4 Itivuttaka Pāḷi

The fourth treatise contains 112 suttas divided into four nipātas with verses and prose mixed, one supplementing the other. Although the collections contain the inspired sayings of the Buddha as in udāna, each passage is preceded by the phrase, "iti vuttaṃ bhagavata" ("thus was said by the Buddha"), and reads like a personal notebook in which are recorded short pithy sayings of the Buddha.

The division into nipātas instead of vaggas denotes that the collection is classified in ascending numerical order of the categories of the Dhamma as in the nipātas of the Aṅguttara. Thus in Ekaka Nipāta are passages dealing with single items of the Dhamma: "Bhikkhus, abandon craving; I guarantee attainment of the state of an anāgāmi if you abandon craving." In Duka Nipāta each passage deals with units of two items of the Dhamma: there are two forms of nibbāna dhātu, namely, sa-upādisesa nibbāna dhātu, with the five khandhas still remaining, and anupādisesa nibbāna dhātu, without any khandha remaining.