The contents of the Kanjur and Tanjur are chiefly known by analyses and indices,[976] although several editions and translations of short treatises have been published.[977] The information obtained may be briefly summarized as follows.

The Kanjur in its different editions consists of one hundred or one hundred and eight volumes, most of which contain several treatises, although sometimes one work, for instance the Vinaya, may fill many volumes.  The whole collection is commonly divided into seven parts.[978]

I. The Dulva,[979] equivalent to the Vinaya.  It is stated to be the Mula-sarvastivada Vinaya, and so far as any opinion can be formed from the small portions available for comparison, it agrees with the Chinese translation of Kumarajiva and also (though with some difference in the order of paragraphs) with the Sanskrit Pratimoksha found at Kucha.[980] It is longer and more mixed with narrative than the corresponding Pali code.

II.  The second division is known as Ser-chin,[981] corresponding to the Prajna-paramita and in the estimation of the Tibetans to the Abhidharma.  It is said to have been first collected by Kasyapa and to represent the teaching delivered by the Buddha in his fifty-first year.  This section appears to contain nothing but versions, longer or shorter, of the Prajnaparamita, the limit of concentration being reached by a text in which the Buddha explains that the whole of this teaching is comprised in the letter A. As in China and Japan, the Vajracchedika (rDo-rJe-gCod-pa) is very popular and has been printed in many editions.

III.  The third division is called Phal-chen, equivalent to Avatamsaka.  Beckh treats it as one work in six volumes with out subdivisions.  Feer gives forty-five subdivisions, some of which appear as separate treatises in the section of the Chinese Tripitaka called Hua Yen.[982]

IV.  The fourth division called dKon-brtsegs or Ratnakuta agrees closely with the similar section of the Chinese Tripitaka but consists of only forty-eight or forty-five sutras, according to the edition.[983]

V. The fifth section is called mDo, equivalent to Sutra.  In its narrower sense mDo means sutras which are miscellaneous in so far as they do not fall into special classes, but it also comprises such important works as the Lalita-vistara, Lankavatara and Saddharma-pundarika.  Of the 270 works contained in this section about 90 are prima facie identical with works in the Ching division of the Chinese Tripitaka and probably the identity of many others is obscured by slight changes of title.  An interesting point in the mDo is that it contains several sutras translated from the Pali,[984] viz.  Nos. 13-25 of vol.  XXX, nine of which are taken from the collection known as Paritta.  The names and dates of the translators are not given but the existence of these translations probably indicates that a knowledge of Pali lingered on in Magadha later than is generally supposed.