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APPENDIX 11 Buddhist Councils
The Buddha's parinibbāna was a critical moment for the Dhamma and its followers. How the Buddha's teaching could be preserved for the future, was a problem for his prominent disciples. Some disciples, like Subhaddal, felt that, with the death of the Buddha, they could interpret the Dhamma according to their own wishes. This attitude was viewed with alarm by the more loyal and erudite disciples who immediately thought of summoning a council where the word of the Buddha could be established and where steps could be taken for its preservation and propagation. The task assigned to this Council was to decide the Dhamma and Vinaya of the Buddha2
Arrangements were made for this to be held at Rājagaha, near the Saptaparni cave under the presidency of Mahākassapa commencing from the second month of the Vassāva season, i.e. in the fourth month after the Buddha's deaths. Five hundred Arhat bhikkhus participated in it. Ananda, who was yet a bajkşa, attained arhathood ( Isaikņa ) just on the eve of the Council, and he played a prominent part in the establishment of the texts of the Sutta Pitaka.
The decisions at this Council were not altogether unanimous. For instance, Gavāmpati, a senior arhat of the time, abstained from approving or disapproving the decisions of the Council, while Pūrana denounced the Council's decisions and urged the incorporation of the seven Vinaya rules. Whatever that may be, the accounts of Gavāmpati and Pūraña indicate the germs of schism in the order even at that early dateR.C. Majumdar says "This was a danger signal for the Church.''
