Parākramabāhu seems to have seen the Sangha as being divided, corrupt and in need of reform, especially the Abhayagiri. The "Culavamsa" states that Buddhist monastic communities were experiencing much conflict at this time. This chronicle also claims that many monks in the Sri Lankan Sangha had even begun to marry and have children, behaving more like lay followers than monastics. Parākramabāhu's chief monastic leader in these reforms was Mahathera Kassapa, an experienced monk well versed in the Suttas and Vinaya. According to some sources, some monks were defrocked and given the choice of either returning to the laity, or attempting reordination under the new unified Theravāda tradition as "novices" ("Śrāmaṇera").