SN 5. Thematic Discourses about Nuns

In preparing this text and translation for publication I have divided it into a number of versions. In the Buddhist Texts and Studies section will be found the Pāḷi Text together with the variant readings. This is a more technical work dealing with the establishment of the text.

In the Texts and Translations section I present the full Text and Translation with annotations which help to explain matters that may not be clear from the text itself. I have therefore translated the Commentary, such as it is, in its entirety, which will at least give students some idea of what a Commentary is like.

In the English section there is the Translation Only, with somewhat less notes than in the Text and Translations section, which is intended for the casual reader who wants a reliable translation but is not interested in the technical matters concerning the original text itself.

I have also recorded both the English translation and the Pāḷi text, which are available on their respective pages; and can also be accessed separately on the Audio page.

The establishment of the text involved no great difficulties, and the variations are minor for the most part. Wherever necessary I have indicated why I preferred a reading, or what the relationship of the alternative reading is to the text, although there is sometimes extra information in this regard in the Text and Translation version.

I have filled in the ellipses found in the original as I believe they would have been done by the recitor (bhāṇaka) during recital. Where ellipsis should be marked is very fluid between the different editions, which perhaps indicates that it was a matter for the scribe to decide, rather than a strict textual tradition.