Reasons for additions to older texts

[Punna]

Hi all,

I heard there are additions to older suttas such as:
(1) small one regarding relic to DN16. This is added after the 1st council.
(2) Bakula Sutta is not in the 1st council (I’m not sure about the name of the sutta since I heard it through a talk by a Bhante, not by reading)
(3) some part to Theragatha.

What could be the reasons behind these additions? Where did later monks who added them get the information from?
Can we only have speculation on why they did that or can we find the real reasons?

Thank you.

[Jhana4]

Humanity might not ever know.

The goal is more happiness, less suffering.

It is nice to feel that you have teachings from a real person who somehow discovered something “supernatural”.

In the end it is not important who said X, but if X works for making you more happy.

[Punna]

Yeah, we might not know.
The Buddhist teachings on generosity, morality, and concentration have helped me be much much happier.
I hope people don’t get discouraged from learning about the Buddha’s teachings because of the post. (Moderator please delete?)

[Viveka]

Here is a reply from Bhante Sujato

@sujato

Hi Punna,

I actually think it was a good question, and I would have liked the chance to answer it!

In brief:

1. We don’t know for sure why changes were made.
2. We can, however, make some reasoned inferences. There is a middle ground of reason in between imagination and fact.
3. Some additions are there for purely “technical” reasons. For example, why is the Satipatthana Sutta found in both MN and DN? probably to ensure that the Digha reciters had a substantial text on Satipatthana, which otherwise is lacking from the Digha. Thus this probably is to do with managing curricula in a context where monastics would often specialize in one or other nikaya.
4. In other cases, changes may represent dynamics in the community at the time. It is noteworthy, for example, that the 2nd council was about strict adherence to Vinaya, which is the main theme of the Bakkula Sutta.

If you’re interested in the methodology, the Wikipedia article gives you some background, and we discuss it more in The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts .

en.wikipedia.org

Historical criticism

Outline of Bible-related topics Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand “the world behind the text”. While often discussed in terms of Jewish and Christian writings from ancient times, historical criticism has also been applied to other religious and secular writings from various parts of the world and periods of history. The primary goal of historical cr…

[paul1]

@Punna

Where did later monks who added them get the information from?

They got it from their own experience. The teaching is not something to be clung to indefinitely (2), there comes a point when it begins to work for itself through establishing the relationship between sila, samadhi and panna (1). Then the practitioner is able to say things about how the dhamma works.

(1)“The three aggregates are not included under the noble eightfold path, friend Visakha, but the noble eightfold path is included under the three aggregates. Right speech, right action, & right livelihood come under the aggregate of virtue. Right effort, right mindfulness, & right concentration come under the aggregate of concentration. Right view & right resolve come under the aggregate of discernment.”—MN 44

(2)"Here, monks, having got across and arrived at the other shore, the man thinks: ‘This raft, indeed, has been very helpful to me. Carried by it, and laboring with hands and feet, I got safely across to the other shore. Should I not pull it up now to the dry land or let it float in the water, and then go as I please?’ By acting thus, monks, would that man do what should be done with a raft.

“In the same way, monks, have I shown to you the Teaching’s similitude to a raft: as having the purpose of crossing over, not the purpose of being clung to.”—MN 22