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Pali Canon (Tipitaka)
Oral for centuries; written down in Sri Lanka c. 29 BC· Scripture or text· Hindu, Buddhist, Jain & Sikh
Mostly agreed by scholarsMost historians agree; some details uncertain.
The scripture of Theravada Buddhism, the oldest complete Buddhist canon to survive in an Indian language, Pali.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Tipitaka means 'three baskets': the Vinaya, rules for monks and nuns; the Suttas, the Buddha's discourses; and the Abhidhamma, systematic analysis of mind and matter. Monks memorized and chanted it for some three to four centuries. Sri Lankan chronicles say that around 29 BC, after war and famine had threatened its survival, monks at Aluvihara wrote it down on palm leaves. Printed Thai editions run to 45 volumes, and it is still recited daily in Theravada monasteries.
Why it matters
It is the fullest early record of what the Buddha is remembered to have taught, the scripture of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, and a key source of modern mindfulness.
Sources and history
The chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa record the writing down; the oldest surviving Pali texts are gold plates from Myanmar's Pyu cities, about AD 500; parallel texts survive in Chinese and Gandhari.
Questions and debates
How much of the Canon goes back to the Buddha himself, and how much later generations of monks added or reshaped, is debated.
Connections (2)
▸Pali Canon (Tipitaka) is the scripture of Theravada BuddhismHistorical record
The connection
Theravada treats the Pali Canon, the Tipitaka or 'Three Baskets', as the Buddha's word: monastic rules (Vinaya), discourses (Sutta) and systematic teaching (Abhidhamma). Monks memorize and chant it, and Pali serves as Theravada's sacred language across Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, much as Latin long served Catholics.
When and where
Recited orally for centuries, then written on palm leaves at Aluvihara, Sri Lanka, about 29 BC; in the 1860s Myanmar carved it on 729 marble slabs, reviewed at the Fifth Council (1871).
Historical evidence
Sri Lankan chronicles record the writing down; the Canon overlaps closely with early texts surviving in Sanskrit and Chinese, indicating early roots.
Questions and debates
How much of the Canon goes back to the Buddha himself, and how much was added later, especially the Abhidhamma, is debated.
▸Pali Canon (Tipitaka) records the Buddha's teaching of Four Noble TruthsMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
The Pali Canon preserves the Buddha's first sermon, 'Setting the Wheel of Dharma in Motion', in which he teaches the Four Noble Truths: life involves suffering (dukkha); suffering arises from craving; it can cease; and the Eightfold Path leads there. The Canon returns to them again and again, making them Theravada's core teaching.
When and where
The sermon is set in the Deer Park at Sarnath, near Varanasi, in the 5th century BC (dates debated); it is recorded in the Samyutta Nikaya and the Vinaya.
How do we know?
Closely parallel versions in Chinese translations of other early schools, and in Sanskrit fragments, suggest the teaching goes back to Buddhism's earliest layer.
Questions and debates
Some scholars think the formal list of four truths was organized after the Buddha's time, and debate how best to translate 'noble truths'.