Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

Ovadeyyānusāseyya,¹ asabbhā² ca nivāraye;
Satañhi so piyo hoti, asataṃ hoti appiyo.³

One should advise and exhort and dissuade from vile manners,
Because such a one is dear to the good, but disagreeable to the bad.

The Vinaya⁴ relates the serious incident referred to in the previous sutta⁵ about those quarrelling Bhikkhus from Kosambi in greater detail. The cause for this strife is referred to in the following abstract description:

... Tena kho pana samayena aññataro bhikkhu āpattiṃ⁶ āpanno⁷ hoti. So tassā āpattiyā āpattidiṭṭhi hoti; aññe bhikkhū tassā āpattiyā anāpattidiṭṭhino honti. So aparena samayena tassā āpattiyā anāpattidiṭṭhi hoti; aññe bhikkhū tassā āpattiyā āpattidiṭṭhino honti.

At one time a certain Bhikkhu had committed an offence. He understood this offence as being an offence, but other Bhikkhus didn’t consider it an offence. After some time he then didn’t believe this offence as being an offence, while other Bhikkhus maintained the view that this offence was an offence.

When this was brought before the Buddha, while ruminating about this situation, he contemplated that the Saṅgha was going to split apart:

Atha kho bhagavā ‘bhinno bhikkhusaṅgho, bhinno bhikkhusaṅgho’ti.

In spite of his efforts to harmonise the two sides, this separation between the two groups remained for a long time to such an extent that both sides held their meetings at different places. After their lay followers began withdrawing support, the quarrelling Bhikkhus decided to visit the Buddha at Sāvatthi to resolve their dispute. The very Bhikkhu, who had originally performed the offence, ultimately changed his outlook and gained insight, and thus the Saṅgha was reconciled:

… Āpatti esā, nesā anāpatti. Āpannomhi, namhi anāpanno. Ukkhittomhi,⁸ namhi anukkhitto. Dhammikenamhi kammena ukkhitto akuppena ṭhānārahenā’’ti.⁹ 

… This was an offence, not no offence. I have fallen, I was not unfallen. I was suspended, not unsuspended. And I was suspended by a formal righteous act, not to be changed, acceptable for good reason.

Causes for quarrels, disputes and differences of opinion are in general based in any one or more of six respective mental states. It usually is accompanied by deluded intention of the individual who gives rise to such quarrels. Such sources are highlighted in the Vivādamūlasutta¹⁰ as sixfold: 

kodha, makkha, issā, sāṭheyya, pāpicchatā, sandiṭṭhiparāmāsa

anger, hypocrisy, envy, fraudulence, evil intention and clinging to one’s own views:

Chayimāni, bhikkhave, vivādamūlāni. Katamāni cha? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kodhano hoti upanāhī¹¹. Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kodhano hoti upanāhī so sattharipi agāravo viharati appatisso, dhammepi agāravo viharati appatisso, saṅghepi agāravo viharati appatisso, sikkhāyapi na paripūrakārī hoti. Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu satthari agāravo viharati appatisso, dhamme agāravo viharati appatisso, saṅghe agāravo viharati appatisso, sikkhāya na paripūrakārī so saṅghe vivādaṃ janeti, yo hoti vivādo bahujanāhitāya bahujanāsukhāya bahuno janassa anatthāya ahitāya dukkhāya devamanussānaṃ.

There are, Bhikkhus, six causes for disputes. What are the six? Here, Bhikkhus, a Bhikkhu develops anger and a grudge. Being thus angry and hostile he lives without respect and esteem for the Teacher, the Dhamma and likewise for the Saṅgha. He does not fulfil the requirements for his training. Such a Bhikkhu living without respect and esteem for the Teacher, the Dhamma and likewise for the Saṅgha, not fulfilling the requirements for his training will create dispute in the Saṅgha, that leads to the harm of many, to unhappiness of many, and will bring downfall and ruin for many beings and suffering to gods and humankind.

Puna caparaṃ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu makkhī hoti paḷāsī¹²…pe… issukī hoti maccharī… saṭho hoti māyāvī… pāpiccho hoti micchādiṭṭhi… sandiṭṭhiparāmāsī hoti ādhānaggāhī¹³ duppaṭinissaggī.¹⁴ Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sandiṭṭhiparāmāsī hoti ādhānaggāhī duppaṭinissaggī, so sattharipi agāravo viharati appatisso, dhammepi agāravo viharati appatisso, saṅghepi agāravo viharati appatisso, sikkhāyapi na paripūrakārī hoti. Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu satthari agāravo viharati appatisso, dhamme…pe… saṅghe agāravo viharati appatisso, sikkhāya na paripūrakārī, so saṅghe vivādaṃ janeti, yo hoti vivādo bahujanāhitāya bahujanāsukhāya bahuno janassa anatthāya ahitāya dukkhāya devamanussānaṃ. …

Here, Bhikkhus, a Bhikkhu develops hypocrisy and malice… again, a Bhikkhu develops envy and stinginess … again, a Bhikkhu develops fraudulence and lives deceitful… again, a Bhikkhu lives with evil intention and wrong view … again, a Bhikkhu develops his own views, clings to them stubbornly and hardly lets loose. Thus he lives without respect and esteem for the Teacher, the Dhamma and likewise for the Saṅgha. He does not fulfil the requirements for his training. Such a Bhikkhu living without respect and esteem for the Teacher, the Dhamma and likewise for the Saṅgha not fulfilling the requirements for his training will create dispute in the Saṅgha, that leads to the harm of many, to unhappiness of many, and will bring downfall and ruin for many beings and suffering to gods and mankind. …

A second methodology is presented in this Vivādasutta. It is taken from Akkosavaggo, Aṅguttaranikāyo, Dasakanipātapāḷi, which, just as with the preceding Upālivaggo, presents situations with Upāli. Here Upāli approaches the Buddha with various questions in regard to rules and regulations for the Saṅgha but also about potential causes for schism on which he receives the reply shown in this sutta. It turned out that it was to be Upāli, who was to preside over the first council.¹⁵ He was not only known as Vinayadharānaṃ, the one most proficient in discipline: ¹⁶

Etadaggaṃ, bhikkhave, mama sāvakānaṃ bhikkhūnaṃ vinayadharānaṃ yadidaṃ upāli.¹⁷

but also praised by the Buddha in the following manner:

Āpattianāpattiyā,¹⁸ satekicchāya¹⁹ kovido; vinaye agganikkhitto,²⁰ upāli satthuvaṇṇito.²¹

Whether something is an offence or one without any guilt, whether one is pardonable, all this is well understood by Upāli, skilled and famous for knowing the Vinaya in detail and praised by the teacher.²²

While the first description of those six causes for strife also refer to those living a householder’s life, the reply given by the Buddha in this sutta proves that Dhamma may be understood and presented differently amongst the Buddha’s own disciples. The respective causes and explanation for quarrel are given here in general terms without going into any detail:

… adhammaṃ dhammoti dīpenti, dhammaṃ adhammoti dīpenti, avinayaṃ vinayoti dīpenti, vinayaṃ avinayoti dīpenti …

… monks declare non-Dhamma as Dhamma, declare Dhamma as non-Dhamma, declare non-Discipline as Discipline, declare Discipline as non-Discipline …²³

Although these reasons and explanations as found in this sutta are given in abstract terms only, their validity was corroborated not only through the historical accounts of the incident at Kosambi referred to above but also in the period when the Sangha split into various groups.²⁴

Thus slight differences in interpreting the Buddha's words or disciplinary rules unfortunately led to significant splits, separations, and controversies in later times.²⁵