1919. | Buddhaghosa’s Commentaries. 113 
grouped asa separate class. There is no reason why the Cala- 
vedalla and the Mahavedalla suttas in the Majjhima Nikaya 
should not be included in the veyyakarana class. At all events 
it has been clearly proved that in the Tripitakas, excluding the 
Kathavatthu, which was composed in the 3rd century B.C., 
we have two layers, so to speak, of Veyvakarana, viz. the Sutta- 
bhajaniya and the Abhidhamma bhajaniya. Khandha, Vibh- 
anga, Niddesa—these are but different synonyms of the same 
term. That is to say, the suttas containing terminology, 
definition, enumeration or explanation, whether with or with- 
out such names as Khandha, Vibhanga, Niddesa, constitute the 
first great landmark ; and the six Abhidhamma books, largely 
based upon the suttas, the second landmark in the history of 
the Buddhist commentaries. The third landmark is not so 
easy to determine as the first or the second. Here we have a 
choice between a few works ! ascribed to Mahakaccano and the 
Kathavatthu of which Thera Moggaliputta Tissa is said to be 
the author. As regards the date of the latter, it is pretty 
certain that the book was composed about the time of the third 
Buddhist council held under the auspices of King Asoka. The 
case of Mahakaccano’s works is somewhat different. A careful 
survey of the Petakopadesa which is still buried in manuscripts 
shows that whatever its date of composition, it is a supple- 
mentary treatise to the Nettipakarana of which a beautiful 
edition in Roman character is given to us by Prof. EK. Hardy. 
A Buddhist Sanskrit work, the Jianaprasthana Sastra, by 
a Mahakatyayana, is held, as Prof. Takakusu informs us, as 
an authoritative text by the Sarvastivadins. This Sastra is 
mentioned by Vasuvandhu in his Abhidharmakosa® as one 
of the seven Abhidhamma books. The work was translated 
into Chinese by Sanghadeva and another in A.D. 383. Another 
translation was made in A.D. 657 by Hiuen Tsang, who trans- 
lated also the Abhidharmamahavibhasasastra, a commentary 
Kaniska. The Chinese traveller tells us that the ean age 
ed 
| Hardy. Introduction to the Nettipakarana, p. 33, F. I. Kaccay- 
anapakaranarn, Mohanenittipakaranam, Nettipakaranam, Cuttanenitti 
petakodesa, and Vannaniti. 
E. Burnouf’s Introduction, p. 447. ae 
3 Beal’s Buddhist Records, J, pp. 174-175. Cf. Bunyunanjio’s Cata- 
logue, Sub. No. 2 
