bhanavara

Buddhist literature
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://mainten.top/topic/bhanavara
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Sanskrit and Pali:
“recitation section”

bhanavara, any of the units, usually 8,000 syllables in length, into which Pali Buddhist texts were divided in ancient times for purposes of recitation. The system developed as a means of preserving and transmitting canonical material before it was committed to writing and before written texts were in general use among the people. At first, different groups of bhanakas (“reciters”) were responsible for different parts of the canon; Dighabhanakas, for example, specialized in the Digha Nikaya (“Long Collection”). Later, in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), these groups developed into early schools of interpretation, and their differing views are reflected in some of ...(100 of 103 words)