It seems that there is an entry in Wikipedia which cannot be trusted because as we all know, it is infiltrated by users who would stay clear away from classical theravada.
I saw this on reddit so I pushed it here.
Even if we look back at the First Council, held three months after Buddha Parinibbana, there was already some recognition of interpretative differences. For example, there was an Arahant bhikkhu named Purana who was invited to accept the council’s recitation of the Dhamma-Vinaya, but he respectfully declined, saying he would only accept what he had personally heard directly from the Buddha. So he walked away with his disciples, and this was not considered heretical/schismatic, since it basically showed that early Buddhists could actually hold differing views without any conflict.
Here is my answer:
Ven. Purāṇa was not at the council meeting. After, he was invited to recite.
He probably felt he had enough texts. It was not a refusal to participate. Wikipedia is a bad source and infiltrated by many who don’t follow correct dhamma. The fact that Theravada sources have sanskrit words is proof of that (sanskrit was prohibited).
Anaylisis of chatgpt 5:
In the Theravāda Vinaya, Purāṇa Thera didn’t leave in protest, and he didn’t join the council either.
According to Cullavagga XI :
He was away in the southern hills (dakkhiṇāgiri ) during the council.
After the recitation was over, he came to Rājagaha and met the senior monks.
They invited him to “accept” (upehi ) the recited Dhamma and Vinaya.
He replied that while the elders had recited it well, he would keep it in memory exactly as he had personally heard it from the Buddha.
So, he neither refused in hostility nor joined—he simply declined to adopt the council’s version in place of his own recollection .
Here is the actual text: There is no commentary for this paragraph 444. This section happens after they accused ven ananda for not asking the Buddha to fulfill his full potential lifespan.
atha kho āyasmā purāṇo therehi bhikkhūhi dhamme ca vinaye ca saṅgīte dakkhiṇāgirismiṁ yathābhirantaṁ viharitvā yena rājagahaṁ yena veḷuvanaṁ kalandakanivāpo yena therā bhikkhū tenupasaṅkami, upasaṅkamitvā therehi bhikkhūhi saddhiṁ paṭisammoditvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi.
when the senior monks had concluded the communal recitation of the teaching and the monastic law, and when purāṇa had stayed in the southern hills for as long as he liked, he went to the bamboo grove at rājagaha. there he went up to the senior monks, exchanged pleasantries with them, and sat down.
ekamantaṁ nisinnaṁ kho āyasmantaṁ purāṇaṁ therā bhikkhū etadavocuṁ—
and they said to him,
“therehi, āvuso purāṇa, dhammo ca vinayo ca saṅgīto.
“purāṇa, the senior monks have jointly recited the teaching and the monastic law.
upehi taṁ saṅgītin”ti.
please accept that communal recitation.”
“susaṅgītāvuso, therehi dhammo ca vinayo ca.
“the teaching and the monastic law have been well-recited by the senior monks.
api ca yatheva mayā bhagavato sammukhā sutaṁ, sammukhā paṭiggahitaṁ, tathevāhaṁ dhāressāmī”ti.
nevertheless, i’ll remember what i myself have received in the presence of the buddha.”