18 bart desseinKau inya—who is henceforth called jñta Kau inya (who knew
[the Buddhist doctrine])—, and the account concludes with a passage
on how the gods instruct one another that the Buddha has set the
wheel of the doctrine in motion.^9 It is thus evident that, apart from
de ning the wheel of the doctrine as the four noble truths, these vinayas
further identify the conversion of Kau inya with the rst turning of
this wheel. The sermon to the ve monks is also recorded, be it in a
somewhat different setting, in the Saghabhedavastu of the M lasar-
vstivdavinayavastu «Genben shuoyiqieyou bu pinaiye poseng shi» (T.1450).^10 It
has to be remarked that in this text, which contains all elements we
nd in the other vinaya texts, the sermon that leads to the conversion
of Kau inya contains two clearly separated passages: a rst part deals
with the two extremes to be avoided and the middle mode of progress;
a second part deals with the four truths with their three cycles and
twelve constituent parts.^11
The picture that appears from the vinaya literature, is corroborated in
the s tra literature. A “Dharmacakrapravartanas tra” (S tra on the Turning
of the Wheel of the Doctrine) is contained in the Pli Samyuttanikya.^12
Although we do not nd an account of the rst ministry of the Buddha
in the Sarvstivda- and Mahs ghikavinayas, the s tra literature of these
schools––the (M la)Sarvstivda Madhyamgama «Zhong ahan jing» (T.26)
and s tra no. 379 of the Sa yuktgama «Za ahan jing» (T.99), and theMahparinirvas tra 17.17, 41.6, 8, 11, 13 mentions the turning of the wheel in three
cycles with twelve aspects, leading to superior enlightenment. See Waldschmidt 1951a,
pp. 216–218, 388–391. 9
Bareau 1963, p. 177, sees the fact that the above accounts are parallel as a conse-
quence of their common ancestorship. However, he remarks (op. cit., p. 9) that “il ne
faut pourtant pas déduire qu’à notre avis la biographie du Buddha a dû commencer
à se former chez les Theravdin, les Mahsaka et les Dharmaguptaka, ou au sein
de l’une de ces écoles seulement. Bien loin de penser ainsi, nous croyons au contraire
qu’elle s’est lentement constituée dans un milieu diffus et surtout laïc n’appartenant à
aucune secte particulière et s’est répandue notamment grâce aux pèlerinages bien avant
que les premiers éléments en fussent incorporés dans les divers recueils canoniques à
des époques variables.”(^10) T.1450.24.127b24–128a10. The M lasarvstivdavinayavastu «Genben shuoyiqieyou
bu pinaiye poseng shi» was translated by Yijing between 700 and 711. See also Yuyama
1979, p. 30. 11
First part: the two extremes and the middle mode of progress, T.1450.24.127b24–
c3; second part: the four truths with three cycles and twelve constituent parts,
T.1450.24.127c8–128a8.
(^12) SN, Mahvagga, pp. 420–424. See also Woodward 1956, pp. 356–360.
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