Miscellaneous Short Buddhist Texts

Theravada   Mahayana   General

These files are translations of short Buddhist texts taken from various public domain sources, primarily scholarly journals but also some extracts from longer books that are not principally translations. Many of them have been edited more or less extensively to remove both the untranslated text that often accompanies the translation and the more specialized notes and comments. I have made the assumption that those who need to reference the in-depth philological discussions of these long-dead Victorian Orientalists will have access to the original source materials; please forgive me if I am mistaken.

For journal title abbreviations and notes on the transliterations, see the Journals page, where all the articles (including non-Buddhist) are organized according to their sources.

Last updated November 15, 2002.

Tipitaka

Suttas

Mahâ-samaya-sutta (Dîgha Nikâya 20), trans. Rev. Daniel John Gogerly (from Sept Suttas Pâlis, ed. M. P. Grimblot, pp. 289-296) [1876]
'A Buddhist Genesis' (from The Aggañña Sutta, Dîgha Nikâya 27), trans. Albert J. Edmunds (Mon. vol. XIV, 2, pp. 207-214) [1904]
Sîgâlo-vâda-Sutta (Dîgha Nikâya 31), trans. Rev. Daniel John Gogerly (from Sept Suttas Pâlis, ed. M. P. Grimblot, pp. 311-320) [1876]
Â.tânâ.tiya-sutta (Dîgha Nikâya 32), trans. Rev. Daniel John Gogerly (from Sept Suttas Pâlis, ed. M. P. Grimblot, pp. 332-338) [1876]
The Ra.t.thapâla Sutta (Majjhima Nikâya 82), trans. Walter Lupton (JRAS 1894, pp. 769-826) [1894]
The Madhura Sutta (Majjhima Nikâya 84), trans. Robert Chalmers (JRAS 1894, pp. 341-366) [1894]
'The Penitent Thief' (Majjhima Nikâya 86), trans. Albert J. Edmunds (OC vol. XIV, 10, pp. 628-633) [1900]
'The Canonical Account of the Birth of Gotama the Buddha' (Majjhima Nikâya 123), trans. Albert J. Edmunds (OC vol. XII, 8, pp. 485-490) [1898]
Buddha's Discourse on the End of the World (Anguttara Nikâya VI, 62), trans. Albert J. Edmunds (OC vol. XV, 7, pp. 428-432) [1901]
Khuddaka Pá.tha, trans. Robert Caesar Childers (JRAS NS vol. IV, pp. 309-339) [1870]
Four Short Suttas, trans. Rev. Daniel John Gogerly (JA sér. VI tome XX, pp. 226-231) [1872]
Gospel Parallels from Pâli Texts (A collection of excerpts from the Pâli canon, presented with a view to showing their thematic relation to Christian scriptures), trans. Albert J. Edmunds (OC vol. XIV-XVI) [1900-1902]

Jâtakas

Five Játakas trans. V. Fausböll (from Five Játakas, pp. 20-44) [1861]
Two Játakas (Jâtakas 33 and 201), trans. V. Fausböll (JRAS NS vol. V, pp. 1-13) [1873]
The Kumbha Jâtaka (Jâtaka 512), trans. from the Burmese by R. F. St. Andrew St. John (JRAS 1893, pp. 567-570) [1893]
The Temiya Jâtaka Vatthu (Jâtaka 541), trans. from the Burmese by R. F. St. Andrew St. John (JRAS 1893, pp. 357-391) [1893]
The Suva.n.na Sâma Jâtaka (Jâtaka 543), trans. from the Burmese by R. F. St. Andrew St. John (JRAS 1894, pp. 211-229) [1894]
The Bhûridatta Jâtaka Vatthu (Jâtaka 547), trans. from the Burmese by R. F. St. Andrew St. John (JRAS 1892, pp. 77-139) [1892]
The Vidhûra Jâtaka (Jâtaka 548), trans. from the Burmese by R. F. St. Andrew St. John (JRAS 1896, pp. 441-475) [1896]

Buddhaghosa

Women Leaders of the Buddhist Reformation (from Manoratha Pûra.ni, Buddhaghosa's commentary on the A.nguttara Nikâya), trans. Mabel Bode (JRAS 1893, pp. 517-566, 763-798) [1893]

Miscellaneous

Jinacarita (a thirteenth-century life of the Buddha, from the Pâli), trans. W. H. D. Rouse (JPTS vol. V, 1905, pp. 1-65) [1905]
A Collection of Kammavâcâs (monastic confessionals), trans. Herbert Baynes (JRAS 1892, pp. 53-75) [1892]
The Namakkára (stanzas of praise/worship), trans. H. L. St. Barbe (JRAS NS vol. XV, pp. 213-220) [1883]
The Niti Kyan (a code of ethics in Pali, actually quite secular), trans. E. Fowle (JRAS OS vol. XVII, pp. 252-266) [1860]

Mahayana:

Sutras

The Sutra of Forty-two Sections, trans. Samuel Beal (JRAS OS vol. XIX, pp. 337-349) [1862]
The Leng-Yen-King - First Chapter (The Nalanda Sutra ?), trans. Joseph Edkins (from Chinese Buddhism, chapter XVIII, pp. 289-301) [1893]
Avalokitešwara's Descent into the Hell Avîchi (from the Kâra.n.da-vyûha), trans. Edward B. Cowell (IA vol. VIII, pp. 249-253) [1879]
The Ngan-Shih-Niu Sûtra ("Silver-white Woman"), trans. Samuel Beal (IA vol. IX, pp. 145-148) [1880]
The Avalambana Sûtra, trans. Samuel Beal (IA vol. IX, pp. 85-86) [1880]
The Sûtra of the Dhârani of the Illustrious Diadem of Buddha's Surmounting Head, trans. Samuel Beal (IA vol. IX, pp. 195-196) [1880]
The Megha-Sûtra, trans. Cecil Bendall (JRAS NS vol. XII, pp. 286-311) [1880]

Jatakas
(These are Northern versions of stories common to both branches)

Valâhassa Jâtaka, trans. from the Tibetan by Heinrich Wenzel (JRAS NS vol. XX, pp. 503-511) [1888]
Tibetan Buddhist Birth Stories, trans. William Woodville Rockhill (JAOS vol. XVIII, pp. 1-14) [1897]
The Story of the Faithful Deer (A Jataka tale from the Chinese), trans. Samuel Beal (IA vol. VIII, pp. 253-254) [1879]
The Story of the Merchant Who Struck His Mother (A Jataka tale from the Chinese), trans. Samuel Beal (IA vol. IX, pp. 224-226) [1880]

Asvaghosha

Vajra Suchi (a rejection of caste distinction, argued from Hindu scripture), trans. B. H. Hodgson (JRAS trans. vol. III, pp. 160-169) [1835]

Nagarjuna

Nâgârjuna's "Friendly Epistle" (Suh.ridlekha), trans. from the Tibetan by Heinrich Wenzel (JPTS vol. II, 1886, pp. 1-32) [1886]
The 25th section of the Pranyamûla-Šâstra-Tika, trans. Samuel Beal (IA vol. X, pp. 87-89) [1881]
The Ekashloka Shastra, trans. Joseph Edkins (from Chinese Buddhism, chapter XIX, pp. 302-317) [1893]

Miscellaneous

Biographies of Aśvaghosha, Nâgârjuṇa, Âryadeva, and Vasubandhu, trans. from Vasilief by E. Lyall (IA vol. IV, pp. 141-145) [1875]
Buddhist Meditations (short sayings from the Fukio Taikan), trans. A. Lloyd (OC vol. XXII, 9, pp. 551-561) [1908]

General:

The First Buddhist Council (a paper about this important event, consisting primarily of extracts from various canonical sources, both Theravada and Mahayana), by (Daisetz) Teitaro Suzuki (Mon. vol. XIV, 2, pp. 253-282) [1904]
The Eighteen Schools of Buddhism (by Vasumitra), trans. from the Chinese by Samuel Beal (IA vol. IX, pp. 299-302) [1880]
The Legend of Dipañkara Buddha, trans. Samuel Beal (JRAS NS vol. VI, pp. 377-395) [1873]