Question

First Buddhist Council was held in the reign of __________
(A)Bimbisara
(B)Ajatashatru
(C)Ashoka
(D)Kanishka

Answer 1

Hint: The Buddhist Monks considered Varna based on action , unlike the Brahmanas who conferred on it a divine sanction, dividing people based on the birth.

Complete answer:
A)Bimbisara was a king of the magadha kingdom , credited with establishing imperial dominance in the Indian subcontinent. He is the son of a minor king Bhattiya, who belonged to the Haryanka Dynasty, which is said to be the second imperial dynasty of magadha. It is only from Bimbisara’s reign that the historicity of different Indian kings can be verified with any certainty. Before the Haryanka Dynasty, the accounts of various Indian kings are mythical and cannot be verified with any archaeological evidence

B) The first Buddist Council was held in the reign of the ruler Ajatashatru during the time period of 483 BCE with the president Mahakasyapa. This council was held in the place of Rajagriha.The Council held soon after the death of Buddha,it was at this council that the Buddha’s teachings were divided into three categories or ‘baskets’(pitaka):discourses,discipline and higher knowledge.

(C) The third Buddist Council was held in the reign of the ruler Ashoka during the time period of 250 BCE with the president Mogaliputta Tissa. The objective of the council was to purify the buddist movement from opportunistic factions.The origin of Theravada school. Tripatika was coded in pali language.They sent Buddhist missionaries to other countries.

(D) The fourth Buddist Council was held in the reign of the ruler Kanishka during the time period of 1st Century BCE with the president Vasumitra. Here Buddhism was divided into the Mahayana sector and the Hinayana Sector.Some believe that the fourth Buddist Council is the name of two separate Buddhist council meetings. The Theravada had a Fourth Buddhist Council in the first century BCE in Tambapanni (ie) Srilanka , at Aloka Lena (now Alu Vihara)during the time of King Vattagamani - Abaya. The Second one was held by the Sarvastivada school, in Kashmir around the 1st Century CE .

Hence the correct answer is option B.

Note: Buddhism succumbed to the same rituals and dogmas which it had originally denounced. In the beginning , it was inspired by the spirit of reform. But , gradually it became victim to the same evils of Brahmanism which it had earlier fought. It changed for worse over the period of time.The Buddhist monks gave pali, the language of the people and took to sanskrit ,the language of a few intellectuals.