Nettipakarana
The Nettipakarana (Pāli: -pakarana: The Guide), Nettippakarana or just Netti is a Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of Theravada Buddhism's Pāli Canon.
Translation: The Guide, tr Nanamoli, 1962, Pali Text Society, Bristol.
The nature of the Netti is a matter of some disagreement among scholars. The translator, supported by Professor George Bond of Northwestern University, holds that it is a guide to help those who already understand the teaching present it to others. However, A. K. Warder, Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit at the University of Toronto, disagrees, maintaining that it covers all aspects of interpretation, not just this.
The Netti itself says that the methods were taught by the Buddha's disciple Kaccana (also Katyayana or Kaccayana), and the colophon says he composed the book, that it was approved by the Buddha and that it was recited at the First Council. Scholars do not take this literally, but the translator admits the methods may go back to him. The translator holds that the book is a revised edition of the Petakopadesa, though this has been questioned by Professor von Hinüber. Scholars generally date it somewhere around the beginning of the common era.
The Nettipakarana presents methods of interpretation, as explained by Dhammapala, means exposition of that which leads to the knowledge of the good law. It is a Pāli work on textual and exegetical methodology. It has some similarity with the Jñānaprasthāna śāstra because they were composed with an idea to serve the same purpose. Like yāska's Nirukta to the Vedas, it has the same relation to the Pāli canon. According to Mrs. Rhys Davids, the Nettipakarana is an earlier work than the Patthana of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. It is also called the Nettigandha or the Netti.
Read more about this topic: Paracanonical Texts (Theravada Buddhism)