Dīgha Nikāya

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Dīgha Nikāya (Skt., Dīrghāgama). The ‘Long Collection’, the first of the five nikāyas of the Sūtra/Sutta Piṭaka of the Pāli canon. The Pāli version has thirty-four suttas, the Chinese (Mahāyāna) thirty; twenty-seven are common to both. It is divided into three sections, or ‘books’ (vagga): (i) ethical rules, and refutation of false views; (ii) the Great (Mahā-) section, in which some discourses (e.g. that on the final passing away, Mahā-parinibbāna-sutta) have become important works in their own right; (iii) the Pāthika section, i.e. the section beginning with the Pāthika, of which two discourses, Sīgalovāda (code for lay Buddhists) and Āṭānatiyā (providing protection) often appear separately.

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