The Saṃyutta Nikāya ("Connected Discourses" or "Kindred Sayings") is a Buddhist scriptures collection, the third of the five Nikāyas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada 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, Bhikku Bodhi in his translation has 2904, while the commentaries give 7762. A study by Rupert Gethin
History
Dating
Bhante Sujato, a contemporary scholar monk, argues that the remarkable congruence of the various recensions suggests that the Samyutta Nikaya/Saṃyukta Āgama was the only collection to be finalized in terms of both structure and content in the pre-sectarian period.
Correspondence with the Saṃyukta Āgama
The Samyutta Nikaya corresponds to the
Saṃyukta Āgama found in the Sutra Pitikas 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 agama". A comparison of the Sarvāstivādin, Kāśyapīya, and Theravadin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains sutras/suttas not found in the others.
[A Dictionary of Buddhism, by Damien Keown, Oxford University Press: 2004] The Collation and Annotation of Saṃyuktāgama
[The Collation and Annotation of Saṃyuktāgama, by Wang Jianwei and Jin Hui, East China Normal University Press: 2014] (《<雜阿含經>校釋》,Chinese version) makes further comparison.
Divisions
The vaggas contained in this nikaya are (the numbering of chapters
samyuttas here refers to the PTS and Burmese editions; the Sinhalese
[While the PTS Samyutta Nikaya has 56 sayuttas (connected collections), the Sinhala Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series (BJT) print edition has 54 sayuttas and, based on the BJT edition, the softcopy Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) edition has 55 sayuttas. The reason for these differences are that:
]
- * the BJT and SLTP sayutta 12 ( Abhisamaya-sayutta) combines the PTS sayuttas 12 ( Nidana-sayutta) and 13 ( Abhisamaya-sayutta), representing the latter sayutta as a final vaggo (chapter) in the former sayutta.
- * the BJT sayutta 34 ( Vedanā-sayutta) combines the PTS sayuttas 35 ( Salāyatana-sayutta) and 36 ( Vedanā-sayutta).
and Thai editions divide the text up somewhat differently):
|
|
| SN 1-11 | 1.devatāsaṃyuttaṃ
2. devaputtasaṃyuttaṃ
3. kosalasaṃyuttaṃ
4. mārasaṃyuttaṃ
5. bhikkhunīsaṃyuttaṃ
6. brahmasaṃyuttaṃ
7. brāhmaṇasaṃyuttaṃ
8. vaṅgīsasaṃyuttaṃ
9. vanasaṃyuttaṃ
10. yakkhasaṃyuttaṃ
11. sakkasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 12-21 | 12. nidānasaṃyuttaṃ
13. abhisamayasaṃyuttaṃ
14. dhātusaṃyuttaṃ
15. anamataggasaṃyuttaṃ
16. kassapasaṃyuttaṃ
17. lābhasakkārasaṃyuttaṃ
18. rāhulasaṃyuttaṃ
19. lakkhaṇasaṃyuttaṃ
20. opammasaṃyuttaṃ
21. bhikkhusaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 22-34 | 22. khandhasaṃyuttaṃ
23. rādhasaṃyuttaṃ
24. diṭṭhisaṃyuttaṃ
25. okkantasaṃyuttaṃ
26. uppādasaṃyuttaṃ
27. kilesasaṃyuttaṃ
28. sāriputtasaṃyuttaṃ
29. nāgasaṃyuttaṃ
30. supaṇṇasaṃyuttaṃ
31. gandhabbakāyasaṃyuttaṃ
32. valāhakasaṃyuttaṃ
33. vacchagottasaṃyuttaṃ
34. jhānasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 35-44 | 35. saḷāyatanasaṃyuttaṃ
36. vedanāsaṃyuttaṃ
37. mātugāmasaṃyuttaṃ
38. jambukhādakasaṃyuttaṃ
39. sāmaṇḍakasaṃyuttaṃ
40. moggallānasaṃyuttaṃ
41. cittasaṃyuttaṃ
42. gāmaṇisaṃyuttaṃ
43. asaṅkhatasaṃyuttaṃ
44. abyākatasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 45. the Noble Eightfold Path | 45. maggasaṃyuttaṃ
|
| SN 46. the Bojjhanga | 46. bojjhaṅgasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 47. the Satipatthana | 47. satipaṭṭhānasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 48. the Indriya | 48. indriyasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 49. the Four Right Striving | 49. sammappadhānasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 50. the Five Powers | 50. balasaṃyuttaṃ |
SN 51. the Four Bases for Spiritual Power[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.] | 51. iddhipādasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 52. Anuruddha discourses | 52. anuruddhasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN h 53. the | 53. jhānasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 54. anapanasati | 54. ānāpānasaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 55. Factors of Sotapanna | 55. sotāpattisaṃyuttaṃ |
| SN 56. the sacca | 56. saccasaṃyuttaṃ |
Translations
Full translations
-
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, ; the Pali Text Society also issues a private edition of this for members only, which is its preferred translation
-
Bhante Sujato (trans.), The “Linked” or “Connected” Discourses, 2018, published online at SuttaCentral and released into the public domain.
Selections
See also
Notes
Bibliography
-
Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. .
-
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.
External links
