As is well known, the oldest extant chronicle of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa,1 has preserved a succession line of the foremost teachers who transmitted and taught the vinaya in India: Upāli, Dāsaka, Soṇaka, Siggava and Moggaliputta Tissa; the length of time they have been regarded as vinayapāmokkha; the dates when they ordained the next in line and when they entered parinirvāṇa. An intriguing range of dates has been inferred from an interpretation of these figures, especially for dating the death of the historical Buddha. I do not intend to rehearse the whole discussion here but cordially refer to the proceedings of the grand symposium organised by H. Bechert in 1988 at the University of Göttingen.2