RAS question
The Second Buddhist Council held at Vaishali resulted in which major development?
Correct answer: (C) First schism - Sthaviravada vs Mahasanghika.
The Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali led to the first major schism in Buddhism, dividing the monastic community into the stricter Sthaviravadins and the more liberal Mahasanghikas.
Explanation
The Second Buddhist Council was held about 100 years after the Buddha's death, around 383 BCE, at Vaishali under King Kalasoka, with Sabakami as chair. Its immediate issue was not the compilation of a new canon but a dispute over interpretations and laxity in monastic discipline, especially ten minor rules. This dispute split the monastic community into two sects: the Sthavira, whose followers were Sthaviravadins and favoured strict adherence to the original teachings, and the Mahasanghika, whose followers took a more liberal approach. That split is why Vaishali is remembered for Buddhism's first major schism.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Abhidhamma Pitaka was formally compiled and added at the Third Buddhist Council under Ashoka at Pataliputra, not at Vaishali.
- (B) The Fourth Buddhist Council under Kanishka is linked with major textual commentaries, so it does not describe Vaishali as a council for translating texts into Sanskrit.
- (D) Mahayana emerged much later; the Hinayana-Mahayana division is placed around the first century CE during the Fourth Buddhist Council under Kanishka.
Concept
This tests Buddhist councils, sect formation and the evolution of early Buddhist institutions. RAS often returns to these councils because each one is tied to a place, patron, presiding monk and doctrinal or organisational outcome.