Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c32: Chapter VI
Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c32
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Chapter VI
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It has been shown that within the period of Buddha's ministry which covered less than half a century, the various forces leading to dissensions were already at work. It was not therefore unusual that in the absence of the Teacher, the disruptive forces were still more active, and inspite of all precautions against Saṅghabheda, caused the origin of as many as eighteen or more schools within a century and a half.
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We have two independent traditions about the secession of the Schools, one preserved in the *Kathāvatthu-aṭṭhakathā*, the Ceylonese chronicles and the Sinhalese *Nikāya-saṅgraha*, and the other in the treatises of Vasumitra, Bhavya and Vinītadeva. Though there are slight deviations in the order of secession of the schools, the two traditions, as shown in the annexed table, agree substantially. Vasumitra has assigned little later dates to the origin of some of the schools, but the dates are too vague to be of any consequence to us.
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Vinītadeva and the author of the *Bhikṣuvarṣāgraprcchā* divided the eighteen sects in five groups thus:—
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I. & II. M a h ā s a ṅ g h i k a s comprising Pūrvaśaila, Aparaśaila, Haimavata, Lokottaravāda and Prajñaptivāda.
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III. S a r v ā s t i v ā d i n s comprising Mūlasarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahīśāsaka, Dharmagupta, Bahuśrutīya, Tāmraśāṭīya and a section of the Vibhajyavāda.
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IV. S ā m m i t ī y a s comprising Kaurukullaka, Avantaka and Vātsīputrīya.
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V. Sthaviras comprising Jetavanīya, Abhayagirivāsin, and Mahāvihāravāsin.
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Vinītadeva’s information and classification evidently point to a posterior date. He includes some of the later schools into his enumeration and omits some of the older schools which were probably extinct by his time, e.g., the Ekavyavahārika, Gokulika, Dharmottarīya, and Bhadrayānīka. Particularly noticeable is his inclusion of the Ceylonese sects like Jetavanīya¹ (i.e. Sāgalika of the Mahāvaṃsa, v. 13), Abhayagirivāsin² (i.e. Dhammarucika of the Mahāvaṃsa, v. 13) and the Mahāvihāravāsin. The Jetavanīya, it will be noted, came into existence as late as the reign of Mahāsena (5th century A.D.).
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¹ Vamsattha, p. 175; Sāgalikā nāma Mahāsenarañño Jetavanavāsino bhikkhu.
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² Ibid. It was founded in Ceylon during the reign of Vaṭṭagāmaṇi
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Tāranātha in his 42nd chapter (Kurze Betrachtung des Sinnes der vier Schulen³) furnishes us with very important identifications of the different names of schools appearing in the lists of Bhavya, Vasumitra Vinītadeva and others. After reproducing the several lists, he gives the following identifications:—
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³ Schiefner, op. cit., pp. 270-274.
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(i) Kāśyapīya = Suvarṣaka.
(ii) Saṃkrāntivādin = Uttarīya = Tāmraśāṭīya.
(iii) Caityaka = Pūrvaśaila = Schools of Mahādeva.
(iv) Lokottaravāda = Kaukkuṭika.
(v) Ekavyavahārika is a general name of the Mahāsaṅghikas.
(vi) Kaurukullaka, Vātsīputrīya, Dharmottarīya, Bhadrayānīya and Channagarika held almost similar views.⁴
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⁴ Tāranātha tells us further that during the reign of the Pāla king, seven schools only were known. These were
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These identifications help us to trace the Uttarāpathakas of the *Kathāvatthu*. This school should be identified with the Uttarīyas of Bhavya and the Saṃkrāntivādins of Vasumitra or Saṃkrāntikas of the Pāli texts. The Saṃkrāntivādins were also known as the Tāmraśāṭīyas probably on account of their copper-coloured robes. Out of these Tāmraśāṭīyas or Uttarāpathakas or Saṃkrāntivādins or Dārṣṭāntikas arose the Sautrāntikas, who are often mentioned in the *Saṃkarabhāṣya*, *Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha* and such other works of the Brāhmanic schools of philosophy.
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A comparison of the different lists of Schools shows that the grouping of Schools fairly agrees with one another. The Mahāsaṅghika branches may be sub-divided into two groups one earlier and the other later.
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The earlier (or the first) group comprised the original Mahāsaṅghikas, Ekavyavahārikas and Caityakas or Lokottaravādins. According to Tāranātha, Ekavyavahārikas and the Mahāsaṅghikas were almost identical. The chief centre of this group was at Pāṭaliputra.
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The later (or the second) group of Schools came into existence long after the Mahāsaṅghikas. They became widely known as the Śaila Schools or the Andhakas,¹ and made their chief centre at Amarāvatī and Nāgārjunikoṇḍa. With them
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¹ To the Andhakas should be added the Vetulyakas and the Hetuvādins of the *Kathāvatthu*
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(i) Sāmmitiya comprising Vātsiputriya and Kaurukullaka.
(ii) Mahāsaṅghika comprising Prajñaptivāda and Lokottaravāda.
(iii) Sarvāstivāda comprising Tāmraśāṭīya and Sarvāstivāda. The former became known as Dārṣṭāntika, out of which developed the Sautrāntika School. This corroborates Masuda's remark as against that of de la Vallee Poussin that the Dārṣṭāntikas preceded the Sautrāntikas See *Asia Major*, p. 67, fn.
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may be classed the Bahuśrutīyas and Prajñaptivādins, as the former had more agreement in doctrinal matters with the Śaila Schools than with the Mahāsaṅghikas while the latter had its origin as a protest against the doctrins of the Bahuśrutīyas.
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The third group of Schools is formed by the earlier Mahīśāsakas, and Sarvāstivādins with the later Mahīśāsakas, Dharmaguptakas, Kāśyapīyas, Saṃkrāntikas or Uttarāpathakas,¹ or Tāmraśāṭīyas.
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¹ Vasumitra gives Sautrāntika as an alternative name of Saṃkrantikas or Saṃkrāntivāda. See Masuda, *Asia Major*, II. p. 67 fn. The Sautrāntikas are called Uttarāpathakas in the *Kathāvatthu* See Infra
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The fourth group comprised the Vajjiputtakas or Vātsīputrīyas with Dharmottarīyas, Bhadrayānikas, Channagarikas, and Sammitiyas, and also Kaurukullakas. In this group, practically all the schools merged in one, viz., the Vātsīputrīyas, otherwise known as the Sāmmitīyas.
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The last, the fifth group but the earliest in origin was the Theravāda which, as Vinītadeva says, formed a group with the Ceylonese sects, viz., Jetavanīya, Abhayagirivāsins and Mahāvihāravāsins.
Linked texts (3)
- Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
- Kathāvatthu — Moggaliputta Tissa, Pāli
- Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha — Mādhava, Sanskrit