Oldest Buddhist texts in Middle Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian subcontinent
Pali literature is concerned mainly with TheravadaBuddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language. The earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pāli Canon, the authoritative scriptures of Theravada school.
The Pali language is a composite language which draws on various Middle Indo-Aryan languages.[1]
Much of the extant Pali literature is from Sri Lanka, which became the headquarters of Theravada for centuries. Most extant Pali literature was written and composed there, though some was also produced in outposts in South India.[2] Most of the oldest collection of Pali Literature, the Pali Canon, was committed to writing in Sri Lanka at about the first century BCE (though it contains material that is much older, possibly dating to the period of pre-sectarian Buddhism).[3][4][5]
At around the start of the common era, some of the earliest Pali commentaries and exegetical manuals (which are now sometimes included within the Pali Canon itself) were written, mainly the Suttavibhanga, Niddesa, Nettipakarana and Petakopadesa.[6] Other works like the Cariyapitaka, the Buddhavamsa and the Apadana may also belong to this post-Asokan period.[7]
During the first millennium, Pali literature consisted of two major genres: histories (vamsa) and commentaries (atthakatha). The histories include the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa, which are verse chronicles of Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka.[7]
The commentarial works include the writings of Buddhaghosa (4th or 5th century CE), who wrote the influential Visuddhimagga along with various commentaries on the Pali Canon. Several other commentators worked after Buddhaghosa, such as Buddhadatta (c. fifth century), Ananda (sixth century), Dhammapala (at some point before the 12th century) and other anonymous commentators which we do not know by name.[7]
The reform period between the 10th to 13th centuries saw an explosion of new Pali literature.[2] Part of the impulse behind these literary efforts was the fear that warfare on the island could lead to the decline of Buddhism.[8] This literature includes the work of prominent scholars such as Anuruddha, Sumangala, Siddhattha, Sāriputta Thera, Mahākassapa of Dimbulagala and Moggallana Thera.[9][10]
They worked on compiling subcommentaries to the Tipitaka, grammars, summaries and textbooks on Abhidhamma and Vinaya such as the influential Abhidhammattha-sangaha of Anuruddha. They also wrote kavya style Pali poetry and philological works. Their work owed much to the influence of Sanskrit grammar and poetics, particularly as interpreted by the Sri Lankan scholar Ratnamati. During this period, these new Pali doctrinal works also show an increasing awareness of topics found in Sanskrit Buddhist Mahayana literature.[11]
From the 15th century onwards, Pali literature has been dominated by Burma, though some has also been written in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, as well as Ceylon. [citation needed] This Burmese literature has in turn been dominated by writings directly or indirectly concerned with the Abhidhamma Pitaka,[citation needed] the part of the Canon variously described as philosophy, psychology, metaphysics etc.
Canonical Pali Literature
Pali Tipitaka
The earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pali Tipitaka, the main scripture collection of the Theravada school. These are of Indian origin, and were written down during the reign of Vattagamani Abhaya (29—17 B.C.) in Sri Lanka.[12]
The Tipitaka ("Triple Basket"), also known as Pali Canon, is divided into three "baskets" (Pali: piṭaka):[13]
Abhidhamma Piṭaka (Basket of Abhidhamma, i.e. Philosophical Psychology). According to K.R. Norman, "It is clear that the Abhidhamma is later than the rest of the canon."[14]
These are early works written after the closure of the canon. The first four of these texts are present in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Burmese Tipitaka but not in the Thai or Sri Lankan. They are also not mentioned by Buddhaghosa as being part of the canon.[15]
Suttasaṃgaha - A collection of important suttas from the Tipitaka
Nettipakarana - "The Book of Guidance", a work on exegesis and hermeneutics
Petakopadesa - "Instruction on the Pitaka", another text on exegesis and hermeneutics
Vimuttimagga - A short practice manual by Upatissa (possibly 1st century CE), the Pali text is now lost, and only the Chinese translation survives.
Pali texts composed in Sri Lanka
Commentaries
A collection of Pali Commentaries (Atthakatha) were written in Sri Lanka by various (some anonymous) authors, such as Buddhagosa, Dhammapala, Mahanama, Upasena, and Buddhadatta. Buddhagosa writes that he based his commentaries on older works which were brought to Sri Lanka when Buddhism first arrived there, and were translated into Sinhalese. K.R. Norman has written that there is evidence that some parts of the commentaries are very old.[16]
Sub-commentaries
Sub-commentarial works called Tikas are secondary commentaries, that is to say, commentaries on the Atthakathas. Dhammapala is one early author of tikas. He is particularly known for his Paramatthamañjusa, a sub-commentary on the Visuddhimagga.[17]
Doctrinal Manuals, Summaries and Treatises
Visuddhimagga - Buddhaghosa, A very influential compendium of Buddhist doctrine and practice by Buddhagosa (5th century).
Abhidhammavatara - Buddhadatta, The earliest effort at an introductory manual which summarizes the doctrines in the Abhidhamma (5th century)
Ruparupa-vibhaga - Buddhadatta - A short manual on Abhidhamma (5th century)
Saccasankhepa - Culla-Dhammapala, "Elements of Truth", A "short treatise on Abhidhamma" (7th century)
Abhidhammattha-sangaha - Acariya Anuruddha, A summary of the Abhidhamma, widely used as an introductory Abhidhamma text, c. 11th to 12th century.
Namarupa-pariccheda - Acariya Anuruddha, A verse introduction to the Abhidhamma
Paramattha-vinicchaya - attributed to Acariya Anuruddha, K.R. Norman thinks this might be a different Anuruddha.[18]
Khemappakarana - By the nun Khema, A "short manual on the Abhidhamma"
Mohavicchedani - Mahakassapa of Chola, A guide to the matikas (topics) of the seven books of the Abhidhamma (12th century)
Nāmacāradīpikā - Chappata, (15th century)
Vinayavinicchaya - Buddhadatta, A verse summary of the first four books of the Vinaya (5th century)
Uttaravinicchaya - Buddhadatta, A verse summary of the Parivara, the final book of the Vinaya (5th century)
Khuddasikkha and Mulasikkha - Short summaries on monastic discipline.
Upasaka-janalankara - Sihala Acariya Ananda Mahathera, a manual on the Buddha's teachings for lay disciples (Upasakas) (13th century)
Simalankara, a work dealing with monastic boundaries (sima)
Bhesajjamanjusa - a Medical text from Sri Lanka (13th century)
Amatākaravaṇṇanā (c. 18th century) - According to Kate Crosby, this is one of the most extensive manuals of Esoteric Theravada meditation and was compiled by Kandyan Sinhalese students of Thai esoteric meditation masters.[19]
Historical Chronicles
The following include various Buddhist historical chronicles (vamsa):[20]
Kaccāyana-vyākarana, Date is unknown but after Buddhaghosa. It's the earliest and most influential grammar of Pali.
Nyasa, or Mukhamattadipani by Vimalabuddhi (11th century), a commentary on Kaccayana's Grammar.
Suttaniddesa or Nyasapradipa by Chapata or Saddhammajoti-pala
Kaccayana-sara, ab abridgement of Kaccayana's Grammar written by Dhammananda
Rupasiddhi, a re-arrangement of Kaccāyana-vyākarana
Balavatara, a re-arrangement of Kaccāyana-vyākarana
Moggallayana-vyakarana a.k.a. Saddalakkhana, and the auto-commentary Moggallayanapañcika is a new Pali grammar by Moggallana who created a new school of grammar c. 12th century.
Subodhalankara of Sangharakkhita (12th century), a work on poetics
Vuttodaya, a work on Pali meter by Sangharakkhita
Sambandhacinta by Sangharakkhita, a work on verbs and syntax
Non-canonical Jataka collections
These are jataka collections that are outside of the Pali Canon:[28]
Paññasa-jataka
Sudhanukumara jataka
Kosala-bimba-vannana, a story told in Jataka style about Buddha statues
Anthologies
Anthologies of various texts on different topics:[29][30]
Mahaparitta - A small collection of texts taken from the Suttapitaka
Suttasamgaha - A selection of texts from the Tripitaka
Sarasangaha[30] - Siddhattha, A "manual of Dhamma" in prose and verse (13th century)
Upasakajanalankara[30]
Burmese Pali literature
Dhammasattha - A Southeast Asian genre of Buddhist law
Dhammaniti, Lokaniti, Maharahaniti, and Rajaniti, collections of aphorisms of worldly wisdom (niti).[31]
Saddanīti, by Aggavaṃsa of Arimaddana, an influential Pali grammar; Burma (c. 1154 CE). K.R. Norman calls it "the greatest of extant Pali grammars." It draws on Kaccayana and Panini.[32]
Buddhaghosuppatti - Mahāmaṅgala, Story of Buddhagosa (Burma, 15th century)
Braḥ Māleyyadevattheravatthuṃ - A narrative of the travels of the monk Māleyyadev
Gandhavamsa - Catalog of ancient Buddhist commentators (19th century).[33]
Sāsanavaṃsa, written in 1861 by Paññasami, a history of Buddhism, including Burmese Buddhism.[34]
Sandesakatha (19th century)
Sima-vivada-vinichaya-katha (19th century)
Visuddhiñana-katha (The Progress of Insight) by Mahasi Sayadaw, originally in Burmese, translated to Pali (1950).
Thai Pali literature
Cakkavaladipani, a work on cosmology, c. 1520.[31]
Jinakalamali - A Thai Buddhist Chronicle, by a Thai elder named Ratapañña (16th century)
Sangitivamsa - A Thai Chronicle, focusing on the various Buddhist councils (sangiti) from the 18th century
Bode, Mabel Haynes The Pali Literature of Burma, Royal Asiatic Society, London, 1909.
Collins, Steven Nirvana and other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali imaginaire, Cambridge University Press, 1998 (paperback edition 2006).
Norman, K.R. Pali Literature, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1983
Hinüber, Oscar v. Handbook of Pali Literature, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1996
Warren (ed & tr), Buddhism in Translations, Harvard University Press, 1896
Malalasekera, G.P. The Pali Literature of Ceylon, Colombo 1928; Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1994 (see http://www.bps.lk)
Webb, Russell. An Analysis of the Pali Canon. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9552400481. Archived from the original on 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
Wallis, Glenn, Buddhavacana: A Pali Reader(Onalaska, Wash: Pariyatti Press, 2011)
Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Pali literature of South-East Asia, Colombo, Buddhist Cultural Centre, Dehiwala, 2004(see https://www.buddhistcc.com/)
References
^Norman, Kenneth Roy (1983). Pali Literature. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 2–3. ISBN 3-447-02285-X.
^ a bGornall, Alastair (2020). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270, pp. 3-4. UCL Press.
^Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 3.
^Tse-Fu Kuan. Mindfulness in similes in Early Buddhist literature in Edo Shonin, William Van Gordon, Nirbhay N. Singh. Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness, page 267.
^Gornall, Alastair (2020). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270, p. 38. UCL Press.
^Gornall, Alastair (2020). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270, pp. 38-39. UCL Press.
^ a b cGornall, Alastair (2020). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270, pp. 39-41. UCL Press.
^Gornall, Alastair (2020). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270, pp. 5-6. UCL Press.
^Perera, HR; Buddhism in Sri Lanka A Short History, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, page
^Gornall, Alastair (2020). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270, pp. 14-16. UCL Press.
^Gornall, Alastair (2020). Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270, pp. 29-30, 37. UCL Press.
^Norman (1983), p. 10.
^Norman (1983), pp. 18, 30, 96.
^Norman (1983), p. 96.
^Norman (1983), pp. 31, 108-113.
^Norman (1983), p. 119.
^Norman (1983), p. 148.
^Norman (1983), p. 152
^Crosby, Kate (2020). Esoteric Theravada: The Story of the Forgotten Meditation Tradition of Southeast Asia, Chapter 2. Shambhala Publications.