Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c35.s8.4

v2.c35.s8.4

The name "Uttarāpathakas" appears only in the *Kathāvatthu-aṭṭhakathā* and not in any other text, not even in the Ceylonese chronicles. Evidently Buddhaghosa had in mind some monks who could not be classed as adherents of the doctrines of a particular school or probably he meant, like the Andhakas, a group of schools popular in the north. From the several doctrines attributed by Buddhaghosa to the Uttarāpathakas, it appears it was an eclectic school having doctrines taken from both the Mahāsaṅghika and Theravāda groups and really mark an intermediate stage between Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna. The following are some of such doctrines:—