A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s1.26

v2.c19.s1.26

³ In the opinion of *V. Trenckner* (JPTS 1908, p. 119f.), which is accepted by T. W. *Rhys Davids* (SBE, Vol. 35, p. 28 note) the word *piṭaka* does not mean "receptacle" but rather “tradition.” In ancient times, when excavations were in progress, baskets were used which were passed along the line from one labourer to the next, in order to remove the dug-out earth from the site of the excavation: thus the treasure of the doctrine was transmitted in the “piṭakas” down a long line of teachers and pupils from olden times down to the present day. The Majjhima Nikāya 95 (II, p. 169) speaks of a “basket-like tradition” (piṭakasampradāya) of the ancient Vedic mantras. But is it not simpler to interpret it as receptacles in which gems, family treasures, were preserved from generation to generation? According to G. *Bühler* (on the Origin of the Indian Brāhma Alphabet, Indian Studies III, 2nd Ed., Strassburg 1898, p. 86ff.) piṭaka is a basket, in which manuscripts were preserved, so that the division of the Buddhist sacred texts into piṭakas would be evidence of their having been *written*, though it is true that, according to Singhalese tradition, this would not have happened until towards the close of the first century B. C. Cf. *Keith*, Buddhist Philosophy, p. 24 n. 2.