8 KHUDDAKA NIKĀYA

Of all the five nikāyas Khuddaka Nikāya contains the largest number of treatises (as listed below) and the most numerous categories of Dhamma. Although the word khuddaka literally means minor or small, the actual content of this collection can by no means be regarded as minor, including as it does the two major divisions of the Piṭaka, namely, the Vinaya Piṭaka and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka according to one system of classification. The miscellaneous nature of this collection, containing not only the discourses by the Buddha but compilations of brief doctrinal notes mostly in verse, accounts of personal struggles and achievements by theras and therīs also in verse, the birth stories, the history of the Buddha, etc., may account for its title.


The following is the list of treatises of Khuddaka Nikāya as approved by the Sixth International Buddhist Synod:

A. Vinaya Piṭaka
B. Abhidhamma Piṭaka
C. Suttas not included in the first four nikāyas
1. Khuddakapāṭha
2. Dhammapada
3. Udāna
4. Itivuttaka
5. Suttanipāta
6. Vimānavatthu
7. Petavatthu
8. Theragāthā
9. Therīgāthā
10. Jātaka
11. Niddesa (Mahā, Cūḷa)
12. Paṭisambhidā Magga
13. Apadāna
14. Buddhavaṃsa
15. Cariyā Piṭaka
16. Netti
17. Peṭakopadesa
18. Milindapañha