Khuddakapàñha New Edition Home Page     Text

It has been suggested elsewhere ¹ that the book may be a kind of handbook for novices, though it seems to the present writer that it would be more correctly described as a handbook for candidates who are waiting to become novices. As can be seen, it begins with the Saraõagamanaü and the Dasasikkhàpadaü, which are undertaken at the time of ordination. This is followed by the reflection on the 32 parts of the body, which is a meditation traditionally given to those who ordain as their first `place of work' (kammaññhàna) at the time they are having their heads shaved just prior to ordination. The Kumàrapa¤haü, is represented in the commentary as being one particular boy's ordination, and it may have been used as a kind of basic questionnaire, to make sure that candidates had at least some idea of the central tenets of the doctrine. This is followed by a group of 5 popular (mainly) verse suttas that are commonly used in recital, that would have to be memorized by novices.

It seems likely then that the texts gathered here would possibly, at the time of making the collection, have been learnt by heart by everyone who aspired to be ordained into the order. We may mention here that a similar requirement was at one time laid down by the Sinhalese king Kassapa V ² when he ordered that all those who take upasampadà, or higher ordination, must first have memorized the Catubhàõavàrapàli, a collection of texts used in recital at Parittaü ceremonies to this day. It will be noted that that collection reproduces most of the texts in Khp, and indeed the latter looks very much like a smaller version of the larger collection.

A new edition of the text is not hard to justify. Childer's first edition of the text in Roman script was originally published in 1869 ³, when the scholarly study of the language and the metre in the West was still in its infancy. This was reproduced verbatim by Helmer Smith in his 1915 edition of the text & commentary (PTS), to which he adds as an appendix the readings found in the King of Siam's edition. Since that time we have had the Burmese Chaññha Saïgàyana edition of 1955, and the Sinhalese Buddha Jayanti edition of 1960, which give us many new readings to compare. Here is a list of the authorities consulted in preparing this new edition along with the abbreviations that are used in the variant readings:

As I have stated elsewhere ⁴ it seems possible to identify three phases of canonical Pàli verse composition, which for convenience we may designate the early, the middle, and the late. ⁵ Briefly, the early period concerns the two main metres used in Pàli, the Siloka and the Tuññhubha. The Siloka in the early period is characterised by the regular inclusion of the Anuññhubha variation in the prior lines. In the middle and late periods this occurs only sporadically (and can nearly always be `corrected' to the pathyà, or normal cadence, which makes one believe that the current readings may simply be corruptions). In the late period the pathyà predominates over the other variations to a marked degree, sometimes reaching as much as 85% ⁶.

The Tuññhubha in the early period is normally used as an independent metre, without admixture of Jagatã lines, which occur only very occasionally. ⁷ In the middle period mixing is not only common, but normal. In the later period, the Tuññhubha becomes restricted to the classical Upajàti form, and Jagatã to Vaüsaññhà.

The middle period also saw the emergence of the socalled new metres, the mattàchandas and gaõacchandas. In Mettasuttaü, which appears as the last of the texts in this collection, we are dealing with what is probably a transitional metre between these two, the Old Gãti. ⁸ The structure of the metre is rather primitive and unsettled, as will be seen from the description that follows. Towards the close of the later period both of these type of metres were superceded by their fixed classical counterparts.

On the basis of this description we can fairly confidently ⁹ ascribe the Managlasuttaü, Ratanasuttaü, and Mettasuttaü to the middle period; while the Tirokuóóasuttaü and the Nidhikaõóasuttaü belong to the late period.

Sarabhatti (partial vowels which do not count metrically) are represented by the sarabhatti vowel being written in superscript e.g. from Maïgalasuttaü (10a): tapo ca brahmacarⁱya¤-ca.

In the analysis of the metre:

Û = light syllable; Ü = heavy syllable; Å = light or heavy; È = 2 shorts or one heavy; É = 2 shorts or one heavy or one short.

            ÛÛÜÛÜÐÛÜÜÜ ÐÐ ÜÛÜÛÐÛÜÛÜ pathyà
pañisambhidà, vimokkhà ca,    yà ca sàvakapàramã,

As in the above example the variation (where appropriate) has been identified and indicated. ¹⁰

The normal opening is ÅÜÛÜ, but occasionally we find ÅÜÜÜ

The normal break is the bhagaõa ÜÛÛ , but others also occur e.g. ÜÛÜ, ÛÛÛ, etc.

Resolution occasionally produces different patterns e.g. ÜÜ > ÛÛÜ

Replacement sometimes produces different patterns e.g. ÛÜÛ > ÜÜ

Note that ÜÛÛ is not normally found in any gaõa.

The Burmese edition of the text presents many problems for the would be editor, as there appears to have been an over correcting of the metre in the texts in an attempt to make them conform to classical standards. In Ratanasuttaü, for example, there are a number of readings in the Burmese edition that produce the classical bhagaõa break ÜÛÛ, but there is no reason to believe that the sutta was written to that standard. ¹²

The most drastic changes are made in Mettasuttaü, where there has been alteration of word form, rearrangement of text, and what amounts to rewriting as well. ¹³ A number of the lines that have been `corrected' actually scan as Siloka lines as they presently stand, and as Siloka lines seem to have been considered acceptable in gaõacchandas verses it is questionable whether the lines ever needed correcting at all. It appears that many of the readings introduced into this text were not being read by the commentator, lack confirmation in other traditions, and are not found in the early Burmese manuscript tradition either.

1 Abeynayake: A Textual and Historical Analysis of the Khuddaka Nikàya, (Colombo 1984), pg 115. See also Rhys Davids, Buddhism, Its History and Literature, pgs 678; and Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, ii. pg 78. (Refs from Abeyenayake).

2 See Malalasekera, The Pàli Literature of Ceylon, (Republished Kandy 1994).

3 J.R.A.S., N.S. vol iv., 309324 (ref from Ee, as the original is not available to me).

4 See my An Outline of the Metres in the Pàli Canon elsewhere on this website.

5 It may be stated here that although canonical Pàli metrical composition stretches over a period of several centuries, it seems that the first two periods described below have to fall within the lifetime of the Buddha.

6 See Warder, Pàli Metre (London 1967)( = PM) pg 198

7 In Aññhakavagga of Suttanipàta, for instance, there are only 4 Jagatã lines among 99 vs of Tuññhubha (there is also one Jagatã verse, no 836 in Ee). In Pàràyanavagga, the Jagatã lines amount to approx 7% of the lines in the Tuññhubha verses.

8 This is the metre referred to by Alsdorf in his monograph Die âryàStrophen des PaliKanon (Mainz 1967) as Old âryà. Norman in Group of Discourses II (Oxford 1992)(= GD II) also used this name, but later in his essay on The Origins of the âryà Metre in Collected Papers Vol 4 (Oxford 1993)(= CP), preferred the name Old Gãti. The latter seems in every way preferable, as the structure of the metre is in fact a primitive form of Gãti, which has the same pàdayuga structure repeated to make up a verse, whereas âryà has two different pàdayugas to the verse.

9 It may be stated here that these periods are by no means hard and fast, but run over into each other as we might expect from an evolving culture.

10 I have been greatly helped in compiling the notes that accompany this edition by Helmer Smith's metrical analysis of the 3 suttas that also appear in Suttanipàta (in Paramatthajotikà Vol III, 1918, reprinted Oxford 1997); and for the same suttas by K R Norman's comprehensive notes in GD II.

11 This description is based on Norman, The Origins of the âryà Metre in CP Vol 4

12 The Thai edition also has to be treated with caution. To give one example: not understanding the matter of sarabhatti vowels a reading is introduced into Ratanasuttaü at 9a, against all other editions: ye 'rãya saccàni vibhàvayanti. When we take the sarabhatti vowel into account however, and read arⁱya (21), we can see that there was no need for the change in reading (for a discussion of sarabhatti (svarabhakti) see Warder PM pg 29ff

13 For alteration of word form, see e.g. 3a; rearrangement of text, 4c; rewriting, vss 9 & 10. Unfortunately, even after much handiwork occasionally the text is still left `wrong' according to classical standards, see the note to 10ab.