Majjhima Nikaya

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The Majjhima Nikaya (-nikāya; "Collection of Middle-length Discourses") is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. This nikaya consists of 152 discourses attributed to the Buddha and his chief disciples.

A similar collection, apparently translated from an earlier Sanskrit version, appears in the Chinese Buddhist canon. This is known as the Mādhyamāgama or Zhōng Ahánjīng (中阿含經), names which mean "the middle [i.e. mid-length] agama".

Translations

• Lord Chalmers (trans.), Further Dialogues of the Buddha, 1926-7, 2 volumes, Ann Arbor: Books on Demand, University of Michigan.
• I. B. Horner (trans.), The Book of Middle Length Sayings, 1954-9, 3 volumes, Bristol: Pali Text Society.
• David W. Evans (trans.), Discourses of Gotama Buddha: Middle Collection, 1991, Janus Pubns. "Translation in an abridged form ... just about one third the size of Horner's translation, but with well over 90% of the significant content"
• Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, 1995, Somerville: Wisdom Publications (review). ISBN 0-86171-072-X. The Pali Text Society also issues a private edition of this for members only, which is its preferred translation.

Selections

• A Treasury of the Buddha's Words, tr Nanamoli, revised Khantipalo, Bangkok; later revised & expanded to give MLDB above
• Twenty-Five Suttas from Mula-Pannasa, Burma Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1986?; reprinted Sri Satguru, Delhi
• Twenty-Five Suttas from Majjhima-Pannasa, Myanmar Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1987; reprinted Sri Satguru, DElhi
• Twenty-Five Suttas from Upari-Pannasa, Myanmar Pitaka Association, Rangoon, 1988?; reprinted Sri Satguru, Delhi

See also

• Anguttara Nikaya
• Buddhist texts
• Digha Nikaya
• Khuddaka Nikaya
• List of Majjhima Nikaya suttas
• Samyutta Nikaya

External links

• Majjhima Nikaya in English at Metta.lk
• Majjhima Nikaya in English at accesstoinsight.org

References

• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, entry on Mādhyamāgama

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