Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c22.s5.4

v1.c22.s5.4

There was a system of *ubbāhika* which is usually translated by the term 'voting' but it bears quite a different sense. It corresponds to something like the formation of a sub-committee or a body of assessors. The method of *ubbāhikā* was restored to when there was a dispute relating to a particular question of discipline (*vivādādhikaraṇa*) and when there was no possibility of settling it in an assembly without unnecessary discussions. In a case like this, two or more monks possessing the requisite qualifications¹ were selected from among the members of the assembly and their names were placed before the assembly for approval, and were adopted if the members be unanimous. The selected monks were then entrusted with the duty of settling the dispute. This method of *ubbāhikā* was adopted in the Second Council to settle the disputes between the Vajjian monks and Yasatthera. It was by *ubbāhikā* that four monks of the eastern countries and four of Pāṭheyya were chosen, and the decision of this subcommittee of eight was placed before the whole *saṅgha* for confirmation.²