Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c32.8

v2.c32.8

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.).