Jain Journal 2005 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 24

CHITTARANJAN PAL: WERETHE MONKS EXPELLED FROMTHE BUDDHIST
183
This is the account of the Pāțaliputra council held 236 years after the parinirvāņa of the Buddha under the rule of king Aśoka. But some historians had raised some objections regarding the character of the council, because of chronological confusions and silence of Asokan inscriptions relating to this great event of the Buddhist world. According to the opinion of these historians, the "third Buddhist council was” not a general session of all Buddhists,” but“ a sectarian council” attended only by the Theravādins :)
Without going into the controvercy whether the “Third council” was a general council or a “Sectarian one”, we have to ascertain what part did Aśoka play in this council to preserve the unity of the Buddhist Samgha and what is the identity of the monks, clad in white robes expelled from the Aśokārāma ? Were they predecessors of the white robed Svetāmbaras or not?
Before coming to these questions it is better to examine the Edicts of Asoka to have a clear picture of the religion or “Dhamma” professed and propagated by Aśoka.
Most of the historians of India consider Asoka a rational and righteous king solicitous for the welfare of his subjects and not a dogmatic Buddhist. Though the Buddhist tradition paints Aśoka as the most pious among the Buddhist kings, the “Dhamma” which he inscribed on the “Rocks and Pillars” do not contain any ideal of early Buddhism. His Edicts do not contain any reference to the “Four Noble Truths,” “the Eight-foldpath” and the Nirvāņa”, which were the main tenets of Buddhism of Asoka's age.
6.
P. C. Bagchi “ A Comprehensive History of India, Vol II. p 83 Dr. P. C. Bagchi, in "A Comprehensive History of India, vol II p 83
Dr. N. Dutta, Buddhist Sects in India, p. 259. Dr. N. Dutta, Buddhist Sects in India. p. 254 ff
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