Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana
The Six Dhamma Councils

The authentic teachings of Gotama the Buddha have been preserved
and handed down to us and are to be found in the Tipiṭaka. The Pāli
word, Tipiṭaka’, literally means `the three baskets’ (ti=three +
piṭaka=collections of scriptures). All of the Buddha’s teachings were
divided into three parts.

1.The first part is known as the Vinaya Piṭaka and it contains all the rules which Buddha laid down for monks and nuns.
2.The second part is called the Suttaṅta Piṭaka and it contains the Discourses.
3.The third part is known as the Abhidhamma Piṭaka and comprises the psycho-ethical teachings of the Buddha.

It is known, that whenever the Buddha gave a discourse to his
ordained disciples or lay-followers or prescribed a monastic rule in the
course of his forty-five year ministry, those of his devoted and
learned monks, then present would immediately commit his teachings word
for word to memory. Thus the Buddha’s words were preserved accurately
and were in due course passed down orally from teacher to pupil. Some of
the monks who had heard the Buddha preach in person were Arahants, and
so by definition, `pure ones’ free from passion, ill-will and delusion
and therefore, was without doubt capable of retaining, perfectly the
Buddha’s words. Thus they ensured that the Buddha’s teachings would be
preserved faithfully for posterity.

Even those devoted monks who had not yet attained Arahantahood but
had reached the first three stages of sainthood and had powerful,
retentive memories could also call to mind word for word what the Buddha
had preached and so could be worthy custodians of the Buddha’s
teachings. One such monk was Ānanda, the chosen attendant and constant
companion of the Buddha during the last twenty-five years of the his
life. Ānanda was highly intelligent and gifted with the ability to
remember whatever he had heard. Indeed, it was his express wish that the
Buddha always relate all of his discourses to him and although he was
not yet an Arahanta he deliberately committed to memory word for word
all the Buddha’s sermons with which he exhorted monks, nuns and his lay
followers. The combined efforts of these gifted and devoted monks made
it possible for the Dhamma and Vinaya, as taught by the Buddha to be
preserved in its original state.

The Pāli Tipiṭaka and its allied literature exists as a result of
the Buddha’s discovery of the noble and liberating path of the pure
Dhamma. This path enables all those who follow it to lead a peaceful and
happy life. Indeed, in this day and age we are fortunate to have the
authentic teachings of the Buddha preserved for future generations
through the conscientious and concerted efforts of his ordained
disciples down through the ages. The Buddha had said to his disciples
that when he was no longer amongst them, that it was essential that the
Saṅgha should come together for the purpose of collectively reciting the
Dhamma, precisely as he had taught it. In compliance with this
instruction the first Elders duly called a council and systematically
ordered all the Buddha’s discourses and monastic rules and then
faithfully recited them word for word in concert.

The teachings contained in the Tipiṭaka are also known as the
Doctrine of the Elders [Theravāda]. These discourses number several
hundred and have always been recited word for word ever since the First
Council was convened. Subsequently, more Councils have been called for a
number of reasons but at every one of them the entire body of the
Buddha’s teaching has always been recited by the Saṅgha participants, in
concert and word for word. The first council took place three months
after the Buddha’s attainment of Mahāparinibbāṇa and was followed by
five more, two of which were convened in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. These collective recitations which were performed by the
monks at all these Dhamma Councils are known as the `Dhamma Saṅgītis’,
the Dhamma Recitations. They are so designated because of the precedent
set at the First Dhamma Council, when all the Teachings were recited
first by an Elder of the Saṅgha and then chanted once again in chorus by
all of the monks attending the assembly. The recitation was judged to
have been authentic, when and only when, it had been approved
unanimously by the members of the Council. What follows is a brief
history of the Six Councils.

The First Council

King Ajātasattu sponsored the First Council. It was convened in
544 B.C. in the Sattapaāāī Cave situated outside Rājagaha three months
after the Buddha had passed away. A detailed account of this historic
meeting can be found in the Cūllavagga of the Vinaya Piṭaka. According
to this record the incident which prompted the Elder Mahākassapa to call
this meeting was his hearing a disparaging remark about the strict rule
of life for monks. This is what happened. The monk Subhadda, a former
barber, who had ordained late in life, upon hearing that the Buddha had
expired, voiced his resentment at having to abide by all the rules for
monks laid down by the Buddha. Many monks lamented the passing of the
Buddha and were deeply grieved. However, the Elder Mahākassapa heard
Subhadda say: “Enough your Reverences, do not grieve, do not lament. We
are well rid of this great recluse (the Buddha). We were tormented when
he said, `this is allowable to you, this is not allowable to you’ but
now we will be able to do as we like and we will not have to do what we
do not like'’. Mahākassapa was alarmed by his remark and feared that the
Dhamma and the Vinaya might be corrupted and not survive intact if
other monks were to behave like Subhadda and interpret the Dhamma and
the Vinaya rules as they pleased. To avoid this he decided that the
Dhamma must be preserved and protected. To this end after gaining the
Saṅgha’s approval he called to council five hundred Arahants. Ānanda was
to be included in this provided he attained Arahanthood by the time the
council convened. With the Elder Mahākassapa presiding, the
five-hundred Arahant monks met in council during the rainy season. The
first thing Mahākassapa did was to question the foremost expert on the
Vinaya of the day, Venerable Upāli on particulars of the monastic rule.
This monk was well qualified for the task as the Buddha had taught him
the whole of the Vinaya himself. First of all the Elder Mahākassapa
asked him specifically about the ruling on the first offense [pārājika],
with regard to the subject, the occasion, the individual introduced,
the proclamation, the repetition of the proclamation, the offense and
the case of non-offense. Upāli gave knowledgeable and adequate answers
and his remarks met with the unanimous approval of the presiding Saṅgha.
Thus the Vinaya was formally approved.

The Elder Mahākassapa then turned his attention to Ānanda in
virtue of his reputable expertise in all matters connected with the
Dhamma. Happily, the night before the Council was to meet, Ānanda had
attained Arahantship and joined the Council. The Elder Mahākassapa,
therefore, was able to question him at length with complete confidence
about the Dhamma with specific reference to the Buddha’s sermons. This
interrogation on the Dhamma sought to verify the place where all the
discourses were first preached and the person to whom they had been
addressed. Ānanda, aided by his word-perfect memory was able to answer
accurately and so the Discourses met with the unanimous approval of the
Saṅgha. The First Council also gave its official seal of approval for
the closure of the chapter on the minor and lesser rules, and approval
for their observance. It took the monks seven months to recite the whole
of the Vinaya and the Dhamma and those monks sufficiently endowed with
good memories retained all that had been recited. This historic first
council came to be known as the Paācasatika because five-hundred fully
enlightened Arahants had taken part in it.

The Second Council

The Second Council was called one hundred years after the Buddha’s
Parinibbāṇa in order to settle a serious dispute over the `ten points’.
This is a reference to some monks breaking of ten minor rules. they
were given to:

    1. Storing salt in a horn.
    2. Eating after midday.
    3. Eating once and then going again to a village for alms.
    4. Holding the Uposatha Ceremony with monks dwelling in the same locality.
    5. Carrying out official acts when the assembly was incomplete.
    6. Following a certain practice because it was done by one’s tutor or teacher.
    7. Eating sour milk after one had his midday meal.
    8. Consuming strong drink before it had been fermented.
    9. Using a rug which was not the proper size.
    10. Using gold and silver.

Their misdeeds became an issue and caused a major controversy as
breaking these rules was thought to contradict the Buddha’s original
teachings. King Kāḷāsoka was the Second Council’s patron and the meeting
took place at Vesāli due to the following circumstances. One day,
whilst visiting the Mahāvana Grove at Veāsli, the Elder Yasa came to
know that a large group of monks known as the Vajjians were infringing
the rule which prohibited monk’s accepting gold and silver by openly
asking for it from their lay devotees. He immediately criticized their
behavior and their response was to offer him a share of their illegal
gains in the hope that he would be won over. The Elder Yasa, however
declined and scorned their behavior. The monks immediately sued him with
a formal action of reconciliation, accusing him of having blamed their
lay devotees. The Elder Yasa accordingly reconciled himself with the lay
devotees, but at the same time, convinced them that the Vijjian monks
had done wrong by quoting the Buddha’s pronouncement on the prohibition
against accepting or soliciting for gold and silver. The laymen
immediately expressed their support for the Elder Yasa and declared the
Vajjian monks to the wrong-doers and heretics, saying “the Elder Yasa
alone is the real monk and Sākyan son. All the others are not monks, not
Sākyan sons'’.

The Stubborn and unrepentant Vajjian monks then moved to suspend
the Venerable Yasa Thera without the approval of the rest of the Saṅgha
when they came to know of the outcome of his meeting with their lay
devotees. The Elder Yasa, however escaped their censure and went in
search of support from monks elsewhere, who upheld his orthodox views on
the Vinaya. Sixty forest dwelling monks from Pāvā and eighty monks from
the southern regions of Avanti who were of the same view, offered to
help him to check the corruption of the Vinaya. Together they decided to
go to Soreyya to consult the Venerable Revata as he was a highly
revered monk and an expert in the Dhamma and the Vinaya. As soon as the
Vajjian monks came to know this they also sought the Venerable Revata’s
support by offering him the four requisites which he promptly refused.
These monks then sought to use the same means to win over the Venerable
Revata’s attendant, the Venerable Uttara. At first he too, rightly
declined their offer but they craftily persuaded him to accept their
offer, saying that when the requisites meant for the Buddha were not
accepted by him, Ānanda would be asked to accept them and would often
agree to do so. Uttara changed his mind and accepted the requisites.
Urged on by them he then agreed to go and persuade the Venerable Revata
to declare that the Vajjian monks were indeed speakers of the Truth and
upholders of the Dhamma. The Venerable Revata saw through their ruse and
refused to support them. He then dismissed Uttara. In order to settle
the matter once and for all, the Venerable Revata advised that a council
should be called at Vāḷikārāma with himself asking questions on the ten
offenses of the most senior of the Elders of the day, the Thera
Sabbjakāmi. Once his opinion was given it was to be heard by a committee
of eight monks, and its validity decided by their vote. The eight monks
called to judge the matter were the Venerables Sabbakāmi, saḷha,
Khujjasobhita and Vāsabhagāmika, from the East and four monks from the
West, the Venerables Revata, Sambhuta-Sāṇavāsī, Yasa and Sumana. They
thoroughly debated the matter with Revata as the questioner and
sabbakāmī answering his questions. After the debate was heard the eight
monks decided against the Vajjian monks and their verdict was announced
to the assembly. Afterwards seven-hundred monks recited the Dhamma and
Vinaya and this recital came to be known as the Sattasatī because
seven-hundred monks had taken part in it. This historic council is also
called, the Yasatthera Sangīti because of the major role the Elder Yasa
played in it and his zeal for safeguarding the Vinaya. The Vajjian monks
categorically refused to accept the Council’s decision and in defiance
called a council of there own which was called the Mahāsaṅgiti.

The Third Council

The Third Council was held primarily to rid the Saṅgha of
corruption and bogus monks who held heretical views. The Council was
convened in 326 B.C. At Asokārāma in Paṭaliputta under the patronage of
Emperor Asoka. It was presided over by the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa and
one thousand monks participated in this Council. Tradition has it that
Asoka had won his throne through shedding the blood of all his father’s
son’s save his own brother, Tissa Kumāra who eventually got ordained and
achieved Arahantship.

Asoka was crowned in the two hundred and eighteenth year after the
Buddha’s Mahaparinibbāna. At first he paid only token homage to the
Dhamma and the Saṅgha and also supported members of other religious
sects as his father had done before him. However, all this changed when
he met the pious novice-monk Nigrodha who preached him the
Appamāda-vagga. Thereafter he ceased supporting other religious groups
and his interest in and devotion to the Dhamma deepened. He used his
enormous wealth to build, it is said, eighty-four thousand pagodas and
vihāras and to lavishly support the Bhikkhus with the four requisites.
His son Mahinda and his daughter Saṅghamittā were ordained and admitted
to the Saṅgha. Eventually, his generosity was to cause serious problems
within the Saṅgha. In time the order was infiltrated by many unworthy
men, holding heretical views and who were attracted to the order because
of the Emperor’s generous support and costly offerings of food,
clothing, shelter and medicine. Large numbers of faithless, greedy men
espousing wrong views tried to join the order but were deemed unfit for
ordination. Despite this they seized the chance to exploit the Emperor’s
generosity for their own ends and donned robes and joined the order
without having been ordained properly. Consequently, respect for the
Saṅgha diminished. When this came to light some of the genuine monks
refused to hold the prescribed purification or Uposatha ceremony in the
company of the corrupt, heretical monks.

When the Emperor heard about this he sought to rectify the
situation and dispatched one of his ministers to the monks with the
command that they perform the ceremony. However, the Emperor had given
the minister no specific orders as to what means were to be used to
carry out his command. The monks refused to obey and hold the ceremony
in the company of their false and `thieving’ companions
[theyyasinivāsaka]. In desperation the angry minister advanced down the
line of seated monks and drawing his sword, beheaded all of them one
after the other until he came to the King’s brother, Tissa who had been
ordained. The horrified minister stopped the slaughter and fled the hall
and reported back to the Emperor Asoka was deeply grieved and upset by
what had happened and blamed himself for the killings. He sought Thera
Moggaliputta Tissa’s counsel. He proposed that the heretical monks be
expelled from the order and a third Council be convened immediately. So
it was that in the seventeenth year of the Emperor’s reign the Third
Council was called. Thera Moggaliputta Tissa headed the proceedings and
chose one thousand monks from the sixty thousand participants for the
traditional recitation of the Dhamma and the Vinaya, which went on for
nine months. The Emperor, himself questioned monks from a number of
monasteries about the teachings of the Buddha. Those who held wrong
views were exposed and expelled from the Saṅgha immediately. In this way
the Bhikkhu Saṅgha was purged of heretics and bogus bhikkhus.

This council achieved a number of other important things as well.
The Elder Moggaliputta Tissa, in order to refute a number of heresies
and ensure the Dhamma was kept pure, complied a book during the council
called the Kathāvatthu. This book consists of twenty-three chapters, and
is a collection of discussion (kathā) and refutations of the heretical
views held by various sects on matters philosophical. It is the fifth of
the seven books of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. The members of the Council
also gave a royal seal of approval to the doctrine of the Buddha, naming
it the Vibhajjavāda, the Doctrine of Analysis. It is identical with the
approved Theravāda doctrine. One of the most significant achievements
of this Dhamma assembly and one which was to bear fruit for centuries to
come, was the Emperor’s sending forth of monks, well versed in the
Buddha’s Dhamma and Vinaya who could recite all of it by heart, to teach
it in nine different countries. These Dhammadūta monks included the
Venerable Majjhantika Thera who went to Kashmir and Gandhāra. He was
asked to preach the Dhamma and establish an order of monks there. The
Venerable Mahādeva was sent to Mahinsakamaṇḍaḷa (modern Mysore) and the
Venerable Rakkhita Thera was dispatched to Vanavāsī (northern Kanara in
the south of India.) The Venerable Yonaka Dhammarakkhita Thera was sent
to Upper Aparantaka (northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kutch and Sindh].

The Venerable Mahārakkhita Thera went to Yonaka-loka (the land of
the lonians, Bactrians and the Greeks.) The Venerable Majjhima Thera
went to Himavanta (the place adjoining the Himalayas.) The Venerable
Soṇa and the Venerable Uttara were sent to Suvaṇṇabhūmi [now Myanmar].
The Venerable Mahinda Thera, The Venerable Ittiya Thera, the Venerable
Uttiya Thera, the Venerable Sambala Thera and the Venerable Bhaddasāla
Thera were sent to Tambapaṇṇi (now Sri Lanka). The Dhamma missions of
these monks succeeded and bore great fruits in the course of time and
went a long way in ennobling the peoples of these lands with the gift of
the Dhamma and influencing their civilizations and cultures.

With the spread of Dhamma through the words of the Buddha, in due
course India came to be known as Visvaguru, the teacher of the world.

The Fourth Council

The Fourth Council was held in Tambapaṇṇi [Sri Lanka] in 29 B.C.
under the patronage of King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi. The main reason for its
convening was the realization that is was now not possible for the
majority of monks to retain the entire Tipiṭaka in their memories as had
been the case formerly for the Venerable Mahinda and those who followed
him soon after. Therefore, as the art of writing had, by this time
developed substantially, it was thought expedient and necessary to have
the entire body of the Buddha’s teaching written down. King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi
supported the monk’s idea and a council was held specifically to reduce
the Tipiṭaka in its entirety to writing. Therefore, so that the genuine
Dhamma might be lastingly preserved, the Venerable Mahārakhita and five
hundred monks recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down
on palm leaves. This remarkable project took place in a cave called, the
Āloka lena, situated in the cleft of an ancient landslip near what is
now Matale. Thus the aim of the Council was achieved and the
preservation in writing of the authentic Dhamma was ensured. Later, in
the Eighteenth Century, King Vijayarājasīha had images of the Buddha
created in this cave.

The Fifth Council

The Fifth Council took place in Māndalay, Burma now known as
Myanmar in 1871 A.D. in the reign of King Mindon. The chief objective of
this meeting was to recite all the teachings of the Buddha and examine
them in minute detail to see if any of them had been altered, distorted
or dropped. It was presided over by three Elders, the Venerable
Mahāthera Jāgarābhivaṃsa, the Venerable Narindābhidhaja, and the
Venerable Mahāthera Sumaṅgalasāmi in the company of some two thousand
four hundred monks (2,400). Their joint Dhamma recitation lasted for
five months. It was also the work of this council to cause the entire
Tipiṭaka to be inscribed for posterity on seven hundred and twenty-nine
marble slabs in the Myanmar script after its recitation had been
completed and unanimously approved. This monumental task was done by
some two thousand four hundred erudite monks and many skilled craftsmen
who upon completion of each slab had them housed in beautiful miniature
`piṭaka’ pagodas on a special site in the grounds of King Mindon’s
Kuthodaw Pagoda at the foot of Māndalay Hill where this so called
`largest book in the world’, stands to this day.

The Sixth Council

The Sixth Council was called at Kaba Aye in Yangon, formerly
Rangoon in 1954, eighty-three years after the fifth one was held in
Mandalay. It was sponsored by the Burmese Government led by the Prime
Minister, the Honorable U Nu. He authorized the construction of the Mahā
Pāsāna Gūhā, the great cave that was built from the ground up, to serve
as the gathering place much like India’s Sattapānni Cave–the site of
the first Dhamma Council. Upon its completion, the Council met on the
17th of May, 1954. As in the case of the preceding councils, its first
objective was to affirm and preserve the genuine Dhamma and Vinaya.
However it was unique in so far as the monks who took part in it came
from eight countries. These two thousand five hundred learned Theravāda
monks came from Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Vietnam. The late Venerable Mahāsi Sayadaw was appointed
the noble task of asking the required questions about the Dhamma of the
Venerable Bhadanta Vicittasārābhivaṃsa Tipiṭakadhara Dhammabhaṇḍāgārika
who answered all of them learnedly and satisfactorily. By the time this
council met, all the participating countries had the Pāli Tipiṭaka
rendered into their native scripts, with the exception of India.

The traditional recitation of the Dhamma Scriptures took two years
during which the Tipiṭaka and its allied literature in all the scripts
were painstakingly examined. Any differences found were noted down, the
necessary corrections were made and all the versions were then collated.
Happily, it was found that there was not much difference in the content
of any of the texts. Finally, after the Council had officially approved
them, all the volumes of the Tipiṭaka and their Commentaries were
prepared for printing on modern presses and published in the Myanmar
(Burmese) script. This notable achievement was made possible through the
dedicated efforts of the two thousand five hundred monks and numerous
lay people. Their work came to an end in May, 1956, two and a half
millennia after the Lord attained Parinibbāna. This council’s work was
the unique achievement of representatives from the entire Buddhist
world. The version of the Tipiṭaka which it undertook to produce has
been recognized as being true to the pristine teachings of Gotama the
Buddha and the most authoritative rendering of them to date.

The volumes printed after the Sixth Saṅgāyana were printed in
Myanmar script. In order to make the volumes to the people of India,
Vipassana Research Institute started the project to print the Tipiṭaka
with its Aṭṭhakathās and ṭikas in Devanagari in the year 1990.

This Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD-ROM which is a reproduction of the text
authenticated in the Sixth Saṅgāyana is now being presented to the world
so that the words of the Buddha are easily made available to the
devotees and the scholars. The Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD-ROM can presently be
viewed in the following scripts Devanagari, Myanmar and Roman.,  Sri
Lankan, Thai and Mongol scripts.