Section Divisions

The breakdown of shared and original section divisions in the Mahāparinibbāna sutta is published below. The basis for these divisions can be found in Sacred Books of the East Volume XI, pages xxxv-xxxvi, where T. W. Rhys Davids lists the texts found in other portions of the Pāli Canon.  From this information, the blog author determined the complementary list of sections that are unique to the Mahāparinibbāna sutta. The list of shared passages includes the other texts in the Pāli Canon where these sections recur.

NOT ORIGINAL TO MAHĀPARINIBBĀNA SUTTA (occur in other sutras of the  Pāli Canon; shared)

ORIGINAL TO/ONLY FOUND IN MAHĀPARINIBBĀNA SUTTA (don’t occur in other known Pāli sutras)

Chapter 1 (34 sections) 1-10: Sutta-nipata 11: Kha-nipata 16-17: Satippatthana 20-34: Maha-vagga 1, 2, 3: Maha-vagga Chapter 1 total: 28/34 shared Chapter 2 (35 sections) 13, 14, 15: Satippatthana 16-24: Mahavagga 27-35: Satippatthana-vagga Chapter 2 total: 21/35 shared Chapter 3 (66 sections) 1-42: Attha-nipata Chapter 3 total: 42/66 shared Chapter 4 (58 sections) 2, 3: Katuka-nipata 7-11: Katuka-nipata Chapter 4 total: 7/58 shared Chapter 5 (69 sections) 10: Duka-nipata 16-22: Kutaka-nipata 27-31: Katuka-nipata 36: Satippatthana-vagga 41-44: Maha-sudassana-Sutta 60: Kulla-vagga 63: Maha-vagga 68: Kulla-vagga Chapter 5 total: 21/69 shared Chapter 6 (62 sections) 16: Maha-sudassana-Sutta 36-41: Kulla-vagga Chapter 6 total: 7/62 shared TOTAL ACROSS 6 CHAPTERS: 126 out of 324 sections found in other texts

Chapter 1 (34 sections) 12-15 18-19 Chapter 1 total: 6/34 unique Chapter 2 (35 sections) 1-12 25-26 Chapter 2 total: 14/35 unique Chapter 3 (66 sections) 43-66 Chapter 3 total: 24/66 unique Chapter 4 (58 sections) 1 4-6 12-58 Chapter 4 total: 51/58 unique Chapter 5 (69 sections) 1-9 11-15 23-26 32-35 37-40 45-59 61-62 64-67 69 Chapter 5 total: 48/69 unique Chapter 6 (62 sections) 1-15 17-35 42-62 Chapter 6 total: 55/62 unique TOTAL ACROSS 6 CHAPTERS: 198 out of 324 sections original to Mahāparinibbāna sutta