Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c35.s3.t2: Geographical Expansion
Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c35.s3.t2
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Geographical Expansion
v2.c35.s3.t2.1
At the time of Aśoka, therefore, we may hold that there were two centres of the Sarvāstivādins, one at Mathurā with Upagupta as the head of the Saṅgha and the other in Kashmir with Madhyāntika as its founder. It may be that the latter centre became in course of time the seat of the Mūlasarvāstivādins and the Vaibhāṣikas. On account of the popularity of this school in the north, there is no reference to it in the early inscriptions of Central India. Among the donees mentioned in the Barhut and Sañcī inscriptions, the name of this sect does not appear.³ Its name appears in the inscriptions of later dates, like Kamasi inscription,⁴ Set Mahet Image inscription⁵ of the time of Kaniṣka or Huviṣka and inscriptions on the Mathurā Lion Capital.⁶ In the Sārnāth inscription it is incidentally stated that the Sarvāstivādins ousted the Theravādins there and they in turn were overrun by the Sammitīyas in 300 A.D.⁷ There is no reference to the Sarvāstivādins in the Nāgārjunikoṇḍa and the Amarāvati inscriptions.
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³ See *JRAS.* 1892, p. 597
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⁴ *EI.* II, p. 212.
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⁵ *EI.* VIII, p. 111; IX, p. 29
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⁶ *EI.*, IX, p. 135
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⁷ See *Infra*
v2.c35.s3.t2.7
Very likely its progressive career had a set-back for some time during the reign of Puṣyamitra as is evidenced by the *Divyāvadāna* a text of this school but the several donations made during this period by the devotees prove that it was professed by a large section of the people. Its revival came with the invasions of the Græco-Bactrians, Śakas, Pahlavas, Parthians and Yavanas. The *Milindapañha*, the original of which was in Sanskrit, very likely belonged to this school.¹ The existence of this text shows that the Græco-Bactrian kings like Menander were interested in this religion. Its complete revival took place during the reign of the Śakas, and the popularity of this sect reached its climax in the reign of Kaniṣka.
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¹ *Abhidharmakośa-vyākhyā*, ix, 12 (Jap ed.), p 708 refers to Nāgasena as *pūrvaka-sthavira*.
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Fahien (319-414 A.D.) noticed the existence of this school at Pāṭaliputra while Yuan Chwang (629-645 A.D.) found it "chiefly in Kashgar, Udyana, and several other places in the Northern Frontier, in Matipur, Kanauj, and a place near Rājagṛha and also in Persia."² I-tsing came across the adherents of this school in Lāṭa, Sindhu, Southern and Eastern India, Sumatra, Java, China, Central Asia and Cochin China.³ From the above evidences it is apparent how widely popular was this school all over Northern India and outside India, but little known in Southern and Western India.
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² *IPTS*., (Prof. Takakusu), 1904-5, p 71; Legge's *Fahien*, p. 99. *JRAS*., 1891, p. 420; Takakusu's *I-tsing*, pp. xxii-xxiv.
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³ I-tsing, Intro.
Linked texts (2)
- Milindapañha — Pāli
- Divyāvadāna — Sanskrit