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Thera Upāli learned it from the Perfectly Enlightened One; Thera Dāsaka from his preceptor, Thera Upāli; Thera Soṇaka from his preceptor, Thera Dāsaka; Thera Siggava from his preceptor, Thera Soṇaka; Thera Moggaliputtatissa from his preceptor, Thera Siggava, and Thera Caṇḍavajjī— thus, having brought forth the entire lineage of teachers, the Theravāda tradition, he establishes it, having brought it to his own teacher. Indeed, a lineage of teachers learned in this way is well-learned. However, for one unable to do so, two or three recitations should be learned. For, in the very last method, just as the teacher and the teacher's teacher recite the Pāḷi and the commentary, so it is proper to know it. But the aforementioned lineage of Theras, from the time the Blessed One was alive, until the books were written down, held the Three Piṭakas by oral recitation alone. They did not make them complete and write them down in books. Thus, the great Theras, having performed a difficult task, upheld the Dispensation. Regarding this, there is this story:— In the island of Sihaḷa, it is said, due to the fear of Caṇḍāla Tissa, the devas were disturbed, and the sky did not rain, and the fear of famine arose. Then Akko, the king of devas, came and said, "Venerable sirs, you will not be able to uphold the Piṭaka. Rather, board a ship and go to Jambudīpa. If the ship should be insufficient, cross by wood or by bamboo. For your safety, we will protect you." Then sixty bhikkhus went to the seashore, and again it occurred to them: "We will not go to Jambudīpa. We will remain here and uphold the Tepiṭaka." After that, the ship turned back from the landing and went to a part of Sihaḷa, the Malayajanapada. They sustained themselves only with roots and fruits and performed their recitations. Being greatly afflicted by the fear of starvation, and unable to do even this, they placed their chests on the sand and head to head, facing it, without uttering words, they did it with their minds. Thus for twelve years, preserving the Tipiṭaka along with the commentaries, they upheld the Dispensation. When the twelve years had passed, that fear subsided, and seven hundred bhikkhus, who had previously gone to Jambudīpa, returned and reached Maṇḍalārāma Vihāra in the Rāma region, a part of the island of Sihala. Those sixty bhikkhus also went to that same vihāra, consulted with each other, and recited together. Then they agreed with each other, they did not conflict, they mingled like the waters of the Gaṅgā with the waters of the Yamunā. Thus it should be known that the Great Elders, preserving the Tipiṭaka by oral recitation alone, performed a difficult task. Even to preserve the teachings, without missing a single word, that is indeed a difficult task. In the island of Sihala, it is said, Tissa Thera, son of a householder named Punabbasu, having learned the Buddha's word, came to this Jambudīpa, and having learned the Buddha's word from Yonakadhammarakkhita Thera, as he was leaving, at the landing place for boarding a ship, a doubt arose in him about a single word. He turned back a hundred yojanas and came to his teacher. On the way, he explained his problem to a householder. The householder, being pleased, gave him a blanket worth a hundred thousand. He brought it and gave it to his teacher. The Thera, it is said, cut it up and made it into furnishings for the sitting place. For what purpose? For the benefit of future generations. Thus it occurred to him: "Reflecting on the path we have taken, future fellow practitioners will consider it necessary to fulfill their practice." Tissa Thera, having resolved his doubt with his teacher, returned to his own place, the island of Sihala. Thus, even preserving the teachings without missing a single word, should be seen as a difficult task. Even that which they do not usually master, they preserve it so that it does not disappear, so that it is not forgotten, by means of learning, memorizing, and so on, that is a difficult task. is a difficult task. It is said that in Sri Lanka, during a time of great danger, only one bhikkhu had mastered the Mahāniddesa. Then the Upajjhāya of Tissatthera of the four Nikāyas, the Mahātipiṭakatthera, said to Mahārakkhitatthera, "Friend Mahārakkhita, learn the Mahāniddesa from that one." (Mahārakkhitatthera replied,) "He is a wicked one, venerable sir, I will not learn from him." (The Mahātipiṭakatthera said,) "Learn, friend, I will sit near you." (Mahārakkhitatthera agreed,) "Very well, venerable sir, I will learn if you are seated there." Having thus agreed, he studied continuously day and night. On the last day, seeing a woman on the lower bed, he said, "Venerable sir, I had heard this before; if I had known this, I would not have learned the Dhamma from such a person." However, many great elders learned from him and established the Mahāniddesa. Thus, it should be understood that even the preservation of what is mostly mastered, through learning and memorization, to prevent its disappearance and to avoid confusion, is a difficult task. Thus, from the time the Buddha was alive, for a long time, the lineage of great elders, as mentioned, preserved the Pariyatti by oral tradition. Oh, how the ancient great elders, due to their abundance of mindfulness, wisdom, and concentration, were able to preserve it by oral tradition! The preservation of the Pariyatti by oral tradition by the ancient elders lasted for four hundred and ninety-five years. Four hundred and fifty-odd years after the Buddha's Parinibbāna, as stated in the Mahāvaṃsa Sāratthasaṅgaha, when the Jinacakka had reached four hundred and fifty-odd years, in the island of Tambapaṇṇi, the eighteenth king, Vaṭṭagāmaṇi by name, son of King Asaddhātissa, having attained kingship, after six years, examined (the situation and thought), "In the future, beings will have diminished mindfulness, wisdom, and concentration, and will not be able to preserve (the Dhamma) by oral tradition." Therefore, the five hundred great elders who had come down in succession from the previously mentioned great elders, relying on King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi, in the Malayajanapada region of the island of Tambapaṇṇi, at the Ālokaleṇa, inscribed the Three Piṭakas along with the commentaries into books. And that, as mentioned, It should be known as the Fourth Council, by setting aside the chants. This is stated in the Vinaya commentary called Sāratthadīpanī: “The council of committing to books is similar to the Fourth Council.” In Sri Lanka, King Vaṭṭagāmaṇī and in Myanmar, in the city of Sirikhetta, a king named Kukkuṭasīsa reigned at the same time. In the time of the king who built Amarapura, in the message sent here by the Sri Lankan bhikkhus, it is stated that they committed to books when four hundred and thirty-three years had passed. This is stated there: “A period of four hundred and thirty-three years.” This is the establishment of the Sāsana in Sri Lanka up to the committing to books. Thereafter, in Jambudīpa and Sri Lanka, the bhikkhus split into separate groups, just as the rivers flowing from Lake Anotatta split into Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and so on. We will discuss the splitting of groups in Jambudīpa above. However, the splitting of groups in Sri Lanka should be seen as follows. How? In Sri Lanka, when two hundred and eighteen years had passed since the establishment of the Sāsana, in the Abhayagiri Vihāra built by King Vaṭṭagāmaṇī, a group split off from the Mahāvihāra resident group, by distorting the Parivāra Khandhaka in both text and meaning. That group was called the Abhayagiri resident group, and Dhammaruci group was also its name. When three hundred and forty-two years had passed since the splitting of the Abhayagiri resident group, in the Jetavana Vihāra built by a king named Mahāsena, the bhikkhus, by corrupting the recitation of both Vibhaṅgas, became a separate group from the Abhayagiri resident group. That group was called the Jetavana resident group, and Sāgaliya group was also its name. After three hundred and fifty-one years from the time of the splitting of the Jetavana resident group, the bhikkhus residing in Kurunda and Kolamba, relying on their nephew, King Dāṭhāpati, distorted the text of both Vibhaṅgas and the Parivāra Khandhaka. In the customary manner, having been formed, from the two groups mentioned, being distinct, weighing and considering the excellence of the Mahāvihāra-dwelling group, taking the name Mahāvihāra, one group split off. Thus, in the island of Sihala, with the Mahāvihāra-dwelling group, which was the lineage of Mahā Mahinda Thera and others, four groups split off. Among them, only the Mahāvihāra-dwelling group was a speaker of Dhamma; the others, however, were speakers of non-Dhamma. And those three non-Dhamma-speaking groups, abandoning the true meaning, and taking the non-true meaning, disregarded the Dhamma and behaved. Therefore, in the island of Sihala, the three non-Dhamma-speaking groups, being shameless, disregarded the training rules such as 'well-covered like a winnowing basket' and went about. From that time onwards, it should be known that in the Dispensation, the wearing and covering of some bhikkhus appeared in various ways. Seven hundred and twenty-seven years after the time when the non-Dhamma-speaking groups split, a king named Sirisaṅghabodhi, taking the side of the Mahāvihāra group, suppressed the three non-Dhamma-speaking groups and upheld the Dispensation of the Conqueror. And that King Sirisaṅghabodhi experienced royal prosperity at the same time as a king named Anuruddha in our country of Maramma, in the city of Arimandana. After that, in the island of Sihala, during the time of a king named Vohārakatissa, having consulted with a minister named Kapila, relying on the bhikkhus dwelling in the Mahāvihāra, he suppressed the non-Dhamma-speaking groups and upheld the Dispensation of the Conqueror. And after that, during the time of a king named Goṭṭhābhaya,