THE PRESENT WORK OFFERS a complete translation of the Majjhima
Nikaya, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the
major collections in the Sutta Pitaka or "Basket of Discourses"
belonging to the Pali Canon. This vast body of scriptures,
recorded in the ancient Indian language now known as Pali, is
regarded by the Theravada school of Buddhism as the definitive
recension of the Buddha-word, and among scholars too it is gen
erally considered our most reliable source for the original teach
ings of the historical Buddha Gotama.
This translation is an extensively revised version of an original
draft translation made by the distinguished English scholar
monk, Bhikkhu Nanamoli (1905-1960). During his eleven years'
life in the Buddhist Order, passed entirely at the Island
Hermitage in south Sri Lanka, Ven. Nanamoli had rendered into
English some of the most difficult and intricate texts of Pali
Buddhism, among them the encyclopaedic Visuddhimagga.
Following his premature death at the age of 55, three thick
hand-bound notebooks containing a handwritten translation of
the entire Majjhima Nikaya were found among his effects.
However, although all 152 suttas of the Majjhima had been trans
lated, the work was obviously still in an ongoing process of revi
sion, with numerous crossouts and overwritings and a fair num
ber of unresolved inconsistencies. The translation also employed
an experimental scheme of highly original renderings for Pali
doctrinal terms that Ven. Nanamoli had come to prefer to his ear
lier scheme and had overwritten into the notebooks. He had used
this new set of renderings in several of his final publications,
offering an explanation for his choices in an appendix to The