Tripitaka (Thripitakaya)

The Tripitaka is the most sacred scripture for Buddhists all over the world. In Buddhist history aging over more than two and a half millennia, there had been numerous writings on Lord Buddhas teachings.

Although they try to depict in various terms what exactly is the content of Buddhism, none has been accurate as the Tripitaka. It contains the unmodified, true teachings of Lord Buddha in its actual context.

The Tripitaka is a tri-fold writing. They are the Vinaya Pitaka, the Sutra Pitaka, and the Abhidharma Pitaka.

History reveals that the Tripitaka was coordinated at the First Council of the Maha Sangha soon after the parinirvana (passing away) of Lord Buddha, in order to preserve his teachings which had been only memorized up to that moment. Due to this immediate action taken by the then Sangha, the purest version of Buddhist teaching was included into the Tripitaka, without letting any elements to be missed or altered with time.

Therefore, to date, the Tripitaka remains the most valuable and most reliable source of original Theravada Buddhist teachings.

Vinaya Pitaka

Out of the three pitakas, this is the area that deals with rules and regulations that are meant for Buddhist bhikkus and bhikkunis (monks and nuns).

Sutra Pitaka

This section of the scripture contains the discourses held by Lord Buddha. They are divided into five sub sections according to the length and content of the discourses which are called nikayas. Namely they are Deegha nikaya , Majjima nikaya , Samyutta nikaya , Angutttara nikaya and Khuddaka nikaya.

Abhidharma Pitaka

The last of three, Abhidharma pitaka contains a detailed analysis of Buddhist teachings. So what you find in this section awakens a deeper sense on life than other simply organized records. The digital library of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura gives the opportunity for keen readers of the Tripitaka to easily find the volumes online.

The last of three, Abhidharma pitaka contains a detailed analysis of Buddhist teachings. So what you find in this section awakens a deeper sense on life than other simply organized records.

Buddha Jayanthi Edition of Tripitaka

The Buddha Jayanthi Edition of Tripitaka, which contains Pali version of Thripitaka and its Sinhala translation, was sponsored by the Government of Sri Lanka, during 1956 €“ 1990 and the last volume was published by the Government Publishers in 1990.

Though there are several versions of Tripitaka, it is widely believed that this Buddha Jayanthi version is the most authentic version of Tripitaka in Sinhala as it was meticulously translated by a prominent team of scholars from the sangha community in Sri Lanka.

The series comprises of 40 volumes and 57 books. Mr Saminda Ranasinghe converted the original printed books to electronically readable pdf files.

In these pdf files original Pali version of Tripitaka is located on the left and the Sinhala translation can be found on the right.

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