In Buddhism, an ÃÂgama (à ¤Âà ¤Âà ¤® Sanskrit and PÃÂli, Tibetan: à ½£à ½´à ½Âà ¼ (Wylie: lung) for "sacred work" or "scripture") is a collection of early Buddhist texts.
The five ÃÂgama together comprise the Suttapiá¹Âaka of the early Buddhist schools, which had different recensions of each ÃÂgama. In the Pali Canon of the Theravada, the term nikÃÂya is used. The word ÃÂgama does not occur in this collection.
In Buddhism, the term ÃÂgama is used to refer to a collection of discourses (Sanskrit: sà «tra; Pali: sutta) of the early Buddhist schools, which were preserved primarily in Chinese translation, with substantial material also surviving in Prakrit/Sanskrit and lesser but still significant amounts surviving in GÃÂndhÃÂrë and in Tibetan translation. These sutras correspond to the first four NikÃÂyas (and parts of the fifth) of the Sutta-Pitaka of the Pali Canon, which are also occasionally called ÃÂgamas. In this sense, ÃÂgama is a synonym for one of the meanings of nikÃÂya. The content of both collections, the ÃÂgama (here: Northern Collection), and the nikÃÂya (here: Southern Collection), are dissimilar to an extent. Large parts of the Anguttara nikÃÂya and Samyutta nikÃÂya do not occur in the ÃÂgama, and several sutras/suttas are dissimilar in content.
Sometimes the word ÃÂgama is used to refer not to a specific scripture, but to a class of scripture. In this case, its meaning can also encompass the Sutta-pitaka, which the Theravada tradition holds to be the oldest and most historically accurate representation of the teachings of Gautama Buddha, together with the Vinaya-pitaka.
In the 4th century MahÃÂyÃÂna abhidharma work Abhidharmasamuccaya, ÃÂsaá¹ ga refers to the collection which contains the Prakrit/Sanskrit ÃÂgamas as the à ÂrÃÂvakapiá¹Âaka, and associates it with the à ÂrÃÂvakas and pratyekabuddhas. ÃÂsaá¹ ga classifies the MahÃÂyÃÂna sà «tras as belonging to the Bodhisattvapiá¹Âaka, which is designated as the collection of teachings for bodhisattvas.
Jens-Uwe Hartmann writes,
It is clear that, among the early schools, at a minimum the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda, KÃÂà Âyapëya, MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika, and Dharmaguptaka had recensions of four of the five Prakrit/Sanskrit ÃÂgamas that differed. The ÃÂgamas have been compared to the Pali Canon's nikÃÂyas by contemporary scholars in an attempt to identify possible changes and root phrasings. The ÃÂgamas' existence and similarity to the Sutta Pitaka are sometimes used by scholars to assess to what degree these teachings are a historically authentic representation of the Canon of Early Buddhism. Sometimes also the differences between them are used to suggest an alternative meaning to the accepted meaning of a sutta in either of the two recensions.
There are four extant collections of ÃÂgamas, and one for which we have only references and fragments (the Ká¹£udrakÃÂgama). The four extant collections are preserved in their entirety only in Chinese translation (ÃÂgama: é¿å«ç¶Â), although small portions of all four have recently been discovered in Sanskrit, and portions of four of the five ÃÂgamas are preserved in Tibetan. The five ÃÂgamas are:
The Dërgha ÃÂgama ("Long Discourses," Cháng Ahánjëng é·é¿å«綠Taishà  1) corresponds to the Dëgha NikÃÂya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Dërgha ÃÂgama of the Dharmaguptaka (æ³ÂèÂÂé¨) school was done by Buddhayaà Âas (ä½ÂéÂÂè¶èÂÂ) and Zhu Fonian (竺ä½Â念) in the Late Qin dynasty (å¾Â秦), dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sà «tras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin Dëgha NikÃÂya. A "very substantial" portion of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂdin Dërgha ÃÂgama survives in Sanskrit, and portions survive in Tibetan translation.
The Madhyama ÃÂgama ( "Middle-length Discourses") corresponds to the Majjhima NikÃÂya of the Theravada school. A complete translation of the Madhyama ÃÂgama of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda school was done by Saá¹Âghadeva () in the Eastern Jin dynasty in 397-398 CE. The Madhyama ÃÂgama of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda school contains 222 sà «tras, in contrast to the 152 suttas of the PÃÂli Majjhima NikÃÂya. Portions of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda Madhyama ÃÂgama also survive in Tibetan translation.
The Saá¹Âyukta ÃÂgama ("Connected Discourses", Zá Ahánjëng éÂÂé¿å«綠Taishà  2.99) corresponds to the Saá¹Âyutta NikÃÂya of the Theravada school. A Chinese translation of the complete Saá¹Âyukta ÃÂgama of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda (說ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂæÂÂé¨) school was done by Guá¹Âabhadra (æ±Âé£è·ÂéÂÂç¾ ) in the Song state (å®Â), dated to 435-443 CE. Portions of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda Saá¹Âyukta ÃÂgama also survive in Sanskrit and Tibetan translation. In 2014, The Collation and Annotation of Saá¹ÂyuktÃÂgama (éÂÂé¿å«ç¶Âæ ¡éÂÂ, Chinese version), written by Wang Jianwei and Jin Hui, was published in China.
There is also an incomplete Chinese translation of the Saá¹Âyukta ÃÂgama (å¥è¯éÂÂé¿å«綠Taishà  100) of the KÃÂà Âyapëya (飲å Âé¨) school by an unknown translator, from around the Three Qin (ä¸Â秦) period, 352-431 CE. A comparison of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂdin, KÃÂà Âyapëya, and Theravadin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains texts not found in the others.
The Ekottara ÃÂgama ("Numbered Discourses," ZÃÂngyë Ahánjëng, å¢Â壹é¿å«綠Taishà  125) corresponds to the Anguttara NikÃÂya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Ekottara ÃÂgama was translated by Dharmanandi (æÂÂæ©é£æÂÂ) of the Fu Qin state (è»秦), and edited by Gautama Saá¹Âghadeva in 397âÂÂ398 CE. Some believed that it came from the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda school, but more recently the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika branch has been proposed as well. According to A.K. Warder, the Ekottara ÃÂgama references 250 PrÃÂtimoká¹£a rules for monks, which agrees only with the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, which is also located in the Chinese Buddhist canon. He also views some of the doctrine as contradicting tenets of the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika school, and states that they agree with Dharmaguptaka views currently known. He therefore concludes that the extant Ekottara ÃÂgama is that of the Dharmaguptaka school.
Of the four ÃÂgamas of the Sanskritic Sà «tra Piá¹Âaka in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, it is the one which differs most from the TheravÃÂdin version. The Ekottara ÃÂgama contains variants on such standard teachings as the Noble Eightfold Path. According to Keown, "there is considerable disparity between the PÃÂli and the [Chinese] versions, with more than two-thirds of the sà «tras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sà «tra Piá¹Âaka was not formed until a fairly late date."
The Ká¹£udraka ÃÂgama ("Minor Collection") corresponds to the Khuddaka NikÃÂya, and existed in some schools. The Dharmaguptaka in particular had a Ká¹£udraka ÃÂgama. The Chinese translation of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya provides a table of contents for the Dharmaguptaka recension of the Ká¹£udraka ÃÂgama, and fragments in Gandhari appear to have been found. Items from this ÃÂgama also survive in Tibetan and Chinese translationâÂÂfourteen texts, in the latter case. Some schools, notably the SarvÃÂstivÃÂda, recognized only four ÃÂgamasâÂÂthey had a "Ká¹£udraka" which they did not consider to be an "ÃÂgama." OthersâÂÂincluding even the Dharmaguptaka, according to some contemporary scholarsâÂÂpreferred to term it a "Ká¹£udraka Piá¹Âaka." As with its PÃÂḷi counterpart, the Ká¹£udraka ÃÂgama appears to have been a miscellany, and was perhaps never definitively established among many early schools.
In addition, there is a substantial quantity of ÃÂgama-style texts outside of the main collections. These are found in various sources: