Abbreviations
and
Sutta Reference Numbers

Abbreviations

Pali Texts:

AN	Anguttara Nikaya
Cv	Cullavagga
Dhp	Dhammapada
DhpA	Dhammapada-atthakatha (commentary to the Dhammapada)
DN	Digha Nikaya
Iti	Itivuttaka
Khp	Khuddakapatha
KhpA	Khuddakapatha-atthakatha (commentary to the Khuddakapatha)
KN	Khuddaka Nikaya
MN	Majjhima Nikaya
Mv	Mahavagga
Nd	Niddesa
Sn	Sutta Nipata
SN	Samyutta Nikaya
Thag	Theragatha
Thig	Therigatha
Ud	Udana

Miscellaneous:

BGS	The Book of Gradual Sayings, F.L. Woodward and E.M. Hare, trans. (Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1994)
BPS	Buddhist Publication Society (Sri Lanka)
CDB	The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans. (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000)
Comm, Comy	Commentary
PTS	Pali Text Society (UK)
Skt	Sanskrit
»	Indicates a hypertext link to another website
{}	In the suttas and their brief summaries, the braces enclose an alternate sutta reference number (see below) -- usually either the PTS Pali volume and page number or the verse number.
&	Because Pali has many ways of expressing the conjunction "and," Thanissaro Bhikkhu has chosen to make frequent use in his sutta translations of the ampersand (&) to join lists of words and short phrases, while using the word "and" to join long phrases and clauses.

Sutta Reference Numbers

Over the years, Pali and Buddhist scholars have used a variety of numbering schemes when referring to suttas and other texts in the Tipitaka.[1] On this website I use the following convention to identify texts within the Sutta Pitaka:

• Digha Nikaya (DN). Contains 34 suttas. References are to sutta number. Example: DN 21
• Majjhima Nikaya (MN). Contains 152 suttas. References are to sutta number. Example: MN 108
• Samyutta Nikaya (SN). Depending on how the suttas are tallied, it contains either 7,762, 2,904, or 2,889 suttas.[2] The Samyutta Nikaya is divided into 5 vaggas (chapters) containing a total of 56 samyuttas (groups) of suttas. References are to samyutta and sutta number, using CDB as a guide to numbering. Example: SN LVI.11 is sutta #11 within samyutta #56.
• Anguttara Nikaya (AN). Depending on how the suttas are tallied, it contains either 9,557, 8,777, or 2,308 suttas.[3] The Anguttara Nikaya is divided into 11 nipatas (books), each of which is further divided into vaggas containing 10 or more suttas. References are to nipata and sutta number, using BGS as a guide to numbering. Example: AN III.65 is sutta #65 within nipata #3.
• Khuddaka Nikaya:
  • Khuddakapatha (Khp). Contains 9 short texts. References are to text number. Example: Khp 6 is text #6.
  • Dhammapada (Dhp). Contains 423 verses, arranged in 26 vaggas. References are to verse number. Example: Dhp 273 is verse #273.
  • Udana (Ud). Contains 80 suttas, arranged in 8 vaggas. References are to vagga and sutta number. Example: Ud III.2 is sutta #2 within vagga #3.
  • Itivuttaka (Iti). Contains 112 suttas, arranged in 4 nipatas. References are to sutta number. Example: Iti 29 is sutta #29.
  • Sutta Nipata (Sn). Contains 71 suttas, arranged in 5 vaggas. References are to vagga and sutta number. Example: Sn I.8 is sutta #8 within vagga #1.
  • Theragatha (Thag). Contains 1,291 gathas (verses) divided into 264 poems that are grouped according to length in 21 vaggas. References are to vagga and poem number. Example: Thag VI.10 is poem #10 within vagga #6.
  • Therigatha (Thig). Contains 522 gathas divided into 73 poems that are grouped according to length in 16 vaggas. References are to vagga and poem number. Example: Thig V.10 is poem #10 within vagga #5.

Readers who are accustomed to other numbering systems or who wish to compare these translations against the original Pali texts may wish to refer to the alternative reference numbers that appear in braces {}. These consist either of the corresponding volume and starting page number in the PTS printed Pali edition (in the case of DN, MN, SN, and AN) or the verse numbers (in Ud, Sn, Thag, and Thig). These common points of reference can also help resolve discrepancies between different editions of the Tipitaka (for example, AN III.66 in the Thai Tipitaka is the same sutta as AN III.65 in the Burmese). The braces may also contain additional notes concerning a text's location within the Tipitaka.

Notes:

1. For a review of the numbering systems used by many Pali scholars, see "The Contents and Structure of the Pali Canon and its Commentaries," by the UK Association for Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland » http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0dwe/bs12.html. [Go back]

2. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans. (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000), p. 23. [Go back]

3. 9,557 and 8,777: Handbook of Pali Literature, by Somapala Jayawardhana (Colombo: Karunaratne & Sons, 1994), p. 12. 2,308: An Analysis of the Pali Canon, Russell Webb, ed. (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1975), p. 26. [Go back]