Tribes in Ancient India c61.s5.23

c61.s5.23

A quorum was required, and difficulty was often experienced in securing the right number, so that the Buddha exhorted the Bhikkhus to help to complete the quorum.² There are other detailed rules in the *Vinaya Piṭaka* for the regulation of the assembly. This elaboration of the procedure, as well as the use of technical terms for each detail, shows that the organisation of these popular assemblies had already been highly developed among the political *saṃghas* like that of the Licchavis before the Buddha adopted them for the regulation of his religious *saṃgha* or congregation.³