The Saá¹Âyutta NikÃÂya ("Connected Discourses" or "Kindred Sayings") is a Buddhist scriptures collection, the third of the five NikÃÂyas, or collections, in the Sutta Piá¹Âaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the PÃÂli Tipiá¹Âaka of TheravÃÂda Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas/sà «tras is unclear. The editor of the Pali Text Society edition of the text made it 2889, Bodhi in his translation has 2904, while the commentaries give 7762. A study by Rupert Gethin gives the totals for the Burmese and Sinhalese editions as 2854 and 7656, respectively, and his own calculation as 6696; he also says the total in the Thai edition is unclear. The suttas/sà «tras are grouped into five vaggas/vargas, or sections. Each vagga/varga is further divided into saá¹Âyuttas/saá¹Âyuktas, or chapters, each of which in turn contains a group of suttas/sà «tras on a related topic.
Bhante Sujato, a contemporary scholar monk, argues that the remarkable congruence of the various recensions suggests that the Saá¹Âyutta Nikãya/Saá¹Âyukta ÃÂgama was the only collection to be finalized in terms of both structure and content in the pre-sectarian period.
The Saá¹Âyutta NikÃÂya corresponds to the Saá¹Âyukta ÃÂgama found in the Sutra Piá¹Âakas of various Sanskritic early Buddhists schools, fragments of which survive in Sanskrit and in Tibetan translation. A complete Chinese translation from the SarvÃÂstivÃÂdin recension appears in the Chinese Buddhist canon, where it is known as the Zá ÃÂhánjëng (éÂÂé¿å«ç¶Â); meaning "the mixed ÃÂgama". A comparison of the SarvÃÂstivÃÂdin, KÃÂà Âyapëya, and TheravÃÂdin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains suttas/sutras not found in the others. The Collation and Annotation of Saá¹ÂyuktÃÂgama (ãÂÂ<éÂÂé¿å«ç¶Â>æ ¡éÂÂ, Chinese version) makes further comparison.
The vaggas contained in this nikÃÂya are (the numbering of chapters [saá¹Âyutta] here refers to the PTS and Burmese editions; the Sinhalese and Thai editions divide the text up somewhat differently):