Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c41.s1.1

v2.c41.s1.1

The story of the Council as given in the Chronicles runs as follows: About 200 years after Buddha's death, a large number of non-Buddhists joined the order for the sake of gain. They held unorthodox views in matters of both doctrine and discipline. The orthodox monks refused to perform in their company, the *uposatha* ceremony, one of the primary conditions of which was that the members present must declare at the outset of the assembly that they were pure, and had not committed any breach of the disciplinary rules, or if they had, confessed the same and taken formal absolution. For full seven years, as the Pāli tradition goes, no *uposatha* could be held at Pāṭaliputra. Aśoka deputed one of his ministers to persuade the monks at Aśokārāma to hold the *uposatha*. On the monks' refusal to comply with the king's wishes, the minister had them seated in a row and began to behead them one after another. At this, Aśoka's brother Tissa, who was also a monk, residing in the same monastery, intervened by taking a seat in the row. The minister got puzzled, and approached the king for direction. Aśoka was stunned at the news, for he never thought that his orders would be carried out in the manner his minister did. He approached the monks to ascertain whether he or his minister or both were guilty for the heinous act of his minister. He did not get satisfaction at the different answers given by the monks, and so at their advice he decided to invite the oldest and the most learned of the monks of the time, Moggaliputta Tissa, who was then staying in a forest, to the Aśokārāma in order to get his doubts solved by him. Moggaliputta Tissa arrived in due course of time and convinced him of his innocence on the ground of the absence of his intention to have the monks beheaded. At his advice, Aśoka decided to weed out the unorthodox monks from the Saṅgha. He and Tissa called the monks one by one and asked each of them whether Buddha was a Vibhajjavādin or not? Those who answered in the affirmative were allowed to remain within the Saṅgha while the rest were compelled to give up their yellow robes. After thus purging the Saṅgha of unorthodox elements, a Council was held by the orthodox monks, and in that Council the three Piṭakas were recited as was done in the 1st and 2nd Councils. On this occasion Moggaliputta Tissa composed the Kathāvatthu, one of the seven texts of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, with a view to refute the various doctrinal views held by the non-Theravādins.¹