NikÃÂya () is a PÃÂli word meaning "volume". It is often used like the Sanskrit word ÃÂgama () to mean "collection", "assemblage", "class" or "group" in both PÃÂḷi and Sanskrit. It is most commonly used in reference to the Pali Buddhist texts of the Tripitaka namely those found in the Sutta Piá¹Âaka. It is also used to refer to monastic lineages, where it is sometimes translated as a 'monastic fraternity'.
The term NikÃÂya Buddhism is sometimes used in contemporary scholarship to refer to the Buddhism of the early Buddhist schools.
In the PÃÂli Canon, particularly, the "Discourse Basket" or Sutta Piá¹Âaka, the meaning of nikÃÂya is roughly equivalent to the English collection and is used to describe groupings of discourses according to theme, length, or other categories. For example, the Sutta Piá¹Âaka is broken up into five nikÃÂyas:
In the other early Buddhist schools the alternate term ÃÂgama was used instead of nikÃÂya to describe their Sutra Piá¹Âakas. Thus the non-MahÃÂyÃÂna portion of the Sanskrit-language Sutra Piá¹Âaka is referred to as "the ÃÂgamas" by MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhists. The ÃÂgamas survive for the most part only in Classical Tibetan and Chinese translation. They correspond closely with the PÃÂḷi nikÃÂyas.
Among the TheravÃÂda nations of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, nikÃÂya is also used as the term for a monastic division or lineage; these groupings are also sometimes called "monastic fraternities" or "frateries". NikÃÂyas may emerge among monastic groupings as a result of royal or government patronage (such as the Dhammayuttika NikÃÂya of Thailand), due to the national origin of their ordination lineage (the Siam NikÃÂya of Sri Lanka), because of differences in the interpretation of the monastic code, or due to other factors (such as the Amarapura NikÃÂya in Sri Lanka, which emerged as a reaction to caste restrictions within the Siam NikÃÂya). These divisions do not rise to the level of forming separate sects within the TheravÃÂda tradition, because they do not typically follow different doctrines or monastic codes, nor do these divisions extend to the laity.
In Myanmar, all the monastic orders are called gaing () or gaá¹Âa () instead of nikÃÂya, although some orders include NikÃÂya () in addition to Gaing in their names. No new gaings have been allowed other than the nine legally recognized gaings under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations. The largest of these is the Thudhamma Gaing, which was founded in the 1800s during the Konbaung dynasty.
The term NikÃÂya Buddhism was coined by Masatoshi Nagatomifake as a non-derogatory substitute for Hinayana, meaning the early Buddhist schools. Examples of these groups are pre-sectarian Buddhism and the early Buddhist schools. Some scholars exclude pre-sectarian Buddhism when using the term. The term Theravada refers to Buddhist practices based on these early teachings, as preserved in the PÃÂli Canon.