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Yasa [耶舎] (Pali; Yasha): A monk who lived in India about one hundred years after Shakyamuni’s death and who headed the Second Buddhist Council in Vaishālī. His full name was Yasa Kākandakaputta. When Yasa went to Vaishālī, he observed monks of the Vriji tribe receiving offerings of gold and silver from lay believers and condemned them for doing so. At that time, accepting monetary alms was forbidden by the monastic rules of the Buddhist Order. The Vriji monks argued that changing conditions in their city demanded a more flexible application of the monastic rules. Yasa assembled seven hundred monks from throughout India to consider the matter. This gathering is known as the Second Buddhist Council. The demands of the Vaishālī monks were rejected by the Council’s majority as violating the precepts. Dissension over the issue helped precipitate the first schism in the Order, which resulted in the formation of the Sthaviravāda (Pali Theravāda) and Mahāsamghika schools.