Caitika - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitika

Caitika
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Caitika (Sanskrit; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhdu B) was an early Buddhist school, and was a sub-sect of the Mahsghika school. They were also known as the Caityaka sect. The Caitikas proliferated throughout the mountains of southern India, from which they derived their name.[1] In Pali writings, members of this sect and its offshoots were generally referred to as the Andhakas, meaning those of the ndhra region.

Contents
1 History 2 Doctrine 3 Relationship to Mahyna 3.1 Associations 3.2 Prajpramit 3.3 Tathgatagarbha 3.4 Bodhisattva canons 4 Disputes with Theravda 4.1 Textual authenticity 4.2 Interpretation of Buddhist texts 5 References 6 See also

Statue of the Buddha at Bojjannakonda, Andhra Pradesh

History
The Caitikas branched off from the main Mahsghika school in the 1st or 2nd century BCE.[2] Epigraphic evidence of the Mahsghikas in the Mathura region dates to the first century BCE, and the riputraparipcch Stra dates the formation of the Caitikas to 300 years after the Buddha.[3] The Caitikas gave rise to the Aparaailas and Uttaraailas (also called Prvaailas). Together, they comprised an important part of the Mahsghika located in southern India.[4] Two other sub-sects associated with the Caitikas include the Rjagirikas and the Siddhrthikas, both of which emerged from the ndhra region, around 300 CE.[5] The Caitikas are said to have had in their possession the Great Stpa at Sch.[6] The Great Stpa was first commissioned by Aoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE, and became known as a Buddhist pilgrimage site. In the Aja Caves, the only epigraphic reference to an early Buddhist sect is to that of the Caitikas, which is associated with an iconic image in Cave 10.[7] The Mahsghikas were generally associated with the early veneration of anthropomorphic Buddha images.[8]

Early Buddhism
Scriptures
Gandhran texts gamas Pali Canon

Councils
1st Council 2nd Council 3rd Council 4th Council

Schools
First Sangha Mahsghika Ekavyvahrika Lokottaravda Bahurutya Prajaptivda Caitika Sthaviravda Mahsaka Dharmaguptaka Kyapya Sarvstivda Vibhajyavda Theravda

When Xuanzang visited Dhnyakaaka, he wrote that the monks of this region were Mahsghikas, and mentions the view talk edit (//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Early_Buddhism&action=edit) Prvaailas specifically.[9] Near Dhnyakaaka, he met two Mahsghika bhikus and studied Mahsghika abhidharma with them for several months, during which time they also studied various Mahyna stras together under Xuanzang's direction.[10][11]

Doctrine
The southern Mahsghika schools such as the Caitikas advocated the ideal of the bodhisattva (bodhisattvayna) over that of the

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arhat (rvakayna), and they viewed arhats as being fallible and still subject to ignorance.[12] The main Caitika school, along with the Aparaailas and Uttaraailas, all emphasized the transcendental and supernatural character of the Buddha. Xuanzang considered the Mahsghika doctrine of a mlavijna ("root consciousness") to be essentially the same as the Yogcra doctrine of the lyavijna ("store consciousness").[13] He also noted that the doctrine of the mlavijna was contained in the gamas of the Mahsghikas.[14]

Relationship to Mahyna
Associations
A.K. Warder holds that the Mahyna "almost certainly" first developed from the southern Mahsghika schools of the ndhra region, among monastic communities associated with the Caitikas and their sub-sects.[15]

Statue of the Buddha at Bojjannakonda, Andhra Pradesh

Prajpramit
A number of scholars have proposed that the Mahyna Prajpramit teachings were first developed by the Caitika subsect of the Mahsghikas. They believe that the Aashasrik Prajpramit Stra originated amongst the southern Mahsghika schools of the ndhra region, along the Ka River.[16] These Mahsghikas had two famous monasteries near the Amarvati and the Dhnyakaaka, which gave their names to the schools of the Prvaailas and the Aparaailas.[17] Each of these schools had a copy of the Aashasrik Prajpramit Stra in Prakrit.[18] Guang Xing also assesses the view of the Buddha given in the Aashasrik Prajpramit Stra as being that of the Mahsghikas.[19] Edward Conze estimates that this stra originated around 100 BCE.[20]
The Great Stpa at Sch, associated with the Caitikas

Tathgatagarbha
Brian Edward Brown, a specialist in Tathgatagarbha doctrines, writes that it has been determined that the composition of the rmldev Sihanda Stra occurred during the kvku Dynasty in the 3rd century CE, as a product of the Mahsghikas of the ndhra region (i.e. the Caitika schools).[21] Wayman has outlined eleven points of complete agreement between the Mahsghikas and the rml, along with four major arguments for this association.[22] After its composition, this text became the primary scriptural advocate in India for the universal potentiality of Buddhahood.[23] Anthony Barber also associates the earlier development of the Tathgatagarbha Stra with the Mahsghikas, and concludes that the Mahsghikas of the ndhra region were responsible for the inception of the Tathgatagarbha doctrine.[24]

Ancient frieze depicting the stpa at Amarvati.

Bodhisattva canons
In the 6th century CE, Bhvaviveka speaks of the Siddhrthikas using a Vidydhra Piaka, and the Aparaailas and Uttaraailas (Prvaailas) both using a Bodhisattva Piaka, implying collections of Mahyna texts within these Caitika schools.[25] During the same period, Avalokitavrata speaks of the Mahsghikas using a "Great gama Piaka", which is then associated with Mahyna stras such as the Prajparamit and the Daabhmika Stra.[26] Avalokitavrata also states that Mahyna stras such as the Prajparamit were recited by the Aparaailas and the Prvaailas.[27] According to the Theravdin Nikyasagraha, the large Mahyna collection called the Mahratnaka Stra (Taish Tripiaka 310) was composed by the "Andhakas", meaning the Caitika schools of the ndhra region.[28][29] This collection includes the rmldev Sihanda Stra, the Longer Sukhvatvyha Sutra, the Akobhyavyha Stra, a long text called the Bodhisattva Piaka, and others.[30] The Mahratnaka collection totals 49 Mahyna stras, divided into 120 fascicles in the Chinese translation.[31]

Disputes with Theravda

Textual authenticity
In the Mahvihara tradition of the Theravda school, Buddhaghoa grouped the Caitika schools in the ndhra region, such as the Rjagirikas and the Siddhrthikas, as the "Andhakas".[32] These Caitika schools rejected the post-Ashokan texts that were in use by the Mahvihara tradition, such as the Parivara, the six books of Abhidharma, the Patisambhida, the Niddesa, some Jtakas, some verses,

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and so on.[33] Works such as the Kathvatthu show that Mahvihara polemics were directed overwhelmingly at these "Andhakas" in India.[34]

Interpretation of Buddhist texts

One dispute recorded in the Kathvatthu between the Mahviharavasins and the Andhakas was a fundamental matter concerning the interpretation of the Buddha's teachings. The Andhakas are said to have held that the Buddha's actions and speech were supramundane, but some may only perceive the conventional or mundane interpretation. For the Mahsghika branch of Buddhism, the ultimate meaning of the Buddha's teachings was "beyond words", and words were merely a conventional exposition of the Dharma. The Theravda Mahviharavasins, in contrast, argued that literal interpretations of the Buddha's teachings were best.[35]

References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 35. ^ Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 48 ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 43. ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 43. ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 279 ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 197 ^ Malandra, Geri Hockfield. Unfolding a Maala: The Buddhist Cave Temples at Ellora. 1993. p. 133 ^ Malandra, Geri Hockfield. Unfolding a Maala: The Buddhist Cave Temples at Ellora. 1993. p. 133 ^ Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 437 ^ Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 437 ^ Walser, Joseph. Ngrjuna in Context: Mahyna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 213 ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 44 ^ Cook, Francis (tr). Three Texts on Consciousness Only. 1999. p. 88 ^ Cook, Francis (tr). Three Texts on Consciousness Only. 1999. p. 88 ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 313 ^ Guang Xing. The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory. 2004. p. 66 ^ Guang Xing. The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory. 2004. p. 66 ^ Guang Xing. The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory. 2004. p. 66 ^ Guang Xing. The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory. 2004. p. 66 ^ Guang Xing. The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory. 2004. p. 66 ^ Brown, Brian Edward. The Buddha Nature: A Study of the Tathgatagarbha and layavijna. 2010. p. 3 ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. pp. 153-154 ^ Brown, Brian Edward. The Buddha Nature: A Study of the Tathgatagarbha and layavijna. 2010. p. 3 ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. pp. 155-156 ^ Walser, Joseph. Ngrjuna in Context: Mahyna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 53 ^ Walser, Joseph. Ngrjuna in Context: Mahyna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 53 ^ Walser, Joseph. Ngrjuna in Context: Mahyna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 53 ^ Adikaram, E.W. Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon. 1953. p. 100 ^ Paul, Diana. The Buddhist Feminine Ideal. 1980. p. 12 ^ Sangharakshita. The Eternal Legacy: An Introduction to the Canonical Literature of Buddhism. 2006. p. 168 ^ "The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 310)" (http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0022.html) . http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0022.html. ^ Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of ndhra. 2008. p. 35 ^ Sujato, Bhikkhu. Sects & Sectarianism: The Origins of Buddhist Schools. 2006. p. 51 ^ Sujato, Bhikkhu. Sects & Sectarianism: The Origins of Buddhist Schools. 2006. p. 52 ^ Buescher, John. Echoes from an Empty Sky: The Origins of the Buddhist Doctrine of the Two Truths. 2005. p. 46

See also
Early Buddhist Schools Nikaya Buddhism Schools of Buddhism Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caitika&oldid=535041749" Categories: Early Buddhist schools Nikaya schools History of Andhra Pradesh

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