<p>Ven. Bodhi's book also provides PTS references inside square brackets. For the MN 64 example, his book will show:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Whatever exists therein of material form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, he sees those states as impermanent, as suffering, as a disease, as a tumour, as a barb, as a calamity, as an affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as void, as not self. He turns his mind away from those states <strong>[436]</strong> and directs it towards the deathless element thus..."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Else as Andrei mentioned, simply go to suttacentral and click MN 64, then click the cogwheel icon on the upper right hand side (it'll say "Text settings" when moused over), then click the "View textual information" slider and it'll shows the infos. on the right hand side of the paragraphs.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-24T16:03:17.817Z
2019-03-24T16:03:17.817Z
santa100
<p>Also there's a cross-reference between the two numbering systems, on this page:</p>

<p><a href="https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Reference/Sutta-PTS.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sutta and Jātaka number and name, links and PTS page number</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-25T22:12:47.083Z
2019-03-25T22:12:47.083Z
ChrisW
<p>I think you mean what's usually written MN I 436 (roman one, no dot)... These are volume and page number in the Pali Text Society official printed Pali edition of the Canon.</p>

<p>You can see them e.g. on suttacentral.net next to the sutta number. </p>

<p>Looks like MN I 436 is somewhere between the beginnings of MN 64 and MN 65, most likely it refers to a quote on the last page of MN 64, as found in the official PTS Pali edition.</p>

<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn64" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://suttacentral.net/mn64</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-24T14:33:02.800Z
2019-03-24T14:40:26.600Z
2019-03-24T14:40:26.600Z
Andriy Volkov
<p>I have come across a reference to the Majjhima Nikaya (MN) noted as MN 1.436. In my own book (The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A translation of the Majjhima Nikaya by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bikkhu Bodhi) there are 152 suttas and each sutta can be sub-divided into a number of vaggas but I can't figure out how one arrives at the aforementioned reference (just newly started to take an interest in the literature).</p>

<p>Kind Regards
Bo</p>

<pali-canon>
How does the reference system of the Majjhima Nikaya work?
# How does the reference system of the Majjhima Nikaya work?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-24)

I have come across a reference to the Majjhima Nikaya (MN) noted as MN 1.436. In my own book (The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A translation of the Majjhima Nikaya by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bikkhu Bodhi) there are 152 suttas and each sutta can be sub-divided into a number of vaggas but I can't figure out how one arrives at the aforementioned reference (just newly started to take an interest in the literature).

Kind Regards
Bo

**Tags:** pali-canon


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-03-24. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

I think you mean what's usually written MN I 436 (roman one, no dot)... These are volume and page number in the Pali Text Society official printed Pali edition of the Canon.

You can see them e.g. on suttacentral.net next to the sutta number.

Looks like MN I 436 is somewhere between the beginnings of MN 64 and MN 65, most likely it refers to a quote on the last page of MN 64, as found in the official PTS Pali edition.

<https://suttacentral.net/mn64>


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-03-24. Score: 2

Ven. Bodhi's book also provides PTS references inside square brackets. For the MN 64 example, his book will show:

> "Whatever exists therein of material form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, he sees those states as impermanent, as suffering, as a disease, as a tumour, as a barb, as a calamity, as an affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as void, as not self. He turns his mind away from those states **[436]** and directs it towards the deathless element thus..."

Else as Andrei mentioned, simply go to suttacentral and click MN 64, then click the cogwheel icon on the upper right hand side (it'll say "Text settings" when moused over), then click the "View textual information" slider and it'll shows the infos. on the right hand side of the paragraphs.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-03-25. Score: 1

Also there's a cross-reference between the two numbering systems, on this page:

[Sutta and Jātaka number and name, links and PTS page number](https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Reference/Sutta-PTS.htm)


---

