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Secondary sourceBookoral from 5th century BCE; written c. 29 BCE

Pali Canon (Tipitaka)

Early Buddhist sangha · oral from 5th century BCE; written c. 29 BCE

The Pali Canon is the fullest surviving collection of the Buddha's discourses and monastic rules, preserved by the early Buddhist community.

This is the fullest surviving record of the Buddha's own discourses and the monastic rules attributed to him.

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Diagram of the Tipiṭaka structure. Top box TIPIṬAKA branches into three: Vinayapiṭaka (Suttavibhaṅga, Khandhaka, Parivāra), Suttapiṭaka (five Nikāyas including Khuddakanikāya), and Abhidhammapiṭaka (seven books). Khuddakanikāya's fifteen texts are listed below.
Diagram of the structure of the Tipitaka (Pali Canon).

About this source

What it is

The Tipitaka, or Pali Canon, is a collection of texts preserved orally from the 5th century BCE by the early Buddhist sangha (community) and written down in Sri Lanka around 29 BCE. It is organised into three baskets: the Vinaya (monastic rules), the Sutta (discourses), and the Abhidhamma (philosophical analysis). The diagram shows this structure.

Why it matters

The Pali Canon is the most complete surviving record of what the Buddha is said to have taught and how the early monastic community he founded was meant to live. Because it was passed down orally for centuries before being written, it reflects both the Buddha's teaching and generations of monks who memorised and transmitted it.

Look closer

  • What problems can arise from passing texts down by memory for centuries before writing them?
  • Why might the early community have organised the teachings into three distinct sections?
  • How might our understanding of the Buddha differ if this record did not survive?

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