Aṭṭhakavagga draft

Aṭṭhakavagga. The fourth division of the Suttanipāta. It consists of sixteen Suttas, all of which are explained in the Mahā Niddesa. It may also have been the name of divisions of other books, because we are told that once Soṇa Thera intoned before the Buddha all the verses of the Books of the Eights (Aṭṭhaka-vaggikāni) Vin.i.196-7. The Dhammapada Commentary (Dhp-a.iv.101-2) says he recited the 16 portions of the Aṭṭhakavagga.

Nandamātā Upāsikā was once reciting the Aṭṭhakavagga and the Pārāyaṇavagga on the roof of her house, and Vessavaṇa, while on the way with his followers to see the Buddha, listened to her recital (Snp-a.i.370; but see AN.iv.63, where only the Pārāyaṇa is mentioned). According to this tradition, the Aṭṭhakavagga was already being recited in the Buddha’s own time.

In Sanskrit the title was known as Arthavarga and was so understood by the Chinese translators. No one has explained what the title means nor has interpreted the second Sutta (Guhaṭṭhaka) except as “The Eight Verses on the Cave,” and similarly with the three following Suttas: Duṭṭhaṭṭhaka, Suddhaṭṭha and Paramaṭṭhaka, each of eight verses. The fact that it is commented on separately in the Mahā Niddesa and was translated into Chinese makes it appear probable that it was once a separate work. See Thomas: Life and Legend of the Buddha, 274.