Saṃyutta Nikāya (original) (raw)

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3rd Buddhist Scriptures Collection in Pāli Canon

The Saṃyutta Nikāya ("Connected Discourses" or "Kindred Sayings") is a Buddhist scriptures collection, the third of the five Nikāyas, or collections, in the Sutta Piṭaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pāli Tipiṭaka of Theravāda Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas/sūtras is unclear. The editor of the Pali Text Society edition of the text made it 2889, Bodhi in his translation has 2904, while the commentaries give 7762. A study by Rupert Gethin[2] gives the totals for the Burmese and Sinhalese editions as 2854 and 7656, respectively, and his own calculation as 6696; he also says the total in the Thai edition is unclear. The suttas/sūtras are grouped into five vaggas/vargas, or sections. Each vagga/varga is further divided into saṃyuttas/saṃyuktas, or chapters, each of which in turn contains a group of suttas/sūtras on a related topic.

Bhante Sujato, a contemporary scholar monk, argues that the remarkable congruence of the various recensions suggests that the Saṃyutta Nikãya/Saṃyukta Āgama was the only collection to be finalized in terms of both structure and content in the pre-sectarian period.[3]

Correspondence with the Saṃyukta Āgama

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The Saṃyutta Nikāya corresponds to the Saṃyukta Āgama found in the Sutra Piṭakas of various Sanskritic early Buddhists schools, fragments of which survive in Sanskrit and in Tibetan translation. A complete Chinese translation from the Sarvāstivādin recension appears in the Chinese Buddhist canon, where it is known as the Zá Āhánjīng (雜阿含經); meaning "the mixed āgama". A comparison of the Sarvāstivādin, Kāśyapīya, and Theravādin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains suttas/sutras not found in the others.[4] The Collation and Annotation of Saṃyuktāgama[5] (《<雜阿含經>校釋, Chinese version) makes further comparison.

The vaggas contained in this nikāya are (the numbering of chapters [_saṃyutta_] here refers to the PTS and Burmese editions; the Sinhalese[6] and Thai editions divide the text up somewhat differently):

• The Book of the Kindred Sayings, tr C. A. F. Rhys Davids & F. L. Woodward, 1917–30, 5 volumes, Bristol: Pali Text Society

• The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, tr Bhikkhu Bodhi, 2000, Wisdom Publications, Somerville, MA, ISBN 0-86171-331-1; the Pali Text Society also issues a private edition of this for members only, which is its preferred translation

• Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.), The “Linked” or “Connected” Discourses, 2018, published online at SuttaCentral and released into the public domain.

• anthology published by Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka[9]

• Nidana Samyutta, published in Burma; reprinted Sri Satguru, Delhi

• Aṅguttara Nikāya

• Early Buddhist Texts

• Dīgha Nikāya

• Khuddaka Nikāya

• Majjhima Nikāya

• Pāli Canon

• Sutta Piṭaka

• Supaṇṇa Saṃyutta

• Ādittapariyāya Sutta

• Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta

• Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

1. ^ When referring to a sutta from the Saṃyutta Nikāya, the case-sensitive abbreviation 'SN' is used. This abbreviation is distinguished from the abbreviation 'Sn' which traditionally refers to the Sutta Nipāta in the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pali Canon.
2. ^ Gethin, Rupert (2007). "What's in a Repetition? On Counting the Suttas of the Samyutta-nikaya" (PDF). Journal of the Pali Text Society. XXIX: 369, 381. ISBN 9780860134381. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
3. ^ Sujato, Bhante (2012), A History of Mindfulness (PDF), Santipada, pp. 31, 37–52, ISBN 9781921842108
4. ^ A Dictionary of Buddhism, by Damien Keown, Oxford University Press: 2004
5. ^ The Collation and Annotation of Saṃyuktāgama, by Wang Jianwei and Jin Hui, East China Normal University Press: 2014
6. ^ While the PTS Saṃyutta Nikāya has 56 saṃyuttas (connected collections), the Sinhala Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series (BJT) print edition has 54 saṃyuttas and, based on the BJT edition, the softcopy Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) edition has 55 saṃyuttas. The reason for these differences are that:
   • the BJT and SLTP Saṃyutta 12 (Abhisamaya-Saṃyutta) combines the PTS Saṃyuttas 12 (Nidana-Saṃyutta) and 13 (Abhisamaya-Saṃyutta), representing the latter Saṃyutta as a final vaggo (chapter) in the former Saṃyutta.
   • the BJT Saṃyutta 34 (Vedanā-Saṃyutta) combines the PTS Saṃyuttas 35 (Salāyatana-Saṃyutta) and 36 (Vedanā-Saṃyutta).
7. ^ Bodhi (2000), p. 69.
8. ^ Bodhi (2000), pp. 1485-6, points out that the first seven chapters of the Maggavagga-samyutta pertain to the seven sets of qualities conducive to Enlightenment.
9. ^ The BPS anthology was published in three parts, edited by John D. Ireland (1981), Bhikkhu Ñanananda (1983) and Maurice O'C. Walshe (1985).

• Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, entry on Zá Ahánjīng
• _The Collation and Annotation of Saṃyuktāgama_《<雜阿含經>校釋》,(Chinese version). Wang Jianwei and Jin Hui, East China Normal University Press, 2014.
• Saṃyutta Nikāya at suttacentral.net
• Samyutta Nikaya suttas in Pali (complete) and English (first 44 chapters) at "Metta Net"
• Samyutta Nikaya selected suttas in English at "Access to Insight"