Gaeta Tripitaka The Tripitaka or Tipitaka is the Sanskrit or Pali canon of religious discourse most highly regarded in Theravada Buddhism.. The three elements of the canon are the Vinaya
Trang 1over an excessive confi dence in reforms Nonetheless, he
reacted militarily when the king of the Dacians, Decebalus,
prevented the advance of the army in Germania He
declared war against Dacia and conducted the army to his
territory, where the king was completely beaten Trajan did
not kill his enemy, but despite his mercy, two years later
Decebalus organized a new rebellion against the emperor
This time the traitor was fi ercely defeated, and all the gold
mines in the area were confi scated Trajan used the great
bounty to fi nance a huge program of public works He
built a large aqueduct, a new port in Ostia, four new big
roads, and the amphitheater in Verona His most famous
construction was the Trajan Forum
During Trajan’s period Roman culture fl ourished
with masterpieces of Latin literature Pliny the Younger
was one of the prominent advisers of Trajan He left
hundreds of letters in which we can appreciate the
emperor’s personality as well as the customs of the
time Aiming at concluding the work of Caesar and
Antony, Trajan tried to expand the limits of the empire
as far as the Indian Ocean, which he managed to do
by fi ghting the Parthians He was also able to conquer
Babylon, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Susa Unfortunately,
several rebellions arose, and he was compelled to return
to Rome He never arrived back to the urbs, as he died
on the way Hadrian succeeded him
See also Roman historians; Rome: buildings,
engineers
Further reading: Bennett, J Trajan Optimus Princeps: A Life
and Times New York: Routledge, 1997; Cizek, E L’Époque
de Trajan Circonstances Politiques et Problèmes Idéologiques
Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1983; Lepper, F Trajan’s Parthian
War Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948; ———, and S
Frere Trajan’s Column: A New Edition of the Cichorius Plates
Wolfboro, NH: Alan Sutton, 1988; Rossi, L Trajan’s Column
and the Dacian Wars London: Thames and Hudson, 1971.
Silvana A Gaeta
Tripitaka
The Tripitaka (or Tipitaka) is the Sanskrit (or Pali) canon
of religious discourse most highly regarded in Theravada
Buddhism The literal translation is the “three baskets,”
so named because the original writings were kept in
bas-kets The three elements of the canon are the Vinaya
Pita-ka, which are the disciplinary rules by which monks are
expected to live their lives; the Sutta Pitaka, which are the
discourses of the Lord Buddha and other leading
schol-ars of Buddhist belief; and the Abhidharma Pitaka, which are a series of philosophical discourses on the nature of the universe and of Buddhist belief The Tripitaka was assembled shortly after the death of Gautama Buddha
through a sangha, or council of monks It was preserved
in oral tradition for some four centuries before being com-mitted to palm-leaf manuscript in the fi rst century c.e Owing to linguistic and cultural differences, the Tripitaka varies from country to country where Thera-vada Buddhism is practiced In each case the writings are extensive and occupy many volumes The Sutta Pitaka, for example, contains more than 10,000 sutras of the Buddha These include details of the life of the Buddha and his road to nirvana, or enlightenment; Mahayana and Vajrayana forms of Buddhism also have their own Tripitaka canons The Vinaya Pitaka consists of rules and junctures for both monks and nuns, although in some societies the role of nuns is not offi cially accepted Various
offenses against the sangha are enumerated together with
their degree of severity and, hence, the sanctions that they attract Monks are expected both to know and to abide
by the 227 rules of the Great Division (Maha- vibhanga), which greatly expand on the fi ve basic precepts that all followers of Buddhism are expected to follow
An additional section of the Vinaya Pitaka is the Khandhaka, which contains a variety of different sections that are not presented in an intuitively logical order This section contains precepts for the monkhood that vary
from country to country Members of the sangha spend
much of their time studying and attempting to master the many meanings and lessons inherent in the
Tripita-ka Lay Buddhists may also do the same, either directly from the original canon or, more commonly, through the mediation of well-read monks who are able to translate the lessons into language and concepts easier for most people to understand
See also Tantrism; Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism
Further reading: Conze, Edward, ed and trans Buddhist
Scrip-tures New York: Penguin Classics, 1959; Rahula, Walpola What the Buddha Taught New York: Grove Press, 1974.
John Walsh
Triumvirate
The years prior to the First Triumvirate were unstable and anticipated future confl icts A series of external struggles—such as a long war to suffocate the
rebel-468 Tripitaka