Nikāya

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Nikāya (Pāli, ‘body’). A collection of works within the ‘baskets’ (pitaka) of the Buddhist Pāli canon. Thus the Sūtra-piṭaka contains five nikāyas: Dīgha, Majjhima, Saṃyutta, Anguttara, and Khuddaka. It may also be a ‘body’ of bhikṣus (monks), and is so used of sects or schools in the saṅgha.

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