into the Canon (thus making it “Ti-pitaka” – 3 divisions) during this rehearsal.

In the 1871CE Fifth Rehearsal in Mandalay, three ancient and highly venerated Pāli works – the Nettippakarana, Petakopadesa and Milindapañhā – were added to the Canon and placed under the Khuddakanikāya division of the Suttapitaka. These last three additions appeared in printed form as part of the Pāli Canon after the Sixth International Rehearsal in 1956.

The entire Pāli Tipitaka is nowadays commonly produced in a 40 to 45 volume (book) collection. For example, the Thai Pāli Tipitaka usually contains 45 printed volumes, symbolically representing the 45 years of Buddha’s mission.

Pāli Tipitaka

The Pāli Tipitaka comprises 31 books of various sizes.  Certain treatises of the Tipitaka are so large that they are spread over several volumes.  Together with their equally voluminous commentaries, the Tipitaka offers a thorough exposition of Buddhist teachings covering all aspects of practice from the mundane to the supramundane.  Below is a list of the 31 books in their original Pāli names and brief descriptions of their contents, as well as their respective commentarial texts.

Note: Three later additions to the Pāli Canon (the Nettippakarana, Petakopadesa and Milindapañhā classified under the Khuddakanikāya) are not listed below.  Their inclusion will result in the Canon having 34 books (and the Suttapitaka having 18 books).