The Pali Canon, also known as the Tipitaka, is the authoritative scripture of Theravada Buddhism, composed of three 'baskets' or collections: the Vinaya Pitaka, the Sutta Pitaka, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka. It serves as a comprehensive guide to the Teachings of the Buddha, covering Monastic rules, discourses, and Philosophical analyses, and is written in the Pali Language, which is an Ancient Middle Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Dialect spoken by the Buddha himself.