Editing Sutta Piṭaka (section)

==Origins==
What was later to become the written scripture of the ''Sutta Pitaka'' was first orally rehearsed by Buddha’s cousin [[Ānanda]] at the [[Buddhist_councils#First_Buddhist_council|First Buddhist Council]] that was held shortly after the Buddha's death. The first council also defined the set of rules ([[Vinaya]]) that governed the life of monks and nuns within the [[Sangha|monastic community]]. Tradition holds that little was added to the Canon after this. Scholars are more skeptical, but differ in their degrees of [[skepticism]]. [[Richard Gombrich]] thinks most of the first four nikayas (see below) go back to the Buddha, in content but not in form.<ref>''Theravada Buddhism'', 2nd edn, Routledge, London, 2006, pages 20f</ref> The late Professor Hirakawa Akira says that the First Council collected only short prose passages or verses expressing important doctrines, and that these were expanded into full length suttas over the next century.<ref>Hirakawa, ''[https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/23030 History of Indian Buddhism]'', volume 1, 1974, English translation University of Hawai'i Press, pages 69f</ref>