Tribes in Ancient India c50.210

c50.210

The Buddha passed away in the eighth year of Ajātaśatru’s reign.² It was from Rājagṛha that he started on his last journey to Kuśīnārā, stopping on the way at Ambalaṭṭhikā, Nālandā and Pāṭaligāma, and delivering fruitful discourses to all who came in contact with him.³ After the Buddha’s *parinirvāṇa*, his relics were distributed among various clans. Ajātaśatru obtained a share and enshrined it with great respect and honour, instituting a worship of the relics on a grand scale.⁴ He built Dhātu Caityas all round Rājagṛha, his capital,⁵ and at his own cost repaired 18 *mahāvihāras* at Rājagṛha which had been deserted by the bhikkhus after the Buddha’s death.⁶ The bhikkhus headed by Mahākassapa performed the funeral ceremony of the Buddha, and resolved to hold a council at Rājagṛha.⁷ Accordingly, Rājagṛha is famous in the history of Buddhism as the place where 500 distinguished theras met under the leadership of the Venerable Mahākassapa to recite the doctrine and discipline of the Buddha, and fix the Buddhist canon.⁸ All later traditions, whether in Pāli or Sanskrit, tell us that the First Council was convoked in front of the Saptaparṇī or Saptaparṇa cave on a slope of the Vaibhāra or Vaihāra hill, and under the auspices of king Ajātaśatru, who constructed a suitable *maṇḍapa* (tent) for the purpose; but the Vinaya account distinctly says that the main reason for selecting Rājagṛha for the purpose was that it could afford spacious accommodation for the 500 theras.