The Shobhu (巴: Khuddaka Nikāya, Khuddaka Nikāya) is the fifth (last) “division” (nikāya) of the “five divisions” (巴: Pañca Nikāya, pancha nikaya) that make up the sutra collection of the Pali Buddhist scriptures. Abbreviated as KN. Despite the name, the amount of text is by no means small; in fact, it is overwhelmingly large. For example, in the Nanden Daizangkyō, published by Daizō, the “Chōbu” is in 3 volumes, the “Chūbu” in 4 volumes, the “Keibu” in 6 volumes, and the “Masu-branch” in 7 volumes, while the “Kōbu” spends 22 volumes in total.
It is one of the oldest sutras in existence, especially Sthanipata. In NHK “100 Minutes de Meitoku” Books: Buddha’s Words of Truth, Yasushi Sasaki chose Dhammapada (=“Words of Truth”) because the later Dhammapada is easier to understand.
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