The Third Buddhist Council, convened to purge the Buddhist Sangha of corrupt elements and compile the canonical texts, was held under the royal patronage of which monarch?

💡 Solution & Explanation

The Third Buddhist Council was convened at Pataliputra during the mid-third century BCE under the patronage of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and was presided over by the elder monk Moggaliputta Tissa. Ajatashatru patronized the First Buddhist Council at Rajagriha immediately following the demise of the Buddha. Kanishka organized the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir, which marked the formal emergence of Mahayana Buddhism.