Theravada (Pali: “Way of the Elders”), or Sthaviravada (Sanskrit), emerged as one of the Hinayana (Sanskrit: “Lesser Vehicle”) schools, traditionally numbered at 18, of early Buddhism. The Theravadins trace their lineage to the Sthaviravada school, one of two major schools (the Mahasanghika was the other) that supposedly formed in the wake of the Council of Vaishali (now in Bihar state) held some 100 years after the Buddha’s death. Employing Pali as their sacred language, the Theravadins preserved their version of the Buddha’s teaching in the Tipitaka (“Three Baskets”). During the reign of the emperor Ashoka (3rd century bce), the Theravada ...(100 of 40253 words)