Cāturaṅga Sannipāta (2): An Analysis of the Fourfold Assembly Event in Theravāda Buddhist Scripts

Abstract

The event of the Fourfold Assembly, which originated from the Majjhima Nikāya Dīghanakha-Sutta Aṭṭhakathā, contains similar information in the Mahāpadāna-Sutta Aṭṭhakathā and can be linked back to events in the Tipiṭaka Canon, namely the Mahāpadāna-Sutta, which can be used to infer the event of the fourfold convention.

The objective of this research article is to study the Fourfold Assembly Event (Cāturaṅga Sannipāta) in a more concrete manner by employing document research. This study involves a comparative analysis of the Theravāda Buddhist scriptures, including related sutras and cultural information, to verify the occurrence of the Fourfold Assembly, which is a significant component of the Māgha Pūjā Day, during the time of the Buddha.

The research found that: (1) It is likely that the event occurred on the 15th night, as it is a religious custom for the Sangha to come together to perform religious ceremonies when there are suitable conditions, such as a full moon, which predates the rise of Buddhism. Although the evidence from the scriptures is not clear, key words related to the weather, such as winter, snowfall, and heavy rain, can be used to infer that the event, in which the Buddha stayed with the Jaṭila, could have occurred between the 12th to the 1st month according to the lunar calendar, providing enough time to enter the Rājagṛha city, meet with the chief disciples and attendants, and proceed to the fourfold convention in the 3rd month. (2) The monks who gathered on this occasion did not make any prior arrangements to meet because it was their usual practice to do so. This aligns with the religious customs where monks of all religions use the lunar calendar to congregate on the full moon day. The lack of prior arrangement was due to the monks’ responsibility to adhere to the tradition of gathering to perform their religious duties. (3) The monks who attended were the Arhats with the sixfold supreme knowledge (jhaḷa-abhiññā). Even though the Mahāpadāna Sutta specifies that they were just Khīṇasava monks, their characteristics indicated that they were those who had achieved the deliverance (8 Vimokkha), making them able to enter the state of insight meditation (jhāna). They were able to enter the supreme knowledge, consistent with the training standards of the monks in the Sāmaññaphala Sutta that the Buddha had set for his descendants, who would have to attain the eighth level of knowledge, one of which includes the characteristics of the sixfold supreme knowledge. (4) The ordination ceremony of the monks was attended by 1,250 monks, including the 1,000 former Jaṭila and the 250 chief monks and attendants, all of whom were ordained by the Buddha himself.