Lateness of the Anguttara Nikaya

We started a list of inauthentic suttas, but didn’t get very far. I made a list of late DN suttas:

They’re late on multiple grounds;

  1. Often they’re compilations of earlier material (much of it from AN)
  2. Verse styles in several texts are late.
  3. Notes from commentaries on some sections say they were added late
  4. Comparison with other canons, eg DN 30 Lakkhana has no counterparts.
  5. Literary style is often fanciful and elaborate
  6. Many texts are set in the last years of the Buddha’s life, and often relate to or derive from DN 16 Mahaparinibbana, which of course must have been composed after the Buddha’s death.
  7. Terminology or doctrine is sometimes a little late.
  8. DN 22 is clearly a compilation based after MN 10.

And so on.

8 Likes