Vinaya Texts
- Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü)
- The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, translated into Chinese by Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian in 410–412.
- Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü)
- The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, translated into Chinese by Buddhajīva, Zhu Daosheng and others in 423–424.
- Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya (Mohe sengqi lü)
- The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya, translated into Chinese by Buddhabhadra and Faxian in the early fifth century.
- Sarvāstivāda Vinaya (Shisong lü)
- The Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, translated into Chinese by Puṇyatāra, Kumārajīva and others in the early fifth century.
- Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya
- The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, translated into Chinese by Yijing in the early eighth century. Its several works include the Saṅghabhedavastu, Kṣudrakavastu and Pravrajyāvastu.
- Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhikṣuṇī Vinaya
- The Mūlasarvāstivāda rules for fully ordained nuns, translated into Chinese by Yijing in the Tang dynasty.
- Saṅghabhedavastu
- Part of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, translated by Yijing. Its first half recounts the early life of the Buddha; its second concerns Devadatta and the schism in the community.
- Kṣudrakavastu
- Part of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, translated by Yijing. Its final fascicles describe the Buddha's last year, final passing and the First Council.
- Pravrajyāvastu
- Part of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, translated by Yijing. It sets out the rules for going forth and ordination, together with their occasions.
- Pali Vinaya (Vinaya Piṭaka)
- The Vinaya transmitted in Pali by the Theravāda tradition of the South.
- Tibetan Vinaya
- The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya in the Tibetan canon (Derge edition), belonging to the same textual tradition as Yijing's Chinese translation.
Pali Canon of the Southern Tradition
- Dīgha Nikāya
- The collection of long discourses in the Pāli canon, containing 34 discourses.
- Majjhima Nikāya
- The collection of middle-length discourses in the Pāli canon, containing 152 discourses.
- Saṃyutta Nikāya
- A collection of short discourses in the Pāli canon, arranged by subject.
- Aṅguttara Nikāya
- A Pāli collection arranged by numbered sets, from one to eleven.
- Udāna
- A work in the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pali canon, collecting the Buddha's inspired verses and the occasions on which they were spoken.
- Sutta Nipāta
- A mainly verse collection in the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pali canon, among the older Buddhist texts.
Chinese Āgamas
- Dīrgha Āgama
- The Dharmaguptaka collection of 30 long discourses, translated into Chinese by Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian in the early fifth century.
- Madhyama Āgama
- A Sarvāstivāda collection of 222 middle-length discourses, translated into Chinese by Saṃghadeva in the late fourth century.
- Saṃyukta Āgama
- A Sarvāstivāda collection of short discourses arranged by subject, translated into Chinese by Guṇabhadra in the fifth century.
- Bieyi za ahan jing
- A shorter alternative Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama. Its translator is unknown.
- Ekottarika Āgama
- A discourse collection arranged by numbered sets, translated into Chinese in the late fourth century. Its school affiliation is disputed.
Biographies and Accounts of the Final Journey
- Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
- An account of the Buddha's final journey and passing. On this site the title usually refers to Dīgha Nikāya 16 of the Pali canon; a Mahāyāna sutra bears the same title, and the Sanskrit text is listed separately as the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra.
- Youxing jing
- Dīrgha Āgama 2, an account of the Buddha's final year and passing, corresponding to the Pali Mahāparinibbāna Sutta.
- Fo ban nihuan jing
- A separate Chinese account of the Buddha's final journey and passing, translated by Bai Fazu in the Western Jin dynasty.
- Ban nihuan jing
- Another separate Chinese account of the Buddha's final journey and passing. Its translator is unknown.
- Shi'er you jing
- A short biography describing the Buddha's travels during the first twelve years after the Awakening, translated by Jialiutuojia in the Eastern Jin dynasty.
- Sengqieluocha suoji jing
- A biography compiled by Saṅgharakṣa, translated into Chinese in 384 under the Former Qin. It lists the Buddha's rains-retreat locations year by year.
- Fo benxing ji jing
- An extensive biography of the Buddha, translated by Jñānagupta in the Sui dynasty.
- Fo suoxing zan
- A verse biography of the Buddha by Aśvaghoṣa. The Chinese version is traditionally attributed to Dharmakṣema under the Northern Liang.
- Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing
- A biography covering the Buddha's previous lives through the early period after the Awakening, translated by Guṇabhadra under the Liu Song.
- Fangguang da zhuangyan jing
- A biography from the Buddha's birth to his first sermon, translated by Divākara in the Tang dynasty.
- Puyao jing
- A biography from the Buddha's birth to his first sermon, translated by Dharmarakṣa in the Western Jin dynasty.
- Zhong benqi jing
- A biography of the Buddha's conversions after the Awakening, translated by Tanguo and Kang Mengxiang in the Eastern Han dynasty.
- Taizi ruiying benqi jing
- A biography from the Buddha's birth to the Awakening, translated by Zhi Qian under Wu in the Three Kingdoms period.
- Zhongxu mohedi jing
- A biography translated by Faxian in the Northern Song dynasty, with content close to the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.
Sanskrit Texts
- Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
- A Sarvāstivāda account of the Buddha's final year and passing, belonging to the same textual tradition as the corresponding passages of the Chinese Kṣudrakavastu and Tibetan Vinaya. This site uses the DSBC romanized text based on Waldschmidt's edition. That input ends with Ānanda weeping beneath the twin trees; the later passages on Subhadra, the passing, cremation and division of the relics have not yet been obtained.
- Sanskrit Mahāvastu
- A biography in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit transmitted by the Lokottaravāda, a branch of the Mahāsāṃghika. This site uses the DSBC input based on Senart's edition. Only volumes one and two have been obtained; the post-Awakening material is in volume three, which has not yet been obtained.
- Sanskrit Lalitavistara
- A Sanskrit biography from birth to the first sermon. The Chinese Puyao jing and Fangguang da zhuangyan jing are different translations of the same work. This site uses the DSBC input based on Vaidya's edition. It is a later biography and is not counted as a separate school.
- Sanskrit Catuṣpariṣat Sūtra
- A Sarvāstivāda Sanskrit account of the Awakening and the earliest formation of the community. The DSBC input used here contains only the Awakening section, ending with meditative absorption after realization. The subsequent sections have not yet been obtained.
Commentaries
- Later Commentaries
- Explanations of the texts composed centuries after the Buddha's passing. On this site this mainly means the Pali commentaries, most of them compiled around the fifth century by Buddhaghosa and others.
Reading Source References
- Taishō Canon
- For the Taishō canon, “T01 no.1 p.11a” means volume 1, text 1, page 11, column a.
- Pali Canon
- For example, “Pali DN 16” refers to discourse 16 of the Dīgha Nikāya.
- Tibetan Translation (Derge Edition)
- For example, “D6 da 228a” means Derge text 6, volume da, folio 228, recto.
- Sanskrit Texts
- References follow the sections or pages of each edition: Waldschmidt for the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and Senart for the Mahāvastu.
Three Separate Questions
- Reliability
- Whether different schools share an account.
- Dating Evidence
- Whether the date comes from a text, commentary or inference.
- Precision of the Date
- Whether the date is known to a day, month, year or range of years.