Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s2.t6.7

c5.s2.t6.7

The tradition of the Mahāvaṃsa about the part played by Asoka in the Third Council with Moggaliputta Tissa as its head, and about the despatch of missionaries to the various parts of India still awaits verification. It is not improbable that a sectarian council of the Theravādins was held under the leadership of Moggaliputta Tissa during Asoka’s rule, and that an active propaganda was set on foot to spread Buddhism in the various territories in and outside India,¹ which the *Mahāvaṃsa* recorded with a colouring of its own. In the same way, we can account for the two religious advisers of Asoka, namely Upagupta and Moggaliputta Tissa. Asoka as an impartial ruler offered equal treatment to the Buddhists and non-Buddhists. In the circumstances, it may be inferred that he would not support one school of Buddhism against another. The Theravādins as well as the Sarvāstivādins associated his name with the contemporaneous leading figures of their respective sects in order to add importance to themselves. So it would be fruitless to attempt an identification of Moggaliputta Tissa with Upagupta—as is done by Smith and other scholars.² We may with some amount of confidence accept the tradition of the *Mahāvaṃsa* that about the time of Asoka, Buddhism made its way to the countries of Kasmīra-Gandhāra, Mahisamandala, Vanavāsī, Yona, Mahāraṭṭha, Himavantapadesa, Suvaṇṇabhūmi and Laṅkādipa.³