Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s2.t1.1

c5.s2.t1.1

To keep pace with this movement of thought, the older schools had to gird up their loins in order to make their position strong and unassailable. As the result of this effort, we have the Abhidhamma literature of the Theravāda and the Sarvāstivāda schools. The great agreement between the Nikāyas (=Āgamas)² and the Vinaya³ of the Theravāda and the Sarvāstivāda schools, and the great disagreement between their Abhidhamma⁴ literatures show clearly that while compiling their Nikāyas and the essential parts of the Vinayas, the two schools lived close to each other in Magadha or thereabouts,¹ and utilised a common source,² but while compiling their Abhidhammas, they were far from each other and developed the Abhidhamma literatures independently.³ From the nature of the contents of the Kathāvatthu of the Theravādins, it is also evident that the Abhidhammas were developed not only to add strength to their respective views but also to criticise the views of their opponents and establish their own against them. Hence, we can say that this period witnessed not only the appearance of the new schools but also a new development of the older ones.⁴