Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c13.s2.149

c13.s2.149

We have just quoted the opposing views of Rhys Davids and Jayaswal with regard to the Sakyan procedure. The former expounded his theory on the basis of his study and examination of the Buddhist Vinaya texts, while Jayaswal mainly relied on the slender and late evidence of Rockhill’s translation of the Tibetan tradition.⁶ Altekar partly follows the line of Jayaswal, relying in the case of the Sakyas on the same authority. He concludes that “in the case of difference of opinion votes were taken and the majority view prevailed. This procedure, being the obvious and natural one, must have been followed everywhere.”⁷ But he also takes into consideration the evidence provided by an earlier Buddhist text with regard to the use of voting. “In the Buddhist Saṁgha the voting was sometimes done by secret method (*gūḷhaka*), sometimes by whispering method (*sakarṇajanakam*), and sometimes by the open method (*vivatakam*)."¹