A Digital Comparative Catalog of Āgama Literature

Version 3.0 (Autumn 2006)

A. Introduction

B. User's manual

C. Download

Correctly cited as:
Akanuma, Chizen; Anesaki, Masaharu; Bingenheimer, Marcus: A Digital Comparative Catalog of Āgama Literature. Version 3. (2006)

A. Introduction

A1. This catalog is mainly a digital reworking of two previous catalogs:


M. Anesaki and C.Akanuma have over the course of many years first worked out the parallels and correspondences between the two text corpora. They deserve full credit for their meticulous and toilsome efforts. This digital catalogue differs from their works in two main respects:

A2. We have not encoded any indication as to how texts are related. Akanuma especially sometimes uses certain interpretative signals ( 參﹐中﹐終﹐後半 etc.) which so far are omitted. There are good reasons for this.
Firstly the use of these signals is not consistent and, more important, they themselves are open to interpretation. Instead encoding tentative hints regarding the relationship between two or more texts, we have followed the concept of "text cluster." A cluster is a number of texts that are in some way related. In the case of this catalog this relation ranges between complete parallelism, to having only a few lines or even only the topic in common. The result of the search therefore yields a cluster of texts that have certain features in common and a researcher might want to look at all of them.
This catalog is part of a larger project that aims at using the advantages of digital encoding for a comparative study of the Āgama literature.
In this version the corrections of Akanuma's addenda are not yet fully included.

A3. This is an open project, i.e. it is designed with the aim to allow further information to be added as the research is done. The clusters will over time be refined, perhaps grow, perhaps diminish, perhaps be regrouped into a different pattern according to the hermeneutic approach of the researcher. It is therefore open-end. Open also means that this version can be freely copied and redistributed for non-commercial use with the header intact, under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

A4. Most of the input was done during a stay in India. I have to thank the Vipassana Research Institute, Ignatpuri - especially Drs. Pathak and Rohi - for their hospitality that made it possible to work on this project undisturbedly. The tedious input of numbers and letters was greatly helped by the concentrated atmosphere at Dhammagiri. Special thanks also to Daphne Tseng who helped with some of the input.

A5. Version 3 offers the data in XML. In the near future the data will be included in the comprehensive Sutra Catalogue Project at the Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies.

May all beings be happy

Marcus Bingenheimer
Autumn 2006


B. User's Manual:

This is raw data. It has no search interface. You will have to use the search function in your text editor. If you encounter any problems, especially if you find any mistakes: please report them back to me (m.bingenheimerATgmail.com).

If you are new to XML better input your search exactly as prescribed below.


You have a Pali Sutta and are looking for related texts:

For the Dīgha Nikāya search for:

DXX

(XX is the number of the Sutra in the PTS edition. I.e. for the Brahamajaala S. you will have to enter D01. Every "X" has to be assigned a number!)


For the Majjhima Nikāya search:

MXXX

The Kandakara Sutra would be M051.


For the Saṃyutta Nikāya Saṃyuttas 1-4, 6-7 and 11 search:

SXX.XX.XX

The first Sutta (Ogham) would therefore be S01.01.01

for Saṃyuttas 5, 8-10 and 12-56 search:

SXX.XX or SXX.XXX depending if the sutta-number has one /two or three digits.

It would be 45.01 (not 45.1) for the first Sutta (Avijjā), 45.99 (not 45.099) for the Samudda(3)-Sutta and 45.130 for the Sutta titled Tathāgata.


For the Aṅguttara Nikāya Nipātas 01 and 02 search:

AXX.XX.XX or AXX.XX.XXX

The first two XX are 01 or 02 the second pair is the vaggo and XX or XXX again depending if the sutta number has one/two or three digits. The first sutra is therefore A01.01.01

For Aṅguttara Nikāya Nipātas 03-11 just search for:

AXX.XXX

The first Sutta in the Tika Nipāta has, you guessed it, the id A03.001.


If, after making sure that your input was correct, you still get no hits, the sutra you are looking for is probably in a group like S51.45-54. (If you happen to look for S51.46 this would not yield a search result.)


You have a Chinese Jing and are looking for related texts:

For the Chang Ahan jing 長阿含經 search for:

ChaXX

For the Zhong Anhan jing 中阿含經 search for:

ZhoXXX

For the Za Ahan jing 雜阿含經 search for:

ZaXX.XX

The first two "XX" denote a juan 卷 - chapter.


For the Bieyi Za Ahan jing 別譯雜阿含經 search for:

BZaXX.XX

Again the first two "XX" denote a juan 卷 - chapter.


For the Zengyi Ahan jing 增一阿含經 search for:

ZeXX.XX

Careful! Here the first two "XX" denote a pin 品 - chapter!


All other Taishō Sutras are best searched as:

TnXXXX

Thus, the 七佛經 would be Tn0002.



Interpreting the results:

Example No.1:

You want to find texts related to the first Sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya.
You search for:

S01.01.01

Your search function should lead you to a <cluster> where it says:

<cluster>
<text>S01.01.01 (S01.01.01)</text>
<text>Za48.01 (雜 48.01)</text>
<text>BZa09.20 (別雜 09.20)</text>
</cluster>

This denotes the first sutra in juan 卷 48 of the Za Ahan jing 雜阿含經 and the twentieth sutra in juan 9 of the Bieyi ahan jing 別譯雜阿含經. If you don't have the first two Taishō volumes on your desk, you can now use e.g. the CBETA Website or CD to access the texts.

Example No.2:

You are reading the fourth sutra of the Zhong ahan jing 中阿含經, the Shui yu jing 水喻經, and wonder if Akanuma and Anesaki have found any related texts other than the ones given in the Taishō footnotes.
You search for:

Zho004

and are led to an element that says:

<cluster>
<text>Zho004 (水喻經)</text>
<text>Tn0029 (鹹水喻經)</text>
<text>Ze39.03 (增39品03)</text>
<text>A07.015 (A07.015)</text>
<text>Pgp-AP (Puggalapaññati VII.2)</text>
</cluster>

So, next to Zho004 you have:
Taishō-number 0029
a sutra from the Zengyi ahan jing, namely the third of juan 39
a sutta in the Anguttara Nikāya, namely No. 15 in the Sattaka Nipata
and a cryptic abbreviation "Pgp-AP"

Example No. 3:

You search for:

S12.26

and all you get is:

<cluster> <text>S12.26 (S12.26)</text> </cluster>

that means that Akunama/Anesaki have found no texts related to this sutta.

I have tried to cluster the texts in a way that every id appears only once in the "Library of Links", there are some exceptions, however. So it is best to repeat your search until all instances of the string are found.

Download the XML file: Comcat Version 3

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