Download THE THIRD BUDDHIST COUNCIL

History of Buddhism
(Buddhist Councils)
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The First Buddhist Council
(Pathama Saṅgāyanā)
• Three months after the demise of the Buddha the First Buddhist
Council was held in Sattapaṇṇi Cave Pavilion at Mount Vebhāra
near the city of Rājagaha.
• King Ajātasattu provided the congregation with food and other
requisites.
• The meeting actually took place in the second month of the
rainy season.
• The proceeding of the council began with Venerable
Mahākassapa’s selection of 499 Arahats to participate in the
meeting.
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• The 500th seat was finally filled by Venerable Ānanda who
became an Arahat just on the eve of the meeting.
• Venerable Mahākassapa acted as the president of the
Council.
• Venerable Upāli was selected to be the reciter of the
Vinaya.
• Venerable Ānanda was selected to be the reciter of the
Dhamma.
• Then with the permission of the Saṁgha, Venerable
Mahākassapa asked questions on the Vinaya (disciplines)
of the Venerable Upāli.
• In this way all the Vinaya texts were agreed upon at the
council.
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• Then came the turn of Venerable Ānanda, the subject matter
of the Sutta Piṭaka, in all the Five Nikāyas was formulated as
questions for Ānanda who able gave appropriate answers.
• The answers given by Ānanda settled the collection of the
Sutta Piṭaka. In this way the texts belonging to the first two
Piṭakas (baskets) were arranged and settle collectively by the
whole assemble of 500 Arahats.
• The council lasted seven months.
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The Second Buddhist Council
(Dutiya Saṅgāyanā)
• The Second Buddhist Council was held at Vesālī a century
after the passing of the Buddha.
• It is recorded in the Cūḷavagga that the monks of the Vajjī
country were in the habit of practicing the Ten Points (dasa
vatthūni) which were regarded as unorthodox by Venerable
Yasa.
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The ten points or indulgences at issue were as follows:
1. Storing salt in a horn.
2. Eating after midday.
3. Eating once and then going again to a village for alms.
4. The observance of the Uposatha in different places within the
same Sīmā.
• 5. Carrying out official acts when the assembly was incomplete.
• 6. Following a certain practice because it was done by one's tutor or
teacher.
• 7. Eating sour milk after one had his midday meal.
• 8. Consuming strong drink before it had been fermented.
• 9. Using a borderless seat which was not the proper size.
• 10. Using gold and silver.
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• He declared these practices to be illegal and immoral in the
extreme.
• The Vajjī (Vajjian) monks, however, pronounced the penalty of
Paṭisāraṇīya kamma upon him.
• This necessitated the offenders apologizing to the laity who had
been forbidden by Ven. Yasa to carry out the precepts of the
Vajjī monks.
• Ven. Yasa defended his own view before the laity and by his
eloquent advocacy won them over to his side.
• This increased the fury of the offending monks who pronounced
the punishment of Ukkhepanīya kamma upon him, which meant
his virtual expulsion from the Order.
• Alone but determined, Ven. Yasa fought along battle.
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• He first went to Kosambhī and sent messengers to the west and
south, inviting Theravāda monks there to assemble and decide
the question.
• Consequently, he won over to his side such celebrities as
Venerable Sambhūta and, later, Venerable Revata.
• Finally, the ten points were brought to the notice of most
celebrated Venerable Revata at Sahajāti who studied and
clarified illegal each and every practice in the presence of some
sixty Arahats from the west and some eighty – eight Arahats
from Avanti and the South.
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• At the suggestion of Venerable Revata, all the monks then
proceeded to Vesālī to settle the dispute at the place of its
origin.
• The Vāḷukārāma was then chosen as the Venue were 700
monks met for eight months and King Kālāsoka
patronized the council.
• The Venerable Revata acted as president and asked the
question.
• The Venerable Sabbakāmi answered the Vinaya rules.
• So this council was called Vinayasaṁgīti, in which Vinaya
had been decided.
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THE THIRD BUDDHIST COUNCIL
(Tatiya Saṅgāyanā)
• The Third Buddhist Council was held in the reign of King
Asoka.
• Emperor Asoka was crowned in the over two hundred
years after the Buddha’s Mahāparinibbāna.
• At first he paid only token homage to the Dhamma and the
Saṁgha and also supported members of other religious
sects as his father had done before him.
• However, all this changed when he met the pious novice
Nigrodha who preached him the Appamāda vagga.
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• Thereafter he ceased supporting other religious groups and his
interest in and devotion to the Dhamma deepened.
• He used his enormous wealth in building, it is said, eighty-four
thousand pagodas and vihāras were to lavishly support the
bhikkhus with the four requisites.
• Eventually, his generosity was to cause serious problems
within the Saṁgha.
• In time the Order was infiltrated by many unworthy men,
holding heretical views and who were attracted to the Order
because of the Emperor's generous support and costly offerings
of food, clothing, shelter and medicine.
• Large numbers of faithless, greedy men espousing wrong
views tried to join the Order but were deemed unfit for
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ordination.
• Despite this they seized the chance to exploit the Emperor's
generosity for their own ends and donned robes and joined the
Order without having been ordained properly.
• Consequently, respect for the Saṁgha diminished.
• When thus came to light some of the genuine monks refused
to hold the prescribed purification or Uposatha ceremony in
the company of the corrupt, heretical monks.
• When the Emperor heard about this he sought to rectify the
situation and dispatched one of his ministers to the monks
with the command that they perform the ceremony.
• However, the Emperor had given the minister no specific
orders as to what means were to be used to carry out his
command.
• The monks refused to obey and hold the ceremony in the
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company of their false and 'thieving' companions.
• In desperation the angry minister advanced down the
line of seated monks and drawing his sword, beheaded
all of them one after the other until he came to the
King's brother, Tissa who had been ordained.
• The horrified minister stopped the slaughter and fled
the hall and reported back to the Emperor.
• Asoka was deeply grieved and upset by what had
happened and blamed him for the killings.
• He sought Thera Moggaliputta Tissa's counsel.
• He proposed that the heretical monks be expelled from
the Order and a Third Buddhist Council be convened
immediately.
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• The Third Buddhist Council was held at Asokārāma
monastery in the city of Pāṭaliputta in 235 B.E (308
B.C).
• The reason for convening the Third Buddhist Council
is reported to have been to rid the Saṁgha of
corruption and bogus monks who held heretical
views.
• It was presided over by the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa
and one thousand monks participated in the Council.
• King Asoka gave the necessary support to the
Council. It lasted nine months.
• After the Third Buddhist Council, nine religious
missions were sent to nine different places to
propagate the Sāsanā.
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The Fourth Buddhist Council
(Catuttha Saṁgāyanā)
• It is held by all the Buddhist sects, with the exception of
the Ceylonese monks, that a Council was under the
patronage of King Kanisaka at 1st Century A.D.
• According to Yuan Chwang, King Kanisaka became
interested in the Buddhist scriptures and sent for a monk
every day to give him instruction but, as the instruction
differed and was often contradictory.
• The king was perplexed and consulted the Venerable
Pārsva about the true doctrine.
• It was on his advice that he decided to convoke a Council
in which the various sects would be represented.
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• It was on his advice that he decided to convoke a Council
in which the various sects would be represented.
• The king built a monastery for the accommodation of 500
monks who were called upon to write commentaries on
the Pitakas.
• All major Buddhist scholars in India thereafter wrote their
commentaries and treatises in Sanskrit. These treatises were
written out on copper plates.
• Kaṇiska had enclosed these copper plates
in the stone boxes
and deposited them in a stupa specially erected for the purpose.
• These were the start of the Mahāyāna scriptural canon: the
collection of Mahāyāna teachings. Theravāda Buddhists,
however, do not recognize this council.
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• The Fourth Buddhist Council was held in Tambapaṇṇi
(Srilanka) in 1st Century B.C. under the patronage of King
Vaṭṭagāmaṇi.
• After the 5th months of the King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi’s enthronement,
the people of Srilanka suffered from rebels, hunger and
starvation for twelve years.
• So the Bhikkhus had to make strong efforts to maintain the
Buddha’s Teachings.
• The elder bhikkhus foresaw that if there would appear such
danger in future, the bhikkhus able to memorize the discourses
and disciplines by heart because of the declination of the power
of mindfulness, concentration and wisdom.
• Therefore, they held the Fourth Buddhist Council.
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• King Vaṭṭagāmani supported the monks’ idea and a council was
held specifically to reduce the Tipiṭaka in its entirety to writing.
• Therefore, so that the genuine Dhamma might be lastingly
preserved, the Venerable Mahārakkhita and five hundred monks
recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down on
palm leaves.
• This remarkable project took place in a cave called, the Āloka
Lena, situated in the cliff of an ancient landslip near what is now
Matale. It lasted one year.
• Thus the aim of the Council was achieved and the preservation in
writing of the authentic Dhamma was ensured.
• After the Council, palm leaves books appeared, and were taken to
the other countries such as Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
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The Fifth Buddhist Council
(Pañcama Saṁghāyanā)
• The Fifth Buddhist Council took place in Mandalay, Myanmar
in 1871 AD in the reign of King Mindon.
• The chief objective of this meeting was to recite all the
teachings of the Buddha according to the Theravada Pāḷi Canon
and examine them in minute detail to see if any of them had
been altered, distorted or dropped.
• It was presided over by three Elders, the Venerable Mahāthera
Jāgarabhivaṁsa, the Venerable Narindābhidhaja, and the
Venerable Mahāthera Sumaṅgalasāmi in the company of 2,400
monks.
• Their joint Dhamma recitation lasted five months.
• King Mindon was supported the Fifth Council to the end.
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• So the Bhikkhus had to make strong efforts to maintain the
Buddha’s Teachings.
• The elder bhikkhus foresaw that if there would appear such
danger in future, the bhikkhus able to memorize the discourses
and disciplines by heart because of the declination of the power of
mindfulness, concentration and wisdom.
• Therefore, they held the Fourth Buddhist Council.
• King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi supported this council.
• It was held specifically to reduce the Tipiṭaka in its entirety to
writing.
• Therefore, so that the genuine Dhamma might be lastingly
preserved, the Venerable Mahārakkhita and five hundred monks
recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down on
palm leaves.
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• This remarkable project took place in a cave called, the
Āloka Lena, situated in the cliff of an ancient landslip near
what is now Matale.
• It lasted one year.
• After the Council, palm leaves books appeared, and were
taken to the other countries such as Burma, Thailand,
Cambodia and Laos.
• The scriptures inscribed on palm leaves could not last for a
long time.
• Besides, there might be much variation in rewriting the
scriptures from copy to copy.
• Therefore, the scriptures were inscribed on marble slabs in
order to dispel these advantages.
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• The scriptures were first inscribed on 729 marble slabs in
the precinct of Lokamārajina Pagoda at the foot of
Mandalay Hill.
• It took seven years to finish this work. Then the bhikkhus
recited to approve the inscriptions for about five months.
• Even though most other nations were not involved in the
fifth council, the Pāḷi Texts were translated into Myanmar
Language and the Doctrinal Order was promulgated to the
whole country for purpose of purification and propagation
of the Buddha’s Teachings.
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The Sixth Buddhist Council
(Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyanā)
• The Sixth
Buddhist Council was inaugurated in
Mahāpāsāṇa Great Cave, Kabā- Aye, Yangon, Myanmar in
May 1954, with the collaboration and participation of the
learned bhikkhus of the various countries of the world,
particularly India.
• The Venerable Abhidhajamahāraṭṭhaguru Bhadanta Revata
presided over it; the Mahasi Syadaw Venerable Sobhaṇa,
Aggamahāpaṇḍita, and the Minkun Sayadaw, Venerable
Vicittasārābhivaṁsa, Tipiṭakadhara Dhamma bhaṇḍāgārika
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took the leading roles in that council.
• The Sixth
Buddhist Council was held aiming at the
purification and promotion of the Buddha Sāsana. 2500
bhikkhus from the five countries of Theravāda Buddhism
participated in that council.
• The doctrinal questions asked by the people of five Theravāda
Buddhist countries: Myanmar, Srilanka, Thailand, Laos and
Cambodia were solved magnanimously.
• 25 other countries also gave much help to that council.
• At that council, not only the canonical Pāḷi texts of the Buddha
but also the commentaries and sub – commentaries were reexamined.
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• In this way, Venerable Mahākassapa and custodians of the
Dhamma held the great councils up to six times and approved
the word of the Buddha without any change and modification.
• The Teachings of the Buddha thus approved is called Theravāda
Buddhism.
• Dr. Ba Oo, President of Union of Myanmar, Prime Minister U
Nu and members of the Government of Union of Myanmar were
supported this Council. The Great Council that was started in
1954 was to go on till the completion of its task at full moon day
of visākhā 1956 with five sannipātas.
• In this council the three Piṭakas was re-examined and translated
Pāḷi into Myanmar and printed on the papers. In this way, six
versions of Pāḷi Aṭṭhakathā and ṭīkā appeared.
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• At the end of this council, they re-examined of the six
versions as Pāḷi Texts were 40 books, Aṭṭhakathās and ṭīkās
were 79 books came out. Twenty books of Abhidhamma
Piṭakas consist of 4950 pages.
• Saṁghas of Theravāra Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism
participated in this council.
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