Sarvastivada school

E520871

early Buddhist school

The Sarvastivada school was an influential early Buddhist tradition known for its extensive Abhidharma scholarship and the doctrine that all dharmas exist in the past, present, and future.

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All labels observed (9)

Label	Occurrences
Sarvastivada	7
Sarvastivada school canonical	4
Dharmaguptaka school	1
Mūlasarvāstivāda	1
Nalanda tradition	1
Sarvastivada (early affiliation, according to tradition)	1
Sarvāstivāda	1
Sarvāstivāda school	1
Sarvāstivāda school (early affiliation)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5460172 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Sarvastivada school
Context triple: [Gandhari birch-bark manuscripts, associatedWith, Sarvastivada school]

A. Bhatta school
The Bhatta school is a prominent subtradition of the Mimamsa philosophical system in Hinduism, associated especially with the thinker Kumarila Bhatta and known for its rigorous defense of Vedic ritualism and epistemology.
B. Prabhakara school
The Prabhakara school is a major subtradition of the Mimamsa branch of Hindu philosophy, known for its distinctive theories of language, epistemology, and Vedic ritual exegesis.
C. Vinaya school
The Vinaya school is a Chinese Buddhist tradition that emphasizes strict adherence to monastic disciplinary codes as the foundation of spiritual practice.
D. Pratyabhijñā school
The Pratyabhijñā school is a non-dual Shaiva philosophical tradition of Kashmir that emphasizes direct recognition of one’s identity with absolute consciousness (Śiva).
E. Madhva Sampradaya
Madhva Sampradaya is a Hindu philosophical and devotional tradition founded by the 13th-century thinker Madhvacharya, known for its dualistic (Dvaita) interpretation of Vedanta and strong emphasis on devotion to Vishnu.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Sarvastivada school
Target entity description: The Sarvastivada school was an influential early Buddhist tradition known for its extensive Abhidharma scholarship and the doctrine that all dharmas exist in the past, present, and future.

A. Bhatta school
The Bhatta school is a prominent subtradition of the Mimamsa philosophical system in Hinduism, associated especially with the thinker Kumarila Bhatta and known for its rigorous defense of Vedic ritualism and epistemology.
B. Prabhakara school
The Prabhakara school is a major subtradition of the Mimamsa branch of Hindu philosophy, known for its distinctive theories of language, epistemology, and Vedic ritual exegesis.
C. Vinaya school
The Vinaya school is a Chinese Buddhist tradition that emphasizes strict adherence to monastic disciplinary codes as the foundation of spiritual practice.
D. Pratyabhijñā school
The Pratyabhijñā school is a non-dual Shaiva philosophical tradition of Kashmir that emphasizes direct recognition of one’s identity with absolute consciousness (Śiva).
E. Madhva Sampradaya
Madhva Sampradaya is a Hindu philosophical and devotional tradition founded by the 13th-century thinker Madhvacharya, known for its dualistic (Dvaita) interpretation of Vedanta and strong emphasis on devotion to Vishnu.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	early Buddhist school ⓘ
abhidharmaText	Dharmaskandha ⓘ Dhātukāya ⓘ Jñānaprasthāna ⓘ Mahāvibhāṣā ⓘ linked to: Mahavibhasa Prajñapti-śāstra ⓘ Prakaraṇapāda ⓘ Saṃgītiparyāya ⓘ Vijñānakāya ⓘ
alternativeName	Sarvastivadin school ⓘ Sarvāstivāda ⓘ linked to: Sarvastivada school
associatedSubSchool	Sautrāntika ⓘ linked to: Sautrantika Vaibhāṣika ⓘ linked to: Vaibhashika school
canonicalCollection	Sarvastivada Tripitaka ⓘ linked to: Tripitaka
canonicalSection	Abhidharma ⓘ Sutra ⓘ Vinaya ⓘ linked to: Vinaya Pitaka
coreDoctrine	all dharmas exist in the past, present, and future ⓘ analysis of reality into dharmas ⓘ distinction between conditioned and unconditioned dharmas ⓘ real existence of dharmas in the three times ⓘ
doctrinalDebateTopic	nature of person (pudgala) and dharma ⓘ ontological status of dharmas in the three times ⓘ
doctrinalOpponent	Mahāsāṃghika school ⓘ linked to: Mahasamghika Theravāda school ⓘ linked to: Theravada
etymology	name means “the doctrine that all exists” ⓘ
geographicCenter	Gandhāra ⓘ linked to: Gandhara civilization Kashmir ⓘ Northwest India ⓘ linked to: northwestern India
influenced	Abhidharma-kośa of Vasubandhu ⓘ Chinese Buddhist scholasticism ⓘ Sautrāntika school ⓘ Tibetan Abhidharma traditions ⓘ Vaibhāṣika Abhidharma tradition ⓘ linked to: Vaibhashika school Yogācāra school ⓘ linked to: Yogācāra
knownFor	detailed classification of dharmas ⓘ extensive Abhidharma scholarship ⓘ systematic scholasticism ⓘ
preservedIn	Chinese Buddhist canon ⓘ linked to: Chinese Buddhist Canon Tibetan Buddhist canon ⓘ linked to: Tibetan Kangyur
regionOfSpread	Central Asia ⓘ China ⓘ Kucha ⓘ
religion	Buddhism ⓘ
scripturalLanguage	Gandhari ⓘ Prakrits ⓘ Sanskrit ⓘ
timePeriod	flourished in the centuries before and after the Common Era ⓘ prominent in the Kushan period ⓘ
vinayaTradition	Sarvastivada Vinaya ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (18)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Gandhari birch-bark manuscripts → associatedWith → Sarvastivada school ⓘ

Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka) → associatedWith → Sarvastivada school ⓘ

Indian Buddhism → hasSchool → Sarvastivada ⓘ