Third Buddhist Council
E931834
The Third Buddhist Council was a pivotal gathering of monks in ancient India, traditionally held under Emperor Ashoka, to purify the sangha of doctrinal disputes and heresies and to systematize Buddhist teachings.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Third Buddhist Council canonical | 3 |
| Third Buddhist Council (according to some traditions) | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11511772 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Third Buddhist Council Context triple: [Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka), relatedTo, Third Buddhist Council]
-
A.
Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka)
The Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka) was a major Buddhist assembly convened under the Kushan emperor Kanishka I, traditionally associated with the codification and spread of Mahayana Buddhist doctrine in Central and South Asia.
-
B.
Synod of Sutri
The Synod of Sutri was an 11th-century church council that deposed rival claimants to the papacy, helping to resolve a major papal schism and pave the way for church reform.
-
C.
Sthavira Nikaya
Sthavira Nikaya was one of the earliest Buddhist monastic schools that emerged after the first schisms in the Buddhist community, forming a major lineage from which several later traditions, including Theravada, developed.
-
D.
Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma
The Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma is a Mahayana Buddhist doctrinal phase emphasizing teachings on Buddha-nature, consciousness, and ultimate reality as found in texts like the Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha sutras.
-
E.
Third Ecumenical Council
The Third Ecumenical Council, held at Ephesus in 431 AD, was a major early Christian council that condemned Nestorianism and affirmed the title of Mary as Theotokos (Mother of God).
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Third Buddhist Council Target entity description: The Third Buddhist Council was a pivotal gathering of monks in ancient India, traditionally held under Emperor Ashoka, to purify the sangha of doctrinal disputes and heresies and to systematize Buddhist teachings.
-
A.
Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka)
The Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka) was a major Buddhist assembly convened under the Kushan emperor Kanishka I, traditionally associated with the codification and spread of Mahayana Buddhist doctrine in Central and South Asia.
-
B.
Synod of Sutri
The Synod of Sutri was an 11th-century church council that deposed rival claimants to the papacy, helping to resolve a major papal schism and pave the way for church reform.
-
C.
Sthavira Nikaya
Sthavira Nikaya was one of the earliest Buddhist monastic schools that emerged after the first schisms in the Buddhist community, forming a major lineage from which several later traditions, including Theravada, developed.
-
D.
Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma
The Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma is a Mahayana Buddhist doctrinal phase emphasizing teachings on Buddha-nature, consciousness, and ultimate reality as found in texts like the Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha sutras.
-
E.
Third Ecumenical Council
The Third Ecumenical Council, held at Ephesus in 431 AD, was a major early Christian council that condemned Nestorianism and affirmed the title of Mary as Theotokos (Mother of God).
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Buddhist council
ⓘ
religious assembly ⓘ |
| activity |
classification of doctrines as orthodox or heretical
ⓘ
examination of monks’ views ⓘ mission planning ⓘ recitation of the teachings ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Maurya Empire
ⓘ
Theravada Buddhism ⓘ
linked to:
Theravada
|
| associatedWork | Kathavatthu ⓘ |
| canonicalTradition |
Pali Canon
ⓘ
linked to:
the Pali Canon
|
| country | India ⓘ |
| doctrinalFocus | refutation of non-Theravada views ⓘ |
| followed | Second Buddhist Council ⓘ |
| followedBy |
Fourth Buddhist Council
ⓘ
linked to:
Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)
|
| follows | Second Buddhist Council ⓘ |
| historiographicalStatus | attested mainly in Theravada chronicles ⓘ |
| inception | circa 250 BCE ⓘ |
| linkedEvent | Ashoka’s support for Buddhism ⓘ |
| location |
Magadha
ⓘ
Pataliputra ⓘ |
| missionDestination |
Greek territories
ⓘ
Himalayan regions ⓘ Kashmir and Gandhara ⓘ
linked to:
Ancient Kashmir
Sri Lanka ⓘ Suvannabhumi (Golden Land) ⓘ |
| missionOutcome | dispatch of Buddhist missions to various regions ⓘ |
| notableFigure |
Ashoka
ⓘ
Moggaliputta Tissa ⓘ |
| organizer | Ashoka ⓘ |
| patron | Ashoka ⓘ |
| presidingMonk | Moggaliputta Tissa ⓘ |
| purpose |
to define orthodox Theravada doctrine
ⓘ
to expel heretical monks ⓘ to purify the sangha ⓘ to settle doctrinal disputes ⓘ to systematize Buddhist teachings ⓘ |
| religion | Buddhism ⓘ |
| result |
composition of the Kathavatthu
ⓘ
expulsion of monks considered heretical ⓘ redaction of the Pali Canon according to Theravada tradition ⓘ |
| significance |
consolidation of Theravada tradition
ⓘ
pivotal event in early Buddhist history ⓘ |
| sourceText |
Dipavamsa
ⓘ
Mahavamsa ⓘ |
| sponsor |
Mauryan emperor Ashoka
ⓘ
linked to:
Ashoka
|
| timePeriod | 3rd century BCE ⓘ |
| tradition | Theravada account ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Third Buddhist Council Description of subject: The Third Buddhist Council was a pivotal gathering of monks in ancient India, traditionally held under Emperor Ashoka, to purify the sangha of doctrinal disputes and heresies and to systematize Buddhist teachings.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Third Buddhist Council