Paracanonical Texts (Theravada Buddhism) - History

History

The Suttasamgaha is believed to have been composed in Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka.

In Burma, presumably sometime after the closing of the Abhidhamma Pitaka (ca. 200 CE), the paracanonical texts were added to the Khuddaka Nikaya .

The Suttasamgaha was included in the 1888 Burmese Piṭakat samuiṅ but excluded from the 1956 Burmese Chaṭṭasaṅgāyana edition possibly due to the Suttasamgaha's inclusion of material from the post-canonical Pali commentaries. The Burmese Fifth Council inscriptions of the Canon include the same three works. The Burmese Phayre manuscript of the Canon, dated 1841/2, includes the Netti.

The Nettipakarana, Petakopadesa and Milindapañha appear in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Burmese Tipitaka, while the Nettipakarana and the Petakopadesa appear in the Sinhalese printed edition.

The head of the Burmese sangha two centuries ago rearded at least the Netti and Petakopadesa as canonical. A modern Burmese teacher has described them as post-canonical.

Read more about this topic:  Paracanonical Texts (Theravada Buddhism)

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    When the coherence of the parts of a stone, or even that composition of parts which renders it extended; when these familiar objects, I say, are so inexplicable, and contain circumstances so repugnant and contradictory; with what assurance can we decide concerning the origin of worlds, or trace their history from eternity to eternity?
    David Hume (1711–1776)

    There is one great fact, characteristic of this our nineteenth century, a fact which no party dares deny. On the one hand, there have started into life industrial and scientific forces which no epoch of former human history had ever suspected. On the other hand, there exist symptoms of decay, far surpassing the horrors recorded of the latter times of the Roman empire. In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.
    Karl Marx (1818–1883)

    The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
    Karl Marx (1818–1883)