A History of Indian Literature v2.c27.2
A History of Indian Literature v2.c27.2
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v2.c27.2
P. 8 note 2, add : That the canon was written down under Vaṭṭagāmani is not only related in the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, but also, with more details in the Nikāyasaṃgraha, composed at the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century A.D. See G. P. Malalasekera, Pali Literature of Ceylon, London 1928, p. 43f. It is likely enough that some commentaries may have been written down even before Vaṭṭagāmani, but canonical texts were learnt by heart by the monks and transmitted orally, even in much later times; see *Malalasekera*, l.c., p. 44ff.