Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c13.268

v1.c13.268

**Khuddaka Nikāya.**—Sometimes called **Khuddaka Gantha**. The fifth and last division of the *Sutta Piṭaka*. It consists of fifteen independent treatises, some belonging to the earlier period, while others may be ascribed to the later stratum of the Pāli Canon.¹ This Nikāya is composed for the most part in verse, and contains all the most important collections of Pāli poetry. The fifteen books are: Khuddakapāṭha, Dhammapada, Udāna, Itivuttaka, Sutta Nipāta, Vimāna-vatthu, Peta-vatthu, Theragāthā, Therīgāthā, Jātaka, the Niddesas (Mahā- and Culla-), Paṭisambhidāmagga, Apadāna, Buddhavamsa, and Cariyāpiṭaka.² According to another classification the whole of the Vinaya Piṭaka and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka and all the teachings of the Buddha, not included in the remaining four Nikāyas, are regarded as forming the Khuddaka Nikāya.³ The **Dīghabhāṇakas** refused to accept the authenticity of the Khuddakapāṭha, Cariyāpiṭaka, and the Apadāna, and included the other books as part of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. The **Majjhimabhāṇakas** did not accept the Khuddakapāṭha but acknowledged the rest, and included them in the Sutta Piṭaka.⁴ According to Burmese tradition four other later books are added to this list: Milindapañha, Suttasaṅgaha, Peṭakopadesa, and Nettippakaraṇa.⁵