<p>This depends on which Buddhist school or tradition you are referring to.</p>

<p>For the Theravada school, the main scripture is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li_Canon" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pali Canon</a> or the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripi%E1%B9%ADaka" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tipitaka</a>, in the Pali language. Tipitaka means the three baskets. The three are the Sutta Pitaka which is the basket on the teachings of the Buddha and his disciples, the Vinaya Pitaka which is the basket on the monastic rules, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka which is the basket of philosophical analysis.</p>

<p>Here's one view of it below. The Dhammapada is only one book of the 15 books of the Khuddaka Nikaya, which is part of the Sutta Pitaka.</p>

<p>You can find it online at <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AccessToInsight</a> or <a href="https://suttacentral.net/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SuttaCentral</a>.</p>

<p>There are also the commentaries to the Tipitaka and other supplementary writings, such as the Visuddhimagga.</p>

<p>Also see <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/4112/471">Chronological or other sequence for beginners</a>, <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31032/471">Recommendation for Suttas</a> and <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/8462/471">How to Study the Suttas?</a>.</p>

<p>Other Buddhist scripture for Mahayana Buddhism are either in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_Buddhist_literature" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sanskrit</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Buddhist_canon" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chinese</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhist_canon" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tibetan</a>. The Vajrayana school is part of Mahayana.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/o6Pub.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Click to enlarge"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/o6Pub.png"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-29T07:29:58.307Z
What is the main difference in Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism? I have understood that Mahayana is based on Shunyata and Madyamaka(middle path)
Manu Kumar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-29T07:35:33.823Z
@ManuKumar There is [this answer](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/67/471) but I think you can also ask another question here at Buddhism.SE.
ruben2020
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-29T07:14:11.933Z
2019-06-29T07:46:02.073Z
2019-06-29T07:46:02.073Z
ruben2020
<p>What all are the important books, that are part of Buddhism, other than Dhammapada?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-29T07:29:16.803Z
See also [List of book recommendations](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/25889/254)
ChrisW
<texts><buddha><books><dhammapada>
Can anyone please list important books on Buddhism?
# Can anyone please list important books on Buddhism?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-29)

What all are the important books, that are part of Buddhism, other than Dhammapada?

**Tags:** texts, buddha, books, dhammapada

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See also [List of book recommendations](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/25889/254)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-06-29. Score: 2

This depends on which Buddhist school or tradition you are referring to.

For the Theravada school, the main scripture is the [Pali Canon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li_Canon) or the [Tipitaka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripi%E1%B9%ADaka), in the Pali language. Tipitaka means the three baskets. The three are the Sutta Pitaka which is the basket on the teachings of the Buddha and his disciples, the Vinaya Pitaka which is the basket on the monastic rules, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka which is the basket of philosophical analysis.

Here's one view of it below. The Dhammapada is only one book of the 15 books of the Khuddaka Nikaya, which is part of the Sutta Pitaka.

You can find it online at [AccessToInsight](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html) or [SuttaCentral](https://suttacentral.net/).

There are also the commentaries to the Tipitaka and other supplementary writings, such as the Visuddhimagga.

Also see [Chronological or other sequence for beginners](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/4112/471), [Recommendation for Suttas](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31032/471) and [How to Study the Suttas?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/8462/471).

Other Buddhist scripture for Mahayana Buddhism are either in [Sanskrit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_Buddhist_literature), [Chinese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Buddhist_canon) or [Tibetan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhist_canon). The Vajrayana school is part of Mahayana.

[![](https://i.sstatic.net/o6Pub.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/o6Pub.png "Click to enlarge")

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: What is the main difference in Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism? I have understood that Mahayana is based on Shunyata and Madyamaka(middle path)  
> **username_2**: @ManuKumar There is [this answer](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/67/471) but I think you can also ask another question here at Buddhism.SE.  

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