Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s2.t2.6

c5.s2.t2.6

The mention of *Jātakas* among the *Navāṅgas*, a very ancient division of the Buddhist scripture, may lead one to think that the most ancient Buddhists were not without a *Jātaka* literature of their own. This seems plausible at first sight, but it should be remembered that the division of Buddhist scriptures into nine *Aṅgas* does not refer to nine different groups of literature but to nine types of composition to be found in the collections of the ancient Buddhists. In school, add sometimes that the gifts were meant also for the *cāturdiśa saṅghas*, i.e., members of the Buddhist Saṅgha in general.