468 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



dhamma Pitaka. Speaking broadly, the first relates to Doctrine ; the 

 second, to Discipline ; the third, to what we may call Psychology. 

 The first two Pitakas alone concern us. Each of the Pitakas falls into 

 several subdivisions. The Sutta Pitaka consists of five groups, called 

 Nikayas ; namely, Four Nikayas the Greater, and One Nikaya the 

 Less. The first four Nikayas are called the Againas, and are as 

 follows : (1) Digha ; (2) Majjhima ; (3) Sarjyutta ; (4) Anguttara. The 

 Digha and Majjhima consist of Dialogues of the Buddha, arranged 

 somewhat after the manner of the Dialogues of Plato ; the Sarjyutta 

 and Anguttara contain sayings of the Buddha, arranged according to 

 subject and length respectively. These four Nikayas are the oldest 

 parts of the Canon, and are the source of most of our knowledge of the 

 tenets and history of primitive Buddhism. The Lesser Nikaya, called 

 the Khuddaka, consists of fifteen books, grouped in three pentads. Of 

 these fifteen books, perhaps the most famous are the Thera- and Then- 

 gatha (or Hymns of the Monks and Nuns), the Sutta Nipata (a very 

 old collection of poetical dialogues and epic pieces), the Udana (or 

 Solemn Utterances of the Buddha), the Jatakas, and the Dhammapada. 

 As the above-given titles indicate; the Lesser Nikaya is a miscella- 

 neous, but none the less exceedingly important, collection. It is not 

 relevant to our purpose to consider the subdivisions of the Vinaya. 

 Suffice it to say that it contains a number of highly interesting stories, 

 designed to explain the circumstances under which various rules and 

 ceremonies were established. 



The Dhammapada and its Commentary. — The Dhammapada, then, 

 is one of fifteen books belonging to the Khuddaka Nikaya, which latter 

 is the fifth division of the Sutta Pitaka ; and the Sutta Pitaka is one 

 of the three major divisions of the Sacred Scriptures of the Buddhists. 

 The Dhammapada is an anthology of about 423 stanzas uttered by the 

 Buddha on a great variety of religious subjects. Many such anthol- 

 ogies were current in the early ages of Buddhism, and so great was 

 the popularity they acquired that in addition to the anthology included 

 in the Buddhist Canon other similar collections have come down to us. 

 For example, in 1878, Samuel Beal published a translation of a Chinese 

 Dhammapada; in 1898, lilmile Senart deciphered and published part 

 of a Kharosthi Ms. of the Dhammapada, the fruit of the mission of 

 Dutreuil de Rhins ; and Richard Pischel, shortly before his death, 

 brought out specimens of a Central Asiatic Dhammapada. The precise 

 relation between the Dhammapada of the Buddhist Canon and the 

 other collections has not yet been determined ; nor is it important for 

 our immediate purpose. It is sufficient to say that by a fortunate 

 circumstance one of these anthologies was included in the Buddhist 



