Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c8.36

v1.c8.36

Itivuttaka.—The fourth book of the *Khuddaka Nikāya*, containing 110 suttas, each of which begins with the words: *vuttaṃ h’etaṃ Bhagavatā*. According to Dhammapāla,¹ the suttas were preached from time to time by the Buddha to Khujjuttarā at Kosambī. She then repeated them to the five hundred women of Udena’s palace, chief of whom was Sāmāvatī. In order to emphasise to her audience the fact that she was reporting the Buddha’s words and not her own, she prefaced each sutta with the phrase quoted above. There was no need to describe any special circumstances in which the suttas were preached, because they were familiar to Khujjuttarā’s audience.