Key Idea: Buddhist scripture is branch-specific: the Pali Canon for Theravada, shastras and agamas for Mahayana, tantras for Vajrayana. And the guide adds a sentence worth an essay on its own: two languages, Pali and Sanskrit, represent different interpretations.
Tested as
- What gives a Buddhist text authority
- Comparing Theravada and Mahayana scripture
- Language, translation and the spread of Buddhism
Watch for
- Treating the Pali Canon as scripture for all Buddhists
- Saying Pali is sacred in the way Arabic is for Muslims
- Assuming lay Buddhists read the Canon
Use
- Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma — the three divisions
- Panna — scriptural knowledge and wisdom as important pursuits
- Dhamma/dharma, nibbana/nirvana as the paired terms
| Branch | Texts | How they were carried |
|---|---|---|
| Theravada | The Pali Canon — Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma | Passed down through the monastic order; panna an important pursuit |
| Mahayana | Shastras and agamas, in Sanskrit | Translated widely — into Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese |
| Vajrayana | Tantras | Through lineages and a system of lamas |
Why the Vinaya matters more than its subject suggests
- It is the rule by which the monastic community lives, and it differs between Theravada and Mahayana.
- The guide's entry under transgression is receiving bad karma and being expelled from the monastery.
- So a division of Buddhist scripture is enforceable, which most scripture is not.
- And enforcement requires rules specified in advance and observable from outside — which is why monastic ethics and lay ethics differ in kind, not only in degree.
Discuss what gives a Buddhist text its authority.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Compare the place of scripture in Buddhism with its place in Islam.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Name the three divisions of the Pali Canon. The Vinaya, the monastic rules; the Sutta, the discourses; and the Abhidhamma, the analytical works.
What does the guide say about Pali and Sanskrit? That the two languages represent different interpretations — so a choice of language places a text within a tradition before any argument is made.
Why is the Vinaya unusual as scripture? Because it is enforceable: transgression brings bad karma and expulsion from the monastery, which requires rules specified in advance and observable.
Why did Buddhism translate so readily? Because no Buddhist language is held to be the speech of a god, so translation raises none of the theological difficulty it does in Islam.
Exam tips
- Say which branch. Pali Canon is Theravada; shastras and agamas Mahayana; tantras Vajrayana.
- Two languages, different interpretations — the guide's own sentence, and worth quoting.
- The Vinaya has sanctions. That makes it a different kind of text from the Suttas.
- Buddhism spread by translating. Contrast that with the Arabic Qur'an in any language question.