118th year after the Nirvána, or in B. c. 425; and they assign to him, and to his successors, the nine Nandas, a joint period of only forty-four years. Now all the Brahmanical Purânas, in their accounts of the kings of Magadha, agree in stating that the Nandas reigned one hundred years. By using this amount as the correct one, we obtain Anno Buddha 218, or B. C. 325, as the date of Chandra Gupta's accession; thus making him a contemporary of Alexander the Great and Seleukos Nikator; a fact which has long since been proved by several passages from the Greek historians. The happy identification of Chandra Gupta with the Sandrocottos, or Sandrokuptos* of the Greeks was first made by Sir William Jones, and its accuracy has since been generally admitted for the identification depends fully as much upon the similarity of their personal histories as upon the positive identity of their names.

6. It would be difficult, and, perhaps, impossible, to ascertain the real origin of this error of sixtysix years in the Buddhist annals; but I may hazard a guess that the pious and enthusiastic Buddhists of Asoka's age may in the first instance have adopted the date of his conversion as that of the true foundation of the Mauryan Dynasty, by omitting the Bráhmanical reigns of his father and grandfather, as well as the first four years of his own reign before his acknowledgment of Buddhism. Under this supposition, his inauguration would have been antedated

Σανδροκυπτος is the spelling of Athenæus.

by sixty-six years, which is the exact amount of difference between the Buddhist and Bráhmanical lengths of reigns, as well as the precise amount of correction required to make the Buddhist chronology harmonise with that of the Greeks. In after times, when Buddhaghoso composed his commentaries on the Singhalese Annals, I suppose that the date of Asoka's inauguration was assumed to be correct, and that the duration of his father's and grandfather's reigns, and the first four years of his own reign, were deducted from the one hundred years of the Nandas. This supposition is rendered more probable by the valuable opinion of Mr. Turnour,* the learned translator of the Mahawanso, who points to the difference between the Bráhmanical and Buddhistical authorities, and more particularly to "some confusion in the durations assigned to the reigns of the ten Nandas," as the most likely causes of error. He was unable to account for the error himself; but he did 'not despair of seeing the discrepancy accounted for in due course of time." He adopted the same fixed points, as I have done; namely, the Buddhist era of Sákya's death, in B. C. 543; and the Greek age of Sandrocottos, about 325 B. C.; but he was inclined to believe that the anachronism was the result of design and not of accident.

* See Prinsep's Journal, vi. 725.

CHAPTER VI.

SECOND SYNOD.

1. Having thus adjusted the chronology, I can proceed with confidence to the historical account of the progress of Buddhism. I have already given the proceedings of the First Synod, and some brief details of the manner of life and strict observances of the different grades of the Bauddha community. But these observances, which the early Buddhists practised with enthusiastic zeal, were found irksome by many of their successors. At the end of the first century after Sákya's death, a numerous fraternity of monks at Vaisáli asserted the lawfulness of the following indulgences:

1st. "The preservation of salt in horn for any period is lawful," instead of the seven days allowed by Sákya.

2nd. "The allowance of two inches in length of the shadow of the declining sun, to partake of food," which Sákya had prohibited after midday.

• See Mahawanso, p. 15; and Turnour's Páli Annals, in Prinsep's Journal, vi. 728, 729.

3rd. "In villages it is allowable to partake of indulgences" forbidden in the monasteries.

4th. "Ceremonies in their own houses may be performed by the monks," instead of in the public hall.

5th. "Obtaining subsequent consent is allowable for the performance of any act;" whereas, consent should always precede it.

6th. "Conformity to example is allowable," that is, they might act as their superiors did; whereas no example was admitted as an excuse if the act was forbidden.

7th. "The drinking of whey is allowable after midday," which whey, as a component part of milk, had hitherto been forbidden.

8th. "The drinking of toddy is allowable because it looks like water:" whereas all fermented beverages were forbidden.

9th." Cloth-covered seats are allowable."

10th. "Gold and silver may be accepted in alms" whereas the very use of the precious metals was prohibited; and more especially the begging for money.

2. When the tidings of this formidable heresy reached the revered Yasa, son of Kákandaka, he repaired to Vaisáli; and, in the midst of the assembled monks, he denounced the asking for money as unlawful. On this he was subjected to various indignities by the schismatic monks, from whose vengeance he escaped with he escaped with difficulty to

Kausambi.* Thence, despatching messengers to Patheya and Ujain, he collected a small body of orthodox monks, who with him waited upon the Soreyan teacher Rewato, the most famous in his day for depth of knowledge and holiness of character. The schismatics tried to influence Rewato with presents, but failing in this, they petitioned the king, who was at first inclined to favour them. But the king's intentions were changed by a dream, and he proceeded to Vaisáli in person, where, having heard both parties, he decided in favour of the orthodox, and directed them to take steps for the due maintenance of religion; after which he departed for his capital.

3. A stormy discussion then arose between the assembled monks, which was only quieted by the proclamation of the Ubbáhika rules for preserving order at religious assemblies. Eight of the most learned teachers, four from the eastern fraternities and four from the western, were selected by Rewato to examine into the lawfulness of the indulgences now claimed. These monks retired to a quiet spot to consider the matter; and, after much questioning amongst themselves, they decided upon rejecting the heresy. They accordingly returned to the assembly, and denounced the ten indulgences as unlawful; on which the penalty of "degradation" was awarded to the schismatic monks.†

• See Mahawanso, p. 16.

The sentence of degradation was Sákya's punishment for all who caused dissensions amongst the Bauddha community. See