Buddhist Councils and Texts

• The first Buddhist council was convened to arrive at a consensus on how the teachings of the Buddha could be spread further.
• The main objective of the first council was to preserve the Buddha’s teachings.
• The first major split happened here – two groups that would later evolve into Theravada and Mahayana.
• The third Buddhist council was conducted under the patronage of Emperor Ashoka of Maurya dynasty.
• The fourth Buddhist council was conducted under the patronage of King Kanishka of Kushan dynasty.
• The fifth and sixth Buddhist councils were held at different locations but are both recognized as Buddhist councils.
• The Sixth Council was called at Kaba Aye in Yangon in 1954 and it was sponsored by the Burmese Government led by the then Prime Minister, the Honourable U Nu.
• The Tripitaka is a collection of Buddhist scriptures written in the Pali language.
• The Sutta Pitaka contains a collection of the Buddha's teachings in verse form.
• The Vinaya Pitaka contains the rules that monks must follow.
• The Abhidhamma Pitaka contains the Buddha's philosophical teachings.
• The Dhammapada is a part of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka and is a collection of the Buddha's sayings in verse form.
• The Milinda Panha was written around 100 BC and is a dialogue between the Indo-Greek King Menander I and sage Nagasena.
• The Buddhacharita is an epic poem written in Sanskrit by Ashvaghosha about the life of the Buddha.

Test your knowledge of Buddhist history, from the convening of the first Buddhist council to the content of the Tripitaka scriptures. Explore the major events and texts in Buddhist history with this quiz.