The most important research tool for vinaya studies. Covers both primary and secondary sources in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, and Chinese as well as modern sources in English, French, German and Japanese. Properly speaking, the Vinaya Pitaka, or that portion of the Buddhist canon regulating the monastic life of the monks and nuns, is composed of three parts: the (1)Sutravibhanga, (2) Skandhaka, and (3) Appendices. However, consideration of Buddhist monastic discipline must be taken in broad perspective, focusing not only on that portion of monastic law which was canonized, but on Vinaya literature in general, thus affording us an opportunity to view the developmental process going on within the early Indian Buddhist community in the first few centuries following Buddha’s death. Consequently, we can include the Pratimoksa and the Karmavacanas, although not considered to be canonical strictest sense, under the heading of Paracanonical Vinaya Literature, and the commentaries and miscellaneoustexts under the heading of Non-Canonical Vinaya Literature.
[pdf]http://www.dhammikaweb.com/pdfs/A-Survey-of-Vinaya-Literature.pdf[/pdf]
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