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the classical commentaries to the Nikāyas ascribed to the great South Indian commentator Ācariya Buddhaghosa, who worked in Sri Lanka in the fifth century C.E. For the sake of concision, I have not included as many notes in this book as I have in my other translations of the Nikāyas. These notes are also not as technical as those in the full translations.

References to the sources follow each selection. References to texts from the Dīgha Nikāya and Majjhima Nikāya cite the number and name of the sutta (in Pāli); passages from these two collections retain the paragraph numbers used in The Long Discourses of the Buddha and The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, so readers who wish to locate these passages within the full translations can easily do so. References to texts from the Saṃyutta Nikāya cite saṃyutta and sutta number; texts from the Aṅguttara Nikāya cite nipāta and sutta number (the Ones and the Twos also cite chapters within the nipāta followed by the sutta number). References to texts from the Udāna cite nipāta and sutta number; texts from the Itivuttaka cite simply the sutta number. All references are followed by the volume and page number in the Pali Text Society’s standard edition of these works.

I am grateful to Timothy McNeill and David Kittelstrom of Wisdom Publications for urging me to persist with this project in the face of long periods of indifferent health. Sāmaṇera Anālayo and Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano read and commented on my introductions, and John Kelly reviewed proofs of the entire book. All three made useful suggestions, for which I am grateful. John Kelly also prepared the table of sources that appears at the back of the book. Finally, I am grateful to my students of Pāli and Dhamma studies at Bodhi Monastery for their enthusiastic interest in the teachings of the Nikāyas, which inspired me to compile this anthology. I am especially thankful to the monastery’s extraordinary founder, Ven. Master Jen-Chun, for welcoming a monk of another Buddhist tradition to his monastery and for his interest in bridging the Northern and Southern transmissions of the Early Buddhist teachings.

Bhikkhu Bodhi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AN Aṅguttara Nikāya

Be Burmese-script Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana ed.

Ce Sinhala-script ed.

DN Dīgha Nikāya

Ee Roman-script ed. (PTS)

It Itivuttaka

MN Majjhima Nikāya

Mp Manorathapūraṇī (Aṅguttara Nikāya Commentary)

Ppn Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga translation)

Ps Papañcasūdanī (Majjhima Nikāya Commentary)

Ps-pṭ Papañcasūdanī-purāṇa-ṭīkā (Majjhima Nikāya Subcommentary)

Skt Sanskrit

SN Saṃyutta Nikāya

Spk Sāratthappakāsinī (Saṃyutta Nikāya Commentary)

Spk-pṭ Sāratthappakāsinī-purāṇa-ṭīkā (Saṃyutta Nikāya Subcommentary)

Sv Sumaṅgalavilāsinī (Dīgha Nikāya Commentary)

Ud Udāna

Vibh Vibhaṅga

Vin Vinaya

Vism Visuddhimagga

All page references to Pāli texts are to the page numbers of the Pali Text Society’s editions.

KEY TO THE PRONUNCIATION OF PĀLI

The Pāli Alphabet

Vowels: a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, e, o

Consonants:

Gutterals k, kh, g, gh, ṅ

Palatals c, ch, j, jh, ñ

Cerebrals ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ

Dentals t, th, d, dh, n

Labials p, ph, b, bh, m

Other y, r, ḷ, l, v, s, h, ṃ

Pronunciation

a as in “cut” u as in “put”

ā as in “father” ū as in “rule”

i as in “king” e as in “way”

ī as in “keen” o as in “home”

Of the vowels, e and o are long before a single consonant and short before a double consonant. Among the consonants, g is always pronounced as in “good,” c as in “church,” ñ as in “onion.” The cerebrals (or retroflexes) are spoken with the tongue on the roof of the mouth; the dentals with the tongue on the upper teeth. The aspirates—kh, gh, ch, jh, ṭh, ḍh, th, dh, ph, bh—are single consonants pronounced with slightly more force than the nonaspirates, e.g., th as in “Thomas” (not as in “thin”); ph as in “putter” (not as in “phone”). Double consonants are always enunciated separately, e.g., dd as in “mad dog,” gg as in “big gun.” The pure nasal (niggahīta) ṃ is pronounced