Buddhist Councils, Sects and Spread
NCERT Class 12 - Themes in Indian History Part I, Chapter 4
Buddhist Councils, Sects and Spread
After the Buddha's death the sangha met in a series of councils to fix the teaching and the rules. These meetings produced the Tripitaka and also the splits that created Hinayana, Mahayana and later Vajrayana Buddhism.
The four councils
| Council | Place | Patron | President |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Rajgriha (Rajgir) | Ajatashatru | Mahakassapa |
| Second | Vaishali | Kalasoka | Sabakami |
| Third | Pataliputra | Ashoka | Moggaliputta Tissa |
| Fourth | Kashmir, Kundalvana | Kanishka | Vasumitra |
- At the first council, Upali recited the monastic rules and Ananda recited the sermons, giving the Vinaya and Sutta Pitaka.
- The second council broke the sangha into the orthodox Sthaviravadins and the liberal Mahasanghikas.
- The third council added the Abhidhamma Pitaka and sent missionaries abroad, including Mahendra and Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka.
- The fourth council was divided into Hinayana and Mahayana, and Ashvaghosha was its vice-president. Sanskrit now replaced Pali in many texts.
The Tripitaka
- Vinaya Pitaka - rules of discipline for monks and nuns.
- Sutta Pitaka - the Buddha's discourses; the Jataka stories of his previous births are attached to it.
- Abhidhamma Pitaka - philosophy and analysis of mental states.
- The Tripitaka is written in Pali, which is why Pali became the language of Theravada Buddhism.
The main sects
| Point | Hinayana / Theravada | Mahayana |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Pali | Sanskrit |
| View of Buddha | A great teacher | A divine being, worshipped |
| Ideal | Arhat, personal liberation | Bodhisattva, liberation of all |
| Images | Avoided originally | Image worship central |
| Spread | Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand | China, Korea, Japan, Central Asia |
- Vajrayana, the third stream, added tantric ritual, mantras and female deities such as Tara. It flourished in eastern India under the Palas and spread to Tibet and Bhutan.
- Famous bodhisattvas are Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Vajrapani and Maitreya, the Buddha yet to come.
Art and monastic learning
- Gandhara school - grey schist, strong Greco-Roman influence, wavy hair and realistic drapery.
- Mathura school - red sandstone, indigenous style, robust figures.
- Amaravati school - white marble, narrative panels, in the Andhra region.
- Great monastic universities grew in Bihar and Bengal - Nalanda, Vikramshila and Odantapuri - drawing students from across Asia.
Decline in India
- Loss of royal patronage after the Guptas, and the wealth and laxity that crept into large monasteries.
- The revival of Brahmanism and the emotional appeal of the Bhakti movement drew people back.
- Adoption of Sanskrit distanced Mahayana texts from ordinary people.
- The destruction of the monastic universities during the Turkish invasions removed the institutional base, though Buddhism continued to thrive outside India.
हिंदी संकेत: त्रिपिटक पालि में है - विनय, सुत्त और अभिधम्म। जातक कथाएं सुत्त पिटक से जुड़ी हैं और बुद्ध के पूर्व जन्मों की कहानियां हैं।
Exam me kaise aata hai
The council table is the single most asked item - match-the-following on council, place, patron and president. Factual questions ask which Pitaka was added third and which school used grey schist. Statement-based questions test the Hinayana-Mahayana differences.
UPSC / State PSC ke liye
For descriptive answers, explain decline as institutional rather than doctrinal - Buddhism depended on monasteries funded by donation, so when patronage and the universities went, the structure went with them. Note too that Buddhism's influence survived in Indian art, logic and the idea of ahimsa.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ The third council was held at Vaishali | ✓ The third was at Pataliputra; the second was at Vaishali
✗ Kanishka presided over the fourth council | ✓ Kanishka was the patron; Vasumitra presided
✗ The Gandhara school used red sandstone | ✓ Gandhara used grey schist; Mathura used red sandstone
Ek nazar me
- Four councils - Rajgriha, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Kashmir.
- Patrons in order - Ajatashatru, Kalasoka, Ashoka, Kanishka.
- Tripitaka in Pali - Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma; Jatakas attached to Sutta.
- Second council split the sangha; fourth council divided Hinayana and Mahayana.
- Hinayana uses Pali and the arhat ideal; Mahayana uses Sanskrit and the bodhisattva ideal.
- Art schools - Gandhara grey schist, Mathura red sandstone, Amaravati white marble.
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