Question

The fourth Buddhist Council had compiled an encyclopaedia of Buddhist Philosophy called ___________.
A) Sutralankara
B)Madhyamika Sutra
C) Jatakas
D)Mahavibhasha Sastra

Answer 1

Hint - The fourth Buddhist Council was convened by the Kushan emperor Kanishka at Harwan near Srinagar in Kashmir in the second century CE.

Complete Step by Step Answer-
Buddhism as a movement was initiated by Gautama Buddha. It later consolidated itself into two sects, the Theravadins and the Mahayana. After the death of Buddha, monastic communities periodically convened councils to settle disputes of doctrinal and disciplinary nature. The fourth Buddhist Council was held in Kashmir and was convened by the Kushan ruler Kanishka who was a follower of Mahayana Buddhism.
The most important result of this council was the compilation of a vast commentary known as Mahavibhasha Sastra. The text is a comprehensive compendium and reference work on the Sarasvatin Abhidhamma.

OPTION A - Sutralankara is a Buddhist text written by the monk from Peshwa, Asanga. It is said the text was compiled sometime around the 4th-5th century. The book contains the important precepts of the Vigyanvadin School of Philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism

OPTION B - Madhyamika Sutra is a Buddhist authoritative text which speaks about the Philosophy of the Madhyamika School of thought within Mahayana Buddhism.

OPTION C - Jatakas is a collection of stories compiled in a voluminous book. It tells the stories of previous lives of Budhha, sometimes is human and sometimes in animal forms. There is often a moral in the tale, and a virtue displayed/explained by the previous life form of the Buddha that the story is trying to inculcate.


OPTION D - Mahavibhasha Sastra is the correct answer. This compilation was a result of the fourth Buddhist Council, where more than 500 monks met and laid out the contents of this compendium.

Note - The Fourth Buddhist Council was organised in Kashmir in the second century CE. It was convened by the Kushan ruler Kanishka. Mahavibhasha Sastra was the most important result of the fourth Buddhist Council.