Redaction, recitation, and writing: Transmission of the Buddha’s teaching in India in the early period

The transmission of the Buddha’s teaching, the Dharma, evidently started during the Buddha’s lifetime with the “first sermon,” the “Turning the Wheel of the Dharma” (Dharmacakrapravartanasu¯tra). The transmission continued throughout his teaching career, duringwhich the practice of commentary began. During the forty-five years of the Buddha’s career, the nuns and monks-and also laywomen and laymen-helped to teach the Dharma, sometimes in his presence, sometimes in the same city, and sometimes in distant towns or cities. Even during the lifetime of the Master, his disciples spread over a large area, and administratively independent monasteries were established.