Pali Canon

The complete scriptures of Theravada Buddhism, preserved in the Pali language as the "Three Baskets", the Tipitaka.

Core Characteristics

Three baskets: the Vinaya of monastic discipline, the Sutta of the Buddha's discourses, the Abhidhamma of systematic philosophy.
Committed to writing in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BC, after centuries of oral recitation.
Its Khuddaka Nikaya holds the Dhammapada, the Jatakas and the psalms of monks and nuns.