Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c25.1

v2.c25.1

The three Buddhist Councils are the three landmarks in the history and development of early monastic Buddhism. In the first volume of this work, an attempt has been made to present the history and doctrines of early Buddhism as far as can be gathered from the Nikāyas and the Vinaya. This volume has been brought to a close with the account of the first Buddhist Council, in which the direct disciples of Buddha met together to ascertain and compile the scattered discourses of the Founder. Though a discordant note is perceptible in the proceedings of the first Council, the Saṅgha was able to maintain its concord at least outwardly for about a century or a little less than a century. The disruptive forces were already at work within the Saṅgha and the Second Buddhist Council marked the complete cleavage of the Saṅgha into two groups, each of which again became divided into a few sub-groups. After the session of the second Council, the Saṅgha was no longer one but many, and each sub-Saṅgha considered itself independent and felt justified in giving its own interpretation to the teachings and disciplinary rules promulgated by the Teacher. Hence the history of Buddhism after the second Council is no longer the history of one group of thinkers but of the many groups of thinkers that came into being in the wake of the first cleavage. About a half of the present volume has therefore been devoted to the study and discussion of the materials available relating to the history, literature and doctrines of the many groups and sub-groups. This has been followed up by four chapters, the first dealing with the gradual change of relation of laity to the church, the second with the career of the religion during the regime of the Mauryas particularly Aśoka, the third with Aśoka's *Dhamma* and the fourth with the third Buddhist Council which marked the climax of sectarian differences and an effort of the Theravadins to propagate their point of view about Buddha's teachings in the different parts of India. This volume has been brought to a close with an analysis of the popular features which the religion incorporated in the pre-Aśokan and post-Aśokan period, thus paving the way for the advent of Mahāyānism.