Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s2.t4.13

c5.s2.t4.13

From the accounts of the Vesāli Council also, as given in the Cullavagga⁶ and in the Vinayas of the Sarvāstivāda and Dharmagupta schools, it seems that the horizon of Buddhism, even at the beginning of the second century after the rise of Buddhism, did not extend far. The geographical information that can be derived from this account is as follows: Yasa, the convener of the orthodox council of Vesāli came from Vesāli to Kosambi, and from Kosambi he sent messengers to the bhikkhus of Pātheyya and Avantidakkhiṇāpatha. Sambhūta Sāṇavāsi was at that time living on the Ahogaṅga mountain where assembled the sixty bhikkhus of Pātheyya and eighty bhikkhus of Avantidakkhiṇāpatha, all observers of Dhutaṅga precepts. Revata, who lived at Soreyya, passing through Saṅkassa, Kaṇṇakujja, Udumbara and Aggalapura, came to Sahajāti. Saḷha of Sahajāti found after deliberation that the Pātheyyaka bhikkhus were right, while the Pācīnaka bhikkhus were wrong. For the settlement of the disputed questions was formed a committee on which Sabbakāmi, Saḷha, Khujjasobhita and Vāsabhagāmika represented the Pācīnakas, and Revata, Sambhūta Sāṇavāsi, Yasa, and Sumana represented the Pātheyyakas. An important fact that should be noticed in this account is the division of monks into two sections, the Pācīnakas and the Pātheyyakas. The Pācīnakas indicated the easterners, of whom the Vesālians were the foremost; to this section belonged Sabbakāmi,¹ a disciple of Ānanda, and Saḷha, a distinguished monk of Sahajāti. The Pātheyyakas were the monks dwelling in Kosambi, Pātheyya and Avantidakkhiṇāpatha; to this section belonged Sambhūta Sāṇavāsi, an important figure in the traditions of both the Theravādins and the Sarvāstivādins, also Revata, an old bhikkhu of Soreyya, and Yasa, famous in connection with the Second Council.²