Twelve branches of the excellent teaching

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Twelve branches of the excellent teaching (Wyl. gsung rab yan lag bcu gnyis)

  1. sutras (Wyl. mdo)
  2. poetic summaries (Skt. geya, Wyl. dbyangs bsnyed)
  3. prophecies (Skt. vyakarana, Wyl. lung bstan)
  4. discourses in verse (Skt. gatha, Wyl. tshigs bcad)
  5. intentional statements (Skt. nidana, Wyl. gleng gzhi)
  6. testimonies of realization (Skt. avadana, Wyl. rtogs brjod)
  7. historical explanations (Skt. itivrttaka, Wyl. de ltar byung ba)
  8. contextual accounts (Skt. udana, Wyl. ched du brjod pa)
  9. detailed explanations (Skt. vaipulya, Wyl. shin tu rgyas pa)
  10. accounts of former lives (Skt. jataka, Wyl. skyes rabs)
  11. wondrous discourses (Skt. abidhutadharma, Wyl. rmad du byung ba)
  12. definitive explanations (Skt. upadesha, Wyl. gtan la phab)

These are said to be the twelve branches of texts within the Tripitaka.