Editing Sarvastivada (section)

=== Dārṣṭāntika and Sautrāntika ===
{{main|Sautrāntika}}

The [[Sautrāntika]] ("those who uphold the sūtras"), also known as Dārṣṭāntika (who may or may not have been a separate but related group), did not uphold the ''[[Mahavibhasa|Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra]]'' but rather emphasized the [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist sūtras]] as being authoritative.<ref>Westerhoff, Jan, ''The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy,'' Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 73.</ref>

Already by the time of the MVŚ, the early Dārṣṭāntika monks such as Dharmatrāta and Buddhadeva, existed as a school of thought within the fold of the Sarvāstivāda who disagreed with the orthodox views.<ref>Dhammajoti (2009), p. 74.</ref> These groups were also called "the western masters" (''pāścātya'') or "the foreign masters" (''bahirdeśaka''; also called ‘the masters outside Kaśmīra’, and the ‘Gāndhārian masters’).<ref name="Dhammajoti 2009, p. 75"/> They studied the same Abhidharma texts as the other Sarvāstivādins, but in a more critical way. According to K. L. Dhammajoti, they eventually came to repudiate the Sarvāstivāda doctrine that "all exists".<ref>Dhammajoti (2009), p. 77.</ref>

It is this group, i.e. those who rejected the most important Sarvāstivāda doctrine (along with numerous other key Vaibhāṣika views), which came to be called the [[Sautrāntika]] ("those who rely on the sūtras").<ref>Willemen, Charles; Dessein, Bart; Cox, Collett (1998). ''Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Scholasticism'', p. 109. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Zweite Abteilung. Indien.</ref> However, the Sautrāntikas did not reject the Abhidharma method; in fact, they were the authors of several Abhidharma manuals, such as the ''Abhidharmahṛdaya''. The later Buddhist tradition of ''[[Buddhist logico-epistemology|pramāṇa]]'', founded by the Buddhist monks [[Dignāga]] and [[Dharmakīrti]], is also associated with the Sautrāntika school.
[[File:Seshin_Vasubandhu_Kofukuji.jpg|thumb|Vasubandhu: wood, 186 cm height, about 1208, [[Kōfuku-ji|Kofukuji Temple]], [[Nara, Nara|Nara]], [[Japan]]]]

The most important Sautrāntika was [[Vasubandhu]] (ca. 350–430), a native from [[Peshawar|Purusapura]] in [[Gandhara]]. He is famous for being the author of the ''[[Abhidharmakośakārikā|Abhidharmakośa]]'' (4–5th century CE), a very influential Abhidharma work, with an auto-commentary that defends the Sautrāntika views. He famously later converted to the [[Yogacara|Yogācāra]] school of [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna Buddhism]], a tradition that itself developed out of the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma.

Vasubandhu's ''Kośa'' led to a vigorous reaction from his contemporary, the brilliant Vaibhāṣika master Saṃghabhadra, who is said to have spent 12 years composing the ''Nyāyānusāra'', a commentary to Vasubandhu's verses to refute his views and those of other Sautrāntika monks, such as Sthavira Śrīlāta and his pupil Rāma.<ref>Dhammajoti (2009), p. 110.</ref> The ''Kośa'' was so influential that it became the Abhidharma text ''par excellence'' in both [[Indian Buddhism|Indo]]-[[Tibetan Buddhism]] and [[East Asian Buddhism]], and remains the primary source for Abhidharma studies.<ref>Gethin, Rupert (1998). ''The Foundations of Buddhism'', pp. 55 – 56. Oxford University Press.</ref>