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{{Short description|Buddhist school of thought}}
[[Image:Seated Buddha Amitabha statue.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Gandhara|Gandhāran]] Mahīśāsakas are associated with the [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] teachings of [[Amitābha]] [[Buddhahood|Buddha]].]]
{{EarlyBuddhism}}
The '''Mahīśāsaka''' ({{langx|sa|महीशासक}}; {{CJKV|t=化地部|p=Huàdì Bù|v=Hóa địa bộ}}) is one of the [[early Buddhist schools]] according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the [[Second Buddhist Council]]. The [[Dharmaguptaka]] sect is thought to have branched out from the 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 [[Theravada|Theravādin]] ''[[Dīpavaṃsa]]'' asserts that the Mahīśāsaka sect gave rise to the [[Sarvastivada|Sarvāstivāda]] sect.<ref name="Baruah">{{cite book |last1=Baruah |first1=Bibhuti |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_s1PZAMD13SMC |title=Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism |date=2000 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-8176251525 |edition=1st |location=New Delhi}}, p. 50.</ref> However, both the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'' and the ''Samayabhedoparacanaćakra'' record that the [[Sarvastivada|Sarvāstivādins]] were the older sect out of which the Mahīśāsakas emerged.<ref name=Baruah/> Buswell and Lopez also state that the Mahīśāsaka was an offshoot of the Sarvāstivādins,{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=516}} but group the school under the ''[[Vibhajyavāda]]'', "a broad designation for non-Sarvastivāda strands of the Sthaviranikaya", which also included the [[Kāśyapīya]].{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=859}}

The Mahīśāsaka sect is thought to have first originated in the [[Avanti (India)|Avanti]] region of India.{{cn|date=January 2022}} 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]], the Mahīśāsaka are known to have been active in [[Kashmir]] in the 4th century CE. Xuanzang records that [[Asanga|Asaṅga]], an important [[Yogacara|Yogācāra]] master and the elder brother of [[Vasubandhu]], received ordination into the Mahīśāsaka sect. Asaṅga's frameworks for [[Abhidharma]] writings retained many underlying Mahīśāsaka traits.<ref>Anacker, Stefan. ''Seven Works of Vasubandhu: The Buddhist Psychological Doctor.'' 1984. p. 58.</ref> [[André Bareau]] writes:
{{quote|[It is] sufficiently obvious that Asaṅga had been a Mahīśāsaka when he was a young monk, and that he incorporated a large part of the doctrinal opinions proper to this school within his own work after he became a great master of the [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]], when he made up what can be considered as a new and Mahāyānist ''Abhidharma-piṭaka''.<ref name=sharma>{{cite book|editor1-last=Sharma|editor1-first=Ram Karan|title=Researches in Indian and Buddhist philosophy : essays in honour of Professor Alex Wayman|date=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|location=Delhi|isbn=978-8120809949}}, p. 5</ref>}}
The Mahīśāsaka are believed to have spread from the Northwest down to Southern India including [[Nagarjunakonda|Nāgārjunakoṇḍā]], and even as far as the island of [[Sri Lanka]].<ref>Dutt, Nalinaksha. ''Buddhist Sects in India.'' 1998. pp. 122–123</ref> According to [[A. K. Warder]], the Indian Mahīśāsaka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the [[Theravada|Theravāda]], into which they were later absorbed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warder |first1=A. K. |title=Indian Buddhism |date=2000 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Ltd. |isbn=978-8120817418 |edition=3rd rev. |location=Delhi}}, p. 280.</ref>

In the 7th century CE, [[Yijing (monk)|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 [[Oddiyana|Oḍḍiyāna]], the [[Kingdom of Khotan]], and [[Kucha]].<ref name="Yijing">{{cite book |author1=Yijing |title=Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia: A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas |date=2000 |publisher=Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research |isbn=978-1-886439-09-2 |editor1-last=Li |editor1-first=Rongxi |location=Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research}}, p. 19.</ref>

==Appearance==
Between 148 and 170 CE, the [[Parthia]]n monk [[An Shigao]] came to China and translated a work which describes 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}}).{{sfn|Hino|Wada|2004|p=55}} Another text translated at a later date, the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'', contains a very similar passage corroborating this information.{{sfn|Hino|Wada|2004|p=55}} In both sources, members of the Mahīśāsaka sect are described as wearing blue robes.{{sfn|Hino|Wada|2004|p=55}} The relevant portion of the [[Mahāsāṃghika]] ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'' reads, "The Mahīśāsaka school practice [[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]], and penetrate deeply. They wear blue robes."<ref>{{cite book |author1=Bhikkhu Sujato |title=Sects & Sectarianism: The Origins of Buddhist Schools |publisher=Santi Forest Monastery |page=i}}</ref>

==Doctrines==
According to the Mahīśāsakas, the [[Four Noble Truths]] were to be meditated upon simultaneously.<ref name="Potter, Karl 2004. p. 106">Potter, Karl. ''The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Vol. IX: Buddhist Philosophy from 350 to 600 AD.'' 2004. p. 106.</ref>

The Mahīśāsaka sect held that everything exists, but only in the present. They also regarded a [[Pūjā (Buddhism)|gift]] to the [[Sangha (Buddhism)|Saṃgha]] as being more [[Merit (Buddhism)|meritorious]] than one given to the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]].<ref name="Willemen, Charles 2006. p. 17">Willemen, Charles. ''The Essence of Scholasticism.'' 2006. p. 17.</ref> They disagreed with the Dharmaguptakas on this point, as the Dharmaguptakas believed that a giving a gift to the Buddha is more meritorious than giving one to the Saṃgha.<ref name="Willemen, Charles 2006. p. 17"/>

The earlier Mahīśāsakas appear to have not held the doctrine of an [[bardo|intermediate state]] between death and rebirth, but later Mahīśāsakas accepted this doctrine.<ref name="Potter, Karl 2004. p. 106"/>

==Works==
===Mahīśāsaka Vinaya===
The Indian Mahīśāsaka sect also established itself in [[Sri Lanka]] alongside the Theravāda, into which these members were later absorbed.<ref>Warder, A. K. ''Indian Buddhism''. 2000. p. 280.</ref> It is known that [[Faxian]] obtained a [[Sanskrit]] copy of the Mahīśāsaka [[Vinaya]] at [[Abhayagiri Vihāra]] in Sri Lanka, c. 406 CE. The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya was then translated into Chinese in 434 CE by Buddhajiva and [[Zhu Daosheng]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Hsing |first=Yun |title=Humanistic Buddhism: A Blueprint for Life |date=2008 |publisher=Buddha's Light |isbn=978-1932293333 |edition=Rev. |location=Hacienda Heights, CA}}, p. 163.</ref> This translation of the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya remains extant in the [[Chinese Buddhist canon]] as [[Taishō Tripiṭaka]] 1421.<ref>{{citation |title=The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T. 1421) |url=http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0895.html}}.</ref>

===Mahāyāna works===
It is believed that the Mahāyāna ''[[Infinite Life Sutra|Infinite Life Sūtra]]'' was compiled in the age of the [[Kushan Empire]], in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, by an order of Mahīśāsaka bhikṣus that flourished in the [[Gandhara]] region.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nakamura |first1=Hajime |title=Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes |date=1987 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-8120802728 |edition=1st Indian |location=Delhi}}, p. 205.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Paul |title=Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415356534 |edition=2nd |location=London}}, p. 239.</ref> It is likely that the [[Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra|''Longer'' ''Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra'']] owed greatly to the [[Lokottaravāda]] sect as well for its compilation, and in this ''Sūtra'' there are many elements in common with the ''[[Mahāvastu]]''.<ref name="nakamura">Nakamura, Hajime. ''Indian Buddhism: A Survey With Biographical Notes.'' 1999. p. 205.</ref> The earliest of these translations show traces of having been translated from the [[Gāndhārī language]], a [[Prakrit]] used in the [[Northwest India]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mukherjee |first1=Bratindra Nath |title=India in Early Central Asia: a Survey of Indian Scripts, Languages and Literatures in Central Asia of the First Millennium A.D. |date=1996}}, p. 15.</ref> It is also known that manuscripts in the [[Kharosthi|Kharoṣṭhī]] script existed in China during this period.<ref name="nakamura"/>

==Views on women==
The Mahīśāsaka sect believed that it was not possible for women to become buddhas.{{sfn|Kalupahana|2001|p=109}} In the ''Nāgadatta Sūtra'', the Mahīśāsaka view is criticised in a narrative about a bhikṣuṇī named Nāgadatta. Here, the demon [[Mara (demon)|Māra]] takes the form of her father, and tries to convince her to work toward the lower stage of an [[arhat]], rather than that of a fully enlightened buddha (''{{IAST|samyaksaṃbuddha}}''):{{sfn|Kalupahana|2001|p=109}}
{{quote|Māra therefore took the disguise of Nāgadatta's father and said thus to Nāgadatta: "Your thought is too serious. Buddhahood is too difficult to attain. It takes a hundred thousand nayutas of kotis of kalpas to become a Buddha. Since few people attain Buddhahood in this world, why don't you attain Arhatship? For the experience of Arhatship is the same as that of [[nirvana|nirvāṇa]]; moreover, it is easy to attain Arhatship."}}

In her reply, Nāgadatta rejects arhatship as a lower path, saying:
{{quote|A Buddha's wisdom is like empty space of the ten quarters, which can enlighten innumerable people. But an Arhat's wisdom is inferior.{{sfn|Kalupahana|2001|p=109}}}}

The Mahīśāsaka sect held that there were five obstacles that were laid before women. These are that they may not become a [[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)|Ćakravartin]], Māra king, [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Śakra]] king, [[Brahma]] king or a [[Buddhahood|Buddha]]. This Mahīśāsaka view is ascribed to Māra in the ''Nāgadatta Sūtra'' of the Sarvāstivādins:{{sfn|Kalupahana|2001|p=109}}

{{quote|Māra said, "I have not even heard that a woman can be reborn as a cakravartin; how can you be reborn as a Buddha? It takes too long to attain Buddhahood, why not seek for Arhatship and attain nirvāṇa soon?" Nāgadatta replied, "I also have heard that a woman cannot be reborn as a cakravartin, a Sakra, a Brahma, and a Buddha, and yet I shall make the right effort to transform a woman's body into a man's. For I have heard that those Noble Ones, by the practice of bodhisattvacarya for a hundred thousand nayutas of kotis of [[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpa]]s diligently attain Buddhahood."}}

The Mahīśāsakas believed that women essentially could not change the nature of their minds or physical bodies, and would cause the teachings of Buddhism to decline. Of this, [[David Kalupahana]] writes:
{{quote|The Mahīśāsaka prejudice against women is based upon the traditional view of women. Like some of the other early Buddhist practitioners, they did not trust women, even nuns. This explains why they restricted nuns' social and religious activities in the sangha. Sometimes they liken the nuns' existence to hail which damages a good harvest.{{sfn|Kalupahana|2001|p=113}}}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Religion}}
* [[Schools of Buddhism]]
* [[Early Buddhist schools]]
* [[Nikaya Buddhism]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation | last1 =Buswell | first1 =Robert E. | last2 =Lopez | first2 =Donald S. | year =2013 |title =The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism | publisher =Princeton University Press}}.
* {{Citation | editor1-last =Hino | editor1-first =Shoun | editor2-last =Wada | editor2-first =Toshihiro | year =2004 | title =Three Mountains and Seven Rivers: Prof. Musashi Tachikawa's felicitation volume | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass | location =Delhi | isbn =978-8120824683}}.
* {{Citation | last =Kalupahana | first =David | year =2001 | title =Buddhist Thought and Ritual | publisher =Paragon House | location =New York | isbn =978-0892260898}}.
{{refend}}

{{Buddhism topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahisasaka}}
[[Category:Nikaya schools]]
[[Category:Early Buddhist schools]]
[[Category:Sthaviravāda]]

Mahīśāsaka - Revision history

imported>DeniceEstep0398 at 05:23, 18 October 2025