Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c19.s1.7

v1.c19.s1.7

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.