"Paracanonical texts" is used by Western scholars to refer to various texts on the fringes of the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhism (cf.

Apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

), usually to refer to the following texts sometimes regarded as included in the

's Khuddaka Nikaya: * Suttasamgaha (abbrev. "Suttas"; " Sutta Compendium") * Nettipakarana (abbrev. "Nett"; "Book of Guidance") * Petakopadesa (abbrev. "Pe"; "Instructions on the Tipitaka") *

Milindapañha The ''Milinda Pañha'' () is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali: ''Milinda' ...

(abbrev. "Mil"; "Questions of Milinda") The Suttasamgaha includes selected texts primarily from the Pali Canon. The Nettipakarana and the Petakopadesa are introductions to the teachings of Buddhism; these books present methods of interpretation that lead to the knowledge of the good law (''saddhamma''). Milindapañhā, written in the style of the Pali

suttas Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

, contains a dialogue between the Indo-Greek king

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...

(in Pāli, Milinda) and the Thera Nāgasena, which illuminates certain important tenets of Buddhism. The term "paracanonical" is also sometimes applied to the Patimokkha, which is not in the Canon, but a commentary on it, in which most of the text is embedded. Other terms with similar meanings include "semi-canonical" and "quasi-canonical".

History

The Suttasamgaha is believed to have been composed in Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka. In Burma, presumably sometime after the closing of the Abhidhamma Pitaka (ca. 200 CE), the paracanonical texts were added to the Khuddaka Nikaya. The Suttasamgaha was included in the 1888 Burmese Piakat samui, but excluded from the 1956 Burmese Chaasagāyana edition possibly due to the Suttasamgaha's inclusion of material from the post-canonical Pali commentaries. The Burmese Fifth Council inscriptions of the Canon include the same three works. The Burmese Phayre manuscript of the Canon, dated 1841/2, includes the Netti. The Nettipakarana, Petakopadesa and Milindapañha appear in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Burmese Tipitaka, while the Nettipakarana and the Petakopadesa appear in the Sinhalese printed edition. The head of the Burmese sangha two centuries ago regarded at least the Netti and Petakopadesa as canonical. A modern Burmese teacher has described them as post-canonical.Rewata Dhamma, ''The Buddha and His Disciples'', Dhamma-Talaka Pubns, Birmingham, 2001, page 89

Nettipakarana

The Nettipakarana (Pāli: -pakarana: The Guide), Nettippakarana, or just Netti, is a Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of

Buddhism's

Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

. Translation: ''The Guide'', tr Nanamoli, 1962,

Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...

, Bristol. The nature of the Netti is a matter of some disagreement among scholars. The translator supported by Professor George Bond of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, holds that it is a guide to help those who already understand the teachings and present them to others.

A. K. Warder Anthony Kennedy Warder (8 September 1924 – 8 January 2013) was a British Indologist. His best-known works are ''Introduction to Pali'' (1963), ''Indian Buddhism'' (1970), and the eight-volume ''Indian Kāvya Literature'' (1972–2011). Life Wa ...

, Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, disagrees, maintaining that it covers all aspects of interpretation, not just this one. The Netti itself says that the Buddha's disciple methods were taught by

Kaccana Kātyāyana or Mahākātyāyana (Sanskrit; Pali: ''Kaccāyana'', sometimes shortened to ''Kaccāna'', ''Mahākaccāna'', or ''Mahākaccāyana'') was a disciple of Gautama Buddha. He is listed as one of the ten principal disciples and was for ...

(also Katyayana or Kaccayana), and the colophon says that he composed the book, that Buddha had approved, and that it was recited at the First Council. Scholars do not take this literally, but the translator admits the methods may go back to him. The translator holds that the book is a revised edition of the Petakopadesa, though Professor von Hinüber has questioned this idea. Scholars generally date it somewhere around the beginning of the Common Era.

Petakopadesa

The Petakopadesa (petakopadesa: "Pitaka-Disclosure") is a Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism. Translation: ''Pitaka-Disclosure'', tr Nanamoli, 1964, Pali Text Society, Bristol. The text of the book as handed down in manuscript is very corrupt. This book was regarded as canonical by the head of the Burmese sangha about two centuries ago. It is included in the inscriptions of the Canon approved by the Burmese Fifth Council and in the printed edition of the Sixth Council text. The Petakopadesa deals with the textual and the exegetical methodology. It is nothing but a different manipulation of the subject-matter discussed in the Nettipakarana. In some places there are quotations from the Tipitaka. B.C. Law says, “its importance lies also in the fact that in places it has quoted the Pāli canonical passages mentioning the sources by such names as Samyuttaka (Samyutta Nikāya) and Ekuttaraka (Ekuttara or Anguttara Nikāya)”. The Petakopadesa describes the cattāri ariyasaccāni or the Four Noble Truths as the central theme or the essence of Buddhism.

Milindapañhā

The

Milindapanha The ''Milinda Pañha'' () is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali: ''Milinda' ...

(also -pañha or -pañhā) is a Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism as a book of the Khuddaka Nikaya. It is in the form of a dialogue between King Menander I (or Milinda) of

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

, who reigned in the second century BCE, and a monk named

Nagasena Nāgasena was a Sarvastivadan Buddhist sage who lived around 150 BC. His answers to questions about Buddhism posed by Menander I (Pali: ''Milinda''), the Indo-Greek king of northwestern India, are recorded in the '' Milinda Pañha'' and the Sa ...

, not independently known. Rhys Davids says it is the greatest work of classical Indian prose, though Moritz Winternit says this is true only of the earlier parts, it being generally accepted by scholars that the work is composite, with additions made over some time. In support of this, it is noted that the Chinese versions of the work are substantially shorter. The book is included in the inscriptions of the Canon approved by the Burmese Fifth Council and the printed edition of the Sixth Council text, the Milindapañhā. This work is revered and is one of the most popular and authoritative works of Pāli Buddhism. What is most interesting about the Milindapañhā is that it is the product of the encounter of two great civilizations - Hellenistic Greece and Buddhist India - and is thus of continuing relevance as the wisdom of the East meets the modern Western world. King Milinda poses questions about dilemmas raised by Buddhist philosophy that we might ask today, and Nāgasena's responses are full of wisdom, wit, and helpful analogies.

Notes

Sources

* Hinüber, Oskar von (1996; pbk. ed. 2000). ''A Handbook of Pāli Literature''. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. . * Malalasekera, G.P. (1937–38). ''Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names ''.