The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c19.s9.16

v1.c19.s9.16

Firstly, the four Nikāyas quote one another. Thus Aṅguttara v, 46 quotes Saṃyutta I, 126; but in giving the name of the work quoted it does not say Saṃyutta, but *Kumārī-pañha*—the title of the particular Sutta quoted. The Saṃyutta quotes two Suttantas in the Dīgha by name—the *Sakka-pañha* and the *Brahma-jāla*². It follows that, at the time when the four Nikāyas were put together in their present form, Suttas and Suttantas known by their present titles were already current, and handed down by memory, in the community.