TRIPITAKA (TIPITAKA). — T. means the three baskets, i.e. the three collections that make up the Pali Buddhist Canon: the Vinaya-pitaka or Basket of Discipline; the Sutta-pitaka or Basket of Discourses; and the Abhidhamma-pitaka or Basket of Metaphysics.
The T. is written in Pali, the literary language derived from a dialect akin to Sanskrit that was spoken in Magadha (modern Bihar) in the 6th century B.C. and was therefore called Magadhi. Native to Magadha, the Buddha would have preached in Magadhi, and in this same dialect the first abridged Canon must have been disseminated. According to tradition, it was compiled by the elder Kāśyapa and other personal disciples of the Buddha, gathered in council at Rājagṛha (modern Rājgir) a few months after the death of the Tathāgata.
This first council is said to have limited itself to establishing the disciplinary rules of the monastic Order and the text of the discourses, to prevent distortions of the Enlightened One’s word that might sow discord in the community. The Abhidhamma-pitaka, which is an outgrowth of the Sutta-pitaka inasmuch as it aims to give an abstract and systematic form to the teachings contained in the discourses, freeing them from incidental and secondary elements, is less ancient than the other two pitakas. Ceylonese chroniclers assign it to the 3rd century because the final chapter, entitled Kathāvatthu (Points of Controversy), is attributed to Tissa Moggalliputta, head of the Third Council (243 B.C.). Yet the prevailing opinion is that the Abhidhamma-pitaka, a scholastic work, is the fruit of a centuries-long elaboration that reached completion when the Canon was committed to writing. The importance of the Third Council lies in having initiated that missionary effort which made Buddhism a universal religion. To Ceylon went Mahinda, son of King Aśoka Priyadarśin (ca. 294–232 B.C.), a follower and patron of Buddhism. While legends embellish the tale of Mahinda’s flight with other monks to the island, his journey to Ceylon must be regarded as historical; there he expounded and spread the Canon sanctioned by the Third Council, which, like the ancient Canon, remained entrusted to the memory of the Singhalese monks and was transmitted orally. It was committed to writing during the reign of Vattagāmaṇi in the 1st century B.C. Ceylonese Buddhists believe that the present T., the canonical text of Hīnayāna Buddhism (cf. BUDDHISMO) in Ceylon, Burma, Cambodia, Siam, and Laos, is identical with that ratified by the First Council a few months after the Buddha’s death. This contradicts the tradition itself, which states that only the first two pitakas were compiled at Rājagṛha, and not in Pali but in Magadhi, the dialect spoken by the Buddha and his disciples.
The question whether the language of the T. reached Ceylon already transformed into Pali, the sacred language, or completed its evolution during the 160 years between Mahinda’s arrival on the island and the writing down of the Canon, is insoluble for lack of data. What is certain is that the language of the T. was regarded as sacred, and this character, together with the difference of the Ceylonese dialect (which was Sinhalese), may have preserved the Canon from contamination. As for the meaning of the word “Pali” (f.), opinions differ, but the simplest explanation may be that which derives the term from its original sense of “line” to mean “series of texts, and the language in which they are written.” The T. is indeed a collection of texts, often not only heterogeneous but of different ages.
The Vinaya-pitaka, “the Basket of Discipline,” contains: I. The Sutta-vibhaṅga or “Classification of Rules”; II. The Khandhaka or “Chapters”; and III. The Parivāra or “Supplementary Section.” The Sutta-vibhaṅga includes the text of the Pātimokkha, the monastic penal code of 227 articles, of which it is the commentary; it not only explains the offenses listed therein but also recounts the occasions on which the Buddha himself pointed out the fault and prescribed the corresponding penalty. The Pātimokkha is divided into two parts, one concerning monks and the other nuns; the offenses are of two kinds: those entailing expulsion from the Order and those capable of expiation. The Parivāra is a kind of summary index of the preceding two works, to which it was added at a much later date. Monthly, on the evenings of the new and full moon, the monks and nuns of a district gathered in a monastery or elsewhere for a solemn session. No one was to be absent. The senior monk or nun presided and addressed the assembly with the ritual words: “Whoever has committed an offense should confess it; whoever is innocent should remain silent.” The list of offenses was read, beginning with the gravest and ending with those remissible by simple public confession.
The Khandhaka is divided into two sections (vagga), the great (Mahāvagga) and the small (Cullavagga), and may be considered a complement to the Sutta-vibhaṅga in that it treats of the admission to the Order of monks and nuns, the rules they must observe, their manner of dress, etc. Precepts and advice are likewise attributed to the Buddha and prefaced by a narrative, no doubt invented. These stories are of little importance even from a literary standpoint, but far greater interest attaches to the chapters dealing with the legendary life of the Buddha. In fine archaic language, the Mahāvagga (I, 1–24) recounts how the Buddha attained enlightenment (bodhi) and won his first disciples through conversions, among which the most important were those of Sāriputta and Moggallāna, destined to share with the Tathāgata the primacy in the Order. The Mahāvagga also preserves the text of the Sermon at Benares, the first discourse of the Enlightened One, and other important details, such as his visit to his father and consort, during which he admitted his seven-year-old son to the Order. The foundation of the female Order, at the request of a widow, is instead recounted in the Cullavagga.
The Sutta-pitaka, “the Basket of Discourses (and Dialogues),” is the richest source of information regarding the religion (dhamma) taught by the Buddha and his disciples. It is divided into five nikāyas or collections: the first contains 34 long discourses; the second, those of medium length, 152; the third, group discourses, i.e. suttas sharing common features (theme, speaker, protagonist, etc.) grouped into 56 collections, each with an appropriate title; the fourth is the “Book of Ones,” where discussion proceeds from single themes to paired, then tripled, always increasing by one up to eleven in the 11th and final chapter. The paired-themes chapter treats, for example, of the two reasons for dwelling in the forest, the two kinds of Buddha, etc.; the tripled-themes chapter deals with the three messengers of the gods, the three kinds of silence, etc. The fifth and final collection of 15 works is misleadingly called that of short texts because, alongside brief poems, it includes some of the most voluminous works in Pali literature. While the first nikāyas are predominantly
Didascalic works are in prose, here and there interrupted by strophes that are quotations or teachings in verse, intended for mnemonic purposes. In the fifth [division], poetry predominates, and in more than one text, such as the Dhammapada, “Words on Religion,” the Thera- and Therī-gāthās, strophes of monks and nuns, and the Suttanipāta, a collection of sermons, it deserves the name of true, great poetry. In the Sutta-piṭaka, the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta (I, 16), or “Great Discourse on the Absolute Nirvāṇa (of the Buddha),” which is the detailed account of the last three months of the life of the Enlightened One, stands out for its particular importance; likewise the group of dialogues on the causal nexus (III, 12) and the Jātaka (V, 10), or stories of the Buddha’s previous births, some of which are depicted in the bas-reliefs of the stūpas of Bhārhut and Sāñcī, dating to the 3rd century B.C.