Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c19.s1: Saṅgha: its beginning
Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c19.s1
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Saṅgha: its beginning
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Buddha started his mission as an eremetical teacher and had hardly any intention of forming a Saṅgha. The Vinaya tradition shows that the idea of a Saṅgha was thrust upon him, but once he had taken it up, he did his best to place it on as thorough a basis as possible. Every delinquency on the part of a bhikkhu reported to him had his immediate attention, and a rule was framed to avert its future repetition, and this was done with a view to, in the words of Buddha, *appasannānaṃ va pasādāya pasannāṃ va bhiyyobhāvāya* (to make the non-believers believing and the believers doubling their faith).
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The story of his forming the first band of disciples is related thus in the Vinaya Piṭaka:²
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² Vinaya, I, 1-24.
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Buddha's first converts were the five brahmins Aññāta-koṇḍañña, Vappa, Bhaddiya, Mahānāma and Assaji, his quondam companions.³ The words in which they sought admission into the order were simply "*labheyyāmā mayaṃ bhante bhagavato santike pabbajjaṃ, labheyyāmā upasampadan ti.*" There was no formality, the only reply given by the Teacher was "*etha bhikkhavo ti.*" The next batch of persons to accept his teaching was Yasa of Benares and his four friends Vimala, Subāhu, Puṇṇaji and Gavampati, and his fifty other friends, and the procedure for admission was the same as above. Now there were in all sixty disciples who were all arhats. Buddha then sent out the sixty arhats to as many places as they could reach, directing them not to go to one place even in twos.¹ He himself went to Uruvela Senā-nigamo.
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³ See above, pp. 101-2, 137.
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¹ *Vinaya*, I, p. 19-20. Mr. S. Dutt interprets it differently in his *Early Buddhist Monachism*.
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The *Vinaya* is silent about the activities of the sixty arhats though it mentions the difficulties experienced by them in admitting persons into the order by having to present them before Buddha for the purpose of ordination.² It relates in detail how Buddha converted the thirty Bhaddavaggiya youths and the Jatila teachers, the three Kassapas with their disciples,³ and how one of the five brāhmaṇa ascetics, Assaji, was instrumental in bringing about the conversion of Sāriputta. The ordination so far effected was made by Buddha personally by uttering the two words: “*ehi bhikkhu*”. Neither the *Vinaya* nor the *Nikāyas* continue the story of conversion any further, though they speak of stray converts made by Buddha from time to time, but a continuous story has been attempted in the later works like the *Buddhavamsa* and the *Aṭṭhakathās*.⁴ After the conversion of Sāriputta and Moggallāna, Buddha naturally turned his eyes to his homeland, Kapilavatthu. Here he permitted Rāhula to join the order and asked Sāriputta to give him the ordination. Among other Sākyas that joined the order were Nanda, Ānanda, Devadatta, Anuruddha, Bhaddiya, Bhagu, Kimbila and the barber Upāli.⁵ Most of these figured notably in the subsequent history of the religion and formed in fact the main props of the religion.
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² *Vinaya*, I, p. 21-22.
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³ *Ibid.*, pp. 23-28.
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⁴ See above, ch. XI.
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⁵ Thomas, *Life of the Buddha*, p. 101 f.
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It will be observed that Rāhula was ordained by Sāriputta and not by Buddha, and that Sāriputta acted as Rāhula’s *ācariya*. It was on this occasion that Buddha empowered his disciples to confer ordination.¹ Buddha himself did not observe any rule for conferring ordination. After the conversion of Sāriputta and Moggallāna, he admitted into the Saṅgha a few others like Aṅgulimāla by the words “ehi bhikkhu.”
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¹ *Vinaya*, I, 54, 3.
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It was while Buddha was staying at Kapilavatthu that he enlarged the rules of initiation, which were first introduced by him while he was staying at Rājagaha.²
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² *Ibid.*, I, 19, 28, 31 f.
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The sixty disciples sent out by the Teacher for propagating his new teaching had hitherto no authority to confer ordination on desiring entrants and had to bring them from different parts of the country to the place where Buddha was staying at the time. This was sometimes found impracticable³ and led Buddha to delegate his power of ordination to his disciples who were however directed to observe certain rules. Several restrictions were also imposed to avoid unworthy persons getting into the Saṅgha. The rules and restrictions were generally as follows:—
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³ *Ibid.*, I, p. 21-2.
Linked texts (2)
- Mahāvagga — Pāli
- Vinayapiṭaka — Pāli