The History of Buddhist Thought c28.s1.6

c28.s1.6

The division of the Scriptures into two classes, discipline and doctrine, was inevitable. But in these rules we find a third division, the Mātikā, a term now applied to the lists of subjects discussed in the class of Abhidhamma, but also used as a synonym of Abhidhamma. This last class, though not recognized by some schools and evidently later than the others, now forms the third part of the Triple Basket, the Tipiṭaka (Skt. Tripitaka). The term piṭaka as a division of the Canon is not in the Scriptures, but must be as old as the third century B.C., for the term peṭaki, “ reciter of the Piṭaka ”, occurs in inscriptions of that date.² The term pañca-nekāyika, “ reciter of the five Nikāyas,” also occurs, showing that the division of the Suttas into Nikāyas or Āgamas already existed. The arrangement of the whole Tipiṭaka is as follows :—