There are two kinds of extant different versions of the book: a group of kataribon (or katari kei, todo kei) (recited book), which has been handed down orally by a biwa-playing minstrel known as a vision-impaired monk (a blind musician who belongs to Todo-za (the traditional guild for the vision-impaired), such as kengyo (the highest title of the official ranks within the Todo-za)) all over Japan, and a group of yomihon (or zoho kei, non todo kei) (read texts), which was enlarged as read texts.
現存している諸本としては、盲目の僧として知られる琵琶法師（当道座に属する盲人音楽家。検校など）が日本各地を巡って口承で伝承してきた語り本（語り系、当道系とも）の系統に属するものと、読み物として増補された読み本（増補系、非当道系とも）系統のものがある。