SCRIPTURES - THE TIPITAKA
The many teachings of the Buddha are written down in traditional scriptures. The oldest collection of these were written in the Pali and Sinhalese language, and form the basis of the current Theravada tradition; the Pali Canon. The teachings of the Mahayana school were written in Sanskrit. (For a brief explanation of these schools, see The Three Vehicles.)
(The following text was mainly derived from the Asian Studies website of the Australian National University.)