From 268 to 232 B.C. Asoka the Great of the Maurya Dynasty ruled over almost the entire Indian subcontinent. The story goes that Asoka fought a bloody war in Kalinga in 260 BC. He conquered Kalinga, but seeing the mass slaughter brought him to his senses.
He converted to Buddhism and focused on ahimsa, non-violence. Asoka is seen as a great, tolerant and respectful leader, an example for kings that came after him. Under his reign there was unity and harmony, between people and animals as well.
He spent his wealth for his people and for the Sangha. With this, however, he also created a problem.
Greedy and immoral people infiltrated the Sangha to take advantage of his charity. They were not interested in liberation, only in the offerings provided and the associated status and therefore held wrong views, which resulted in a decrease in the respect for the Sangha.
When Asoka heard of this corruption, he organized a 3rd council meeting in 250 BC to purify Buddhism and record the true Dhamma.
The Venerable Moggaliputtatissa chaired the 9-month long 3rd council meeting. The Venerable Moggaliputtatissa belonged to the Vibhajjavada school, the doctrine of analysis, a descended from the Sthaviravadins.
The Dhamma that was recorded during the 3rd council meeting and supported by Asoka was the Tipitaka (the three baskets). The followers of this movement called themselves Theriya’s ‘elders’ and in this way Theravāda was born.
A detail to note is that in this council the Theravāda Abhidhamma was recorded as well, the ‘Katha Vatthu’ (points of controversy) contains a collection of questions and answers by the Venerable Moggaliputtatissa.
During this council meeting many monks were questioned. Whoever gave an answer that was not in accordance with the Dhamma was expelled from the monastic order.
Thus Asoka purified the Sangha.
The most important thing about this council meeting is that Asoka sent monks into the world to spread Theravāda. They went to Greece, the Himalayas, Myanmar and perhaps most importantly, to Sri Lanka.
It was none other than Asoka’s son, the Venerable Mahinda, who traveled to Sri Lanka to join the Sangha. Buddhism, or rather Theravāda Buddhism, flourished in Sri Lanka.
The Theravāda Tipitaka as recorded in the 3rd Council meeting was first written down in Sinhala in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BC.
In the 5th century A.D., the great Venerable Buddhagosa, coming over from mainland India, wrote down the doctrine in Pali, the ancient language of Dhamma, along with a whole series of oral comments from the great masters of the centuries before.
Since then the Pali Canon, the Pali version of the Tipitaka, has existed. Since the 3rd Council meeting of 250 BC no more teachings have been added or removed from the main texts.
However, more Commentaries and Sub-Commentaries have been written. However, these are always seen as para-canonical, and therefore not taught directly by the Buddha. Buddhagosa himself wrote the Visuddhimagga, a monumental summary of the Tipitaka.
