THE BUDDHIST With the passage oftime, the definition THERAVADA COUNCILS, of the term Council has also changed. Now a Council is often identified by the AND THE PRESERVA­ judicious application ofthe rules of tex­ 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, Pali 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 Prakrit dialect of the Indian literature, 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.ra, 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 Sanskrit 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 Magadha cal site of each individual Council. and Kosala 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 believes, even at the time the Tip i~aka Theravada Councils were held in India, was reduced to writing some four centuries two in Ceylon, two in Burma, and two later. or three in Thailand. Of all these,the The writer declines to accept the views Cha~~ha 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 Buddhism 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 view "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, Pali Literature 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, Chulalongkorn University, B?ngkok Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 05:06:16PM via free access MANUSYA : Journal of Humanities (Special issue No.4 2002) 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 Sangha 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 monks, that caused the or "local" Pali word coined in either original wording ofthe Master, intended Myanmar (i.e., 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 / ga (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 au­ 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 Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 05:06:16PM via free access The Buddhist Theraviida Councils, and The Preservation ofthe Buddha s Teachings 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 Vinaya. " Then the venerable 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.