Linked Discourses

From the Publisher:

This translation was part of a project to translate the four Pali Nikāyas with the following aims: plain, approachable English; consistent terminology; accurate rendition of the Pali; free of copyright. It was made during 2016–2018 while Bhikkhu Sujato was staying in Qimei, Taiwan.

From the Introduction:

The Saṁyutta Nikāya is the third of the four main divisions in the Sutta Piṭaka of the Pali Canon (tipiṭaka). It is translated here as Linked Discourses, and has been previously translated as the Connected Discourses or the Kindred Sayings. As the title suggests, its discourses are grouped thematically. These thematic groups of texts are called saṁyuttas, and the Saṁyutta Nikāya is the collection of such saṁyuttas.

The Saṁyutta Nikāya consists of 56 saṁyuttas collected in five large “books” (vagga), containing over a thousand discourses. The Mahāsaṅgīti text as used on SuttaCentral contains 2837 discourses; but the total number is somewhat arbitrary, as it depends on how the abbreviated texts are expanded, which differs in different editions. This variation, however, applies only to the way the texts are counted, and does not affect the content, which is virtually identical in every edition.

It is in the Saṁyutta Nikāya that we find the core doctrines that have formed the basis for all subsequent Buddhist philosophy. It is largely structured around major doctrinal sections that correspond with the template of the four noble truths.