Sutta Nipata

[3] Chalmers says that the materials of the Sutta Nipata are not of equal antiquity but it contains some of the oldest Buddhist compositions.

[2] Bharat Singh Upadhyaya,[4] Maurice Winternitz,[5] and Hajime Nakamura[6] are other prominent Buddhist scholars who regard its poetry to have originated in the beginnings of Buddhism.

A commentary on Sutta Nipata, called Niddesa, is included in the canon itself which points to the antiquity of the text.

This commentary is traditionally attributed to Śāriputra, and its presence in the canon is regarded as evidence of the relatively early composition of the Sutta Nipata.

[13] Many of the Buddhist legends originate in the Suttanipata such as prediction by Asita on the birth of gautam buddha in the Nalaka sutta or the legendar meeting of King Bimbisara with Gautam Buddha.