The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [3]
The numbers at the top of the pages refer to the volume and page number of the PTS edition of the Majjhima Nikāya, as do the bracketed numbers embedded in the text (except for MN 92 and MN 98, wherein the numbers refer to the PTS edition of the Sutta Nipāta).
The Introduction aims to provide the reader with a thorough study guide to the Majjhima Nikāya by systematically surveying the principal teachings of the Buddha contained in this collection along with references to the suttas where fuller expositions of those teachings can be found. More elementary information on the Pali Canon and on Pali Buddhism in general will be found in Maurice Walshe’s introduction to his recent translation of the complete Dīgha Nikāya, Thus Have I Heard, which the present publication is intended to parallel. As a way of easing the reader’s entrance into the canonical texts themselves, a summary of the Majjhima’s 152 suttas follows the Introduction.
To clarify difficult passages in the suttas and to shed additional light on passages whose meaning is richer than appears at first sight, a copious set of back notes has been provided. Many of these notes are drawn from the commentaries on the Majjhima, of which there are two. One is the commentary proper, the Majjhima Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā, also known as the Papañcasūdanī. This was composed in the fifth century by the great Buddhist commentator, Ācariya Buddhaghosa, who based it on the ancient commentaries (no longer extant) that had been preserved for centuries by the Sangha of the Mahāvihāra at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. The commentary is of value not only for elucidating the meaning of the texts but also for filling in the background of events that led to the promulgation of the discourses. The other commentarial work is the subcommentary, the Majjhima Nikāya Ṭīkā, ascribed to Ācariya Dhammapāla, who probably lived and worked in South India a century or more later than Ācariya Buddhaghosa. The main purpose of the Ṭīkā is to clear up obscure or difficult points in the Aṭṭhakathā, but in doing so the author often sheds additional light on the meaning of the canonical text. In order to keep the notes as concise as possible, almost always the commentaries have been paraphrased rather than quoted directly.
I am aware that the Notes sometimes repeat things already explained in the Introduction, but in a work of this nature such repetitions can be of use, particularly as novel ideas briefly treated in the Introduction may slip the reader’s memory at the time of reading a sutta to which they pertain.
In conclusion I want to mention the contributions that others have made to the completion of this project.
First, I wish to thank Ven. Nyanaponika Mahāthera for first encouraging me to take up this task, which seemed so daunting at the outset, and then for providing valuable advice at every crucial turn along the way. Not only was he always ready to discuss difficult points, but despite deteriorating vision, which drastically reduced the time he had available for reading, he still read through the Introduction, the Notes, and the knottier suttas, offering helpful suggestions.
Second, I thank Ven. Khantipālo (now Laurence Mills) for permission to use his versions of the ninety suttas in A Treasury of the Buddha’s Words as the working basis for this edition. The work he did on those suttas almost two decades ago greatly facilitated the preparation of this volume.
Third, I must mention the tremendous help received from Ayyā Nyanasirī, who subedited the initial draft, made numerous suggestions for minor improvements, and typed out the entire manuscript. Even though, as my conception of the editorial task changed, several suttas had to be typed a second time, and a few a third time, this was always done with patience and understanding.
Fourth, I thank two fellow bhikkhus, Ven. Ṭhānissaro