Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c33.s1.10

v2.c33.s1.10

There are similar references to the Sūtra-piṭaka also, but in more details. In an inscription³ on one of the slabs found near the Central stūpa of Amarāvatī there is a reference to a monk of Mahāvanasālā as *Saṃyuta-bhāṇaka* (not *Saṃyutabhātuka*, as read by Burgess). In the Nāgārjunikoṇḍa, appear the following inscriptions in the Āyaka pillars C₁ and C₂: *Dīgha-Majhima-paṃcamātuka-osaka-vācakānaṃ*, *Dīgha-Majhima-nikāya-dharena*, *Dīgha-Majhima-paṃda-mātuka-desaka vācakānaṃ* and *Dīgha-Ma-nigoya-dharena*. These leave no room for doubt about the existence of a Sutta-piṭaka in at least three Nikāyas: Dīgha, Majjhima and Saṃyukta.