Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c41.s2: Propagation of the religion
Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c41.s2
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Propagation of the religion
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The second part of the Ceylonese tradition about the third council deals with the propagation of Buddhism⁴ in different countries. It is said that Moggaliputta Tissa after the termination of the Council despatched nine missionaries to nine different places for the propagation of the religion. The names of the monks and the countries to which they were deputed are given as follows:—
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⁴ Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. XII.
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(i) Majjhantika (=Madhyāndina) to Kāśmira-Gandhāra (=Mod. Peshwar and Rawalpindi Districts).¹
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¹ For identification, see B. C. Law, *Geographical Essays*, p. 69.
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(ii) Mahādeva to Mahiṣamaṇḍala (=Māhiṣmati, a district south of the Vindhyas).
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(iii) Rakkhita to Vanavāsi (=North Canara).
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(iv) Dhammarakkhita (a Yonaka) to Aparānta (Western Countries like Alor, Broach, and Sopara).
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(v) Mahādhammarakkhita to Mahāraṭṭha (=Mod. Mahārāṣṭra).
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(vi) Mahārakkhita to Yona countries (=the foreign settlements of the N.-W. Frontier Province).
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(vii) Majjhima to Himavanta.
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(viii) Soṇa with Uttara to Suvaṇṇabhūmi.²
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(ix) Mahinda to Tambapaṇṇi (=Ceylon).
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In the *Mahākarmavibhaṅga* (p. 61-62) there is a similar tradition about the conversion of different countries. It is as follows:—
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(i) Mahākātyāyana Avanti (with capital Ujjayini) and other Western countries.
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(ii) Madhyāndina Kāśmīra.
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(iii) Gavāmpati Suvaṇṇabhūmi.² (iv) Piṇḍola Bharadvāja Pūrva Videha.
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² The identification of Suvaṇṇabhūmi (mentioned in the two traditions) with Burma cannot be accepted. We must identify it with a country within India. The association of the name of Gavāmpati with Suvaṇṇabhūmi indicates that the place is not far from Magadha. In the *Milindapañha*, p. 359, Suvaṇṇabhūmi is mentioned after Kolapaṭṭana as a seaport.
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(v) Mahendra Siṃhala.
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(vi) Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇiputra Surpāraka (=Mod. Sopara).
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The author of the *Mahākarmavibhaṅga* has evidently mixed up the earlier tradition with the later. To the earlier tradition belong Mahākātyāyana (Avantī), Gavāmpati (Suvarṇabhūmi) and Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇiputra (Surpāraka) while to the later belong Madhyāndina (Kāśmīra) and Mahendra (Siṃhala). Though the date of composition of the *Mahākarmavibhaṅga* is a matter of uncertainty, the tradition preserved by it is authentic.
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The question is how far the Ceylonese tradition about the despatch of missionaries to different countries can be relied on. The find of the relic-urn, on the inner and outer lid of which appear the following two inscriptions respectively: *Sapurisa [sa] Majhimasa* and *Sapurisa[sa] Kāsapagotasa Hemavatācariyasa* is a definite proof of the fact that Majjhima with Kassapagotta Thera propagated the religion in the Himalayan countries. In view of the fact that Mahāvihāra became the repository of the Pāli Piṭaka and a centure of the Theravāda sect, we may accept the traditional accounts about the missionary activities of Mahinda in Ceylon as fairly authentic. That the members of the Theravāda sect or the Theriya Nikāya as they are called in the *Nikāya Saṅgraha* (see above, p. 268) were imbued with a missionary spirit is amply corroborated by one of the Nāgārjunikoṇḍa inscriptions (3rd or 4th century A.D.); It runs as follows:—
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*Sidham. Namo Bhagavato......Ramño M[āṭha]riputasa......ācariyānaṃ Kaṣmira - Gaṃdhāra - Cīna - Cilāta - Tosali - Avaramta - Vaṃga - Vanavāsi - Yava [na]. Da [mila - Pa] lura - Taṃbapaṇṇi - dīpa - pasādakānaṃ theriyānaṃ Taṃbapa (m)*
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ṇakānaṃ suparigabe Siripavate Vijayapuriya - puva - disā -bhāge vihāre Cula - Dhammagirīyaṃ cetiyagharam sapaṭa - saṃtharaṃ sacetīyaṃ sava - niyutaṃ kāritaṃ uvāsikāya Bodhisiriya”.......
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Translation: “Success. Adoration to the Lord Buddha. In the 14th year of King Māṭhariputa . . . . . For the benefit of the masters and of the fraternities (of monks), of Tambapaṇṇa (Ceylon) who have converted Kashmir, Gandhāra, Cīna, Cilāta (= Skt. Kirāta), Tosali, Avaraṃta (= Skt. Aparānta), Vaṅga, Vanavāsī, Yavana (?), Damila (?), Palura (?) and the Isle of Tambapaṇṇi (Ceylon). At Siripavata (= Śrīparvata) on the east side of Vijayapurī at the Convent on the Lesser Dharmagiri a Caitya hall with a flooring of slabs, with a Caitya and provided with all the necessaries, was caused to be made by the female lay-member Bodhisiri (= Skt. Bodhiśrī) .........” (Dr. Hirananda Sastri in *Epigraphia Indica*, XX, pp. 22, 23). This inscription not only corroborates the Ceylonese tradition that the members of the Theriya Nikāya or the Theravāda sect, who later settled in Ceylon, propagated Buddhism in many countries but also proves that their missionary activity went on unabated and they were able to introduce Buddhism into a few other places like Cīna(?), Tosali (in Kaliṅga), Vaṅga (Bengal), Palura (Dantapura?) and the Tamil countries. In the other inscriptions discovered at Nāgārjunikoṇḍa the names of a few other Buddhist sects are mentioned but they are not given the credit of taking up actively the task of propagation of the religion. In view of the above quoted inscription of Nāgārjunikoṇḍa and the inscriptions on the lid of the relic-urns, we think the Ceylonese tradition about the despatch of missionaries has a historical basis.
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Apart from the propagation made by the Theriya Nikāya we know that several sects which came into being after the Second Buddhist Council migrated to different countries from Magadha and each sect selected a centre for itself. The Mahāsanghikas and their offshoots, for instance, migrated southwards and came to be known as the Andhakas, whch fact indicates that they propagated Buddhism in the Andhra countries. The Mahīśāsakas and the Theravādins moved together for some time till the former settled in Mahiṣamaṇḍala and Vanavāsi, and the latter in Avantī, and ultimately in Ceylon. The Sammitīyas or the Vātsiputrīyas bore the local name of the Avantakas, and so it seems that this sect selected the northern part of Avantī and Vatsa country as their fields of activities. The Sarvāstivādins proceeded northwards to Mathurā and thence to Gandhāra. Those of the Sarvāstivādins, who proceeded further north to Kāśmīra, were probably the Haimavatas or the Mūlasarvāstivādins, who had the other local name, the Uttarāpathakas.
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Thus we see that by the time of Aśoka, Buddhism had spread eastwards and southwards up to the Andhra countries, North Canara and Māhiṣmatī, westwards up to Broach and Sopara, and northwards to the N.-W. Frontier Provinces and Kāśmīra. It was on account of the peaceful state brought about by Aśoka’s rule that it was possible for Buddhism to reach all the parts of India and to become a dominant force in the history of religions in India.
Linked texts (4)
- Milindapañha — Pāli
- Mahākarmavibhaṅga — Sanskrit
- Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
- Second Apsidal Temple inscription F (ed. Vogel 1930) — Prakrit