On the Chronicles of Ceylon

III. Historical Position – 118
the Anya-mahāsaṅghikas, the Akṣarasāri 197 and other sutras. 198 The
Nikāyasaṅgraha categorically states that despite many divisions that
occurred, the religion of the Buddha retained its purity for two
hundred and nineteen years from the Third Buddhist Council. 199
The list of Buddhist works belonging to the Vetulla or Vedalla Piṭaka
grew up gradually. According to the Nikāyasaṅgraha, the Vaitulya
works were brought to Laṅkā on three successive occasions and
burnt to ashes by sincere rulers. On the fourth occasion they were
introduced by a merchant called Pūrṇa 852 years after the
establishment of the Buddhist faith in the island during the reign of
Devānaṁpiya Tissa and 1088 years after the demise of the
Buddha. 200
On the first three occasions it was the Dharmarucikas of Abhayagiri
who welcomed those texts which were incompatible with the true
words of the Buddha. On the fourth occasion, however, the
Dhammarucikas persuaded the Sāgaliyas of the Jetavana monastery
to welcome them. It is said that during the reign of Aggabodhi I
(A.D. 625-58) a Mahāthera named Jyotipāla came down from India
to try an issue with the Vaitulya heretics giving them a crushing
197 Akṣarasāri Sūtra, probably same as Akṣaramatinirdeśa sūtra, Nanjio No.
74. Translated by Dharmarakṣa of the Western Tsin dynasty A.D. 265-
368. Nanjio No. 77 – translated in the Earlier Sun dynasty A.D. 422-479.
198 Nikāya-saṅgraha, pp. 9ff.
199 Ibid., p. 10.
200 Ibid., p. 17.