sāsana
(lit. 'message'): the Dispensation of the Buddha, the Buddhist religion; teaching, doctrine.
Navanga-Buddha (or satthu)-sāsana, the nine-fold Dispensation of the Buddha (or the Master) consists of
- suttas (sutta),
- mixed prose (geyya),
- exegesis (veyyākarana),
- verses (gāthā),
- solemn utterances (udāna),
- sayings of the Blessed One (itivuttaka),
- birth stories (jātaka),
- extraordinary things (abbhutadhamma), and
- analysis (vedalla).
This classification is often found in the suttas (e.g. M.22).
According to the commentaries, also the Vinaya and the Abhidhamma Pitaka are comprised in that nine-fold division (see Atthasālini Tr., I, 33).
It is a classification according to literary styles, and not according to given texts or books.
