The Suttanipata: An Ancient Collection of the Buddha's Discourses Together with Its Commentaries

The Suttanipata And Its Commentaries

For several years, I participated in a Sutta Study class under the guidance of an experienced, insightful teacher. We explored Suttas originally written in Pali from the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Among the works we read was the Suttanipata. a relatively short work from the collection of Theravada Scriptures known as the "Minor" or "Miscellaneous" collection which also includes the famous work, the "Dhammapada".

With my earlier reading, I was eager to read this new translation of the Suttanipata by the American scholar-monk, the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi. This new work is part of a series of books, "The Teachings of the Buddha" published by Wisdom Publications with the aim of presenting readers with scholarly, accessible translations of works from the Pali Canon. Other works in the series include the Long Discourses, the Middle Length Discourses, the Connected Discourses, and the Numerical Discourses. Each of these collections are much longer than is the Suttanipata. With the exception of the Long Discourses, each has been translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

In his Preface to the Volume, Bhikkhu Bodhi explains that the his intention in preparing this book was "not to offer still another translation [of the Suttanipata] that would improve on the work of my predecessors and shake up the world of Buddhist scholarship with bold, innovative renderings. Rather, it was to make the Suttanipata available in an accurate and readable version along with its commentaries as preserved in the Pali Buddhist tradition. This is, I believe, the first time that the Entire Suttanipata Commentary and substantial excerpts from the Niddesa have been published in translation."

The Suttanipata itself occupies only about 200 pages of this book. The work is written in poetry and prose and is in five chapters, "The Chapter on the Serpent" "The Minor Chapter", "The Great Chapter", "The Chapter of Octads", and "The Chapter on the Way to the Beyond." As stated in the Preface, the longer portion of this large book consists of the Buddhist commentaries on the Suttanipata. Bodhi has translated the Commentary on the work attributed, but not conclusively so, to the early commentator and scholar Buddhaghosa. He has also translated, with minor abridgment, the earlier commentary on the final two parts of the work known as the Niddesa. When I had earlier studied the book, in common with most readers, I did not study the commentaries. As Bhikkhu Bodhi acknowledges, the commentaries are long, dense, demanding, and sometimes dull and unhelpful. Still, they are critical for the interpretation they cast on the primary text and for showing how the text was received and related to the rest of the Pali Canon. Readers should be aware of the difficulty and length of the Commentaries, but there is much to be learned from them in reading the Suttanipata.

In approaching this book, Bhikkhu Bodhi again writes in the Preface that the "serious non-academic student of Early Buddhism might feel daunted by the amount of material presented in this volume and not know where or how to proceed. As a practical approach, I suggest initially reading the introduction and the Guide to the Suttas, and then the translation of the Suttanipata itself. Read it slowly and reflectively, without being anxious to understand every verse and line on a first reading." Bhikkhu Bodhi then advises the reader to return to each sutta individually and to read it with the corresponding section of the commentary. "Skip over those parts of the commentary one finds dense, tedious, pedantic, or irrelevant to one's concerns, and focus on those parts that actually explain the text."

At the close of his Preface, Bhikkhu Bodhi states eloquently the underlying aim of his effort by alluding to several important Suttas in the collection: "By any merit I have acquired through this work, may the Three Gems of the Ratana Sutta long flourish in the world and may the peoples of the world live together in peace, guided by the ethics of the Parabhava Sutta, the values of the Mahamangala Sutta, and the sublime attitudes of the Metta Sutta [teachings on lovingkindness]. May seekers of liberation discard erroneous views and deviant practices, as advised by the Atthakavagga, and set their feet on the path to the goal pointed to by the ... Chapter on the Way to the Beyond."

This book is both scholarly and religiously devout and inspiring. The Preface, discussed above, provides a brief overview. It is followed by a lengthy Introduction to the book itself and to the Suttanipata and the Commentaries. It is essential to read the Introduction in which Bhikkhu Bodhi explains the choices and interpretations he has made in the translation and his understanding of the relationship between the text and the commentaries.. Then, there is a "Guide to the Suttas" which is effectively Bhikkhu Bodhi's own commentary on the work. The translation of the Suttanipata follows followed by the nearly 1000 page translation of the two Commentaries. There is an extensive scholarly apparatus to the book including appendices of parallels between the Suttanipata and other discourses and a compilation of numerical sets mentioned in the commentaries. There are extensive endnotes, an index of subjects, a Pali-English glossary and a bibliography.

The Suttanipata is beautifully translated. Bhikkhu Bodhi's own commentaries and materials are deeply learned and useful. The Commentaries, as noted, are difficult, but it is a gift to have them rendered in full in English. The book is a spiritual and scholarly treasure. Of many things, I was most fascinated by the discussion of views in the fourth part of the Suttanipata and with Bhikkhu Bodhi's understanding of this discussion in the Introduction and Guide to the Suttas.

This book is a gift of wisdom and of the Buddha's Dhamma. The book requires patience and time. Readers with a serious interest in Buddhism are in Bhikkhu Bodhi's debt for this book.

Robin Friedman