The Pali Tipitaka

The Pali Tipitaka (Unicode: Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, Velthuis: Paa.li Tipi.taka) or simply the Tipitaka, is a collection of texts comprising primarily the teachings (or sayings) of Buddha Gotama. These teachings have been handed down orally by the Buddha's disciples over many generations until they were written down in the Pali language. Until today, Pali texts are written in many different scripts, of which the most popular is probably the Roman script (using the Latin alphabet), follow by various Asian scripts, such as Sinhala, Thai, Burmese, Khmer, Lao and several others. The Pali scriptures were later translated into other languages. Beside being the language of the texts written in it, Pali is also the liturgical language in Theravada monasteries. Another less common and declining use of Pali is as a communication medium between monastic members of different Theravada countries. Other than these, the language is hardly in use today.

The word Tipitaka means three baskets (ti = three, pitaka = basket). Therefore, the texts in the Tipitaka are classified under three main categories (or baskets), namely,

1. Vinaya Pi.taka (Basket/Receptacle)
2. Sutta Pi.taka
3. Abhidhamma Pi.taka