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s.4nt.org — Suttas, Side by Side · Help

A reading guide for the parallel sutta viewer at s.4nt.org.

What you're looking at

Each sutta page displays the original Pāli alongside one or more English translations in side-by-side columns,
aligned segment by segment.
The columns scroll together, so the same passage is always at the same height across all translations.

The columns

Switching translations

Each column has a dropdown at the top showing the current translator's name.
Click it to swap that column for a different translation — for example,
switch the right column from Sujato to Thanissaro, or back to Pāli.

Reordering columns

Columns can be dragged left or right.
Grab the small grip icon (⠿) in a column header and drag it to the position you want.
The reading layout adjusts instantly.

Adding and removing columns

A typical starting layout is Pāli + one English translation.
You can expand to three (or more) columns to compare multiple translators directly.

Table of contents

The ☰ button (top left) opens and closes the table of contents sidebar.
It shows every section of the sutta — you can click any entry to jump there instantly.

Within the sidebar: - The − and + buttons at the top collapse or expand all sections at once. - Individual sections can be folded with the small triangle button beside each heading. - Resize the sidebar: drag the vertical divider on its right edge (just left of the ☰ button) to make the table of contents wider or narrower. The width is remembered across pages. - Scrolling the list: hover over the contents and use your mouse wheel, or drag the scrollbar on its right edge.

Sutta ref

A passage can be addressed in two different notations.
They look almost identical — the separator is the only difference — but they mean different things.

L24 ref — mn125.4.3

An all-dots address (. throughout).
This is lucid24's own reference system:
a curated, human-facing outline of a text — chapters, sections,
and sub-sections that an editor has chosen and numbered for study.
On a text that has an L24 system (for example the Visuddhimagga,
where 8.4.16 is the sixteen-step ānāpānassati discussion),
these are the entries you see in the table of contents, and each one is a clickable anchor — … /index.html#8.4.16 lands on it.

SC ref — mn125:4.3

A colon before the last number (nik<n>:<paragraph>.<segment>).
This is SuttaCentral's segment id — the canonical,
machine-assigned coordinate of one exact line of source text, the same id used across SuttaCentral and Bilara.
It always points at a single segment, whatever the editorial outline happens to be.

The difference in one line: the L24 dot-ref is an editorial address (where a passage sits in a curated reading outline);
the SC colon-ref is a source address (which exact segment of the canonical text it is).
One text can carry both — the same line is, say, L24 8.4.16.3 and SC vism8:220.1.
The dot-ref is stable to how a reader navigates;
the colon-ref is stable to the source.

Quick-jump box

The search box in the top bar (labelled with a placeholder like mn10, dn16…) understands both address systems above:

Shortcut — staying on the current page: you don't have to retype the work's own name.
On the page you're reading, a bare L24 ref jumps to that section — type 8.4.16, not vism8.4.16 —
and an SC ref jumps to that segment — type :2.5 (or,
on a multi-chapter work like the Visuddhimagga, keep the chapter:
8:216.1), not the full vism8:216.1.
The full, name-qualified forms above still work everywhere (and are what you need to jump to a different text).

In-text navigation

Click any section heading in the main text to scroll it into view.
Each row also has a subtle highlight on hover so you can track which verse the translator notes refer to.

Footnotes

Many translations include translator notes.
They appear as small superscript markers (¹ ² …)
inline in the text.
Footnotes open in a panel in the lower part of the left sidebar,
sharing that space with the table of contents above it.
When no note is showing, the panel collapses to a thin "Footnotes ▾" strip at the bottom of the sidebar.

Opening a footnote

There are three ways:

Working with the panel

Resizing the footnote panel

Drag the horizontal divider between the table of contents and the footnotes up or down to give each as much room as you like —
the split is remembered.

On narrow screens (phones), footnotes instead slide up from the bottom of the screen as a sheet.

⚙ Display settings

Click the ⚙ Settings button (top right) to open the settings panel.

Setting What it does
☾ Dark / ☀️ Light Toggle between dark and light reading themes. Your choice is remembered.
A+ / A− Increase or decrease the reading font size.
Sidebar text size Controls the font size of the left-sidebar table of contents.
Footnote text size Controls the footnote panel's text size on its own, independent of the main reading font and the sidebar.
SC segment refs Show or hide the SuttaCentral segment reference numbers (e.g. mn10:2.5) alongside each verse — useful for citing passages or cross-referencing with suttacentral.net.

The sutta index

The index page lists all suttas in the collection with:

Click any row to open that sutta's parallel viewer.

Reading offline

Every sutta page is fully self-contained — all text and styling is embedded in the HTML file.
If you save a page to your computer (File → Save Page As… in your browser), it will open and work completely offline, with no internet connection required.

Translations available

Each translation is reproduced from its original source site, under that source's own licence.
Where a source publishes authoritative or updated terms, those govern — please consult the linked site.

Translation Source site Licence / terms
Pāli — Mahāsaṅgīti edition suttacentral.net CC0 — public-domain dedication
Bhikkhu Sujato — aligned Pāli + English suttacentral.net CC0 — public-domain dedication
Bhikkhu Thanissaro — American English dhammatalks.org Free distribution, non-commercial (per the site's terms)
Bhikkhu Bodhi Wisdom Publications © Wisdom Publications — only the suttas released for public, non-commercial use are shown
Bhikkhu Brahmali — Theravāda Vinaya, aligned Pāli + English suttacentral.net CC0 — public-domain dedication
PTS — digitized Pali Text Society editions buddhadust.net Digitized PTS editions — see the site for terms
Русский (Dhamma.gift) — curated Russian collection Dhamma.gift/ru/ Free distribution only. No commercial use. See the site for the individual translators and terms.

Additional translations are added as alignments are completed.

PTS — unmapped suttas

The PTS (Woodward, Hare, and Rhys Davids) translations are aligned to SuttaCentral's sutta numbering.
But the digitized PTS source carries some translator text that has no SuttaCentral sutta id to display it beside — for example,
where the PTS edition's own numbering runs past SuttaCentral's,
or where it spells out a repetition series (peyyāla) that SuttaCentral collapses into a single range.
So that text never appears inline on the AN/SN pages.

Rather than discard it, we collect every such passage — verbatim — on one reference page:
PTS — unmapped suttas.
It is grouped by nikāya and book, and pure repetition series are condensed to one representative sutta with a count,
so the page is complete in meaning without thousands of near-duplicate copies.

Proofreading & verbatim validation

The segment-by-segment alignment to SuttaCentral's Pāli numbering is done by AI, and a verbatim check —
automated against the original digital source translation — confirms that no wording was added, dropped, or changed.
(The verbatim check ignores whitespace added for display,
and normalizes some punctuation characters such as quotation marks and apostrophes.)

Русский (Dhamma.gift)

A curated Russian collection, distributed at Dhamma.gift/ru/.
The many individual translators are listed under this single title on the source site.
The text is already keyed to SuttaCentral's Pāli segment numbering at the source,
so it is shown verbatim beside the Pāli and the English editions.

Terms: free distribution only, no commercial use — see the site for the individual translators and terms.

See the source's translation methodology for how these translations were prepared.

Sujato_corrected

This is identical to the unaltered Bhikkhu Sujato SC edition, with the following terms restored to Pāḷi:

And these English translations changed to align with genuine EBT:

This is by no means a comprehensive set of corrections —
just some of the most egregious violations of core EBT principles.

Sujato's footnotes are unaltered and contain views incompatible with EBT.
Some are useful;
readers are encouraged to exercise discernment and critical thinking.

Pāli Editions

The site offers Pāli itself in more than one form:

The Siam and Myanmar columns are each matched to the SC Pāli segment-by-segment by an automatic,
deterministic text-matching process —
not by AI and not by a human editor — so the displayed text is always taken verbatim from the source;
a handful of passages (mostly verse/gāthā sections,
where word order differs more between editions) may show a shorter or blank match at a given segment rather than an invented one.

AI Translations

Translations generated by an artificial intelligence model directly from the source language,
rather than adapted or ported from any existing English edition.

Bodhi-esque

A fresh English translation rendered directly from the Pāli in the style of Bhikkhu Bodhi —
his characteristic register and technical vocabulary (e.g. concentration for samādhi,
taints for āsava, with jhāna, Nibbāna, and Dhamma kept in Pāli).

As with any machine translation, it is a study aid, not an authoritative edition —
read it alongside the Pāli and the human translations.

Arabic-esque

A Modern Standard Arabic (اللغة العربية الفصحى) translation, bridged from the Bodhi-esque English column —
the model is given the Bodhi-esque English segment-by-segment and renders each into Arabic under the same segment keys.

As with any machine translation — and doubly so for a translation-of-a-translation —
it is a study aid, not an authoritative edition.
The column is displayed right-to-left in an Arabic (Naskh) typeface, sized up from the Latin columns for legibility.

Chinese-esque

A Traditional Chinese (繁體中文) translation, bridged from the Bodhi-esque English column —
the model is given the Bodhi-esque English segment-by-segment and renders each into Traditional Chinese under the same segment keys,
using established Chinese Buddhist terminology (e.g. 世尊 for the Blessed One,
涅槃 for Nibbāna, 緣起 for dependent origination).

As with any machine translation — and doubly so for a translation-of-a-translation —
it is a study aid, not an authoritative edition.

DeepSeek — Line by Line

Generated with DeepSeek V4 Flash (June 2026),
translating from the source language into plain English one line at a time.
This guarantees full coverage:
every line of the source has a corresponding line of translation, with no gaps or skipped material.

DeepSeek — V4 Flash (Paragraph Chunking)

Also generated with DeepSeek V4 Flash (June 2026), but unlike the line-by-line version above,
larger chunks — typically full paragraphs — are given to the model at once.
The intention is that additional context produces a more natural, better-informed translation.
The tradeoff is weaker alignment:
the output doesn't map to the source line-for-line as precisely as the line-by-line version does.

Standard Disclaimers Apply

As with any AI-generated content, these translations should not be taken as authoritative on their own.
Always cross-check against reliable human translations and, where possible, the source language itself.

Why Allow AI Translations At All?

Given that AI translation carries a real risk of error, mistranslation, or subtle distortion,
it may seem odd for an EBT-focused site to include it rather than relying solely on established scholarly translations —
so it's worth explaining why AI-generated translations are included here.
Several reasons:

  1. Full coverage — Many collections and individual suttas have no existing English translation at all, or their only existing translation is old, inconsistent, or poor enough that a modern AI model gets the core meaning across more accurately.
  2. Speed relative to scholarship — Quality human translation is scarce and slow; a single translator may spend years on a single collection. AI translation offers an interim, clearly-labeled option while proper scholarly work catches up.
  3. Independent cross-check — Even where a good human translation already exists, an independently generated AI version offers a second data point, useful for spotting translator bias, inconsistency, or error by comparison — not as a replacement.
  4. Consistency across a large corpus — A single model applying consistent methodology and terminology across a huge collection can surface patterns that would be difficult for multiple human translators, working independently across different eras and styles, to maintain.
  5. Transparency over omission — Clearly labeling material as AI-generated, along with the standard disclaimers, discloses the risk openly rather than hiding it — it's a labeled tool a reader can weigh accordingly, not a replacement presented as authoritative.

In short:
AI translations don't replace the human scholarly record — they fill its gaps,
sit alongside it as a cross-check, and are labeled honestly as what they are.

EBT/LBT Classification Legend

EBT (Early Buddhist Teachings) LBT (Late Buddhist Teachings)
Benign ✅ EBT ✅ LBT
Malignant ⛔ EBT ⛔ LBT

Explanation

This system marks four categories along two axes:
chronological origin (early vs. late) and compliance with core EBT (benign vs. malignant).

The Four Categories

This gives a quick visual shorthand for sorting sources or claims by how faithfully they track the earliest teachings,
without needing to write out the full judgment each time.

Note on Terminology

"Benign" and "malignant" here are not value judgments on any particular sect, tradition, or its practitioners.
The terms are framed strictly in relation to genuine core EBT compliance,
and describe the effect that compliance or non-compliance would have on the outcome of practice for someone who intends to follow genuine EBT.
A teaching is "benign" if following it supports that intended outcome,
and "malignant" if following it undermines or diverts from that outcome —
regardless of the sincerity, tradition, or good faith of those who hold it.
This framing reflects the charter and goal of the Early Buddhism Meditation Preservation Society (EBMPS):
preserving and clarifying genuine EBT for practitioners seeking it.

Why Include Malignant Material at All?

Given that the explicit purpose of this site is to preserve and clarify genuine Early Buddhist Teachings,
it may seem counterintuitive — even contradictory —
to devote space to material that the classification system itself labels malignant,
so it's worth explaining directly why that material is included here rather than simply excluded.
Several reasons:

  1. Partial genuine content — Many ⛔-classified sources still contain some percentage of authentic, useful EBT material embedded within them. Excluding the whole text would mean losing that genuine content along with the corrupted portions.

  2. Tracing corruption — Studying malignant material lets us trace how, when, and where deviation from core EBT entered the tradition — valuable for understanding the historical process of doctrinal drift, not just its end products.

  3. Discernment training — Seeing a malignant text alongside the genuine EBT it diverges from is often the fastest way to learn the difference. Discernment is built through contrast, not by reading only "correct" material in isolation.

  4. Meeting practitioners where they are — Many people already treat certain ⛔-classified texts as authoritative, because that's what their tradition handed them. Engaging directly with those specific texts — rather than ignoring them — is the only way to actually reach practitioners working from them.

  5. Credibility of the classification system — A system that only ever produces ✅ ratings would look like a rubber stamp. Publicly classifying and explaining malignant material demonstrates that the criteria are being applied consistently, not selectively deployed to flatter the tradition.

  6. Harm reduction over blanket avoidance — Simply telling someone "don't read that text" rarely works once they've already encountered it elsewhere. Precisely flagging which parts are corrupted — rather than a blanket condemnation — lets someone already engaging with the material salvage what's genuine and discard what isn't.

  7. Inoculation against future distortions — Studying known patterns of corruption gives practitioners a template for recognizing new or unclassified material that follows similar patterns, rather than requiring every text to be pre-vetted for them.

  8. Scholarly completeness — If EBMPS is to function as a serious reference rather than a curated devotional reading list, it needs to represent the actual landscape of Buddhist literature — not a filtered subset. Omitting malignant material would leave the archive incomplete and less useful for genuine comparative study.

In short:
classifying malignant material isn't an endorsement of it —
it's part of how genuine EBT gets preserved, taught, and defended.

Canonical Precedent: Suttas That Contrast Wrong and Right

Several suttas already use a contrastive method — pairing wrong and right views,
factors, or practices — to illuminate what is correct.
This gives canonical precedent for the classification approach used here.

Directly paired wrong/right formulations

Corruption / counterfeiting of the teaching itself

Wrong practice/view systems contrasted with the genuine path

Theravāda Aṭṭhakathā & Ṭīkā Chronology

(ChatGPT AI-generated summary, 2026-07.)

A rough timeline of when the Theravāda Aṭṭhakathā (commentaries) and Ṭīkā (subcommentaries) were composed.

Overview Timeline

Period Approximate Date Development
Buddha's lifetime c. 5th century BCE Oral transmission of the Buddha's teachings
Early Sinhala commentaries c. 3rd century BCE–4th century CE Development of the early Sri Lankan Aṭṭhakathā tradition (now lost)
Buddhaghosa c. 400–450 CE Composition of major surviving Pali Aṭṭhakathā
Dhammapāla late 5th–early 6th century CE Additional commentaries, especially on Khuddaka Nikāya texts
Mature Aṭṭhakathā corpus 5th–6th centuries CE Most of the Canon receives Pali commentarial explanation
Early Ṭīkā c. 7th–9th centuries CE Beginning of subcommentarial literature
Classical Ṭīkā period c. 10th–13th centuries CE Major scholastic development
Later Ṭīkā traditions c. 14th–18th centuries CE Continued work in Sri Lanka and Myanmar

Early Sinhala Aṭṭhakathā (Lost)

Approximate period:
c. 250 BCE–400 CE

After the establishment of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, explanatory traditions developed around the Mahāvihāra.
Important early commentarial traditions included:

These were composed in Sinhala (Sīhala) and are no longer extant as independent works. Their existence is known mainly because later commentators, especially Buddhaghosa, state that they used these earlier sources.

Buddhaghosa & the Classical Pali Aṭṭhakathā

Buddhaghosa

Approximate date:
c. 400–450 CE

Buddhaghosa reorganized and translated earlier Sinhala commentarial material into literary Pali.
Major works include:

Dhammapāla & Later Aṭṭhakathā

Dhammapāla

Approximate date:
late 5th–early 6th century CE

Associated works include commentaries on:

By approximately the 6th century CE, the major Pali commentarial corpus was substantially complete.

Ṭīkā (Subcommentaries)

Ṭīkā explain the Aṭṭhakathā rather than directly explaining the Canon.

Early Ṭīkā

Approximate period:
7th–9th centuries CE

Some early subcommentarial works appear during this period.

Classical Ṭīkā Period

Approximate period:
10th–13th centuries CE

This was the major age of Theravāda scholastic expansion.
Important authors include:

Many major Ṭīkā were produced during the medieval Sri Lankan kingdoms.

Simplified Timeline

Scholarly Sources

Oskar von Hinüber

A Handbook of Pāli Literature (1996) — standard reference for dating Pali texts; covers Aṭṭhakathā and Ṭīkā chronology.

K. R. Norman

Pali Literature (1983);
A Philological Approach to Buddhism (1997) — discusses historical development and linguistic dating.

A. K. Warder

Indian Buddhism — discusses Buddhist schools and Sri Lankan textual traditions.

Rupert Gethin

The Foundations of Buddhism — historical overview of Theravāda development.

G. P. Malalasekera

The Pāli Literature of Ceylon (1928) — classic study of Sri Lankan Pali literature.

Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli

The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga translation and introduction) — discusses Buddhaghosa and the commentarial tradition.

Summary

The Theravāda exegetical tradition developed over approximately 1,500 years:

The broad scholarly picture:
the Canon was preserved first through oral tradition, then interpreted through early Sinhala commentaries, systematized by Buddhaghosa and later commentators, and further refined by medieval Ṭīkā writers.

Tips for comparative study

About

s.4nt.org presents the discourses of the Pāli Canon — the earliest record of the Buddha's teaching —
with the original Pāli and one or more English translations side by side,
aligned segment by segment, so the same passage sits at the same height across every column.

The site is a project of the Early Buddhism Meditation Preservation Society (EBMPS), at 4nt.org.

The pages are produced by a custom tool that re-aligns existing translations to SuttaCentral's segmented Pāli text one segment at a time —
"un-babbling" them back into a single, comparable structure.
Each page is fully self-contained:
saved to disk, it works offline with no server and no tracking.

See What you're looking at above for how to use the viewer.

The texts. Each translation is reproduced from its original source under that source's own licence —
see Translations available above for the source website and the specific terms of each.
Copyright in every translation remains with its respective author, translator, or publisher;
the texts are presented here for study and free distribution only, never for sale or commercial use.

The site. The site software and the original site material (layout, segment-alignment data,
and this guide) are produced by the Early Buddhism Meditation Preservation Society and offered for non-commercial use.

Contact. For corrections, licensing questions, or to report an error,
write to the Early Buddhism Meditation Preservation Society via 4nt.org.

This is a good-faith summary, not legal advice. Where it conflicts with the licence a source publishes for its own text, that licence governs.