Sarvastivada

Seated Buddha from the Sarvāstivādin monastery of Tapa Shotor, 2nd century CE[1]: 158 

The Sarvāstivāda (Sanskrit: 𑀲𑀭𑁆𑀯𑀸𑀲𑁆𑀢𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤; Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, romanized: Sabbatthivāda Chinese: 說一切有部; pinyin: Shuōyīqièyǒu Bù; Japanese: せついっさいうぶ; Korean: 설일체유부;Thai: สรวาสติวาท) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).[2] It was particularly known as an Abhidharma tradition, with a unique set of seven canonical Abhidharma texts.[3]

The Sarvāstivādins were one of the most influential Buddhist monastic groups, flourishing throughout North India, especially Kashmir and Central Asia, until the 7th century CE.[2] The orthodox Kashmiri branch of the school composed the large and encyclopedic Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra around the time of the reign of Kanishka (c. 127–150 CE).[3] Because of this, orthodox Sarvāstivādins who upheld the doctrines in the Mahāvibhāṣa were called Vaibhāṣikas.[3]

According to the Theravādin Dīpavaṃsa, the Sarvāstivādins emerged from the older Mahīśāsaka school, but the Śāriputraparipṛcchā and the Samayabhedoparacanacakra state that the Mahīśāsaka emerged from the Sarvāstivāda.[4][5] The Sarvāstivādins are believed to have given rise to the Mūlasarvāstivāda and Sautrāntika schools, although the relationship between these groups has not yet been fully determined.

  1. ^ Vanleene, Alexandra (2019). "Differences and similarities in Gandhāran art production: the case of the modelling school of Haḍḍa (Afghanistan)" (PDF). The Geography of Gandhara Art. Archaeopress Archaeology: 143–163. ISBN 978-1-78969-186-3.
  2. ^ a b Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60.
  3. ^ a b c Westerhoff, 2018, p. 61.
  4. ^ Baruah, Bibhuti (2000). Buddhist sects and sectarianism (1st ed.). New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. ISBN 978-8176251525., p. 50
  5. ^ Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2013), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University Press