Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c6.2

c6.2

The Problem.—The Nikāyas or the Āgamas are admittedly of prime importance for the study of early Buddhist doctrines, but they are collections of early as well as late sūtras differently ordered and edited in their different versions.¹ The stratification of the sūtras thus appears a sine qua non of future progress in the direction of discovering ancient Buddhism.² Oldenberg, in his introduction to the P. T. S. edition of V. P. I. and again in the introduction to SBE. XIII (in collaboration with Rhys Davids), has indicated the probable course along which the growth of the Vinaya took place. The Pātimokkha³ and part at least of the liturgical formulae embedded in the Khandhakas⁴ form the earliest stratum. The old commentary, wholly philological and exegetical, and containing nothing of a legendary or quasi-historical nature,⁵ constitutes the next stratum. The traditions of this latter character, together with what we may call Notes on the Rules, were, in the third stage, amalgamated to the Text and the old commentary.⁶ The last two books of the Cv. are still later,⁷ and the Parivāra is the latest of all.⁸ Thus, starting from a small and definite nucleus, the Vinaya has reached its present form in at least five stages. The investigation into the Kammavācās, it may be observed, is as yet rudimentary; and it appears that merely literary criteria are not sufficient for their stratification. It is the history of the material and organisational growth of the Saṅgha that must supply the main test. Those suttas in the Sutta-piṭaka, which relate to Vinaya, can also be of help here.⁹