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THE BUDDHIST With the passage oftime, the definition COUNCILS, of the term Council has also changed. Now a Council is often identified by the AND THE PRESERVA• judicious application ofthe rules of • TION OF THE BUDDHA'S tual criticism in the edition of the TEACHINGS1 Tipitaka text as appearing in manuscript and printed books. In connection with this, the Dhamma Society Fund of Lady Visudh Busyakul* Maniratana Bunnag is now undertaking

Abstract In Theravada countries, is often called "Magacllii.", or "Mli.gadhika" language. This The traditional way of preserving the Magadlii has no connection with the dra• teaching of the Buddha in the old days matic dialect of the , was by commitment of every word into being so far apart in time as well as in lin• memory. It had to be refreshed by guistic makeup. This Buddhist Magadhika subsequent Sarigayana (or Sarigiti) dialect or Magadhika-vohli., has had a long Councils from time to time. This worked history within orthodox Buddhist commu• effectively for the Theravada School, nities, and is a sort of educated dialect, re• taining much of the phonetic char• which employed Pali as the textual acteristics, yet common enough to be com• language, regardless of the geographi• prehended by the general public in cal site of each individual Council. and at the time. This dialect, which was carefully and Records of the Councils are found scat• ceremonially transmitted by faithful believ• tered in the Tipitaka and other late Pali ers, had remained practically unchanged, the writings. In general, it may be that three writer , even at the time the Tip ~aka Theravada Councils were held in , was reduced to writing some four centuries two in Ceylon, two in Burma, and two later. or three in . Of all these,the The writer declines to accept the views ~~ Sarigiti Council held in Burma proposed by some scholars that the Buddha from 1954 to 1956 A.D. appears to be employed a geographically remote Indian dialect in his teaching, or the idea that the most scholarly, except for the fact was introduced into Ceylon in a that a reliable printed edition of the reso• language different from that used by the lution of the Council is hard to find. Buddha, or the suggestion that the "original dialect" was replaced by another language at the time the Tip i~aka was written down. 1In this article, the present writer takes In short, the author accepts the general "Pali" as the name of the language proposed by Childers, Geiger and Windisch concerning the Pali language. See Robert employed in the Theravada Tipi~aka , and used by the Buddha during his forty-five Caesar Childers', ?ali-English Dictionary, years of teaching in Magadha and Kosaia in p. vii ; Wilhelm Geiger's, the Eastern part oflndia after his Enlighten• and Language, p. 1-7; and Maurice ment. The author also accepts the custom• Winternitz's, A History ofIndia n Literature, ary use of the term "Pali" in Buddhist Vol. II, p. 601 ff. commentaries signifying the canonical text, ·Professor, Department of Eastern Lan• or the canonical passage . guages, Faculty of Arts, University, B?ngkok

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tionaries, is Sangiti. In Thailand, the another scholarly edition of the Tipitaka use of the term Sarig'fti is limited to a in Thai and Roman characters based on small number ofPali scholars, whereas the various printed copies ofthe text of another term Satigiiyana is more com• the Chagha Sail.g1ti Council. monly used, by specialists and non-spe• cialists alike. Strange as it seems, the It is recognized by both the Theravada term Sarigayanii is not included in any School and the Northern Schools of of the Pali-English dictionaries. Nor is Buddhism that the preservation of the it found in Abhidhanappadipika, a dic• Buddha's teachings in the early centu• tionary of Pali synonyms compiled by ries of Buddhist history was by means Moggallana Thera of Ceylon in the of oral recitation, or rehearsal in Coun• twelfth century A.D., nor in the Hybrid cils held by the original Buddhist Buddhist Sanskrit Dictionary by or Congregation. The language Franklin Edgerton. adopted for the recitation was the one used by the Buddha during the forty-five Morphologically, Sarigayanli. appears to years of his teaching. It was the recita• be a legitimate Pali word. Theoretically tion procedure, plus the trained memory the term might be regarded as a "des"iya" of individual , that caused the or "local" Pali word coined in either original wording ofthe Master, intended (i.., Burma) or Thailand, for future preservation, to remain unal• where it has been in regular use. Both tered against the passage of time. After terms, Sarigayanii and Sarig'fti are from the split of the original Congregation the same root / (gayati - to sing ) into factions, the Theravada Sangha con• with the prefix sal?t (together), and tinued to use the same language and the should bear an identical meaning. Origi• same procedure of recitation, regardless nally the words should mean "the group of the mother tongue of individual chanting in unison of the words of the monks, whereas the Northern Schools Buddha," but the meaning as under• gradually sought to facilitate the popu• stood by Buddhist students in Thailand lar understanding of the doctrine by nowadays has been extended to "The introducing regional languages. It is textual criticism or edition, by an • claimed by the Theravadins that at the thoritative assembly ofmon ks and schol• time the teachings were systematically ars, of the Pali teachings or Tipi,taka, arranged into the form now called the from available printed versions andre• Tipi!aka, the language of the original liable manuscripts, so that the finished teachings of the Buddha had remained edition will conform to, or most closely the same. The collections of the conform to, the true teachings of the Northern Schools, on the other hand, Buddha." consist of several individual texts in various languages, although frequent From the definition given above, claims are made that those texts are Sarigayanii or Sarigfli necessarily im• derived from the Sanskrit originals. plies (1) an assembly authorized by the Sangha or Congregation , and (2) Among the Theravada Buddhists, the a recitation in concord, or a joint usual Pali term for the council, or examination of the available printed rehearsal or recitation of the Buddha's editions and manuscripts ofth e Tipifaka teachings, as found in Pali-English die- to fix and preserve the original teach• ings of the Buddha. 8

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Although the term Sarigfti (or "Your reverences, let the assembly Sarigayana) is often translated as "a listen to me. If it seems right to the general Council", it is by no means open assembly I could question Upali Thera to all monks. Historically, the number on the . " Then of monks attending early Councils var• Upali Thera informed the assembly, ied from a few hundred to many thou• saying: "Honoured sirs, let the Assem• sands. The Cullavagga XI records that bly listen to me. !fit seems right to the the monks asked Maha-Kassapa Thera Assembly, I, questioned on the Vinaya to select five hundred monks to take by the venerable Mahii.-Kassapa Thera, part in the first Council, and after four could answer. " hundred ninety-nine Theras had been Then the venerable Maha-Kassapa nominated, the monks proposed that the Thera spoke thus to the venerable Upii.li next one should be Ananda Thera, a Thera: suggestion readily accepted by Maha• "Where, reverend Upii.li Thera, was the Kassapa Thera. From this number of first offence involving Parajika laid five hundred, this Council is also called down?" the Council of The Five Hundred. As a "At Vesali, honoured sir. " Council always required a patron to bear "Regarding whom?" the expenses, it may be assumed that the "Regarding Sudinna the Kalandaka. " attending monks were in those days se• "On what subject?" lected by the organizer or the president "On sexual intercourse. " of the Council, with the implied ap• Then the venerable Maha-Kassapa proval of the patronizing king. Thera questioned the venerable Upii.li Thera as to the subject of the first Childers, one of the early English Pii.riijika offence, and he questioned him scholars of Pali, in his Pali-English as to its provenance, and he questioned Dictionary, defines the word Sarig'lti by him as to the individual, and he ques• "chanting together, rehearsal." He tioned him as to what was laid down, explains further that the Council was and he questioned him as to what was held for the purpose of[zxing the text of an offence, and he questioned him as to the Buddhist Scriptures, and it was what was no offence. 2 called Sariglti or Rehearsal because the text was first recited, sentence by sen• After questioning Upali Thera on the tence, by an eminent thera, to be Vinaya offences, Maha-Kassapa Thera chanted after him in chorus (gal}-a• then questioned Ananda Thera on the sajjhaya) by the whole assembly. Dhamma, (Culla Vagga XI.8).

In the preliminary details of two rehears• Then the venerable Maha-Kassapa als that are recorded in Culla Vagga of Thera informed the Order, saying: the Vinaya Pi~aka , we can see how the "Honoured sirs, let the assembly listen actual procedure was conducted. The to me. Ifit seems right to the assembly, first Council is found in Culla Vagga XI.7 of the Vinaya Pi~aka in connection 2Adapted from the translation by I. B. with the Parajika offences. Homer, The Book of the Discipline, Volume V (Culla Vagga), in Books of the Then the venerable Maha-Kassapa Buddhists, Vol. XX, London, Luzac, 1952. Thera informed the Sangha, saying: p.396

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I could question Ananda Thera about text of the Tipi~aka, when they are the Dhamma. " allowed to attend the assembly. Then the venerable Ananda Thera in• recent times, it is often held that if formed the assembly, saying : In no objection is raised by the audience "Honoured sirs, let the assembly listen during or after the recitation by the to me. !fit seems right to the assembly, authorized Thera or group ofTheras, the !, questioned on the Dhamma by the assembly is assumed to have given full venerable Maha-Kassapa Thera, could approval to the recitation. answer." The!J the venerable Maha-Kassapa Granting that group recitation was one Thera spoke thus to the venerable of the most effective means to preserve Ananda Thera: the Buddha's teachings in the old days, "Where, reverend Ananda Thera, was it had by its nature a limitation. As long the Brahmajala Sutta spoken?" as the mother tongue of the attending "Honoured sir, between Rajagaha and members of the Council was the same, Nalandii in the royal rest-house at the group recitation was possible, but Ambalaf!hika. " in a large assembly with several "With whom?" thousands of attendants speaking "Suppiya the wanderer and probably several dialects, ga!-sajjhliya Brahmadatta the brahman youth. " or chanting in chorus, could become Then the venerable Mahii-Kassapa impossible, or at least difficult to Thera questioned the venerable Ananda achieve. This is due to a salient Thera as to the provenance of the passage in the Vinaya Pi~aka where the Brahmajala Sutta, and he questioned Buddha is reported to have said : him as to the individual. 3 "anujanami bhikkhave sakaya niruttiya It can be seen from the above that the buddhavacana'!l p ariylipu!Jitum. "(I examination with regards to the Parajika ordain, monks, that the word of the offences in the Book ofVinaya (or Dis• Buddha be learnt in sakaya niruttiya). cipline) was more detailed than that on the Dhamma. This first Council is gen• This particular phrase "sakiiya erally accepted by both the Theravada niruttiya", literally "in one's own and the Northern Schools. Although the language", could be interpreted differ• ga!Ja-sajjhliya (chanting in chorus ) ently. "Sakaya" could be either " my stipulated by Childers in his definition own", "your own", "his own", "their of the term Salig'i'ti is not mentioned in own", etc. In this particular case, it was the Culla Vagga passage above, it is very interpreted by , the likely that such chanting was the gen• celebrated and greatest Theravada eral procedure, a sort of approval and commentator of the Tipi~aka , as "in the confirmation by the entire assembly, language of the Buddha". He further otherwise the term Saliglti should not explained that this particular "language have been coined to refer to this kind of of the Buddha" was no other than "that rehearsal. From the practical viewpoint, kind or style ofMagadhi or the language the group chanting is an effective means of Magadha as spoken by the Buddha: to teach the neophytes of the endorsed (ettha sakti nirutti niima sammmlisaf!lbuddhena vuttappakaro 3 ibid. p. 397f 10

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magadhiko vohiiro) ". This interpreta• At the present time, Theravada or tion is often quoted in Theravada Orthodox Buddhist countries are limited circles, to reaffirm the view that the to Thailand, Myanmar, Theravada Tipitaka has never been in (Ceylon), , and Kampuchea any other language than Pali, and that a (). In most books on ecclesi• Theravada consequently has to astical history written by Western study Pali. It also follows that the offi• scholars, are dis• cial language employed in conducting cussed m'ostly chronologically, and al• the meeting in a general Council in the most exclusively limited to India and Theravada ecclesiastical history is Pali. Ceylon. This article will try to present all the known Councils that have been The Northern Schools, however, held in India, and in all Theravada disagree. Instead, they take"sakaya countries in Asia. niruttiya" as the language or dialect of each and every monk in the assembly. 1. The Indian Councils In a Council, when the presiding monk made an announcement, he most likely The first Council was held in the city of employed either his own mother tongue, Raj agaha in the east ofIndia about three or the language of the region where the months after the decease of the Buddha. Council was held, or the language ofthe Up to that time, the Buddha's teachings majority of monks in the assembly. If were usually called Dhamma-Vinaya - the audience consisted ofmonks speak• "the Doctrine and the Discipline". The ing the same language, the recitation in Elder Maha-Kassapa, who presided over that language was natural. But in a large the assembly, gave as the reason for assembly of monks speaking different summoning the first Council the dialects, and with no requirement to unbefitting and disturbing remark made have studied "one particular central by Subhadda indicative of a dialect" beforehand, the recitation in glaring lack of respect towards the concord or in unison was then an Buddha, and Subhadda's conceivable impossibility. The preservation of the tendency to drift away from the word of the Buddha by chanting in disciplined life required of a conscien• concord could not therefore be effective tious monk. The details of this Council in the Northern Schools a few have been given above. centuries after the time of the Buddha's Parinibbana. The second Council was held at Vesall (Sk. Vai~all), also in the eastern part of Because of this, no more Sangiti or India, a little more than one hundred Sangayana of the Northern Buddhist years after the passing away of the Bud• Schools was convened after the reign of dha. The reason for the convention, as King Kani~ of north India. The reported by the Theravada School, was Theravada School, on the other hand, because the Vajjiputtaka monks of has maintained this practice up to Vesall were alleged to be in the habit of modem times, with the latest Council practising the dasa vatthuni or ten items being held in , Myanmar (of indulgence) which were regarded (Rangoon, Burma), from May 1954 to by strict orthodox monks as contraven• May 1956 A.D. tion of Vinaya rules. These Ten Issues as described in the Cullavagga were as

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follows: or the Teacher-School", possibly a name 1. That salt might be preserved deliberately coined to emulate the name in hom by monks for seasoning their "Therawi da-the Doctrine of the food as desired, Elders" .4 Thus arose the of the 2. That meals might be eaten original congregation, leading to the for• even after midday as long as the sun's mation of eighteen Buddhist in Jess shadow was less than two inches long,. than two centuries after the decease of 3. That a monk, after eating in the Master. the morning at one place, could go to another village for a second meal on the While the Theravada School recorded sarrie day, that the second Council took place in 4. That monks in one which the Ten Issues of the Vajjiputtaka might observe separate cer• monks were declared improper and un• emomes, acceptable, the Northern Schools, while 5. That a monk might obtain recording that the second General sanction for a deed after it has been Council took place, mentioned neither done, the Vajj iputtaka monks nor the Ten Items 6 That a monk might use cus• of indulgence. They on the other hand tomary practices as precedents for other put the emphasis on discussion of the acts, special characteristics of the Buddha and 7. That a monk might drink but• the instead. termilk after meals, 8. That a monk might drink The third Council was held in the city toddy, ofPa!aliputta (the modem ) under 9. That a monk might use a rug the aegis of Emperor Asoka in 253 B.C. which has no fringe. (B.E.230), the seventeenth year of his 10. That and silver might reign. It is well known that the Buddhist be accepted as by monks. Emperor was so overwhelmed with a strong of remorse after learning Seven hundred monks attended the the grim facts of the pitiful suffering and Council, which condemned such plea• miseries resulting from his victorious sure seeking tendencies. The decision war (at around 257 B.C.) over the King• led ten thousand dissatisfied monks to dom ofKalinga that it turned him ever• form another faction called the more into a staunch Buddhists Mahasanghika (The Great Congrega• tion). The new faction immediately In a short time, with Asoka 's strong sup• convened another Council in which the port of the congregation, the Buddhist metaphysical nature ofthe Buddha and communities in the capital city became the Arhats (accomp~i shed monks) was prosperous. Then came an infiltration announced as the topic for discussion. into the Buddhist of a large As the new faction included several pre• viously non-Buddhistic "iicariyas" sit is rather interesting to note that Asoka (teachers), they called their doctrine Rock Edict XIII, the only edict which de• Acariyaviida- the Doctrine of teachers, scribed his sense of remorse due to the Kalinga conquest, was erected only in 4 E. J. Thomas, History of the Buddhist Shahbazgarhi, the most remote place away Thought, p.31. from Kalinga. See R. K. Mookerji, Asoka, p. 162 ff. .

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number ofnon-Buddhistic monks seek• born of his queen at the time he was a ing a place to live in ease and comfort. young viceroy at Ujjen1 (modern Buddhist teachings and practice were Ujjain). The Northern Schools did not contaminated and confusion arose to the recognized this Council.The fourth point that it was almost impossible to Council was summoned about A.D .100 find out if a man in a Buddhist monk's (B.E.643) in the north ofIndia under the garb was a Buddhist or not. auspices of the powerful King Kani~ka. By that time the split between the The condition continued to deteriorate Theravada and the Northern Schools had and King Asoka, at about 253 B.C., been fully recognized by both sides. sought the advice ofMoggalliputta Tissa King Kani~ka was a powerful king who Thera, his preceptor, to find a way to sympathized with the Sarvastivadins. correct or at least alleviate the worsen• Among the celebrities of his court the ing situation. His objective was two• most eminent was perhaps A§vagho~a, fold: first, to disrobe and expel the a philosopher, poet and dramatist, who heretical monks out ofthe Buddhist con• wrote the literary beautiful gregation in order to stop the propaga• Buddhacarita. King Kani ~ka convened tion of the false beliefs; and secondly, a Council, either in Kasmira in the north to purify the Buddhist teachings which or in Jalandhara, a city a few hundred had been polluted. In order to identify kilometers southward from there. who were the heretical monks, the wise According to a Tibetan record, the 6 Thera composed the , a Council claimed that it was able to settle manual for the refutation of false doc• the dissensions in the Buddhist Broth• trines and at the same time a test to help erhood, and that the eighteen sects were verify if a monk in question was true to all acknowledged as being the reposito• the teachings of the Buddha or not. ries of the genuine doctrine. The Theravada Buddhists do not recognize After the elimination of the false monks this Council, and it is not even from the Order, a Council was convened mentioned in Mahavarpsa. in 253 B.C. (B.E. 230) under the presi• dency ofMoggalliputta Tissa Thera. The 2. The Ceylonese Councils Council was attended by one thousand monks and lasted nine months. One new As mentioned above, Emperor Asoka attempt undertaken by the Council was disspatched chapters of monks to sev• the dispatch of nine missions of monks eral countries as Buddhist . to neighboring countries for the promul• Thera, a son ofEmperor Asoka gation of the Buddhist . The most born of an Ujjeni mother, came with notable mission was undoubtedly the other monks to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) one sent to Ceylon l1Jlder the leadership and Theravada Buddhism was promptly of Mahinda Thera, Asoka's own son, established. Two years later, a rehearsal of the Vinaya Tipi~aka was performed 6The Kathavatthu, a discussion on the points by the newly formed Sinhalese congre• of controversy between the eighteen early gation, probably to demonstrate the Buddhist sects, and the defence of the readiness of the native Sangha to carry Theravada viewpoint, is now included as on the promulgation of the new . one of the seven works in the Abhidhamrna As the objective of the rehearsal was Piraka. nowhere indicative of the attempt to fix

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the Tipi!aka, the recitation was not Buddhist encyclopedic masterpiece con• recognized by the Theravada countries taining the whole of the Buddha's teach• as a Sangayana. ings in a single volume. After finishing this work, he started translating the The Sinhalese monks were very active Sinhalese commentaries to the Tipi!aka in from the beginning. into Pali almost single-handedly. These They composed several Sinhalese com• very scholarly and valuable commentar• mentaries to the Tipi!aka, which they ies, or , by Buddhaghosa studied and orally transmitted to have since been indispensable to any younger generations by word of mouth serious traditional student of Buddhism for over a century. in Theravada countries.

Two centuries later, King Vanagamal).1 Buddhaghosa's commentaries to the Abhaya convened a Council on the Tipi!aka, however, are oftentimes diffi• island, with the purpose of refreshing cult. In the year 1044 A.D. (B.E.1587) the memory of the monks who were the Sinhalese monks started writing sub• retainers of the Tipi!aka. The entire commentaries to these commentaries. Tipitaka was recited, and at the end of These sub-commentaries (technically the rehearsal, the assembled monks called Tikas) clarified knotty passages wrote the Tipi~aka down on manu• found in Buddhaghosa's works. scripts.7 The Sinhalese commentaries to the Tipi!aka were also written down on It should be mentioned that these reli• palm leaf manuscripts at the same time. gious activities undertaken in Ceylon so The international Theravada tradition far, viz., the Pali translation of the regards this first Ceylon Council as the Sinhlese commentaries into Pali by the Fourth Council (i.e., the next one in line great Buhhdaghosa, the writing of of the three previous Indian Councils). sub-commentaries (Tlkas), by later Sinhalese monks, are not regarded by In A.D. 413 (B.E.956), an Indian monk the international Theravada tradition as by the name of Buddhaghosa came to a rehearsal or a Council in the strict Ceylon with the purpose of examining definition of the term. and translating into Pali the Sinhalese commentaries which had been written Ceylon held an actual general Council by Sinhalese monks and preserved in in 1865 A.D. (B.E.2408), but it was not Ceylon. His first work on the island, much publicized. Theravada countries, however, was the Visuddhi-Magga (The in general, do not recognize it. Path of Purity), which was a test-sub• ject imposed upon him by the Sinhalese 3. 1\vo Burmese Councils monks, before he should be allowed access to the native commentaries. This In 1871 A.D. (B.E.2414), soon after Visuddhi-Magga is now regarded as a had been established as the new capital of Myanmar (Burma), the 7 Mahavaxpsa XXXIII.l 01. says "seeing the devout King Mindon convened a Bud• downfall of the people from righteousness, dhist general Council there to revise and the monks who were assembled there wrote purify the Pali scriptures on a grand down the Tipitaka in books, so that the scale. A large concourse of2400 learned Dhamma might long endure".

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monks solemnly assembled to recite the Some of the activities of the Ceylonese Tipi~aka from the beginning to the end, monks on the Tipi~aka and commentar• after which the entire sacred text was ies were given the status of a Council in inscribed onto 729 white marble tablets. this work, although they did not meet Each tablet was installed carefully in a the defmition for a proper Council. small -like structure surround• ing a centally located large pagoda in a The nine Councils listed in the large square at the foot of the Mandalay Sang1tiyavaJ!lsa follows: Hill. The Myanmar congregation has regarded the text of this Council with l.The first Indian Council after the very high esteem up to the present day. Parinibbana of the Buddha. The Burmese Sangha refers to this 2. The second Indian Council, in con• Council as the fifth, and international nection with the ten points of indulgence Theravada authorities recognizes it. of the Vajjiputtaka monks at Vesali. 3 .The third Indian Council at ~aliputta From May 1954 to May 1956, Nu under the aegis of King Asoka after the summoned a Buddhist Council to com• heretical monks had been disrobed and 1 memorate the 2500 h anniversary of the at the end of which the project of send• Buddha's MahaParinibbana. Two ing nine chapters of Buddhist monks to thousand five hundred monks from neighboring countries was confirmed. Burma, Cambodia, India, Laos, Paki• 4.The recitation of the Ceylonese stan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand took part congregation two years after the esta• in this great international Council. They blishment of Buddhism on the island. examined, compared and discussed the 5. The council convened by King readings of all the printed editions of the Vaqagamar;1I Abhaya, at the end of Pali Tipi~aka, namely, the Burmese which the Tipitaka was for the first time Mindon Edition, the Ceylonese edition, written down on plam leaf manuscripts. the Thai edition, and the Pali Text Soci• 6.The Pali translation of the Sinhalese ety edition. Recitation of the approved commentaries by Buddhaghosa in 413 text was also conducted at the late stage A.D. of the Council. This Council, usually 7. The writing in A.D. 553 of the sub• referred to as the sixth, the commentaries ('Iika) to explain the Pali Cha!!hasaligfti, is universally regarded translation by Buddhaghosa of the as the most elaborate rehearsal original Sinhalese commentaries. undertaken by the orthodox Buddhists 8.The Council of 1577 A.D.( B.E. 2020) school in modem times. convened in Chiengmai under the patronage of King Tilokaraja after the 4. The Thai Councils successful casting of a large bronze Buddhist image. 9. The Council of 2331 B.E. In 1870 A.D. (B.E.2413) , Vimala• (1788 A.D.) under the aegis of King dhamma Thera of Bangkok, Thailand, of Bangkok. Two hundred eigh• composed a Pali work entitled teen Theras and Thirty two Jay scholars SangitiyavaJ!lsa, in which he listed nine were at work for five months. Theravada Buddhist Councils in chro• nological order, regardless of the coun• Vimaladhamma Thera, who wrote the tries where the Council took place. text, noted that all of the Councils re-

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ferred to in the above list had as the final stage of "rehearsal". objective to promote the religion so that Buddhism would endure far into the fu• This new method ofpreserving the origi• ture (traditionally five thousand years). nal Buddhist Tipitaka, by collation and Although some of these did not meet the edition of the written manuscripts, or strict definition of the term Sali.gayana books, started about a hundred years 8 or Saii.giti, their importance should be ago , and the information source was explicitly indicated. He called those limited at first to palm leaf manuscripts activities "saii.giti-sadisa- A Council• primarily from Ceylon, Burma and Equivalent". Thailand, and occasionally from Kampuchea (Cambodia). It is to be noted that as the work of Vimaladhamma Thera was written in At present, the M . L. Maniratana 1870 A.D., later Councils in Burma, Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund (MDS Thailand and Ceylon are therefore not Fund), under the Patronage of His Holi• included. There was one more Council ness the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, held in Thailand, under the aegis of His is now undertaking an edition of the Majesty King in Buddhavasse 2500 Maha saii.giti B.E. 2527( A.D. 1984). More than three Tipi!aka, based primarily on the finished hundred monks attended the recitation, text of the international Chaqhasaii.giti lasting three years. The result was an held in Yangon, Myanmar (Rangoon, edition, so-called Thai-Rattha Edition Burma) from May 1954 to May 1956. ofB.E.2530. The finished work ofthe MDS Fund will be published in two parallel editions of identical contents, one in and As mentioned above, the Tipi!aka was another in Roman. One thousand 40- once retained in the memory of the body volume-sets of the Roman script of monks in several lands, a procedure edition will be humbly presented to His which naturally required occasional MajestyKingBhumibol ofThailand on restoration to prevent oblivion as time commemoration of His 72nd Anniver• passed. With the recording of the sary, so that they should become a Royal Tipilaka onto palm leaf manuscript and Dhamma gift to one thousand interna• in books, the preservation of the tional academic institutions throughout Tipi~aka began to change gradually. the world. I:rlstead of holding an assembly ofmonks for recitation, an assembly offewer, but The editing of the Tipi!aka by the MDS carefully selected, monks to scrutinize Fund is now going into the third year. the Tipi~aka page by page, folio by The members of the Editorial Board of folio, and even worq by word, aided by the MDS Fund were carefully selected, modem facilities to reduce monotony and exhaustion, is becoming a more and 8 more accepted practice. Modem textual To the best of the writer's knowledge, Mahavarl}Sa was the first Pali text ever criticism has been the practice since. edited (by G. Tumour, A.D.l837), followed The work is still called Saii.giti or by the Dharnrnapada, in 1855, the Five Sali.gayana, however, and chanting in Jatakas, in 1861, and The Jataka, together chorus (ga~a- sajjhaya) of the finished with its commentary, in 1875, by the Danish text is occasionally performed as the scholar V. Fausboll.)

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consisting of traditionally trained Pali ROM, version 1, 2 and 3. experts as well as modern scholars of Pali and Sanskrit. Of the available In addition to these, commentaries to the Theravada Tipitaka editions, the edito• Tipi~aka from various sources are be• rial board of the MDS Fund has chosen ing utilized by the Editorial Board. the text of the Burmese Chaqhasailgiti Council as the standard. The texts It was found soon after the beginning of utilized by the Editorial Board are as the editorial work that the Burmese char• follows: acter Chaghasailgiti editions were 1. Three Burmese-alphabet editions: oftentimes unsatisfactory. The three · 1.1 The Chaqhasailgiti, B.E. 2499 printed editions were not identical, printing, inspite of the identical title. Data given 1.2 The Chaqhasailgiti, B.E. 2500 in the errata sheets sometimes did not printing, agree, and were oftentimes missing. 1.3 The Cha~~hasailgiti, B.E. The variant readings in the notes were 2541. printing. occasionally arbitrarily. This has taken 2. Five Thai-alphabet editions: the Editorial Board an unduly longer 2.1 Siam Raqha edition, B.E.2431 amount of time than originally printing, estimated. 2.2 Siam Raqha edition, B.E.2470 printing, In addition to the significant variant 2.3 Siam Raqha editions, B.E. 2502 readings, the printing format and I 2538 printing, traditional convention have been 2.4 Mahachulalongkorn considered, to conform to the feel ofthe Rajavidyalaya edition, B.E.2500 traditional Buddhist scholars as well as printing, to practical requirements of the 2.5 Deyya Raqha edition, B.E. 2530 traditional faithful, and also of modern printing, (popularly called the Thai academicians. The minor points which Ra~~ha edition). are taken into consideration are : 3. Two Roman-alphabet editions: 3.1 The editions, 1. The variation in spellings of Pali (from A.D. 1883 printing up to the words as found in the standard lexicons present), and in the actual usage in Buddhist 3.2 Vipassana Research Institute (VRI) Theravada countries, Edition, India, B.E.2542 printing. 2. Printing format ofver sified passages, 4. The Sinhalese Buddha-Jayanti 3. The use of Roman majuscule, Tipitaka Series (1982 edition) 4. Right justification and hyphenation, 5. The VRI -alphabet 5. The declension form of words in the edition. headline, 6. One Mon-alphabet edition. 6. The critical apparatus and the cross 7. One Lanna-alphabet edition. reference to be given in footnotes, 8. One Chiangtung-alphabet edition, 7. The use of punctuation marks. B.E. 2541 printing. 9. Two CD-ROM editions : Despite the fact that the total number of 9.1 BUDSIR (Mahidol University, items in the footnotes exceeds 30,000, Bangkok, Thailand) edition, the editorial work, including the 9.2 VRI C ha~~ha Sarigayana CD- sarrzvadhyaya (proof reading to elimi-

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nate mis-spelling and/or omission or 2. One passage was very puzzling to the repetition of words in the edited text by members of the Editorial Board. In the actual word-by-word oral recitation) of preparation for the cremation ceremony the "edited" text, is now about 90 to 95 of the body of the Buddha after his percent completed, and the final layout Parinibbana, the body of the Buddha of each page for printing is being made. was wrapped with 500 pairs of special cloth. After the cremation, it was found The writer will give two examples of that two pairs of the wrapping cloth the "significant" variant readings which were "consumed I not consumed" by were found. fire.

1.samadhikiini and samadhikiini (tesafica paficannallJ dussa-yuga• ( Anapana-ssati-katha, GaQanavara 152, satanam dveva dussani "¢ayhif!1Su I na Pa~sambhidamagga, Khuddakanikaya), ¢ayhif!1SU " yanca sabba-abbhantarima yanca bahirarlJ" "so!asa-vatthukarp. anapana• " Of the 500 pairs of wrapping cloth, ssati-samadhirp. bhavayato two pairs, i.e., one being the inmost of samadhiklini/ samadhiklini dve all layers and another being the one pair nana-satani uppajjanti" outside," were consumed by fire I were (In the attempt to attain the not consumed by fire. a napa na-ssati-sama dhi correlated with sixteen bases, No commentary offers help in this case. two hundred nanas, "plus those in excess ofthat number (200) I The frequency of the readings in this in connection with that case is rather indecisive (8 for Samlidhi" appear to him). ¢ayhif!1SU and 7 for na fj.ayhif!1SU)

Both readings make sense, but it has to The problem arose: is the variant read• be decided which one is to be adopted. ings in this case significant or not.

Two Burmese printed editions (1.2and The Editorial Board holds the view that 1.3) and the Thai Ragha edition (25 30) the case in question is based rather on have samadhiklini against samlidhiklini the "tradition" of the believers than on of all others. what is expected from everyday experi• ence. This necessitated finding other It is found that inspite of the higher fre• "related texts" for comparison, and fi• quency ofthe reading samlidhi klini, the nally they settle on the "Pa!hama• commentary explicitly indicates what sambodhi-katha", a relatively popular the minority reading samadhiklini actu• Pali text found in Thailand, Burma, ally means (the actual number ofnanas Mon, and other neighboring countries. implied in this case should be 220, there• It appears that the reading "na fore the word should be klini - c;tayhirp.su" has an overwhelming major• - plus those exceeding two hundred ), ity, and in agreement with the reading and it goes on how the word is formed, of the Cha~!hasailgiti text as well confirming the correctness of the term samadhikani. It is earnestly expected that the Buddhavasse 2500 Maha sarigiti

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Tipi~aka will come off the press in the Malalasekera, G. P., Pali literature of first half of the next year (B.E.2546 I Ceylon, Colombo, M.D. A.D. 2003). Ganasena and Co. Ltd., 1958. Mookerji, Radha Kumud., Asoka, References Third revised edition, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1972. Childers, Robert Caesar,. A Dictionary Thomas, E. J., History of the Buddhist of the Pali Language, Buddha Thought, London, Routledge Sasana Council Press, and Kegan Paul, Ltd. 1953. Rangoon, 197 4. Vimaladhamma Thera, Smigftiyava'!'lsa Geiger, Wilhelm.Pali Literature and (Thai Editon), Bangkok, B.E. Language, authorised English 2521. translation by Batakrishna Wintemitz, Maurice, A History ofIn Ghosh, Second edition, Univer dian Literature, Vol. II, sity of Calcutta, 1956. translated by Mrs. S. Ketkar and Homer, I. B., The Book ofthe Miss H. Kohn, Oriental Books Discipline, Volume V, in Sacred Reprint Corporation, 2nd Books ofthe Buddhists, val. XX, Edition, University ofCalcutta , London, Luzac, 1952. 1972. Mahavarpsa, in Cha??ha Smigayana CD-ROM, 3rd version, Vipassana Research Institute, India.

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