The Samyutta Nikàya is the third book of the Sutta Pitaka, the first division of the Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Buddhism. The word samyutta means ‘connected’ or ‘related’. Traditionally there is said to be 7762 suttas or discourses in this book, but actually there are 2889. These discourses are arranged roughly according to features they share – subject matter, whether they have verses in them, where they were spoken or the people they were spoken to. A large proportion of the discourses in the Samyutta Nikàya were delivered by the Buddha in Sàvatthi which suggests that this book was arranged in that city.