Theravada

Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

Theravada (literally "the way of the elders") is the older tradition of Buddhism. Its followers called themselves Theravadins: people who follow the path of the old, respected teachers, the theras (senior monks). The followers of Mahayana later gave this older tradition the name Hinayana ("lesser vehicle"), but Theravadins do not use that label. Theravada matters because it keeps the Pali canon, the oldest complete Buddhist canon [3]. It is still the main form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.

Explanation

Background: from the Buddha's words to the "elders"

• The Buddha taught only by speaking. Nothing was written down in his lifetime.
• After his death (c. fifth–fourth century BCE), a council of "elders" (senior monks) at Vesāli (Vaiśhālī, in present-day Bihar) put his teachings together.
• These elders were senior members of the sangha (the community of monks and nuns). They recited what they remembered and agreed on one common version.
• The name Theravada comes from these theras. Its followers saw themselves as keeping the teachings exactly as the old teachers had handed them down.

Main features of the tradition

• The Buddha is a human teacher. He reached enlightenment and nibbana (freedom from the cycle of rebirth and suffering) through his own effort. He is not a god or a saviour.
• Self-effort is central. Each person must reach nibbana by their own discipline and understanding of the dhamma (the Buddha's teaching).
• Discipline is close to the original rule-book. Monastic life follows the Vinaya Pitaka (rules for those who join the sangha).
• Its scripture is in Pali. The Pali canon is the canon of the Theravada school [3]. It is organised as the Tipitaka ("three baskets"):
• Vinaya Pitaka: rules for the sangha
• Sutta Pitaka: the Buddha's teachings, including the Therigāthā (verses by nuns)
• Abhidhamma Pitaka: philosophical matters, the most technical basket [5]

How it was kept alive and changed over time

• Memory first. For centuries, monks kept the teachings by chanting them together. This Theravada chanting tradition still survives and has been documented as a living oral tradition [2].
• Writing much later. The canon was first written down in Pali in Sri Lanka, probably in the 1st century BCE, at the gathering later called the Fourth Buddhist Council [3][4]. That came roughly 300–400 years after the Buddha spoke.
• Commentaries. Later scholars wrote Pali commentaries called atthakatha (explanations of hard words and ideas) [6].
• The split with Mahayana. By about the first century CE, Buddhist ideas and practices were changing:
• A new tradition, Mahayana ("great vehicle"), saw the Buddha more as a saviour. It worshipped Bodhisattvas (compassionate beings who help others reach enlightenment) and images of the Buddha.
• Mahayana followers called the older tradition Hinayana ("lesser vehicle").
• Mahayana writing was mostly in Sanskrit, while Theravada kept to Pali.

Results

• Theravada became the main form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and later in South-East Asia (for example Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos).
• Sri Lanka became its scholarly centre. The Pali canon was written there, and Pali chronicles recorded the history of Buddhism on the island [7].
• Because of this, the oldest complete Buddhist scriptures survived even though Buddhism declined in India.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: Its roots go back to the early sangha after the Buddha's death (c. fifth–fourth century BCE). The separate Mahayana identity, and with it the clear Theravada/Hinayana contrast, appears from about the first century CE.
• Places:
• Vesāli (Vaiśhālī, Bihar): the council of elders that first compiled the teachings
• Sri Lanka: where the Pali canon was first written down, probably in the 1st century BCE [3][4]

• South-East Asia: where the tradition prevails today

• Key people: the theras (elders) of the sangha. Later, the monk Mahānāma, who probably wrote the Mahāvaṁsa [7].

• How we know about it:
• The Pali Tipitaka, the oldest complete Buddhist canon [3]
• Atthakatha commentaries, which the Sri Lankan chronicles later used as sources [6]
• Dīpavaṁsa ("chronicle of the island", c. 4th century CE) and Mahāvaṁsa ("great chronicle", 5th or 6th century CE). Both are Pali histories of Buddhism and kings in Sri Lanka [7]. They belong to the Pali category called vaṃsa ("lineage" or "chronicle") [8].

• The living chanting tradition of Theravada monks, documented by IGNCA [2]

• A caution: the canon was memorised and written down centuries after the Buddha. It records what the monastic community agreed to remember, not his exact words.

Don't confuse with

• Hinayana: This is not a separate school. It is the name ("lesser vehicle") that Mahayana followers gave the older tradition. Theravadins call themselves Theravada and do not accept this label.
• Mahayana: This is the later "great vehicle". It focuses on Bodhisattvas, the Buddha as a saviour and image worship, and its later texts are mostly in Sanskrit. Theravada keeps the Pali canon and stresses self-effort.
• Therigāthā: The word theri means a nun. The Therigāthā is a collection of nuns' verses inside the Sutta Pitaka. Thera (elder monk) is the root of "Theravada". Do not mix up the two words.
• Tipitaka vs the Sri Lankan chronicles: The Tipitaka is the canon (scripture). The Dīpavaṁsa and Mahāvaṁsa are later Pali histories (vaṃsa) [7][8]. They are not part of the three baskets.

Prelims Hooks

• Theravada means "the way of the elders". Its followers follow the path of the theras (old, respected teachers).
• Hinayana ("lesser vehicle") was a name given by Mahayana followers, not one the Theravadins chose.
• The Pali canon is the oldest complete canon in Buddhism and the canon of Theravada [3].
• The Pali canon was first written down in Sri Lanka, probably in the 1st century BCE, at the Fourth Buddhist Council [3][4].
• Tipitaka = Vinaya (rules for the sangha) + Sutta (teachings, including the Therigāthā) + Abhidhamma (philosophy).
• Language trap: the oldest Buddhist texts are in Pali (Theravada). Later compositions are in Sanskrit (much of it Mahayana).

Mains Points

• Oral tradition shaped the scripture itself.
• The Pali canon was chanted from memory for 300–400 years before it was written down in 1st-century BCE Sri Lanka [3][4].
• So it shows what the community of elders agreed to keep. Its repetitions and numbered lists were memory aids.

• That chanting tradition still lives on [2]. This makes Theravada useful for a GS-I answer on how ancient Indian knowledge was passed on.

• Indian heritage was kept outside India.

• Theravada's oldest scriptures were written down in Sri Lanka, and Pali chronicles like the Mahāvaṁsa placed Buddhism within the island's own history [7].

• Today the tradition lives mainly in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. This is a strong example of India's cultural links with Asia: a teaching born in Bihar was kept and passed on by monasteries beyond India.

• Continuity and change within Buddhism.

• The move from Theravada (a human Buddha, self-effort, Pali) to Mahayana (Bodhisattvas, a saviour Buddha, image worship, Sanskrit) shows that Buddhism kept changing.
• This change shaped Buddhist art, such as images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas.
• It also explains why different regions of Asia follow different forms of Buddhism.

Related concepts

• Tipitaka
• Vinaya Pitaka
• Sutta Pitaka
• Abhidhamma Pitaka
• Abhidhamma Divas
• Pali
• Pali classical language
• Buddhist councils
• First Buddhist council
• Second Buddhist council

Read more

• Preserving the traditions: texts and transmission