A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t1.98

v2.c19.s3.t1.98

Each of these eleven sections again falls into several divisions (vagga); and these frequently (though by no means always) comprise such Suttas as deal with one and the same subject. Thus the ten Suttas of the first division of the "Section of one" (Ekanipāta) deal with the relationship between husband and wife; I, Vagga 14 consists of 80 Suttas, in which are enumerated names of the most prominent male and female disciples, and their virtues; I, Vagga 20 contains 262 Suttas on the different kinds of meditation which lead to Nirvāṇa; V, Vagga 18 deals, in ten Suttas, with lay disciples (upāsaka), and so on. In this collection, as in the Saṃyuttanikāya, the Suttas are mostly short speeches and dialogues. Longer speeches are also found, and as in all Nikāyas, the prose is often interrupted by verses (gāthās). Very numerous are the Suttas and Gāthās which the Aṅguttaranikāya has in common with other texts of the canon, and these are sometimes actually quoted as extracts.¹