Avatamska sutra (Sanskrit: āgama, Agon-kyo) is the oldest collection of Buddhist scriptures (sutra) and is considered to be an authentic Buddhist scripture that strongly reflects the words of the Buddha. The word agon is a phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit Pali word argama, meaning “a collection of teachings handed down from generation to generation, a compilation of such teachings. A synonym for agon is bu (Nikāya), which is used in the Pali Buddhist scriptures.

After the Buddha’s death, his doctrines were compiled through several assemblies led by his disciples, including Sakyamuni and Anan, to form the sutta-piṭaka (Sutta-piṭaka). On the other hand, the rules to be observed were compiled into the vinaya-piṭaka, which are generally said to have been created gradually from the 4th century B.C. to the 1st century B.C. Each of the sutra libraries was composed of a set of rules and regulations, each of which had a different name, such as Agon (阿含) or Avalokiteshvara (阿含). The sutras were called by the name of āgama (āgama) or nikāya (nikāya), respectively.

These extant versions include the “Pali Buddhist scriptures” and corresponding Chinese translations of sutras that have been transmitted to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. In the Chinese translation, there are four angon (chō, chū, zō, and zō), and the Taishōgura contains them in the angon section at the beginning of the sutra. In the Pali translation, five parts are handed down. Although they differ in terms of the school that transmitted them and the original language, they were both translated from the same set of Agon scriptures, and there is a certain correspondence between the two. Agong Sutra - Wikipedia

In the Chinese translation, there are four angles: long, medium, miscellaneous, and multiply.


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