Pali Literature - List of Post-canonical Pali Texts

List of Post-canonical Pali Texts

Quasi-canonical texts in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Burmese Tipitaka but not in the Thai or Sri Lankan:

  1. Nettipakarana and Petakopadesa - "The Book of Guidance" and "Instruction on the Pitaka"
  2. Milindapañha - The Questions of King Milinda

Commentarial literature:

  1. Atthakatha - Commentarial works by Buddhagosa, Dhammapala, Mahanama, Buddhadatta & others
  2. Tika - Sub-commentarial works

Historical chronicles:

  1. Dipavamsa - "The Island Chronicle" (4th c.)
  2. Mahavamsa - Mahanama; "The Great Chronicle" (6th c.)
  3. Culavamsa - "The Lesser Chronicle"
  4. Vamsatthappakasini - Commentary of the Mahavamsa (6th c.)
  5. Mahabodhivamsa - Upatissa, Account of the bodhi tree of Anuradhapura(11th c.).
  6. Thupavamsa - Vacissara, A chronicle of the Great Stupa in Anuradhapura (12th c.)
  7. Dathavamsa - Dhammakitti, A poem on the sacred Relic of the tooth of the Buddha.
  8. Samantakutavannana - Vedehathera, A poem in 796 stanzas on the Buddha's life and his visits to Sri Lanka.
  9. Hatthavanagalla-viharavamsa - Life story of the Buddhist king Sirisanghabodhi (r. 247-249) of Anuradhapura (13th c.)
  10. Saddhamma-sangaha - Dhammakitti Mahasami, Literary and ecclesiastical history of Buddhism (14th c.)
  11. Cha-kesadhatuvamsa - A history of the six stupas that enshrine the hair relics of the Buddha. (14th c.)
  12. Gandhavamsa - Catalog of ancient Buddhist commentators (19th c.)
  13. Sāsanavaṃsa - Paññasamin, A Burmese history of Buddhism (19th c.)

Biographies:

  1. Jinalankara - Buddharakkhita, 278 verse poem on the life of the Buddha (12th c.)
  2. Anagata-vamsa - Mahakassapa of Cola, Story of Maitreya, the next Buddha (12th c.)
  3. Jinacarita - Medhankara, 472 verse poem on the life of the Buddha (13th c.)
  4. Pajjamadhu - Buddhapiya Dipankara (13th c.), poem on the beauty of the Buddha
  5. Jinakalamali - Ratanapañña, Account of the life of the Buddha (16th c.)
  6. Braḥ Māleyyadevattheravatthuṃ - SE Asian narrative of the travels of the monk Māleyyadev.
  7. Buddhaghosuppatti - Mahāmaṅgala, Story of Buddhagosa (Burma, 15th c.)
  8. Jinavamsadipani - Moratuve Medhananda Thera, An epic poem on the life of the Buddha & his teachings in 2000 verses (1917)
  9. Mahakassapacarita - Widurapola Piyatissa, 1500 verse poem on the life of Mahakasyapa (1934)

Abhidhamma manuals & treatises:

  1. Abhidhammavatara - Buddhadatta, "The earliest effort at systematizing, in the form of a manual, the doctrines dealt with in the Abhidhamma" (5th c.)
  2. Ruparupa-vibhaga - Buddhadatta - A "short manual on Abhidhamma" (5th c.)
  3. Saccasankhepa - Culla-Dhammapala, "Elements of Truth", A "short treatise on Abhidhamma" (7th c.)
  4. Abhidhammattha-sangaha - Acariya Anuruddha, A summary of the Abhidhamma, widely used as an introductory text. Modern English translation available by Bhikkhu Bodhi (A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma, 1993).
  5. Namarupa-pariccheda - Acariya Anuruddha, A verse introduction to the Abhidhamma.
  6. Paramattha-vinicchaya - Acariya Anuruddha.
  7. Khemappakarana - Khema, A "short manual on the Abhidhamma."
  8. Mohavicchedani - Mahakassapa of Cola, A guide to the matikas (topics) of the seven books of the Abhidhamma (12th c.)
  9. Nāmacāradīpikā - Chappata, (15th c.)

Miscellaneous:

  1. Saddanīti - Aggavaṃsa of Arimaddana, An influential Pali grammar text; Burma, A.D. 1154.
  2. Vimuttimagga - A short practice manual by Upatissa (1st c.)
  3. Visuddhimagga - Buddhaghosa, A very influential meditation manual (5th c.)
  4. Vinayavinicchaya - Buddhadatta, A verse summary of the first four books of the Vinaya (5th c.)
  5. Uttaravinicchaya - Buddhadatta, A verse summary of the Parivara, the final book of the Vinaya (5th c.)
  6. Paramatthamañjusa - Dhammapala, Commentary on the Visuddhimagga (6th c.)
  7. Khuddasikkha and Mulasikkha - Short summaries on monastic discipline.
  8. Upasaka-janalankara - Sihala Acariya Ananda Mahathera, A manual on the Buddha's teachings for laymen (13th c.)
  9. Sarasangaha - Siddhattha, A "manual of Dhamma" in prose and verse (13th c.)
  10. Sandesakatha and Sima-vivada-vinichaya-katha (Burma, 19th c.)
  11. Pañcagatidipana - A poem that describes the five forms of rebirth.
  12. Saddhammopayana - 629 short verses in praise of the Dhamma.
  13. Telakaṭāhagāthā - "The Oil-Cauldron Verses.", Collection of Sri Lankan poems from a monk thrown into boiling oil.
  14. Cakkavaladipani - Sirimangala, A text on Buddhist cosmology (1520)
  15. Dasabodhisattuppattikatha - Birth Stories of the Ten Bodhisattas.
  16. Bhesajjamanjusa - Medical text, Sri Lanka (13th c.)
  17. Yogāvacara's Manual - Sri Lankan meditation manual
  18. The progress of insight - Mahasi Sayadaw, originally in Burmese, translated to Pali (1950)

Read more about this topic:  Pali Literature

Famous quotes containing the words list of, list and/or texts:

    Modern tourist guides have helped raised tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives—from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of Chichacestenango—with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when. These are the up-to- date scripts for actors on the tourists’ stage.
    Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)

    Weigh what loss your honor may sustain
    If with too credent ear you list his songs,
    Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
    To his unmastered importunity.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    A book is not an autonomous entity: it is a relation, an axis of innumerable relations. One literature differs from another, be it earlier or later, not because of the texts but because of the way they are read: if I could read any page from the present time—this one, for instance—as it will be read in the year 2000, I would know what the literature of the year 2000 would be like.
    Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)