One of the five divisions of the Sutta Pitaka.
It consists of 7,762 suttas, (DA.i.17; Gv. 56) and, at the First Council, was given in charge of Mahá Kassapa and his pupillary succession (nissitaka). (DA.i.15).
The Nikáya is divided into five main Vaggas and fifty six sections, called Samyuttas, each Samyutta being again subdivided into minor Vaggas or chapters.
Buddhaghosa, wrote a Commentary on the Samyutta, called Sáratthappakásiní.
The Samyutta Nikáya is quoted in the Milinda-Pańha. E.g., pp. 137, 242, 377, 379; see also Vin.ii.306, where Uposatha Samyutta is mentioned, but what is evidently meant is the Uposatha Khandhaka.
Kittisirirájasíha, king of Ceylon, had the Samyutta Nikáya copied by scribes (Cv.xcix.33). One of the Samyuttas, the Anamatagga, was preached by Rakkhita in Vanavása (Mhv.xii.32) and by Mahinda in Ceylon (Mhv.xv.186), soon after their respective arrivals in these countries, at the conclusion of the Third Council. The Nikáya has been translated into Burmese. Bode, op. cit., 92.