The Spread of Buddhism

the first turning of the wheel of the doctrine 35

to obtain liberation, contains elements that refer to the developed

Sarvstivda path to salvation.^83 The idea that Kau inya was the  rst

monk to be converted on the occasion of the sermon in Vras is in

line with most of the accounts in the vinaya and the s tra literature, and

is also the opinion of the Gandhran *Sa yuktbhidharmahdaya and the

Abhidharmakoa in the following passages:

The venerable Gho aka said that the eight members of the seeker that

reach the thoughts of someone else when turning, is called “the turning

of the wheel of the doctrine”. That is why it is said that the Tathgata

made the wheel of the doctrine turn at the place of the wise recluse of

Vras.^84

How is it known that only the path of vision is the wheel of the doc-

trine? [Because of the fact that] when the path of vision arose in such

[persons] as Kau inya, [the gods] proclaimed that the wheel of the

right doctrine (saddharma) had been set in motion.^85

In the above passages, three elements are combined: the identi cation

of the wheel of the doctrine with the path of vision or, alternatively,

the eight members of the seeker, the person of Kau inya who “saw”

the path,^86 and the proclamation by the gods that the Buddha had

set the wheel of the doctrine in motion. This opinion appears to be

shared by the Vaibh

ikas and the Sautrntikas.

As stated above, the proclamation by the gods is likely to be a later

development inserted into the accounts of the  rst sermon of the

Buddha, and the identi cation of the path of vision with the wheel

of the doctrine should also be seen as a later development. Given the

fact that the group of  ve monks does not appear in all versions of

the account of the  rst turning of the wheel of the doctrine in the

vinaya and s tra literature, it appears that it too may have been a later

(^83) Kau inya, e.g., is said to have made the noble path arise only at the moment
of “subsequent knowledge in relation to the path” (mrge ’nvayajñna), i.e., the last
moment of the path of vision, and not in the preceding moments. The reason for
this is, according to the compilers of the *Mahvibh, that “although the moment of
‘patience regarding the law in relation to suffering’ (du khe dharmaknti)—moment 1
of the path of vision—can be called ‘turning,’ [the noble path] is not yet completed.
It is only at the moment of ‘subsequent knowledge in relation to the path’—moment
16—that the turning is completed” (T.1545.27.913a17–19). Here, also, alternative
opinions are given: T.1545.27.913a19–b4. See also T.1546.28.159a14–160b1.
(^84) T.1552.28.950b22–24. See also Dessein 1999, vol. 1, p. 659.
(^85) T.1558.29.128c6–7. Cf. Sphu
rth Abhidharmakoavykhy 580.22–24: “tad evam ryasya
Kauinyasya daranamrga utpanne devatbhir ukta Bhagavat pravartita dharmacakram iti
s travacant.” See also La Vallée Poussin 1980, vol. 4, p. 246; T.1559.29.280a8–10.
(^86) On the notion of vision in this content, see Schmithausen 1981, p. 203 n. 12.
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