The Pali Canon and the Tipitaka

Overview

Word Tipitaka, three divisions of the Pali Canon and five collections that make up the Sutta Pitaka.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What does the word Tipitaka mean, and why is the image apt?

   Model answer

   It means three baskets, recalling the palm-leaf manuscripts that were stored in baskets once the collection was written down.

2. 2

   Name the three divisions of the Pali Canon.

   Model answer

   They are the Vinaya Pitaka, the Sutta Pitaka and the Abhidhamma Pitaka.

3. 3

   How was the Canon preserved before it was written down?

   Model answer

   It was memorised and chanted by groups of monastics who specialised in particular collections, and recited communally so that errors could be corrected.

4. 4

   When and where was the Pali Canon committed to writing?

   Model answer

   It was written down in Sri Lanka in the first century BCE, when war and famine threatened the survival of the reciting lineages.

5. 5

   What is said to have happened at the council held shortly after the Buddha's death?

   Model answer

   The community gathered to recite the teaching, with Upali reciting the monastic rules and Ananda reciting the discourses so that the whole could be agreed.

6. 6

   What does the Vinaya Pitaka contain besides the training rules themselves?

   Model answer

   It contains the incident that prompted each rule, its later amendments, and the procedures by which the community ordains, resolves disputes and holds its observances.

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