Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c22.17

c22.17

Democratic Procedure in its performance. Every step in the ordination has to be passed by the Order in a meeting specially convened for the purpose. The quorum for such a meeting was laid down. It required the presence of at least ten members who must be fully qualified elders [Mahāvagga, i, 31, 2]. In border countries, however, where "there were but few Bhikkhus" and hence "difficulty and trouble in getting together a meeting of the Order in which ten Bhikkhus were present", the quorum was reduced by the Buddha to five members including the chairman [ib., v, 13, 11].¹ An ecclesiastical vote of the Chapter of elders was termed *Kammavāchā* (which means "the proceedings at a *Kamma* or ecclesiastical Act, by which some question is decided by vote"). The sense of the meeting was obtained by a vote or Resolution arrived at in either of the two following ways, viz. (1) by a summary decision at which the Resolution before the house (*ñatti*) would be given only one reading (*ñattidutiya-kamma*); (2) a decision by the third reading (*ñattichatutthakamma*). The decision by three readings was applied to all the stages in the ceremony of the Upasampadā ordination. The method of voting was very simple. The assenting members kept silence and the dissenters spoke out. In the case of divided opinions in the Chapter, the question was referred to arbitration by a small sub-committee elected on the spot and possessed of special qualifications laid down. If the question was not settled thus, it was put to the vote. A taker of votes was then elected. He distributed voting slips (*salākā*) of different colours to indicate different opinions [*Chullavagga*, iv, 14, 26], and thus ascertained the vote of the majority. There was a rule that no member should leave the meeting without declaring his vote [*Pāt.*, p. 52].