Apadana

Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Khuddaka Nikaya >> Apadana

= Apadana =

The Apadāna consists of about 600 poems (between 589[4] and 603 in different editions), mostly biographical stories of senior Buddhist monks and nuns, but also of Buddhas and solitary Buddhas. Many of the stories of monks and nuns are expansions of, or otherwise related to, verses presented in the Theragatha and Therigatha as having been spoken by senior members of the early Sangha. The Apadāna is a parallel to the Jātaka commentary, in which the Buddha recounts his previous lives.

Most Apadāna stories follow a fairly predictable outline, in which the speaker describes their meritorious deeds in previous births as ethical individuals in a variety of different circumstances in different parts of India, before finally describing the story of their present birth and how they came to be disciples of the Buddha. These stories of the previous lives of famous and not so famous monks and nuns may have been meant to provide moral examples to lay followers who wished to live as Buddhists but were unable or unwilling to undertake ordination as bhikkhus(monks) or bhikkhunis(nuns).

The text is divided into four sections:

1. Buddha-apadāna: A praise of the previous Buddhas and their Buddha fields (buddhakkhetta).

2. Paccekabuddha-apadāna: Ānanda questions the Buddha about the enlightenment of solitary Buddhas (paccekabuddha).

3. Thera-apadāna: 55 chapters of 10 apadānas of senior monks.

4. Therī-apadāna: 4 chapters of 10 apadānas of senior nuns.

English Translation of Apadana is not yet available.

Original Pali Version
(From www.tipitaka.org) 

The following freely available .PDF files were taken from www.tipitaka.org. These are from Vipassana Research Institute. These contain the original words in Pali language.

The translation of original Pali words can never convey exact meaning, hence these are being provided for research & comparison. The www.tipitaka.org website also contains files in many other languages.

It is also to be mentioned that in original Pali language Buddha is referred as Bhagava(God), Bhagvanta(God), Sattha/Satthu(Teacher).

Mula(Root) Version:

Atthakatha (Detailed Meaning):