Apadāna
Sign in to saveAlso known as Apadana, Legends of the Buddhist Saints, Apadānapāli
The Apadāna is a collection of biographical stories found in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pāli Canon, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. G.P. Malalasekera describes it as 'a Buddhist Vitae Sanctorum' of Buddhist monks and nuns who lived during the lifetime of the Buddha.
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Translations
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
The Apadāna is a collection of biographical stories found in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pāli Canon, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. G.P. Malalasekera describes it as 'a Buddhist Vitae Sanctorum' of Buddhist monks and nuns who lived during the lifetime of the Buddha.
It is thought to be one of the latest additions to the canon. The exact meaning of the title Apadāna is not known. Perhaps it means 'life history' or 'legend'. In Pāli it has the additional, older meaning of advice or moral instruction. Dr Sally Cutler has suggested the word originally meant 'reapings', i.e. of the results of karma. The title is sometimes translated as the Biographical Stories, or simply as The Stories.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Apadāna” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.