This collection in the Sutta Piṭaka is named Dīgha Nikāya as it is made up of thirty-four long discourses of the Buddha. It is divided into three divisions:

(a) Sīlakkhanda Vagga (division concerning morality)

This division contains thirteen suttas which deal extensively with various types of morality, namely, minor morality, basic morality applicable to all; middle morality, and major morality which are mostly practised by samaṇas and brāhmaṇas. It also discusses the wrong views then prevalent as well as brahmin views of sacrifice and caste, and various religious practices such as extreme self-mortification.

(b) Mahā Vagga (the large division)

The ten suttas in this division are some of the most important of the Tipiṭaka, dealing with historical and biographical aspects as well as the doctrinal aspects of Buddhism.

The most famous sutta is the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta which gives an account of the last days and the passing away of the Buddha and the distribution of his relics. Mahāpadāna Sutta deals with brief accounts of the last seven Buddhas and the life story of the Vipassī Buddha. Doctrinally important are the two suttas: the Mahānidāna Sutta, which explains the Chain of Cause and Effect, and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, which deals with the four methods of steadfast mindfulness and practical aspects of Buddhist meditation.

(c) Pāthika Vagga (the division beginning with the discourse on Pāthika, the naked ascetic)

This division is made up of eleven shorter discourses of a miscellaneous nature. They deal with the Buddha’s rejection of wrong and severe asceticism practised by followers of many sects. They deal also with the periodical evolution and dissolution of the universe, the accounts of universal monarchs and the thirty-two physiognomic characteristics of a great man. There is one discourse, Siṅgāla Sutta, addressed to a young brahmin showing the duties to be performed by members of the human society. The last two suttas, Saṅgīti and Dasuttara, are discourses given by the Venerable Sāriputta and they contain lists of doctrinal terms classified according to subject matter and numerical units. The style of their composition is different from the other nine suttas of the division.

This collection of medium length discourses is made up of one hundred and fifty-two suttas in three books known as paṇṇāsa.

The first book, Mūlapaṇṇāsa, deals with the first fifty suttas in five vaggas; the second book, Majjhimapaṇṇāsa consists of the second fifty suttas, also in five vaggas; and the last fifty-two suttas are dealt with in five vaggas of the third book, Uparipaṇṇāsa, which means more than fifty.

The suttas in this nikāya throw much light on the social ideas and institutions of those days, and also provide general information on the economic and political life.

This collection of discourses in the Sutta Piṭaka known as Saṃyutta Nikāya has 7762 suttas of varied length, generally short, arranged in a special order according to subject matter into five major divisions: (1) Sagāthā Vagga (2) Nidāna Vagga (3) Khandha Vagga (4) Saḷāyatana Vagga and (5) Mahā Vagga. Each major vagga is divided into fifty-six groups known as saṃyuttas-related subjects grouped together. The saṃyuttas are named after the subjects they deal with, for example, Bojjhaṅga Saṃyutta on the seven factors of enlightenment, or after some principal personalities such as the Venerable Sāriputta, King Pasenadi of Kosala, or Sakka. Kosala Saṃyutta is a group of discourses concerning King Pasenadi of Kosala, and Devatā Saṃyutta deals with devas like Sakka, Indra, Brahmā, etc. Each saṃyutta is further divided into sections which are made up of individual suttas. Thus the well-known Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is the first discourse (sutta) in the second section of Sacca Saṃyutta which comes under the Mahāvagga division of Saṃyutta Nikāya.

This Collection of Discourses, Aṅguttara Nikāya, containing 9,557 short suttas is divided into eleven divisions known as nipātas. Each nipāta is divided again into groups called vaggas which usually contain ten suttas. The discourses are arranged in progressive numerical order, each nipāta containing suttas with items of Dhamma, beginning with one item and moving up by units of one until there are eleven items of Dhamma in each sutta of the last nipāta. Hence the name Aṅguttara meaning “increasing by one item”. The first nipāta, Ekaka Nipāta, provides in each sutta single items of Dhamma called the Ones; the second nipāta, Duka Nipāta, contains in each sutta two items of Dhamma called the Twos, the last nipāta, Ekādasaka Nipāta, is made up of suttas with eleven items of Dhamma in each, called the Elevens.

Aṅguttara Nikāya constitutes an important source book on Buddhist psychology and ethics, which provides an enumerated summary of all the essential features concerning the theory and practice of the Dhamma.

A unique chapter entitled Etadagga Vagga of Ekaka Nipāta enumerates the names of the foremost disciples amongst the bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, upāsakas, upāsikās, who had achieved pre-eminence in one sphere of attainment or meritorious activity, e.g., the Venerable Sāriputta in intuitive wisdom and knowledge (paññā); the Venerable Mahā Moggallāna in supernormal powers (iddhi); Bhikkhunī Khemā in paññā; Bhikkhuni Uppalavanna in iddhi; the Upāsaka Anāthapiṇḍika and the Upāsikā Visākhā.

Of all the five nikāyas Khuddaka Nikāya contains the largest number of treatises and the most numerous categories of Dhamma. Although the word khuddaka literally means minor or small, the actual content of this collection can by no means be regarded as minor, including as it does the two major divisions of the Piṭaka, namely, the Vinaya Piṭaka and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka according to one system of classification. The miscellaneous nature of this collection, containing not only the discourses by the Buddha but compilations of brief doctrinal notes mostly in verse, accounts of personal struggles and achievements by theras and therīs also in verse, the birth stories, the history of the Buddha, etc., may account for its title.