The distinction involved was as to the existence of phenomena ("dhamma"s) in the past, future and present. The version of the scriptures that had been established at the third council, including the "Vinaya", "Sutta" and the "Abhidhamma Pitaka"s (collectively known as the "Tripiṭaka"), was taken to Sri Lanka by Emperor Aśoka's son, the Venerable Mahinda. There it was eventually committed to writing in the Pali language. The Pāli Canon remains the most complete set of surviving "Nikāya" scriptures, although the greater part of the Sarvāstivādin canon also survives in Chinese translation, some parts exist in Tibetan translations, and some fragments exist in Sanskrit manuscripts, while parts of various canons (sometimes unidentified), exist in Chinese and fragments in other Indian dialects.