Suttanipāta

Page last updated on 8 October, 2020

Suttanipāta

One of the books, generally the fifth, of the Khuddakanikāya. It consists of five chapters (vagga) — Uraga, Cūḷa, Mahā, Aṭṭhaka, and Pārāyana — the first four consisting of fifty-four short lyrics, while the fifth contains sixteen suttas.¹ Of the thirty-eight poems in the first three cantos, six are found in other books of the canon, showing that they had probably existed separately, as popular poems, before being incorporated in the Suttanipāta. The fourth canto is referred to in the Saṃyuttanikāya, the Vinaya Piṭaka and the Udāna, as a separate work, and this canto was probably very closely associated with the last, because the Niddesa is obviously an old Commentary on them and takes no notice of the remaining cantos. (For a detailed account see Law, Pāḷi Literature, i.232 f )

The Dīghabhāṇakā included the Suttanipāta in the Abhidhamma Piṭaka (DA.i.15).

A Commentary exists on the Suttanipāta, written by Buddhaghosa, and called the Paramatthajotikā.

Suttanipāta translated by Viggo Fausböll in E-pub format, from Reading Faithfully.org

1. Uraga Vaggo

2. Cūḷa Vaggo

3. Mahā Vaggo

4. Aṭṭhaka Vaggo

5. Pārāyana Vaggo

Vatthu Gāthā

¹ These are followed by an epilogue in praise of “The Way to the Beyond” (Pārāyanatthutigāthā) and an account of Piṅgiya’s encounter with the Buddha when he returns to see Bāvarī, his teacher. (s.v. Piṅgiya)