even other religions. There are an estimated 100 mil-
lion Theravada Buddhists worldwide.
Scriptural authority
Among the key features of traditional Theravada Bud-
dhism are the use of Pali as a sacred language and the
acceptance of the Pali Buddhist CANON(tipitaka) as
the highest scriptural authority. This remains true
nominally even where the tipitakais not directly rele-
vant to belief or practice, and in spite of so-called
APOCRYPHAand numerous other religious texts that
teach noncanonical practices.
Theravada’s doctrinal tradition derives from the
distinctive Abhidhamma Pitakaof its aforementioned
tipitaka.Because of the form of analytical doctrine
(Pali, vibhajjavada) represented in this abhidhamma
(Sanskrit, ABHIDHARMA) section of its canon, some
scholars have suggested that Theravada is better iden-
tified as the Vibhajjavada school.
Theravada is also characterized by an ORDINATION
tradition based on its distinctive VINAYAPitaka.Al-
though various branches of Theravada may historically
have used other vinayas, modern variations within the
school relate principally to differing interpretations of
the traditional 227 rules of conduct for monks outlined
in the Pali vinaya. Thus there are different nikayas(or-
dination lineages) within Theravada, and numerous
sub-nikayas.
Commentarial tradition and historiography
The scriptural authority of the Pali tipitakacontinues
through strata of commentaries and compendia, dom-
inated by works attributed to the fifth-century Indian
scholar-monk BUDDHAGHOSA. Buddhaghosa is often
considered to be the authoritative arbiter of Therav-
ada orthodoxy, although this status has been chal-
lenged, for example, by proponents of Burmese-style
VIPASSANA (SANSKRIT, VIPAS ́YANA) meditation in Sri
Lanka in the twentieth century.
One explanation for Buddhaghosa’s dominance
over Theravada scholasticism lies in the use made of
him by another key figure in the commentarial tradi-
tion, the twelfth-century scholar-monk Sariputta.
Sariputta emerged as the premier scholastic figure in
Theravada following King Parakramabahu I’s unifica-
tion of the central Sri Lankan san ̇gha groups under
the Mahavihara monastic tradition. Sariputta based
much of his interpretation of vinaya and doctrine on
Buddhaghosa. Because of the political dominance of
Sri Lanka at the time and the Mahavihara tradition’s
reputation as the representative of Theravada ortho-
doxy and orthopraxy, many monks on mainland
Southeast Asia sought ordination in the Mahavihara
lineage. Mahavihara-derived lineages subsequently
gained political support in mainland Southeast Asia,
and Sariputta’s influence shaped literary develop-
ments within Theravada over subsequent centuries.
The legacy of Mahavihara dominance has had an
enormous impact on our understanding of the history
of Theravada more generally. Theravada’s own histo-
riography is preserved mainly within the VAMSA
(chronicle) tradition of the Mahavihara and traditions
derived from it. These chronicles emphasize the sig-
nificance of the Mahavihara, Sri Lanka, and Pali or-
thodoxy, and appear to have obscured local traditions.
According to the commentarial and vamsatradi-
tion, Theravada is original Buddhism. Like the sutta
(Sanskrit, sutra) and vinaya texts of its tipitaka,its ab-
hidhammatexts too are attributed directly to the Bud-
dha, who is said to have taught them to his mother
in heaven, where they were witnessed for posterity by
the Buddha’s disciple Sariputta (Sanskrit, S ́ARIPUTRA).
Theravada even claims that its commentaries were
compiled at the First Council following the Buddha’s
death. All the texts in its canon were rehearsed again
at a second council one hundred years later. While the
term Theravada,meaning “doctrine of the elders,”
could be understood to indicate Buddhismin contrast
to other religious traditions, the term becomes associ-
ated with a specific school in the Theravada account
of the schism between the MAHASAMGHIKA SCHOOL
and more orthodox Sthaviras (the Sanskrit equivalent
of the Pali term Thera) that is said to have occasioned
the Second Council. Theravada sees itself as the con-
tinuation of this orthodox Sthavira branch of the early
Buddhist tradition. The ambiguity of the term theriya,
which can mean either “elder Buddhist monk” or “fol-
lower of the Thera school,” complicates attempts to
trace the school’s early history. According to Therav-
ada tradition, its orthodoxy was again defended under
Emperor AS ́OKAin the third century B.C.E., this time
against the corruption of heretics, which set a prece-
dent for state intervention in the affairs of the san ̇gha,
which has shaped so much of the subsequent history
of Theravada.
After this purification, As ́oka had his son Mahinda
and daughter San ̇ghamitta ordained. They are cred-
ited with bringing Theravada and its orthodox canon
and commentaries to Sri Lanka, the same commen-
taries that Buddhaghosa later redacted back into theTHERAVADA