Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c23.s5.1

v1.c23.s5.1

There is very little disagreement among the different accounts about the fact that Mahākassapa proposed an assembly of arhats preferably endowed with *paṭisambhidā* and *abhiññā*, and this was agreed to by all the monks present. The number of members was limited to five hundred. Upāli was unanimously selected to recite the Vinaya and Ānanda the Dhamma (which according to some sources included Abhidhamma). Mahākassapa took upon himself the task of putting questions both to Upāli and Ānanda. In some of the sources, (*e.g.*, Vinaya texts of the Mahīśāsakas, Dharmaguptas, Mahāsanghikas) a list of monks by seniority is given,¹ the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya adding that whatever was uttered by Upāli and Ānanda was referred to these old monks for approval and confirmation.