The Medium Discourses

(Skt. Madhyama Āgama; Ch. 中阿含經)

The Medium Discourses was translated twice to Chinese; the second translation is the one that survives today. Completed in the late 4th century CE, it appears to represent the Sarvâstivāda version of the collection. The Pali equivalent is the Majjhima Nikāya, but the two collections differ somewhat in both their arrangement and the texts chosen. With a total 212 sutras, the Medium Discourses contains many texts that appear in the Pali Aṅguttara Nikāya and some that don’t appear to exist in Pali. The collection is divided into five recitations and 18 thematic chapters.

Below is a list of sutra translations that are currently available.

• MĀ 1 The Good Dharma
• MĀ 2 The Pārijāta Tree
• MĀ 3 The City Parable
• MĀ 4 The Water Parable
• MĀ 5 The Wood Pile Parable
• MĀ 6 The Good Person’s Departure
• MĀ 7 Worldly Merit
• MĀ 8 Seven Suns
• MĀ 9 Seven Chariots
• MĀ 10 Ending the Contaminants
• MĀ 11 The Rock Salt Parable
• MĀ 16 The Kālāmas
• MĀ 17 Gāminī
• MĀ 31 Discernment of the Noble Truths
• MĀ 42 What Purpose
• MĀ 43 Don’t Think
• MĀ 44 Mindfulness
• MĀ 45 Conscience and Modesty
• MĀ 46 Conscience and Modesty (2)
• MĀ 47 Precepts
• MĀ 48 Precepts (2)
• MĀ 49 Veneration
• MĀ 50 Veneration (2)
• MĀ 51 The Origin
• MĀ 72 The Legend of King Dīrghāyu
• MĀ 73 The Gods
• MĀ 74 Eight Thoughts
• MĀ 75 The Pure Path to the Imperturbable
• MĀ 76 [Ugracelā]
• MĀ 77 The Three Clansmen of Sāketa
• MĀ 78 Brahmā Invites the Buddha
• MĀ 79 The Greater Gods
• MĀ 80 The Rough Cloth
• MĀ 81 Mindfulness of Body
• MĀ 82 Crickets
• MĀ 98 Abodes of Mindfulness
• MĀ 146 Parable of the Elephant’s Footprint
• MĀ 186 Inquiry
• MĀ 200 Ariṣṭa
• MĀ 204 Raṃbhaka