Madhyama Agama

The Madhyama Āgama, or Middle-length Discourses, belong to the earliest stratum of Buddhist literature. Here are dialogues between Śākyamuni Buddha and his disciples and followers, covering such topics as Karma, death and rebirth, and the training of the mind required to reach nirvana.

The Madhyama Āgama (Sanskrit; Chinese: Zhong ahan jing[1]) is an early Indian Buddhist text, of which currently only a Chinese translation is extant (Taishō Tripiṭaka 26).[1] The title means "Middle Collection."[2] It is one of the four Āgamas of the Sanskritic Sūtra Piṭaka located in the Chinese Buddhist Canon and contains 222 discourses in 18 chapters.[3] Its Pali equivalent, the Majjhima Nikaya, contains 152 discourses in 15 chapters.

Origins and history
The earliest Chinese translation of the agama dates to 397–398 C.E.[3] P.V. Bapat believes the original source for the Chinese translation was in a form of Prakrit, closer to Pali than Sanskrit.[4] The text is believed to be from the Sarvāstivāda tradition.