Jain Journal 2005 04

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

Page 27

186
JAIN JOURNAL VOL-XXXIX, NO. 4 APRIL. 2005
or the Samgha. So the expulsion of the erring monks from the Samgha by Aśoka--the king of the country seems to be inexplicable. One point to be remembered in this connection is that Aśoka was simply a devotee of the Buddha, at best an upāsaka and not a monk. So it cannot be expected that he would directly interfare in the activities of the samgha and excommunicate some monks from the church. It seems that the real performer of all these ecclesiastical activities pertaining to the expulsion of monks to nonresidence on the eve of the Pataliputra council, was the venerable Moggliputta Tissa backed by other theras of Aśokārāma. Asoka, a pious devotee of the Buddha and the King of the country only implemented the decision communicated to him by Moggliputta Tissa backed by other theras. So to speak in a nut shell, Aśoka's role in the 3rd Buddhist council was that of a "passive performer" and not of an "active doer".
However, the punishments inflicted upon the erring monks by Aśoka were unusual. Not only did Aśoke banish the schismatics to anābāsa, but he also did inflict upon them another extraordinary punishment of forcing them to put on white robes.15
Now, let us explain the significance of the two penalties, inflicted upon the erring monks by Aśoka. The word anavāsā means an abode which is not fit for the "Samgha" "a - bhiksu-kaāvāsa" as mentioed by Buddhaghosa. [samantapāsādikā, Introduction]. He, further, enumerated what were called anāvāsa. As examples of anāvāsa he mentioned the following places chetiagharam (cemetery), sammañjana attaka (bath house or plat form), dāruattako (log-house) päniyamāla (water shed) vaccakuti (privy) and dvārakotthako (towers or battlements of a town gate)" [Cullavagga, ii] 16.
15. Dr. N Dutta, Buddhist Sects in India, p. 254 ff.
16.
Dr. R. K. Kukherjee, Asoka, p. 194 fn 5