Pāli Literature: Including the Canonical Literature in Prakrit and Sanskrit of All the Hīnayāna Schools of Buddhism

The book is divided into four principal chapters. Chapter I examines the Pāli language and the Theravādin tradition, including the origin of the term “Pāli,” the history and development of the language, and the transmission of the Theravāda textual tradition. Chapter II surveys the Pāli Canon, beginning with traditional divisions of the canon and proceeding through the Vinaya-piṭaka, including the Suttavibhaṅga, Khandhaka, and Parivāra; the Sutta-piṭaka, including the Dīgha-, Majjhima-, Saṃyutta-, Aṅguttara-, and Khuddaka-nikāyas; and the Abhidhamma-piṭaka, comprising the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, Vibhaṅga, Dhātukathā, Puggalapaññatti, Kathāvatthu, Yamaka, and Paṭṭhāna, together with comparative discussion of Sanskrit Abhidharma. Chapter III addresses early post-canonical texts, the early chronicles, and the principal commentators, especially Buddhaghosa, Buddhadatta, Mahānāma, Upasena, and Dhammapāla. Chapter IV surveys later post-canonical literature, including later chronicles and commentaries, Abhidhamma works, editing collections, kāvya, prophetic and medical texts, grammatical and lexicographical literature, poetics, prosody, disciplinary manuals, boundary texts, anthologies, cosmology, wisdom literature, Jātaka collections, and bibliographical works.