Major works of Buddha

Buddhist literature is vast original sayings of Buddha are compiled into 15,000 pages in Pali (Srikrishna, 2008, 154-158). Then Attakathayen based on the speeches of Buddha and their commentaries are collected into 35,000 pages. Thus the Pali literature on Buddha runs into 50,000 pages. Basically Buddha’s education is contained in Tripitaks (i.e., three literatures in which religious speech is compiled). They are Vinay Pitak, Sutta Pitak and Abhidhamma Pitak. Vinay Pitak is about rules/disciplines to be followed by the Bhikhus. It contains five texts. Sutta Pitak contains preachings of Buddha. It also includes the preachings of Sariputra, Manglayan and Anand which were approved by the Buddha. Sutta Pitak is divided into five parts. Abhidhamma Pitak is the chief pitak of all . It contains the essence of Buddhist philosophy. All seekers of truth, Bhikhus as well as the householders/followers of Buddha must know it. It contains seven texts. As the Buddhism spread to many lands and the philosophers, litterateurs and intellectuals took keen interest in Buddhist thought. Today we have a vast literature on Buddha in many languages and countries. In recent times in India Dr. Ambedkar has produced some important works on Buddha: Buddha and his Dhamma; Buddha and Karl Marx (an essay); and Revolution and Counter-Revolution (incomplete treatise).