Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.316

v2.c31.316

Majjhima Nikāya.—The second “book,” or collection, of the Sutta Piṭaka, containing discourses of medium length. It consists of eighty bhāṇavāras and is divided into three sections of fifty suttas each (paṇṇāsa), the last paṇṇāsa containing fifty-two suttas. At the First Council the duty of learning the Majjhima Nikāya and of handing it down intact was entrusted to the “school” of Sāriputta.¹ Buddhaghosa wrote a commentary to the Majjhima Nikāya, which is called the Papañca-Sūdanī, and Sāriputta of Ceylon wrote its ṭīkā. The Majjhima Nikāya was also called the Majjhima Saṅgīti.² When the Sāsana disappears, the Majjhima predeceases the Dīgha Nikāya.³