With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements:Sthaviravadins b

Question

With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements:Sthaviravadins belong to Mahayana Buddhism.Lokottaravadin sect was an offshoot of Mahasanghika sect of Buddhism.The deification of Buddha by Mahasanghikas fostered the Mahayana Buddhism.Which of the statements given above is/are Correct?

Accepted Answer

The division of the Buddhist community in India in the first three centuries following the death of the Buddha in c. 483 BC. The first division in the Buddhist community occurred as a result of the second council, said to have been held 100 years after the Buddha’s death, at Vaisali (Bihar state). This Council was called to condemn certain practices of some monks which were contrary to the Vinaya or Monk’s Code of conduct, when the Acariyavadins (followers of the traditional teaching) split away from the Sthaviravadins (followers of the Way of the Elders) and formed their own school, known as the Mahasanghikas.These Sthaviravadins followed a realist line, stating that all phenomena exist and are unstable compounds of elements. They taught that it is necessary for all humans to strive for Arahantship or release from the constant round of rebirth (Samsara). They taught that Buddhas are men - pure and simple, rejecting any notion of their being transcendental.The other group, which were in the majority, were known as the Mahasanghikas. Like the Sthaviravadins, they accepted the fundamental doctrines as taught by the Buddha, such as: the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path etc but they differed in believing that Buddhas are supramundane and transcendental. They also believed that the original nature of the mind is pure and that it is contaminated when it is stained by passions and defilements. It was from the Mahasanghikas that the Mahayana was to evolve. Hence statement 1 is not correct.They differed or came to differ significantly from the Sthaviravada in how they understood the nature of the Buddha, and they are the first to attribute divinity to him and represent him in anthropomorphic form in statuary, setting a precedent which has continued to the present day. Hence statement 3 is correct.Further subdivisions of the Mahasanghikas over the next seven centuries included sect of Lokottarvadin whose philosophy was based on the concept of Lokottara Buddha or Supernatural Buddha, the Ekavyavaharikas, and the Kaukkutikas. Hence statement 2 is correct.Source Attribution: ALBASHAM: Wonder That Was India