Presentación propuesta del nuevo departamento

According to canonical and non-canonical literature, three Buddhist Councils were held after the demise of the Buddha to draw up the canonical texts and the creed in their pure form.

The Pali canon is a gradual process, the evidence can be sought back in the canon itself. The Cullavagga of Vinaya Pitaka mentions the 1st _{and 2}nd _{Councils as Vinaya or Dhamma vinaya councils; Abhidhamma is not mentioned. However, it}

is stated in the Mahavajsathat one of the text of Abhidhamma, the Kathavatthu, is mentioned at time of the 3rd _council.

Even the Nikayas itself is not fixed in an authentic form at the 1st _{council, some additions have been added in the later}

time. For instance, the Subba Sutta (No. 10) of Digha Nikaya and Gopaka-moggallana Sutta (No. 108) of Majjhima Nikaya state specifically in their introductory material that they took place “not long after” the Buddha ‘s death. And there are discourses such as the Madhura Sutta and Ghotamkha Sutta of Majjhima Nikaya (No. 84 & 94) involving monks other than Ananda in which the text itself inform us that the conversation took place after the Buddha’s demise. Another Sutta, the

Bakkula Sutta (No. 124) of Majjhima Nikaya in which Bakkula himself asserts that he has been a monk for eighty years. If Bakkula becomes a monk just after the formation of the Sangha, thus this sutta might have took place 35 years after the closing of the 1st _council.

According to Cullavagga XI, the five Nikayas were questioned during the 1st _{council. Thus, the Theravada has a belief}

that Khuddaka Nikaya was rehearsed during the First Council. However, the existence of the Khuddaka Nikaya at the time of the First Council still remains to be proved.

It is mentioned in the Sumangalavilasini that both the Vinaya and the 4 nikayas were handed to their bhanakas during the 1st _{Council, but the Khuddaka Nikaya has not been mentioned any such handing-over. Instead, there were Jataka-}

bhanakas and Dhammapada-bhanakas, but no Khuddaka Nikaya bhanakas.

Besides the problem of the existence of the Khuddaka Nikaya during the First Council, there are also various views regarding the number and the order of texts in the Khuddaka Nikaya.

The Samantapasadika states that Vinaya Pitaka and the Abhidhamma Pitaka and all the teachings of the Buddha not included in the remaining 4 Nikayas are regarded as forming the Khuddaka Nikaya.

According to the Sri Lanka tradition, there are 15 texts in the Khuddaka Nikaya, in Burmese tradition there are 19 texts, but in the Siamese tradition, there are only 7 texts; in the Saddharmaratnakaraya, 12; the Dharmaguptika vinaya 13; and in the Saratthadipani 14. Thus the number of the texts are obvious differ, so is the order. It is obvious that the texts of the khuddaka Nikaya are not chronologically ordered in the early sources.

It is quite obvious that the reference made to the order of Nikayas resulted in various opinions and has drawn much attention of the scholars.

Therefore with regard to the views of the chronology of Sutta Pitaka, there are two arguments put forwards by 2 modern scholars: T.W. Rhys Davids and Bimala Churn Law.

According to Rhys Davids the four Nikayas had been put together of older material at a period about halfway between the death of the Buddha and the accession of Asoka. In his Buddhist India, he has given a chronological table of Buddhist literature from the time of the Buddha to the time of Asoka which is as follows:

1. The simple statements of Buddhist doctrine now found, in identical words, in paragraphs or verses recurring in all the books.

2. Episodes found, in identical words, in two or more of the existing books. 3. The Silas, the Parayana, the Octades, the Patimokkha.

4. The Digha, Majjhima, Avguttara, and Samyutta Nikayas.

5. The Sutta Nipata, the Thera and Therigathas, the Udanas, and the Khuddakapatha. 6. The Suttavibhavga and the Khandhakas.

7. The Jatakas and the Dhammapadas.

8. The Niddesa, the Itivuttakas, and the Patisambhida.

9. The Peta and Vimana Vatthus, the Apadanas, the Cariya-pitaka, and the Buddhavajsa.

10. The Abhidhamma books; the last of which is the Kathavatthu and the earliest probably the Puggala-pabbatti.

However, according to B.C. Law the chronology of Buddhist literature from the time of the Buddha to the time of king Asoka which is as follows:

1. The simple statements of Buddhist doctrine now found in identical works in paragraphs or verses recurring in all the books.

2. Episodes found in identical works in two or more of the existing books.

3. The Silas, the Parayana group of sixteen poems without the prologue, the Atthaka group of four or sixteen poems, the Sikkhapadas.

4. Digha, Vol. I, the Majjhima, the Samyutta, the Avguttara, and earlier Patimokkha code of 152 rules.

5. The Digha, Vols. II and III, the Thera-therigathas, the collection of 500 Jatakas, Suttavibhavga, Patisambhidamagga, Puggalapabbatti and the Vibhanga.

6. The Mahavagga and the Cullavagga, the Patimokkha code completing 227 rules, the Vimanavatthu and Petavatthu, the Dhammapada and the Kathavatthu.

7. The Cullaniddesa, the Mahaniddesa, the Udana, the Itivuttaka, the Sutta Nipata, the Dhatukatha, the Yamaka, and the Patthana.

9. The Parivarapatha 10. The Khuddakapatha