PGIHS Annual Research Congress

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Browsing PGIHS Annual Research Congress by Author "Len, C. Bee"

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    The emergence of the early Indian Buddhist schools:dīpavamsa and vasumitra’s treatise
    (University of Peradeniya, 2018-04-03) Len, C. Bee
    During the time of the Buddha, the Saṅgha was united as one group. Nevertheless, about a hundred years after the demise of the Buddha, the initial schism emerged which divided the Saṅgha into two branches, the Sthaviravāda and the Mahāsaṃghika. It marks a defining moment in the history of Buddhism. Later, there were a number of subdivisions that emerged from both Sthaviravāda and Mahāsaṃghika. Nikāya Buddhism refers to the Early Indian Buddhist Schools. The period of emergence of the 18 or 20 Early Indian Buddhist Schools happened in about 100 to 350 years after the demise of the Buddha. All of the Early Indian Buddhist schools ceased to exist except Theravāda Buddhism. Some Buddhist texts have mentioned the classification of the Early Buddhist Schools but Dīpavaṃsa and Vasumitra represent the Southern tradition of Sthaviravāda and Northern tradition of Sarvāstivāda. Therefore, the researcher selected Dīpavaṃsa, “Chronicle of the Island", dated 3ʳᵈ to 4ᵗʰ Century A.C and Vasumitra’s treatise (异部宗轮論) translated by Ven. Xuan Zang (602-664 A.C.), to trace the emergence of Early Indian Buddhist Schools. This research has two goals:(1) identifying the initial schism and the nature of dispute which led to the emergence of 18 or 20 early Indian Buddhist Schools; (2) identifying the convergence and divergence between the Dīpavaṃsa and Vasumitra’s Treatise on the emergence of the Early Indian Buddhist Schools. This research mainly depends on Buddhist literature and other relevant Buddhist sources. The study shows that Theravāda emphasizes the importance of Vinaya whereas Sarvāstivāda emphasizes the importance of Dharma. Both Dīpavaṃsa and Vasumitra’s Treatise mention different initial schematic reason of the Saṅgha and due to different natures and disputes there emerged 18 to 20 Early Indian Buddhist Schools. Both texts the Dīpavaṃsa of the Theravāda, and Vasumitra’s treatise of Sarvāstivāda record the historical moment of the emergence of 18 to 20 Early Indian Buddhist Schools. Even though both Schools, the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda, are the subdivisions of Sthaviravāda, they have recorded the facts in different ways; the researcher hypothesizes that the reason for this maybe because Theravāda emphasizes the importance of Vinaya whereas Sarvāstivāda emphasizes the importance of Dharma.