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Soon after Buddha's death or parinirvana, five hundred monks met at the first council at Rajagrha, under the leadership of Kashyapa. Upali recited the monastic code, Vinaya, as he remembered it. Ananda, Buddha's cousin, friend, and favorite disciple, and a man of prodigious memory, recited Buddha's lessons, the Sutras. The monks debated details and voted on final versions. These were then committed to memory by other monks, to be translated into the many languages of the Indian plains. It should be noted that Buddhism remained an oral tradition for over 200 years after the first council, for the simple reason that India did not as yet have an alphabet.
In the next few centuries, the original unity of Buddhism began to fragment. The most significant split occurred after the second council, held at Vaishali 100 years after the first. After debates between a more liberal group and traditionalists, the liberal group left and labeled themselves the Mahasangha, "the great sangha." They......

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