A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t1.4

v2.c19.s3.t1.4

The contents of the first four Nikāyas or "collections" consist of Suttas² or "discourses." These are either speeches of the Buddha (sometimes also of one of his disciples), preceded only by a short introduction, in which is related where and on what occasion Buddha made the speech;³ or they are dialogues with outline narratives (Itihāsa-saṃvāda, Itihāsa dialogues) of the kind with which we have already become acquainted in the Upaniṣads and the Mahābhārata. The Suttas are, however, as a rule, in prose form. Only here and there, in some of the Suttas, the prose is interrupted by verses (gāthās) which are partly quotations and partly interposed verses, such as were at all times popular in Indian literature for elevating the prose at particularly striking passages.[^1)