It was evident that in this dispute the question was not about the Pitagat itself; this was admitted by both parties. The difficulty affected certain points of discipline, ten in number, which were to be settled by the authority of the Kambawa and Patimauk. The eight delegates having met in a private hall of the monastery, Rewati was desired to question the venerable Samputa-kami on the ten points on which there was disagreement. He said: “Is it lawful to add to the food that is received some salt or other condiments?” Samputa-kami answered: “It is not lawful.” “In what place was that point settled?” “In Wethalie, as being contrary to the spirit of the Wini.” “What sin is entailed on him who does such a thing?” “The sin of Patzeit.” Questions of a similar import were put as regards the drinking of milk in the afternoon, the use of waters half-fermented, the drinking of spirits, the receiving of gold and silver. Answers were given agreeably to the tenor of the Wini regulations.
When the eight delegates had come to a decision upon the ten points of discipline, they went into the great hall where the 700 Rahans were assembled. Ratha was the president of the assembly. Samputa-kami was desired to ascend the pulpit and hold the fan. The president said to the assembled Rahans: “Brethren, if it be pleasing to you, I will interrogate the venerable Samputa-kami on the Wini, and on the ten points in discussion.” He followed the same order that had been observed in the first meeting of the eight Rahans. The answers were unanimously received and approved of by the whole assembly. Then the president said: “All discussion concerning the ten points is now over; let every one accept the decisions of the assembly and act agreeably to them.”
This second council is called Thattasakita, or the assembly of the 700 Rahans. It was held in 102, under the reign of Kalathoka. That prince appears to have favoured the party of the Weitzi Rahans. The assembly lasted eight months. The canon of scriptures was likewise arranged and determined as it had been done by Kathaba in the first council.
Among the principal members of the assembly were Samputa-kami, Thala, Koudzasambita, Rewati, Thauna, and Samputa, who had been disciples of Ananda. Thoumana and Wauthabakami had been disciples of the venerable Anoorouda.
Partly from the countenance given by the king to the condemned party, and partly from the obstinacy shown by the easterners in resisting the decisions of the council, the Buddhistic society was divided into two great factions. The latter, that is to say the Weitzi Rahans, established the great school called the Maha Thingika. The Tera-thaka was that of the orthodox; it never changed in doctrine or in discipline. Until the third council, that is to say, during the space of more than a century, eighteen different schools branched off.[32] Of these, seventeen offered the sad spectacle of important changes in points of discipline and of doctrine. But the Terawada never changed: it retained both doctrine and discipline in their original purity. All the different schools received their denomination from their respective founders.
CHAPTER V.
Kalathoka is succeeded by his eldest son, Baddasena—And finally by the youngest, Pitzamuka—This prince is killed and succeeded by a chief of robbers, named Ouggasena-nanda—King Tsanda-gutta—King Bandasura—Miraculous dreams of Athoka’s mother—King Athoka—His conversion—His zeal for Buddhism—Finding of the relics—Distribution of them—Third council held under the presidency of Mauggalipata—Preaching of religion in various countries, and particularly in Thaton—Voyage of Buddhagosa to Ceylon—Establishment of religion in Pagan—Various particulars relating to the importation of the scriptures in Burmah.
At the conclusion of the synod, Samputa-kami and several of the most distinguished members of the Buddhistic assembly, astonished at the progress of schism and dissension which the united voices of seven hundred religious had not been able entirely to root up, endeavoured to divine, as far as human wisdom could reach, what would be in after times the fate of religion. They foresaw that one hundred and twenty years hence, there would be at Pataliputra a mighty ruler full of love for religion, and zealous for its propagation, who would do much to promote its exaltation. But before the reign of that pious monarch they saw distinctly that there would appear many heretics, fond of their own will, coining doctrines of their own invention, and that they would thereby inflict the most serious harm on religion. They had, however, the consolation to know that this was to come to pass after their death. But who was the fortunate being who was destined to check effectually the coming evil? They saw him in one of the seats of Brahmas. His name was Teissa. In due time he would come down to the seat of man, operate his incarnation in the womb of a pounha female, named Maugali, and would afterwards become a famous religious under the name Mauggalipatta. This vision filled their souls with the purest joy, which was increased by the view of the expansion and development which religion would receive through the zeal of that great personage.