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{{Short description|Early Buddhist school}}
[[Image:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|Central Asian [[bhikkhu|Buddhist monk]] teaching a Chinese monk. [[Bezeklik Caves]], 9th–10th century; although [[Albert von Le Coq]] (1913) assumed the [[blue eyes|blue-eyed]], [[red hair|red-haired]] monk was a [[Tocharians|Tocharian]],<ref>von Le Coq, Albert. (1913). [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/LFc-42/V-1/page/0003.html.en ''Chotscho: Facsimile-Wiedergaben der Wichtigeren Funde der Ersten Königlich Preussischen Expedition nach Turfan in Ost-Turkistan'']. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohsen), im Auftrage der Gernalverwaltung der Königlichen Museen aus Mitteln des Baessler-Institutes, [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-1-B-31/V-1/page-hr/0107.html.en Tafel 19]. Accessed 3 September 2016.</ref> modern scholarship has identified similar [[Caucasian race|Caucasoid]] figures of [[:File:BezeklikSogdianMerchants.jpg|the same cave temple]] (No. 9) as ethnic [[Sogdia]]ns,<ref name="gasparini 2014 pp134-163">Gasparini, Mariachiara. "[http://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/index.php/transcultural/article/view/12313/8711#_edn32 A Mathematic Expression of Art: Sino-Iranian and Uighur Textile Interactions and the Turfan Textile Collection in Berlin]", in Rudolf G. Wagner and Monica Juneja (eds), ''Transcultural Studies'', Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg, No 1 (2014), pp. 134–163. {{ISSN|2191-6411}}. See also [http://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/index.php/transcultural/article/view/12313/8711#_edn32 endnote #32]. Accessed 3 September 2016.</ref> an [[Eastern Iranian people]] who inhabited [[Turfan]] as an ethnic minority community during the phases of [[Tang dynasty|Tang Chinese]] (7th–8th century) and [[Kingdom of Qocho|Uyghur rule]] (9th–13th century).<ref>Hansen, Valerie (2012), ''The Silk Road: A New History'', Oxford University Press, p. 98, {{ISBN|978-0-19-993921-3}}.</ref>]]
{{EarlyBuddhism}}
{{Chinese Buddhism}}

The '''Dharmaguptaka''' ([[Sanskrit]]: धर्मगुप्तक; {{zh|c=法藏部|p=Fǎzàng Bù}}; {{CJKV|v=Pháp Tạng bộ}}) is one of the eighteen or twenty [[early Buddhist schools]], depending on the source. They are said to have originated from another sect, the [[Mahīśāsaka]]s. The Dharmaguptakas had a prominent role in early [[Central Asia]]n and [[Chinese Buddhism]], and their [[Prātimokṣa]] (monastic rules for [[bhikkhu|bhikṣus]] and [[bhikkhuni|bhikṣuṇīs]]) are still in effect in East Asian countries to this day, including [[China]], [[Vietnam]], [[Korea]], and [[Japan]] as well as the [[Philippines]]. They are one of three surviving [[Vinaya]] lineages, along with that of the [[Theravada|Theravāda]] and the [[Mulasarvastivada|Mūlasarvāstivāda]].

==Etymology==
''Guptaka'' means "preserver"<ref>[http://sanskritdictionary.com/guptaka/72982/1 "Guptaka" in the ''Sanskrit Dictionary''].</ref> and ''[[dharma]]'' "law, justice, morality", and, most likely, the set of laws of Northern Buddhism.<ref>[http://sanskritdictionary.com/dharma/109288/1 "Dharma" in the ''Sanskrit Dictionary''].</ref>

==Doctrinal development==

===Overview===
The Dharmaguptakas regarded the path of a [[śrāvaka]] (''[[śrāvakayāna]]'') and the path of a [[bodhisattva]] (''bodhisattvayāna'') to be separate. A translation and commentary on the ''Samayabhedoparacanaćakra'' reads:<ref>《異部宗輪論述記》：謂佛雖在僧中所攝，然別施佛果大，非僧（果大）。於窣堵波興供養業獲廣大果。佛與二乘解脫雖一，而聖道異。無諸外道能得五通。阿羅漢身皆是無漏。餘義多同大眾部執。</ref>
{{quote|They say that although the Buddha is part of the Saṃgha, the fruits of giving to the Buddha are especially great, but not so for the Saṃgha. Making offerings to stūpas may result in many extensive benefits. The Buddha and those of the [[Yana (Buddhism)|Two Vehicles]], although they have one and the same liberation, have followed different noble paths. Those of outer paths (i.e. heretics) cannot obtain the [[Abhijñā|five supernormal powers]]. The body of an arhat is without outflows. In many other ways, their views are similar to those of the [[Mahāsāṃghika]]s.}}
According to the ''[[Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra|Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra]]'', the Dharmaguptakas held that the [[Four Noble Truths]] are to be observed simultaneously.

[[Vasubandhu]] states that the Dharmaguptakas held, in agreement with Theravāda and against Sarvāstivāda, that realisation of the Four Noble Truths happens all at once (''ekābhisamaya'').<ref>{{citation |last=Sujato |first=Bhante |title=Sects and Sectarianism: The Origins of Buddhist Schools |page=131 |year=2012 |publisher=Santipada |isbn=9781921842085 |author-link=Bhante Sujato}}.</ref>

The Dharmaguptaka are known to have rejected the authority of the [[Sarvastivada|Sarvāstivāda]] [[Prātimokṣa]] rules on the grounds that the original teachings of the Buddha had been lost.<ref name="Baruah, Bibhuti 2008. p. 52">Baruah, Bibhuti. ''Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism.'' 2008. p. 52.</ref>

===Twelve Aṅgas===
The Dharmaguptaka used a twelvefold division of the Buddhist teachings, which has been found in their ''[[Dirgha Agama|Dīrgha Āgama]]'', their ''Vinaya'', and in some [[Mahāyāna sūtras]].<ref name="Williams, Paul 2004. p. 184">Williams, Paul. ''The Origins and Nature of Mahāyāna Buddhism.'' 2004. p. 184.</ref> These twelve divisions are: ''[[sutra|Sūtra]]'', ''Geya'', ''Vyākaraṇa'', ''[[Gatha (India)|Gāthā]]'', ''Udāna'', [[Nidana|''Nidāna'']], [[Jataka tales|''Jātaka'']], ''Itivṛttaka'', ''Vaipulya'', ''Adbhūtadharma'', ''[[avadana|Avadāna]]'', and ''[[Upadeśa]]''.<ref name="Williams, Paul 2004. p. 184"/>

==Appearance and language==

===Robes===
Between 148 and 170 CE, the [[Parthia]]n monk [[An Shigao]] came to China and translated a work which described the color of monastic robes (Skt. ''[[Kasaya (clothing)|kāṣāya]]'') utilised in five major Indian Buddhist sects, called ''Da Biqiu Sanqian Weiyi'' ({{zh|大比丘三千威儀}}).<ref name="Hino, Shoun 2004. p. 55">Hino, Shoun. ''Three Mountains and Seven Rivers.'' 2004. p. 55.</ref> Another text translated at a later date, the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'', contains a very similar passage with nearly the same information.<ref name="Hino, Shoun 2004. p. 55"/> However, the colors for Dharmaguptaka and [[Sarvastivada|Sarvāstivāda]] are reversed. In the earlier source, the Sarvāstivāda are described as wearing deep red robes, while the Dharmaguptaka are described as wearing black robes.<ref name="Hino, Shoun 2004. pp. 55-56">Hino, Shoun. ''Three Mountains and Seven Rivers.'' 2004. pp. 55–56.</ref> The corresponding passage found in the later ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'', in contrast, portrays the Sarvāstivāda as wearing black robes and the Dharmaguptaka as wearing deep red robes.<ref name="Hino, Shoun 2004. pp. 55-56"/>

During the [[Tang dynasty]], Chinese Buddhist monastics typically wore grayish-black robes and were even colloquially referred to as ''Zīyī'' ({{zh|緇衣}}), "those of the black robes."<ref>Kieschnick, John. ''The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture.'' 2003. pp. 89–90.</ref> However, the [[Song dynasty]] monk Zanning (919–1001 CE) writes that during the earlier [[Han dynasty|Han]]-[[Cao Wei|Wei]] period, the Chinese monks typically wore red robes.<ref>Kieschnick, John. ''The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography.'' 1997. p. 29.</ref>

According to the Dharmaguptaka [[Vinaya]], the robes of monastics should be sewn out of no more than 18 pieces of cloth, and the cloth should be fairly heavy and coarse.<ref>Kieschnick, John. ''The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture.'' 2003. pp. 91–92.</ref>

===Language===
A consensus has grown in scholarship which sees the first wave of Buddhist missionary work as associated with the [[Gāndhārī language]] and the [[Kharosthi|Kharoṣṭhī]] script and tentatively with the Dharmaguptaka sect.<ref name="Heirman"/>{{rp|97}} However, there is evidence that other sects and traditions of Buddhism also used Gāndhārī, and further evidence that the Dharmaguptaka sect also used Sanskrit at times:

{{quote|It is true that most [[manuscripts]] in Gāndhārī belong to the Dharmaguptakas, but virtually all schools — inclusive [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]] — used some Gāndhārī. Von Hinüber (1982b and 1983) has pointed out incompletely [[Sanskritisation (linguistics)|Sanskritised]] Gāndhārī words in works heretofore ascribed to the [[Sarvastivada|Sarvāstivādins]] and drew the conclusion that either the sectarian attribution had to be revised, or the tacit dogma "Gāndhārī equals Dharmaguptaka" is wrong. Conversely, Dharmaguptakas also resorted to [[Sanskrit]].<ref name=Heirman>{{cite book|editor1-last=Heirman|editor1-first=Ann|editor2-last=Bumbacher|editor2-first=Stephan Peter|title=The Spread of Buddhism|date=2007|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-9004158306}}</ref>{{rp|99}} }}

Starting in the first century CE, there was a large trend toward a type of Gāndhārī which was heavily [[Sanskritisation (linguistics)|Sanskritised]].<ref name="Heirman" />{{rp|99}}

==History==

===In Northwest India===

The [[Gandharan Buddhist texts]], the earliest Buddhist texts ever discovered, are apparently dedicated to the teachers of the Dharmaguptaka school. They tend to confirm a flourishing of the Dharmaguptaka school in [[Northwest India]] around the 1st century CE, with Gāndhārī as the canonical language, and this would explain the subsequent influence of the Dharmaguptakas in [[Central Asia]] and then [[East Asia]]. According to Buddhist scholar [[A. K. Warder]], the Dharmaguptaka originated in [[Aparanta|Aparānta]].<ref name="Warder, A.K. 2000. p. 278">Warder, A. K. ''Indian Buddhism''. 2000. p. 278.</ref>

According to one scholar, the evidence afforded by the Gandharan Buddhist texts "suggest[s] that the Dharmaguptaka sect achieved early success under their Indo-Scythian supporters in Gandhāra, but that the sect subsequently declined with the rise of the [[Kushan Empire|Kuṣāṇa Empire]] (c. mid-first to third century A.D.), which gave its patronage to the Sarvāstivāda sect."<ref>"The Discovery of 'the Oldest Buddhist Manuscripts'" Review by Enomoto Fumio. ''The Eastern Buddhist'', Vol. NS32 Issue I, 2000, p. 161.</ref>

===In Central Asia===
Available evidence indicates that the first Buddhist missions to [[Kingdom of Khotan|Khotan]] were carried out by the Dharmaguptaka sect:<ref name="Heirman"/>{{rp|98}}
{{quote|[T]he Khotan ''[[Dhammapada|Dharmapada]]'', some orthographical devices of [[Saka language|Khotanese]] and the not yet systematically plotted Gāndhārī loan words in Khotanese betray indisputably that the first missions in Khotan included Dharmaguptakas and used a Kharoṣṭhī-written Gāndhārī. Now all other manuscripts from Khotan, and especially all manuscripts written in Khotanese, belong to the Mahāyāna, are written in the [[Brahmi script|Brāhmī script]], and were translated from Sanskrit.}}
A number of scholars have identified three distinct major phases of [[missionary]] activities seen in the history of [[Buddhism in Central Asia]], which are associated with the following sects, chronologically:<ref>Willemen, Charles. Dessein, Bart. Cox, Collett. ''Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Scholasticism.'' 1997. p. 126.</ref>
# Dharmagupta
# [[Sarvastivada|Sarvāstivāda]]
# [[Mulasarvastivada|Mūlasarvāstivāda]]

In the 7th century, [[Xuanzang]] and [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]] both recorded that the Dharmaguptakas were located in [[Oddiyana|Oḍḍiyāna]] and Central Asia, but not in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name="Baruah, Bibhuti 2008. p. 52"/> 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, Khotan, and [[Kucha]].<ref>Yijing. Li Rongxi (translator). ''Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia.'' 2000. p. 19.</ref>

===In East Asia===
[[File:Chinese Bhiksuni Taiwan Vesak Festival.jpeg|thumb|right|upright|Full [[bhiksuni|bhikṣuṇī]] ordination is common in the Dharmaguptaka lineage. [[Vesak]] festival, [[Taiwan]].]]

The Dharmaguptakas made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism outside India, to areas such as [[Iran]], [[Central Asia]], and China, and they had great success in doing so.<ref name="Warder, A.K. 2000. p. 278"/> Therefore, most countries which adopted Buddhism from China, also adopted the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and ordination lineage for bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs. According to A. K. Warder, in some ways the Dharmaguptaka sect can be considered to have survived to the present in those East Asian countries.<ref>Warder, A. K. ''Indian Buddhism''. 2000. p. 489.</ref> Warder further writes:<ref>Warder, A. K. ''Indian Buddhism.'' 2000. pp. 280–281.</ref>

{{quote|It was the Dharmaguptakas who were the first Buddhists to establish themselves in Central Asia. They appear to have carried out a vast circling movement along the trade routes from Aparānta north-west into [[Iran]] and at the same time into Oḍḍiyāna (the [[Swat District|Suvastu Valley]], north of Gandhāra, which became one of their main centres). After establishing themselves as far west as [[Parthia]] they followed the "[[Silk Road|silk route]]", the east-west axis of Asia, eastwards across Central Asia and on into China, where they effectively established Buddhism in the second and third centuries A.D. The Mahīśāsakas and Kāśyapīyas appear to have followed them across Asia into China. [...] For the earlier period of Chinese Buddhism it was the Dharmaguptakas who constituted the main and most influential school, and even later their ''Vinaya'' remained the basis of the discipline there.}}

During the early period of Chinese Buddhism, the Indian Buddhist sects recognised as important, and whose texts were studied, were the Dharmaguptakas, Mahīśāsakas, Kāśyapīyas, Sarvāstivādins, and the Mahāsāṃghikas.<ref>Warder, A. K. ''Indian Buddhism.'' 2000. p. 281.</ref>

Between 250 and 255 CE, the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage was established in China when Indian monks were invited to help with ordination in China.<ref name="Mohr"/> No full Vinaya had been translated at this time, and only two texts were available: the Dharmaguptaka Karmavācanā for ordination, and the Mahāsāṃghika Prātimokṣa for regulating the life of monks. After the translation of full Vinayas, the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage was followed by most monks, but temples often regulated monastic life with other Vinaya texts, such as those of the Mahāsāṃghika, the Mahīśāsaka, or the Sarvāstivāda.<ref name="Mohr">{{cite book |title=Dignity and Discipline: Reviving Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns |date=2010 |publisher=Wisdom Publications |isbn=978-0861715886 |editor1-last=Mohr |editor1-first=Thea |location=Boston |editor2-last=Tsedroen |editor2-first=Jampa}}, pp. 187–189.</ref>

In the 7th century, Yijing wrote that in eastern China, most people followed the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, while the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya was used in earlier times in [[Guanzhong]] (the region around [[Chang'an]]), and that the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya was prominent in the [[Yangtze]] area and further south.<ref name="Mohr"/> In the 7th century, the existence of multiple Vinaya lineages throughout China was criticised by prominent Vinaya masters such as [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]] and [[Dao An]] (654–717). In the early 8th century, Dao An gained the support of [[Emperor Zhongzong of Tang]] and an imperial edict was issued that the [[Sangha]] in China should use only the Dharmaguptaka vinaya for ordination.<ref>pp. 194–195.</ref>

==Texts==

===Gandhāran Buddhist texts===
The [[Gandhāran Buddhist texts]] (the oldest extant Buddhist manuscripts) are attributed to the Dharmaguptaka sect by Richard Salomon, the leading scholar in the field, and the British Library scrolls "represent a random but reasonably representative fraction of what was probably a much larger set of texts preserved in the library of a monastery of the Dharmaguptaka sect in [[Nagarāhāra]] Afghanistan."<ref>"The Discovery of 'the Oldest Buddhist Manuscripts'" Review by Enomoto Fumio. ''The Eastern Buddhist'', Vol. NS32 Issue I, 2000, p. 160.</ref><ref>Richard Salomon. ''Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhāra: The British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragments'', with contributions by Raymond Allchin and Mark Barnard. Seattle: University of Washington Press; London: The British Library, 1999. p. 181.</ref>

Among the Dharmaguptaka Gandhāran Buddhist texts in the [[Schøyen Collection]], is a fragment in the Kharoṣṭhī script referencing the Six [[Pāramitā]]s, a central practice for bodhisattvas in Mahāyāna doctrine.<ref>{{Cite episode | title = Eurasia Episode III - Gandhara, the Renaissance of Buddhism | series = Eurasia| credits = Presenters: Patrick Cabouat and Alain Moreau| network = France 5 / NHK / [[Point du Jour International]]| airdate = 2004| number = 3| minutes = 11:20}}</ref>

===Vinaya translation===
In the early 5th century CE, Dharmaguptaka [[Vinaya]] was translated into [[Chinese language|Chinese]] by the Dharmaguptaka monk Buddhayaśas (佛陀耶舍) of [[Kashmir]]. For this translation, Buddhayaśas recited the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya entirely from memory, rather than reading it from a written manuscript.<ref>Scharfe, Harmut. ''Education in Ancient India.'' 2002. pp. 24–25.</ref> After its translation, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya became the predominant vinaya in Chinese Buddhist monasticism. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, or monastic rules, are still followed today in China, Vietnam and Korea, and its lineage for the ordination of monks and nuns has survived uninterrupted to this day. The name of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya in the East Asian tradition is the "Vinaya in Four Parts" ({{zh | c=四分律| hp=Sìfēn Lǜ}}), and the equivalent Sanskrit title would be ''Caturvargika Vinaya''.<ref>Williams, Jane, and Williams, Paul. ''Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Volume 3.'' 2004. p. 209.</ref> Ordination under the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya only relates to monastic vows and lineage (''Vinaya''), and does not conflict with the actual Buddhist teachings that one follows (''Dharma'').

===Āgama collections===
The ''Dīrgha Āgama'' ("Long Discourses," 長阿含經 ''Cháng Āhán Jīng'') ([[Taishō Tripiṭaka|T]]. 1)<ref name="entry on 阿含經">Muller, Charles. ''Digital Dictionary of Buddhism'', [http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?96.xml+id('b963f-542b-7d93') Entry on 阿含經].</ref> corresponds to the ''[[Digha Nikaya|Dīgha Nikāya]]'' of the Theravāda school. A complete version of the ''Dīrgha Āgama'' of the Dharmaguptaka sect was translated by Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) in the [[Later Qin]] dynasty, dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sūtras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravādin ''Dīgha Nikāya''.

The ''[[Ekottara Agama|Ekottara Āgama]]'' ("Incremental Discourses," 增壹阿含經 ''Zēngyī Āhán Jīng'') ([[Taishō Tripiṭaka|T]]. 125) corresponds to the ''[[Anguttara Nikaya|Aṅguttara Nikāya]]'' of the Theravāda school. It was translated into Chinese by Dharmanandi in 384 CE, and edited by Gautama Saṃghadeva in 398 CE. Some have proposed that the original text for this translation came from the Sarvāstivādins or the Mahāsāṃghikas.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sujato|first=Bhikkhu|author-link=Bhante Sujato|url=http://ekottara.googlepages.com/about|title=About the EA|website=ekottara.googlepages.com|access-date=2013-02-11|archive-date=2007-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703171909/http://ekottara.googlepages.com/about|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, according to A. K. Warder, the ''Ekottara Āgama'' references 250 Prātimokṣa rules for monks, which agrees only with the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya. He also views some of the doctrine as contradicting tenets of the Mahāsāṃghika school, and states that they agree with Dharmaguptaka views currently known. He therefore concludes that the extant ''Ekottara Āgama'' is that of the Dharmaguptakas.<ref>Warder, A. K. ''Indian Buddhism.'' 2000. p. 6.</ref>

===Abhidharma===
The ''[[Śāriputrābhidharma|Śāriputra Abhidharma Śāstra]]'' (舍利弗阿毘曇論 ''Shèlìfú Āpítán Lùn'') ([[Taishō Tripiṭaka|T]]. 1548) is a complete [[Abhidharma]] text that is thought to come from the Dharmaguptaka sect. The only complete edition of this text is in Chinese. Sanskrit fragments have been found in [[Bamiyan]], [[Afghanistan]], and are now part of the [[Schoyen Collection|Schøyen Collection]] (MS 2375/08). These manuscripts are thought to have been part of a monastery library of the Mahāsāṃghika [[Lokottaravāda]] sect.

===Additional Piṭakas===
The Dharmaguptaka ''[[Tripiṭaka]]'' is said to have contained two extra sections that were not included by some other schools. These included a [[Bodhisattva]] Piṭaka and a [[Mantra]] Piṭaka ({{lang|zh|咒藏}} ''Zhòu Zàng''), also sometimes called a [[Dhāraṇī]] Piṭaka.<ref name="Baruah, Bibhuti 2008. p. 52"/> According to the fifth-century Dharmaguptaka monk Buddhayaśas, the translator of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya into Chinese, the Dharmaguptaka school had assimilated the "Mahāyāna Tripiṭaka" ({{lang|zh|大乘三藏}} ''Dàchéng Sānzàng'').<ref name="Walser, Joseph 2005. pp. 52-53">Walser, Joseph. ''Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture.'' 2005. pp. 52–53.</ref>

===''Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra''===

The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive of all classical biographies of the Buddha, and is entitled ''Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra''. Various Chinese translations of this text date from between the 3rd and 6th century CE.

==Relationship to Mahāyāna==
[[Image:Chinese Buddhist Monks Ceremony Hangzhou.jpeg|thumb|[[bhikkhu|Bhikṣu]]s performing a traditional Buddhist ceremony in [[Hangzhou]], [[Zhejiang]] province, China]]

===Kushan era===
It is unknown when some members of the Dharmaguptaka school began to accept the Mahāyāna sūtras, but the ''Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa'' records that [[Kanishka|Kaniṣka]] (127–151 CE) of the [[Kushan Empire|Kuṣāṇa Empire]] presided over the establishment of [[Prajnaparamita|Prajñāpāramitā]] doctrines in the northwest of India.<ref name="Ray, Reginald 1999. p. 410">Ray, Reginald. ''Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations.'' 1999. p. 410.</ref> [[Taranatha|Tāranātha]] wrote that in this region, 500 bodhisattvas attended the council at Jālandhra monastery during the time of Kaniṣka, suggesting some institutional strength for Mahāyāna in the northwest during this period.<ref name="Ray, Reginald 1999. p. 410"/> [[Edward Conze]] goes further to say that Prajñāpāramitā had great success in the northwest during the Kuṣāṇa period, and may have been the "fortress and hearth" of early Mahāyāna, but not its origin, which he associates with the Mahāsāṃghika branch.<ref>Ray, Reginald. ''Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations.'' 1999. p. 426.</ref>

===''Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra''===
[[Jan Nattier]] writes that available textual evidence suggests that the Mahāyāna ''[[Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra]]'' circulated in Dharmaguptaka communities during its early history, but a later translation shows evidence that the text later circulated amongst the Sarvāstivādins as well.<ref>Nattier, Jan. ''A Few Good Men: Based on the Ugraparipṛcchā, a Mahāyāna Sūtra.'' 2007. pp. 46–47.</ref> The ''Ugraparipṛcchā'' also mentions a fourfold division of the Buddhist canon which includes a Bodhisattva Piṭaka, and the Dharmaguptaka are known to have had such a collection in their canon.<ref>Nattier, Jan. ''A Few Good Men: Based on the Ugraparipṛcchā, a Mahāyāna Sūtra.'' 2007. p. 46.</ref> Nattier further describes the type of community depicted in the ''Ugraparipṛcchā:''<ref>Nattier, Jan. ''A Few Good Men: Based on the Ugrapariprccha, a Mahayana Sutra.'' 2007. pp. 46–47.</ref>

{{quote|[T]he overall picture that the ''Ugra'' presents is quite clear. It describes a monastic community in which scriptures concerning the bodhisattva path were accepted as legitimate canonical texts (and their memorization a viable monastic specialty), but in which only a certain subset of monks were involved in the practices associated with the Bodhisattva Vehicle.}}

===''Ratnarāśivyākaraṇa Sūtra''===
The Mahāyāna ''Ratnarāśivyākaraṇa Sūtra'', which is part of the ''[[Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra]]'', is believed by some scholars to have a Dharmaguptaka origin or background, due to its specific regulations regarding giving to the Buddha and giving to the Saṃgha.<ref>Silk, Jonathan. ''The Maharatnakuta Tradition: A Study of the Ratnarasi Sutra. Volume 1.'' 1994. pp. 253–254.</ref>

===Prajñāpāramitā sūtras===
According to Joseph Walser, there is evidence that the ''[[Prajnaparamita#The Main Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras|Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra]]'' ("The Perfection of Wisdom in 25,000 lines") and the ''Śatasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'' ("… in 100,000 lines") have a connection with the Dharmaguptaka sect, while the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'' ("… in 8000 lines") does not.<ref>Williams, Paul. ''Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations.'' 2008. p. 6.</ref> Instead, Guang Xing assesses the view of the Buddha given in the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'' as being that of the Mahāsāṃghikas.<ref name="Guang Xing 2004. p. 66">Guang Xing. ''The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory.'' 2004. p. 66.</ref>

===Buddhayaśas===
The translator Buddhayaśas was a Dharmaguptaka monk who was known to be a Mahāyānist, and he is recorded as having learned both [[Hīnayāna]] and Mahāyāna treatises. He translated the ''Dharmaguptaka Vinaya'', the ''Dīrgha Āgama'', and Mahāyāna texts including the ''[[Ākāśagarbha]] Bodhisattva Sūtra'' (虛空藏菩薩經 ''Xūkōngzàng Púsà Jīng''). The preface written by Buddhayaśas for his translation of the ''Dharmaguptaka Vinaya'' states that the Dharmaguptakas had assimilated the Mahāyāna Tripiṭaka.<ref name="Walser, Joseph 2005. pp. 52-53"/>

===Buddhist canon===
The Dharmaguptakas were said to have had two extra sections in their canon:<ref name="Baruah, Bibhuti 2008. p. 52"/>

# Bodhisattva Piṭaka
# Mantra Piṭaka or Dhāraṇī Piṭaka

In the 4th century Mahāyāna Abhidharma work ''[[Abhidharmasamuccaya]]'', [[Asanga|Asaṅga]] refers to the collection which contains the Āgamas as the ''Śrāvakapiṭaka'', and associates it with the śrāvakas and [[pratyekabuddha]]s.<ref name="autogenerated199">Boin-Webb, Sara (tr). Rahula, Walpola (tr). Asanga. ''Abhidharma Samuccaya: The Compendium of Higher Teaching.'' 2001. pp. 199–200.</ref> Asaṅga classifies the Mahāyāna sūtras as belonging to the ''Bodhisattvapiṭaka'', which is designated as the collection of teachings for bodhisattvas.<ref name="autogenerated199"/>

===Paramārtha===
[[Paramartha|Paramārtha]], a 6th-century CE Indian monk from [[Ujjain]], unequivocally associates the Dharmaguptaka school with the Mahāyāna, and portrays the Dharmaguptakas as being perhaps the closest to a straightforward Mahāyāna sect.<ref>Walser, Joseph. ''Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture.'' 2005. p. 52.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Buddhism in Central Asia]]
* [[Schools of Buddhism]]
* [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Richard Foltz|Foltz, Richard]], ''Religions of the Silk Road'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd edition, 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-230-62125-1}}.
* {{cite book | last = Heirmann, Ann | title = Rules for Nuns According to the Dharmaguptakavinaya | publisher = Motilal Barnasidass, Delhi | year = 2002 | isbn = 81-208-1800-8}}
* {{cite book | last = Ven. Bhikshuni Wu Yin | title = Choosing Simplicity | publisher = Snow Lion Publications | year = 2001 | isbn = 1-55939-155-3 }}
* Heirman, Ann (2002). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4528905 Can We Trace the Early Dharmaguptakas?], T'oung Pao, Second Series 88 (4/5), 396–429 {{JSTOR|4528905}} {{Subscription required}}.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110510020253/http://www.ebmp.org/ The Gandharan texts and the Dharmaguptaka]

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Dharmaguptaka - Revision history

Antoniojaw at 09:52, 4 March 2026