Five Agamas
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five Agamas
五部 (Jpn go-bu )
The five divisions of the Pali Agama, the sutra section of the canon of Theravada Buddhism. They are thought to have been set down in writing around the first century B.C.E., having been passed down by way of oral tradition until then. The five Agamas are Digha-nikaya (long sutras), Majjhima-nikaya (medium-length sutras), Samyutta-nikaya (sutras on related topics), Anguttara-nikaya (sutras of numerical doctrines), and Khuddaka-nikaya (minor sutras). The first four correspond respectively to the four Chinese Agama sutras: the Long Agama Sutra, the Medium-Length Agama Sutra, the Miscellaneous Agama Sutra, and the Increasing by One Agama Sutra.
See also; four Agama sutras.
