The History of Buddhist Thought c9.s2: Chronology
The History of Buddhist Thought c9.s2
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Chronology
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Neither the Pāli nor the Sanskrit forms of the Canon give any help in determining anything about the dates of Buddha’s career or even about the historical sequence of the whole story. This comes from the Chronicles composed in Ceylon and from Sarvāstivādin works known as Avadānas. There are two Pāli Chronicles giving the early history of Buddhism, its introduction into Ceylon, and its progress
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in the Island. The earlier of these is the *Dīpavaṃsa*, “history of the Island (of Ceylon),” a record in verse, assigned to the fourth century A.D. The *Mahāvaṃsa*, “the great Chronicle,” also in verse, is a rewriting of the same subject matter with more completeness, and is about a century later. Both these works rest upon historical material which was contained in the old Sinhalese commentaries on the Canon, and most of the material with which we are concerned originated in India. It is unnecessary to consider the *Dīpavaṃsa* in detail here. Its relation to the *Mahāvaṃsa* has been discussed by W. Geiger in his editions of the text and translation of the *Mahāvaṃsa*.
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The *Mahāvaṃsa* has been extended from time to time by continuations, but the original form was in thirty-seven chapters, ending like the *Dīpavaṃsa* with the reign of Mahāsena, king of Ceylon, early in the fourth century A.D. It begins with the resolve which “our Conqueror” made under the Buddha Dīpankara, and the prophecy by Dīpankara about his destiny, repeated by each succeeding Buddha, until in his last life as Gotama he attained complete enlightenment, and began to teach the Doctrine at Benares. The rest of the chapter gives the Sinhalese legend of his three visits to Ceylon, the first of them nine months after his enlightenment, the next five years later, and the third in the eighth year. So far we have purely imaginative legend. The actual history begins with the second chapter, and it is introduced, after the style of the Purāṇas, with the genealogy of Buddha from Mahāsammata, the first king of this age (*kalpa*) down to his father, king Suddhodana. It then continues:
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Māyā and Pajāpatī were the queens of Suddhodana; our Conqueror¹ was the son of Suddhodana and Māyā.
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¹ *Jina* (conqueror), *muni* (recluse), *satthā* (teacher), *bodhisatta* (destined Buddha), *buddha* (enlightened), *tathāgata* (he who has gone thus or to such a state) are all titles of Siddhattha. His name Gotama (Skt. Gautama) was a kind of surname, as it was the common name of his clan or *gotra*, applied to all descended from the same supposed ancestor. This *gotra*, however, is a brahmin *gotra*, and was probably the *gotra* of the hotar priest who performed the sacrifices for this warrior tribe. See *Life of Buddha*, p. 22.
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In the unbroken lineage of Mahāsammata, which thus became the head of the warrior caste, was born the Great Recluse.
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The wife of prince Siddhattha, the Bodhisatta, was Bhaddakaccānā, and his son was Rāhula.
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Bimbisāra and prince Siddhattha were friends; and likewise friends were the fathers of both.
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The Bodhisatta was five years older than Bimbisāra; and at the age of twenty-nine the Bodhisatta renounced the world.
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He strove for six years, and in due course won enlightenment; and at the age of thirty-five he visited Bimbisāra.
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Now the virtuous Bimbisāra at the age of fifteen was himself consecrated by his father; and after he had attained the kingdom (of Magadha),
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In the sixteenth year, the Teacher taught the Doctrine; fifty-two years did Bimbisāra rule his kingdom.
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Fifteen years was his reign before the Conqueror came, and thirty-seven more while the Tathāgata lived.
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Ajātasattu, son of Bimbisāra, intent on murdering his father, ruled his kingdom for thirty-two years, a great injurer of friends.
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In the eighth year of Ajātasattu the Recluse attained Nirvāna; thereafter Ajātasattu ruled his kingdom for twenty-four years.
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When the Conqueror, living for forty-five years, had performed all duties in the world in every way,
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At Kusinārā, between the excellent pair of sāla trees he, the light of the world, attained Nirvāna.
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The third chapter continues with the funeral rites of Buddha and the holding of a Council by the monks of the Order six months later for the reciting and collecting of the Doctrine.
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In the fourth chapter six successors of Ajātasattu are recorded, the last of whom was Kālāsoka. It was after ten years of his reign that the second Council was held, exactly a century after Buddha's death. This Council is said to have dealt only with disciplinary measures. It declared illegal ten practices in which relaxation of the rules had taken place among the monks of Vesālī.
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The fifth chapter records the rise of "the doctrines of other teachers", resulting in seventeen new schools in the second century after Buddha's death, and later still six other schools in India and two in Ceylon. Authors belonging to Sanskrit schools also give lists of eighteen, and these lists contain the kernel of what we know of the history of the Order and the development of the doctrine in the earlier period. This chapter also continues the history of the kings of Magadha down to Asoka.
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Kālāsoka was succeeded by his ten brothers, who reigned in all twenty-two years. Then followed the nine Nandas, who also reigned twenty-two years. The last of these, Dhanananda, was overthrown by Chandagutta (Chandra-gupta), who made himself master of northern India, and reigned twenty-four years. His son Bindusāra succeeded, and reigned twenty-eight.
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Bindusāra’s splendid sons were a hundred and one; but of these Asoka excelled in merit, splendour, might, and wondrous power. When he had slain ninety-nine of his brothers by different mothers, he attained the sole rule in all Jambudīpa. It is to be known that from the Nirvāṇa of the Conqueror down to Asoka’s consecration it is two hundred and eighteen years. Four years after the famous one (Asoka) had attained sole rule he caused himself to be consecrated in the city of Pāṭaliputta (Patna).
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The rest of the chapter tells of Asoka’s conversion to Buddhism, and how his name became changed from Asoka the fierce (Chaṇḍāsoka) to Asoka the righteous (Dhammāsoka). He reformed the Order, expelling the heretical monks, and the third Council was held in the seventeenth year of his reign. The Chronicle then turns to the history of Ceylon, and tells no more of Buddhism in India beyond Asoka’s sending of missionaries to various countries after the third Council and the official introduction of Buddhism into Ceylon by Asoka’s son Mahinda.
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This is the tradition as preserved by one school, the Theravāda, and the extent to which the details can be relied upon is much disputed.¹ It is unnecessary for our purpose to investigate the chronological problems beyond pointing out those which can be verified independently as historical facts. Chandagutta (Chandragupta), the grandfather of Asoka, has been identified with certainty as the Indian ruler known to the Greeks and Romans as Sandrocottus, who about 304-3 B.C. made a treaty with Seleucus Nicator. The historical character of Asoka’s reign is proved by the decrees which he caused to be inscribed on rocks and pillars in various parts of India. All the earlier dates are problematical, though they agree to some extent with the chronology of the Jains and the Purāṇas. If we could be sure of the number 218 as the number of years between the death of Buddha and the Consecration of Asoka, all the rest would fall into a natural chronological sequence. The Sarvāstivādin tradition, however, puts Asoka one century after the death of Buddha, and apparently confuses him with Kālāsoka. But, as it also omits Chandragupta from its list of kings, there is no reason to prefer it as the more correct. The relative dates as accepted by the Theravāda school thus become:
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¹ An examination of the Pāli evidence compared with that of the Jains and the Purāṇas is given by W. Geiger in the introduction to his translation of the Mahāvamsa. Mr. Bhattasali, preferring the Jain dates, wishes to shift all the dates five years forward. How precarious the whole scheme is can be seen from the fact that Dr. Matsumoto, following Professor Ui, shifts the death of Buddha to 386 B.C., nearly a century later. See Die Prajñāpāramitā-Literatur, p. 25. Stuttgart, 1932. None of these dates agrees with the traditional dates accepted by the Buddhists themselves. In Ceylon, Siam, and Burma 544 B.C. is the date of Buddha’s death; in China 1067 B.C. and other dates are given. Mr. Bhattasali’s calculation is given in JRAS. 1932, p. 273.
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B.C. 563 Birth of Gotama Buddha. 559 Birth of Bimbisāra, king of Magadha. 543 Accession of Bimbisāra. 534 Great Renunciation of Gotama. 528 The Enlightenment. 491 Accession of Ajātasattu. 483 Death of Buddha and first Council at Rājagaha. 393 Accession of Kālāsoka. 383-2 Second Council at Vesālī and first schism. 365-343 The ten sons of Kālāsoka. 343-321 The nine Nandas. 321 Usurpation of Chandragupta and founding of the Maurya empire. 297 Accession of Bindusāra. 269 Accession of his son Asoka. 265 Consecration of Asoka. 247 Third Council at Pāṭaliputta. 246 Mission of Mahinda to Ceylon.