Mahīśāsaka ( sa, महीशासक; ) is one of the
early Buddhist schools
The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geogra ...
according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the
Second Buddhist council. The
Dharmaguptaka
The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools, depending on the source. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas. The Dharmaguptakas had a p ...
sect is thought to have branched out from Mahīśāsaka sect toward the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 1st century BCE.
History
There are two general accounts of the circumstances surrounding the origins of the Mahīśāsakas. The
Theravādin ''
Dipavamsa'' asserts that the Mahīśāsaka sect gave rise to the
Sarvāstivāda
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosop ...
sect.
[, p. 50] However, both the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'' and the ''Samayabhedoparacanacakra'' record that the
Sarvāstivādins were the older sect out of which the Mahīśāsakas emerged.
[ Buswell and Lopez also state that the Mahīśāsaka was an offshoot of the Sarvāstivādins, but group the school under the '']Vibhajyavāda
Vibhajyavāda (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''Vibhajjavāda''; ) is a term applied generally to groups of early Buddhists belonging to the Sthavira Nikaya. These various groups are known to have rejected Sarvāstivāda doctrines (especially the doctrine of ...
'', "a broad designation for non-Sarvastivada strands of the Sthaviranikaya," which also included the Kasyapiya.
The Mahīśāsaka sect is thought to have first originated in the Avanti region of India. Their founder was a monk named Purāṇa, who is venerated at length in the Mahīśāsaka vinaya, which is preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon.
From the writings of Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
, the Mahīśāsaka are known to have been active in Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
in the 4th century CE. Xuanzang records that Asaṅga
Asaṅga (, ; Romaji: ''Mujaku'') (fl. 4th century C.E.) was "one of the most important spiritual figures" of Mahayana Buddhism and the "founder of the Yogachara school".Engle, Artemus (translator), Asanga, ''The Bodhisattva Path to Unsurpassed ...
, an important Yogācāra master and the elder brother of Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary ...
, received ordination into the Mahīśāsaka sect. Asaṅga's frameworks for abhidharma
The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...
writings retained many underlying Mahīśāsaka traits. André Bareau writes:
The Mahīśāsaka are believed to have spread from the Northwest down to Southern India including Nāgārjunakoṇḍā, and even as far as the island of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. According to A. K. Warder, the Indian Mahīśāsaka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the Theravāda, into which they were later absorbed.
In the 7th century CE, Yijing grouped the Mahīśāsaka, Dharmaguptaka, and Kāśyapīya together as sub-sects of the Sarvāstivāda, and stated that these three were not prevalent in the "five parts of India," but were located in the some parts of Oḍḍiyāna
(also: ''Uḍḍiyāna'', ''Uḍḍāyāna'' or ''Udyāna'', Sanskrit: ओड्डियान, उड्डियान, उड्डायान, उद्यान; , , mn, Үржин ''urkhin''), was a small region in early medieval India, ...
, the Kingdom of Khotan, and Kucha.[, p. 19]
Appearance
Between 148 and 170 CE, the Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
n monk An Shigao came to China and translated a work which describes the color of monastic robes (Skt. '' kāṣāya'') utilized in five major Indian Buddhist sects, called ''Da Biqiu Sanqian Weiyi'' (). Another text translated at a later date, the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'', contains a very similar passage corroborating this information. In both sources, members of the Mahīśāsaka sect are described as wearing blue robes. The relevant portion of the Mahāsāṃghika
The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha", ) was one of the early Buddhist schools. Interest in the origins of the Mahāsāṃghika school lies in the fact that their Vinaya recension appears in ...
''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'' reads, "The Mahīśāsaka school practice dhyāna, and penetrate deeply. They wear blue robes."
Doctrines
According to the Mahīśāsakas, the _were_to_be_meditated_upon_simultaneously.Potter,_Karl._''The_Encyclopedia_of_Indian_Philosophies,_Vol._IX:_Buddhist_philosophy_from_350_to_600_AD.''_2004._p._106
The_Mahīśāsaka_sect_held_that_everything_exists,_but_only_in_the_present._They_also_regarded_a_gift_to_the_Sangha_(Buddhism)">Saṃgha_as_being_more_meritorious_than_one_given_to_the_Gautama_Buddha">Buddha
_
Siddhartha_Gautama,_most_commonly_referred_to_as_the_Buddha,_was_a__wandering_ascetic_and_religious_teacher_who_lived_in_South_Asia_during_the_6th_or_5th_century_BCE_and_founded_Buddhism.
According_to_Buddhist_tradition,_he_was_born_in__L_...
.