GUIDE TO TIPITAKA

The fourth treatise contains 112 suttas divided into four nipætas with verses and prose mixed, one supplementing the other. Although the collection contains the inspired sayings of the Buddha as in Udæna, each passage is preceded by the phrase ‘Iti vuttaĩ Bhagavatæ’, ‘thus was said by the Buddha,’ and reads like a personal note book in which are recorded short pithy sayings of the Buddha.

The division into nipætas instead of vaggas denotes that the collection is classified in ascending numerical order of the categories of the dhamma as in the nipætas of the Aģguttara. Thus in Lkaka Nipæta are passages dealing with single items of the dhamma: “Bhikkhus, abandon craving; I guarantee attainment to the stage of an Anægæmø if you abandon craving.” In Duka Nipæta, each passage deals with units of two items of the dhamma: There are two forms of Nibbæna dhætu, namely, Sa-upædisesa Nibbæna dhætu, with the five khandhas still remaining, and Anupædisesa Nibbæna dhætu, without any khandha remaining.