The ''Aṅguttara Nikāya'' ('; , also translated "Gradual Collection" or "Numerical Discourses") is a Buddhist scriptures collection, the fourth of the five Nikāyas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. This nikaya consists of several thousand discourses ascribed to

The Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

and his chief disciples arranged in eleven "books", according to the number of Dhamma items referenced in them.

Overview

Translator

Bhikkhu Bodhi Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944) () born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk ordained in Sri Lanka. He teaches in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Soci ...

wrote: "In Anguttara Nikaya, persons are as a rule not reduced to mere collections of aggregates, elements, and sense-bases, but are treated as real centers of living experience engaged in a heartfelt quest for happiness and freedom from suffering." (from Intro to Samyutta Nikaya)

Parallel

The Anguttara Nikaya corresponds to the ''Ekottara Āgama'' ("Increased by One Discourses") found in the Sutra Pitikas of various Sanskritic early Buddhists schools, fragments of which survive in Sanskrit. A complete version survives in Chinese translation by the name ''Zēngyī Ahánjīng'' (增一阿含經); it is thought to be from either the Mahāsāṃghika or

Sarvāstivādin The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particularl ...

recensions. According to Keown, "there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the Sarvāstivādin versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date."A Dictionary of Buddhism, by Damien Keown, Oxford University Press: 2004

Divisions

The nipatas in this nikaya are:

Translations

Full translation

*''The Book of the Gradual Sayings'', tr F. L. Woodward & E. M. Hare, 1932–6, 5 volumes, Pali Text Society

Bristol *''Numerical Discourses of the Buddha'', tr

, 2012, 1 volume, Wisdom Publicationsbr>
Somerville, MA * Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.), ''The “Numbered” or “Numerical” Discourses'', 2018
published online at SuttaCentral
and released into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

Selections

* 1st 3 nipatas tr E. R. J. Gooneratne, Ceylon, c1913 * 4th nipata tr A. D. Jayasundare, London, 1925 * anthology ed & tr Nyanaponika, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka; revised, with additions & deletions, by Bodhi, as ''Numerical Discourses of the Buddha'', Altamira Press, Oxford/New York/Lanham, Maryland/Walnut Creek, California, 1999

References

External links

Anguttara Nikaya in Pali, English and Sinhala (metta.lk)
* English translations by

of selected Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya a
Wisdom Publications
Theravada Buddhist texts {{buddhist-text-stub