The Vibhaṅga

The Vibhaṅga, or “The Book of Analysis,” is the second book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka and a major canonical work of Theravāda Buddhist scholasticism. Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids for the Pali Text Society, the text presents a systematic analysis of key Buddhist doctrines, including the five aggregates, sense bases, elements, Four Noble Truths, dependent origination, foundations of mindfulness, right efforts, factors of awakening, the Noble Eightfold Path, meditative absorptions, immeasurable states, training precepts, analytical knowledge, and categories of dhammas. Rather than offering narrative teaching, the work classifies and examines doctrines through definitions, analytical divisions, and catechetical inquiry, showing how Buddhist concepts are organized within the Abhidhamma method. This volume is therefore an important primary source for studying Pāli Buddhism, Abhidhamma psychology, doctrinal taxonomy, and the intellectual structure of the Theravāda tradition.