Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

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mikenz66
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by mikenz66 »

Hmm, this just shows what a flexible thing a "volume" is. The DN and MN are 3 volumes in the orginal PTS, but they are only a few hundred pages each so they could easily be one volume each (as the modern translations are).

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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by DNS »

mikenz66 wrote:Hmm, this just shows what a flexible thing a "volume" is. The DN and MN are 3 volumes in the orginal PTS, but they are only a few hundred pages each so they could easily be one volume each (as the modern translations are).
:oops: I did not have my copies near me and was just going off memory. Okay, three volumes each in the DN and MN, but that would still total 44 and then combining some of the KN books could get it down to 40 volumes.

But you are right, everyone could have a different definition of what a 'volume' is and conceivably, the number could be much lower, depending upon the translation. I notice that Bhikkhu Bodhi has started removing some of the repetition in his translations, such as . . . "from this point, same as verse xx.xx above . . . "
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by Kare »

mikenz66 wrote:40 Volumes would include commentaries, wouldn't it?

Mike
The Bangkok edition in Thai characters is 45 volumes. No commentaries.
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by Kare »

TheDhamma wrote:
mikenz66 wrote:Hmm, this just shows what a flexible thing a "volume" is. The DN and MN are 3 volumes in the orginal PTS, but they are only a few hundred pages each so they could easily be one volume each (as the modern translations are).
:oops: I did not have my copies near me and was just going off memory. Okay, three volumes each in the DN and MN, but that would still total 44 and then combining some of the KN books could get it down to 40 volumes.

But you are right, everyone could have a different definition of what a 'volume' is and conceivably, the number could be much lower, depending upon the translation. I notice that Bhikkhu Bodhi has started removing some of the repetition in his translations, such as . . . "from this point, same as verse xx.xx above . . . "
Even the texts in Pali remove some repetitions with a "...pe...", which means "...etc...".
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by Individual »

Based on decades of research, my best estimate is - 1 widgets long, where a "widget" is a unit of measurement defined as a text of indeterminate length, or roughly 1/5th the size of Google's database.

If you were to count every grain of sand along the bank of the river Ganges, etc., etc..
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by zavk »

I can imagine some Christians--perhaps when travelling in an unfamiliar place--sleeping with a bible under the pillow. Not quite possible for a Buddhist, is it? :)
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings zavk,

More chance of making a futon out of it. Maybe even a high and luxurious bed?

:zzz:

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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by jcsuperstar »

i think this is the secret to why there are more christians in the world; less books to carry to catechism class :tongue:
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by Individual »

Also, actually attempting to memorize it all would give you a cranial protrusion.
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Individual,
Individual wrote:Also, actually attempting to memorize it all would give you a cranial protrusion.
Yeah, with little USB memory sticks poking out of your frontal lobe. :tongue:

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Retro. :)
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by MMK23 »

zavk wrote:I can imagine some Christians--perhaps when travelling in an unfamiliar place--sleeping with a bible under the pillow. Not quite possible for a Buddhist, is it? :)
Yes but some of the commentaries are very portable :-)
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by jcsuperstar »

also the dhammapada
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

You can find some statistics here.
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The oral examination on these 7,983 pages or about 2.4 million words is not a viva voce, a question and answer examination. It is an examination on total recall and faultless reproduction. The Candidate will be given a pointing to the Pāli Canon, any point, and asked to continue reciting from there, line by line, paragraph by paragraph and page by page. Or he would be given a point and asked to go back from there a certain number of sections and to recite from there. There must be no error in the word form, the pronunciation must be correct, the flow must be smooth, and the enunciation must demonstrate the proper understanding of the meaning of the passage being recited. A certain number of pages of text must be covered in a fixed time. A candidate who requires prompting for five or more time fails.
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by DNS »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:You can find some statistics here.
A Fabulous Memory
Sayādaw U Vicittasāra Mingun Sayādaw
Thanks Bhante for that. I knew there was at least one monk that had memorized just about the entire Canon, but did not have the source/link.

So according to that link about 16,000 pages for the Canon and 17,917 for the commentaries. :reading:

On another note, it gives credence to the fact that the Canon could be memorized and can be authentic even though it was oral for over 300 years. This is just what one man memorized, whereas the Canon was first recited by 500 arahants.
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Re: Quick question about the size of the Pali Canon

Post by Digger »

Sorry I am really late to this topic (new member to this board) but I'd like to add something related I saw. There are savants with incredible memory ability. Many are autistic or have other disabilities but there are some without any noticable disabilities. I saw a TV show about Daniel Tammet ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) who can recite Pi from memory to 22,514 digits, learn and speak fluently a foreign language in a week, etc. Surely the Pali text would be something one with this type of ability could memorize and recite.
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