thumb|Seated Buddha from the Sarvāstivādin monastery of [[Tapa Shotor, 2nd century CE]]
The Sarvāstivāda () was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE). It was particularly known as an Abhidharma tradition, with a unique set of seven canonical Abhidharma texts.
is a Sanskrit term that can be glossed as: "the theory of all that exists". The Sarvāstivāda argued that all dharmas (phenomena) exist in the past, present and future, the "three times". Vasubandhu's states that "He who affirms the existence of the dharmas of the three time periods [past, present and future] is held to be a Sarvāstivādin."
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. literally "the sect that speaks of the existence of everything"—as used by Xuanzang and other translators.
The Sarvāstivāda path was also known by other names, such as—particularly in the Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika branch— and . The former comes from the root , "cause", which indicates their emphasis on causation and conditionality; the latter, from , meaning "reason" or "logic", which may derive from their predilection for the use of rational argument and syllogism.
Origination and history
thumb|Fragment of a Buddha stele in the name of a "[[Northern Satraps|Kshatrapa lady" named (70px ), from the Art of Mathura. The stele is dedicated to the Bodhisattva "for the welfare and happiness of all sentient beings for the acceptance of the Sarvastivādas". Northern Satraps period, 1st century CE.]]
Early history
According to Charles Prebish, "there is a great deal of mystery surrounding the rise and early development of the Sarvāstivādin school." According to K. L. Dhammajoti, "its presence, as well as that of its rival—the Vibhajyavāda lineage—in the time of Emperor Aśoka is beyond doubt. Since Aśoka's reign is around 268–232 BCE, this means that at least by the middle of the 3rd century BCE, it had already developed into a distinct school."
According to some accounts, the Sarvāstivādins emerged from the Sthavira Nikāya, a small group of conservatives, who split from the reformist majority Mahāsāṃghikas at the Second Buddhist Council. According to this account, they were expelled from Magadha, and moved to Northwest India where they developed into the Sarvāstivādin school.
Theravāda Buddhists have, at times, tendered accusations that the Sarvāstivādins were heavily influenced by the non-Buddhist Sāṅkhya school of philosophy. The important Buddhist philosopher Aśvaghoṣa, who may have been associated with Sarvāstivāda, states—in his influential —that Āḷāra Kālāma, the first of the young Buddha's teachers, followed an archaic form of Sāṅkhya.
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. It has been suggested that some yogic Sarvāstivādins, under early Mahāyāna influence, gave rise to Yogācāra, one of the most important and influential traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
In Central Asia, several Buddhist monastic groups were historically prevalent. A number of scholars have identified three distinct major phases of missionary activity in the history of Buddhism in Central Asia, which are associated with—respectively—the Dharmaguptaka, the Sarvāstivāda, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda; and the origins of the Sarvāstivāda have also been related to Ashoka's sending of Majjhantika (Sanskrit ) on a mission to Gandhara, which had an early Sarvāstivādin presence.]]
The Sarvāstivāda enjoyed the patronage of the emperor Kanishka (c. 127–150 CE) of the Kushan Empire, during which time they were greatly strengthened and became one of the dominant sects of Indian Buddhism for centuries; they flourished throughout Northwest India, North India, and Central Asia.
When the Sarvāstivāda school held a synod in Kashmir during the reign of Kanishka II (c. 158–176), the most important Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma text, the Astagrantha of Katyayaniputra, was rewritten and revised in Sanskrit. This revised text was now known as ("Course of Knowledge"). Though the Gandharan Astagrantha had many (commentaries), the new Kashmiri had a Sanskrit ("great commentary"), compiled by the Kashmir Sarvāstivāda synod. The , and its , were then declared to be the new orthodoxy by the Kashmiri Sarvāstivādins, who called themselves .
thumb|The [[Dharmarajika Stupa and monastery ruins, a major Buddhist site in Taxila, one of the capitals of the Kushan Empire]]
This new Vaibhāṣika orthodoxy, however, was not readily accepted by all Sarvāstivādins: some "Western masters", from Gandhara and Bactria, held to views which diverged from the new Kashmiri orthodoxy. These disagreements can be seen in post- works, such as the * (成實論); the * (T. no. 1550) and its commentaries (T. no. 1551, no. 1552); the of Vasubandhu (who critiqued some orthodox views) and its commentaries; and the * (順正理論) of master Saṃghabhadra (c. fifth century CE), who formulated perhaps the most robust Vaibhāṣika response to the new criticisms.
Tarim Basin
When the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited Kucha in the Tarim Basin in 630 CE, he received the favours of Suvarṇadeva, the son and successor of Suvarṇapuṣpa, the non-Mahāyāna Buddhist King of Kucha.<!--
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