Tipiṭaka translation project
The goal of the Tipiṭaka Translation Project is to translate the entire Pāli Tipiṭaka into Estonian and make it freely available to all interested individuals.
To achieve this goal, two international conferences have been held in Estonia to bring together those who are interested and willing to participate in the Tipiṭaka translation project.
Three months after the Buddha's passing into mahāparinirvāṇa (death), the first Buddhist Council was convened, attended by 500 arahants. To ensure that the Buddha's teachings would be preserved in their authentic form, it was decided to recite them and later put them into writing. The Venerable Ānanda Thera and the Venerable Upāli Thera recited the Buddha's teachings from memory, and the arahants confirmed the authenticity of their words.
All the teachings were later compiled into the "three baskets":
- Vinaya Piṭaka
- Sutta Piṭaka
- Abhidhamma Piṭaka
The Vinaya Piṭaka defines the rules for the conduct of Buddhist monks (bhikkhus) and nuns (bhikkhunīs). The Sutta Piṭaka, or 'Collection of Suttas,' contains the teachings given by the Buddha, i.e., the suttas. The Abhidhamma Piṭaka contains systematized analyses of the Buddha's teachings and explanations of the suttas.
Initially, the words of the Buddha (Buddhavacana) were passed down orally. Later, the teachings were preserved by being written on palm leaves, and then the texts were engraved in stone. Today, the Tipiṭaka is available in many languages, including in digital form.
Some parts of the Tipiṭaka have been translated into Estonian by Linnart Mäll (such as the Dharmaratta introduction, Dhammapada, etc.), but this constitutes only a tiny fraction of the entire Pāli Canon
This project has been initiated to make the Buddha's teachings available in their authentic form to all Estonians in their beloved mother tongue.
Thank you!