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Abhidhamma Piṭaka
The Abhidham m a Piṭaka (Pali; Sanskrit: Abhidharma Piṭaka; English: Basket of Higher Doctrine) is the last of the three pitakas (Pali for "baskets") constituting the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Therav āda Buddhism. [1 ] The other two parts of
the Tripiṭaka are the Vinay a Piṭaka and the Sutra Piṭaka (Sanskrit; Pali: Sutta Piṭaka). Abhi means "transcendent" and dhamma essentially means "principles" because Abhidhamma Pitaka differs from Sutta Pitaka by being a sy stematical
generalization of the fundamental principles of nature that transcend the limitation of people's conv entional interpretations and common sense.

The Abhidharma Piṭaka is a detailed scholastic analy sis and summary of the Buddha's teachings in the Suttas. Here the suttas are reworked into a schematized sy stem of general principles that might be called 'Buddhist Psy chology '. In the
Abhidharma the generally dispersed teachings and principles of the suttas are organized into a coherent science of Buddhist doctrine. [2 ]

The other two collections are the Sutta Pitaka and the Vinay a Pitaka. [1 ]

Contents
Origins
Contents
Dhammasaṅganī
Vibhaṅga
Dhātukathā
Puggalapaññatti
Kathāvatthu
Yamaka
Paṭṭhāna
Place in the tradition
Translations
See also
References
External links

Origins
Tradition[3 ] holds that the Buddha thought out the Abhidhamma immediately after his enlightenment then taught it to the gods some y ears later. Later the Buddha repeated it to Sariputta who then handed it on to his disciples. This tradition is
also ev ident in the Pariv ara, a v ery late addition to the Vinay a Pitaka, [4 ] which mentions in a concluding v erse of praise to the Buddha that this best of creatures, the lion, taught the three pitakas. [5 ]

The western professors, in the 17 th century CE, thought Abhidhamma Pitaka was likely composed about and after 300 BCE because its literature sty le is different from the Suttas. [6 ][7 ]

Scholars, howev er, generally date the Abhidhamma works to originating some time around the third century BCE, 100 to 200 y ears after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the sev en Abhidhamma works are generally claimed by scholars not
to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of disciples and scholars. [8 ] Rupert Gethin howev er said that important elements of Abhidhamma methodology probably go back to the Buddha's lifetime. [9 ] A. K. Warder and Peter
Harv ey both suggested early dates for the matikas on which most of the Abidhamma books are based. Abhidhamma started out as elaboration of the suttas, but later dev eloped independent doctrines. [1 0 ]

As the last major div ision of the canon, the Abhidhamma Piṭaka has had a checkered history . It was not accepted as canonical by the Mahasanghika school[1 1 ][1 2 ] and sev eral other schools. [1 3 ] Another school included most of the Khuddaka
Nikay a within the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. [1 1 ] Also, the Pali v ersion of the Abhidhamma is a strictly Therav ada collection, and has little in common with the Abhidhamma works recognized by other Buddhist schools. [1 4 ] The v arious
Abhidhamma philosophies of the v arious early schools hav e no agreement on doctrine [1 5 ] and belong to the period of 'Div ided Buddhism'[1 5 ] (as opposed to Undiv ided Buddhism). The earliest texts of the Pali Canon hav e no mention of (the
texts of) the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. [1 6 ] The Abhidhamma is also not mentioned in some reports of the First Buddhist Council, which do mention the existence of the texts of the Vinay a and either the fiv e Nikay as[1 7 ] or the four Agamas, although
it may be noted that the Venerable [Sariputta] foremost in Abhidhamma had passed on before the Buddha, before the First Council took place. [1 8 ] Other accounts do include the Abhidhamma. [1 9 ]

In the Therav adin Abhidhamma Pitaka, unlike the Abhidharma Pitaka of the Sarv astiv ada school, ontological theorizing is absent, and the question of ontological status of dharmas remains a moot point. The notion of sabhava (Sanskrit:
svabhava) is only utilized in late Therav adin texts. [2 0 ] The doctrine of momentariness is also a late addition to Therav ada thought. [2 1 ] It only appears at the time of Buddhaghosa. [2 2 ]

Contents
The Abhidhamma Piṭaka consists of sev en books:[2 3 ]

Dhammasaṅganī (-saṅgaṇi or -saṅgaṇī)

Vibhaṅga (vibhaṅga)
Dhātukathā (dhātukathā)
Puggalapaññatti (-paññatti)
Kathāvatthu (kathā-)
Yamaka
Paṭṭhāna (paţţhāna)

Dhammasaṅganī
The Dhammasangani (Summary of Dharma) is a manual of ethics for monks. [1 ] It begins with a mātikā (translated as matrix) which lists classifications of dhammas (translated as phenomena, ideas, states, etc.). The mātikā starts with 22
threefold classifications, such as good/bad/unclassified, and then follows with 100 twofold classifications according to the Abhidhamma method. Many of these classifications are not exhaustiv e, and some are not ev en exclusiv e. The mātikā
ends with 42 twofold classifications according to the sutta method; these 42 are only used in the Dhammasangani, whereas the other 122 are used in some of the other books as well.

The main body of the Dhammasangani is in four parts. The first part goes through numerous states of mind, listing and defining by lists of sy nony ms, factors present in the states. The second deals with material form, beginning with its own
mātikā, classify ing by ones, twos and so on, and explaining afterwards. The third explains the book's mātikā in terms of the first two parts, as does the fourth, by a different method (and omitting the sutta method).

Vibhaṅga
The Vibhanga (Division or Classification)[1 ] consists of 18 chapters, each dealing with a different topic. For example, the first chapter deals with the fiv e aggregates. A ty pical chapter consists of three parts. The first of these parts explains the
topic according to the sutta method, often word-for-word as in actual suttas. The second is Abhidhamma explanation, mainly by lists of sy nony ms as in the Dhammasangani. The third employ s questions and answers, based on the mātikā, such
as "How many aggregates are good?"

Dhātukathā
The Dhatukatha (Discussion of Elements)[1 ] cov ers both the matika and v arious topics, mostly from the Vibhanga, relating them to the 5 aggregates, 12 bases and 18 elements. The first chapter is fairly simple: "In how many aggregates etc. are
good dhammas etc. included?" The book progressiv ely works up to more complicated questions: "From how many aggregates etc. are the dhammas dissociated from attention etc. dissociated?"

Puggalapaññatti
The Puggalapannatti (Designation of Person)[1 ] starts with its own matika, which begins with some standard lists but then continues with lists of persons grouped numerically from ones to tens. This latter portion of the matika is then explained
in the main body of the work. It lists human characteristics encountered on the stages of a Buddhist path. [1 ] Most of the lists of persons and many of the explanations are also found in the Anguttara Nikay a.

Kathāvatthu
The Kathav atthu (Points of Controversy)[1 ] consists of more than two hundred debates on questions of doctrine. The questions are heretical in nature, and are answered in such a way as to refute them. It starts with the question of whether or
not a soul exists. [1 ] It does not identify the participants. The commentary say s the debates are between the Therav ada and other schools, which it identifies in each case. These identifications are mostly consistent with what is known from
other sources about the doctrines of different schools. [2 4 ] It is the only portion attributed to a specific author, Moggaliputta. [1 ]

Yamaka
The Y amaka (Pairs)[1 ] consists of ten chapters, each dealing with a different topic; for example, the first deals with roots. A ty pical chapter (there are a number of div ergences from this pattern) is in three parts. The first part deals with
questions of identity : "Is good root root?" "But is root good root?" The entire Y amaka consists of such pairs of conv erse questions, with their answers. Hence its name, which means pairs. The second part deals with arising: "For someone for
whom the form aggregate arises, does the feeling aggregate arise?" The third part deals with understanding: "Does someone who understands the ey e base understand the ear base?" In essence, it is dealing with psy chological phenomena. [1 ]

Paṭṭhāna
Patthan (Activations or Causes)[1 ] deals with 24 conditions in relation to the matika: "Good dhamma is related to good dhamma by root condition", with details and numbers of answers. This Patthana text comprise many cause and effects
theory detail expositions, limitation and unlimitation of to their direction depended nature with ultimate.

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Place in the tradition

The importance of the Abhidhamma Pitaka in classical Sinhalese Buddhism is suggested by the fact that it came to be furnished, not only , like much of the canon, with a commentary and a subcommentary on that commentary , but ev en with a
subsubcommentary on that subcommentary . In more recent centuries, Burma has become the main centre of Abhidhamma studies. Howev er, all of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka hold it in high regard. [1 ]

Translations
The first fiv e books and part of the sev enth of the Abhidhamma Pitaka hav e been translated by the Pali Text Society , which offers an option to order them through their website.

See also
Abhidhammattha-sangaha
Abhidhammavatara
Abhidharma
Index of Buddhism-related articles
Secular Buddhism

References
1. Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abhidharma Pitaka" (https://archive.org/details/ne
wencyclopaedia2009ency). Encyclopædia Britannica. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.).
Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-1-59339-
837-8.
2. "Abhidharma Pitaka." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite.
Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.
8. "Abhidhamma Pitaka." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite.
Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.
9. Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1998, page 48
10. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (2004), pages 1, 4
11. "Abhidhamma Pitaka." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite.
Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.
17. I.B. Horner, Book of the Discipline, Volume 5, page 398. An older translation of
this texts can be found at: Eleventh Khandhaka: On the council of Rajagaha. (ht
tp://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe20/sbe20119.htm)
18. The Mahisasaka Account of the First Council. see
http://santifm.org/santipada/2010/the-first-council/
19. Warder, Indian Buddhism, 3rd ed, page 196

3. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, India Office, 1938, reprinted
Pali Text Society, Bristol, volume I, page 138
4. This work (the Parivara) is in fact a very much later composition, and probably
the work of a Ceylonese Thera. from: Book of the Discipline, volume VI, page ix
(translators' introduction)
5. Book of the Discipline, volume VI, page 123
6. Gombrich 2006, p. 4.
7. Damien Keown (2004). A Dictionary of Buddhism (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=985a1M7L1NcC). Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-19-157917-
2.
12. Buddhist Sects in india, Nalinaksha Dutt, 1978, page 58
13. several schools rejected the authority of abhidharma. in: Macmillan
Encyclopedia of Buddhism (2004), page 2. (A similar statement can be found
on pages 112 and 756.)
14. "Buddhism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago:
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.
15. Kanai Lal Hazra, Pali Language and Literature - A Systematic Survey and
Historical Survey, 1994, Vol. 1, page 415
16. Kanai Lal Hazra, Pali Language and Literature - A Systematic Survey and
Historical Survey, 1994, Vol. 1, page 412
20. Richard King, Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: The Mahāyāna Context of
the Gauḍapādīya-k ārik ā. SUNY Press, 1995, page 94.
21. Noa Ronkin, Early Buddhist Metaphysics: the Mak ing of a Philosophical
Tradition." Routledge, 2005, page 59.
22. David Kalupahana, Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism. The
University Press of Hawaii, 1975, pages 72, 82. Kalupahana cites texts in the
agamas and nikayas that contradict the doctrine of momentariness.
23. Bodhi, Bhikkhu (2012). Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha of Acariya Anuruddha (PDF ed.). Pariyatti
Publishing. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-938754-24-1.
24. Bareau, Les Sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule, Ecole Française d'Extrême
Orient, Saigon, 1955

External links
Readable online HTML book of the Dhammasangani (first book of the Abhidhamma) (https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/dhammasangani/index.html).
Vibhaṅga - 'The Book of Analysis' (http://www.abhidhamma.com/Vibhanga_Scan.pdf)
Dhātukathā - 'Discourse on Elements' (http://www.abhidhamma.com/Dhatukatha_Scan.pdf)
Puggalapaññatti - 'A Designation of Human Types' (http://www.abhidhamma.com/Puggala-pannatti_Scan.pdf)
Kathāvatthu - 'Points of Controversy' (http://www.abhidhamma.com/Kathavatthu_Scan.pdf)
Yamaka - The Book on Pairs (http://www.abhidhamma.com/Yamaka_I_Scan.pdf)
Paṭṭhāna - The Book of Conditions or 'Conditional Relations' Part 1 (http://www.abhidhamma.com/Patthana1_Scan.pdf)
Paṭṭhāna - The Book of Conditions or 'Conditional Relations' Part 2 (http://www.abhidhamma.com/Patthana2_Scan.pdf)

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