Buddhavacana

Buddhavacana, from Pali means "the Word of the Buddha." It refers to the original sayings of the Buddha but is sometimes used to simply refer to any sacred writing of the various Buddhist traditions. All traditions recognize as Buddhavacana texts that make no claim to being the actual words of the Buddha, such as the Theragatha and Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra.

In Theravada Buddhism, the standard collection of Buddhavacana is the Pali Canon. The oral tradition of the Theravadin recension of Buddhist texts dates back to the time of the Buddha and was arranged in its current form around 100 BC. Buddhavacana is used in discussions and analysis to distinguish between teachings dating back to the historical Buddha versus later teachings and texts, such as the Commentaries.

See also: Original Buddhism