or saint. S ́ariputra is renowned for his wisdom and his
expertise in ABHIDHARMA.
Because of his reputation for wisdom, S ́ariputra fre-
quently appears in Mahayana sutras as a prime repre-
sentative of the HINAYANA. The Buddha predicts
S ́ariputra’s future buddhahood in the LOTUSSUTRA
(SADDHARMAPUNDARIKA-SUTRA), a famous Mahayana
scripture. Originally S ́ariputra and his childhood friend
MAHAMAUDGALYAYANAwere students of Sañjayin, a
non-Buddhist teacher. S ́ariputra and Mahamaudgaly-
ayana promised each other that whoever attained
knowledge of liberation first would inform the other.
One day S ́ariputra met a Buddhist monk named
As ́vajit (or Upasena in some texts). Attracted by As ́va-
jit’s serene countenance and flawless comportment,
S ́ariputra converted to Buddhism. S ́ariputra attained
the dharma-eye when As ́vajit recited a four-line verse
summary of Buddhist teachings on ANITYA(IMPERMA-
NENCE). Mahamaudgalyayana converted to Buddhism
upon seeing a physically transformed S ́ariputra, ex-
claiming: “Venerable One, your senses are serene,
your face is at peace, and the complexion of your
skin utterly pure. Did you reach the deathless state?”
(Catusparisatsutra,quoted in Strong, 2002, p. 50).
At S ́ariputra’s and Mahamaudgalyayana’s ordina-
tion, the Buddha proclaimed that they would be his
two chief disciples in accordance with a prediction
made to that effect many eons ago by a previous bud-
dha. Thus the two are sometimes depicted flanking the
Buddha in Buddhist art. S ́ariputra predeceased the
Buddha. Like other arhats, S ́ariputra was already the
focus of worship in ancient and medieval India. In
Burma (Myanmar) he is one of a set of eight arhats
propitiated in protective rituals and he is also believed
to grant his worshippers wisdom.
See also:Disciples of the Buddha
Bibliography
Malalasekera, G. P. “Sariputta Thera.” In Dictionary of Pali
Proper Names(1937–1938), 2 vols. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 1995.
Strong, John S. The Legend and Cult of Upagupta.Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1992.
Strong, John S. The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Inter-
pretations,2nd edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002.
SUSANNEMROZIKSARVASTIVADA AND
MULASARVASTIVADAThe term Sarvastivadameans “those who claim that
everything exists”; Mulasarvastivadameans “root Sar-
vastivada.” The Sarvastivada school, one of the largest
and most important mainstream schools of Indian
Buddhism, a subschool of the Sthavira branch, is first
attested in inscriptions dating from the first century
C.E. and was to become prominent throughout north-
ern India and Central Asia, in particular in the north-
western regions of Kashmir and Gandhara and the
north central region of Mathura. Traditional sources
connect each of these regions with a prominent early
Sarvastivada teacher: Kashmir with Madhyantika, and
Mathurawith Upagupta. Later, both regions became
strongholds of the Sarvastivada school, but scholarly
disagreement persists as to which region was the orig-
inal home of the sect.
A substantial portion of the Sarvastivada version of
the Buddhist canon is preserved in Chinese translation,
including the complete monastic disciplinary code
(VINAYA), a portion of the dialogues (sutra), the com-
plete collection of canonical scholastic treatises (AB-
HIDHARMA), as well as other postcanonical scholastic
texts and commentaries that contain detailed exami-
nations of virtually all aspects of early Indian Buddhist
doctrine. The most important of these doctrinal dis-
cussions is the hallmark position, “everything exists”
(sarvam asti), from which the name, Sarvastivada,de-
rives. Here the Sarvastivadins suggest that “every-
thing,” that is all conditioned factors (dharma), “exist”
and can exert causal efficacy in the three time periods
of the past, present, and future. This position was at-
tacked by rival Buddhist groups as a violation of the
fundamental Buddhist position of ANITYA(IMPERMA-
NENCE). In response, the Sarvastivadins developed an
elaborate ontology that specified the manner in which
past and future factors exist while attempting to pre-
serve their impermanent character.
Multiple recensions of extant Sarvastivada texts, as
well as references in their scholastic literature to the
variant doctrinal positions of different groups of Sar-
vastivadins, indicate that internal divisions existed
within the larger Sarvastivada school. These divisions
reflected regional, chronological, doctrinal, and possi-
bly other differences. Regional variation might also ex-
plain the origin of one notable Sarvastivada group, the
Mulasarvastivada. The Mulasarvastivadins possessed
their own separate monastic code, extant in Sanskrit,
and can also possibly be affiliated with certain sutra di-SARVASTIVADA ANDMULASARVASTIVADA