Dharmaskandha ( sa, धर्मस्कन्ध) or Dharma-skandha-sastra () is one of the seven Sarvastivada Abhidharma

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

scriptures. Dharmaskandha means "collection of

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

s". It was composed by Sariputra (according to the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

an sources) or Maudgalyayana (according to

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

sources). The Chinese edition was translated by

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

, and appears as: T26, No. 1537, 阿毘達磨法蘊足論, 尊者大目乾連造, 三藏法師玄奘奉　詔譯, in 12 fascicles. It begins with a matrka as a summary of the topics, showing its antiquity, as these were supposedly only assigned by the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

himself. It presents 21 subjects, the first 15 of which concern the practice of the spiritual path, and the realization of its fruits. The 16th deals with "various issues". Subjects 17 to 20 deal with the enumeration of the ayatanas, dhatus and

skandha (Sanskrit) or (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are also ...

s as encompassing "all dharmas". The 21st is regards dependent origination. Frauwallner concludes that the Dharmaskandha is from a period before then split between the Sanskrit and Pāli

Abhidharma The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...

traditions, based on its correlation with the Pāli Vibhanga. He thus dates it to pre- Ashoka Buddhism.According to Willemen, Dessein & Cox: Sarvastivada Buddhist Scholasticism, Brill, 1998. pg. 69.

Yin Shun Master Yin Shun (印順導師, ''Yìnshùn Dǎoshī''; 5 April 1906 – 4 June 2005) was a well-known Buddhist monk and scholar in the tradition of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Though he was particularly trained in the Three Treatise school, he ...

notes it being mentioned in the

Mulasarvastivada The Mūlasarvāstivāda (Sanskrit: मूलसर्वास्तिवाद; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools of India. The origins of the Mūlasarvāstivāda and their relationship to the Sarvāstivāda sect still remain largely unk ...

,Mulasarvastivada Vinaya-vyakhya: T24n1451_p0408b03, as indicated by Venerable Yinshun: Study of the Abhidharma, Texts and Commentators of the Sarvastivada, (說一切有部為主的論書與論師之研究), Zhengwen Publishing, 1968. pg. 124. indicating its early inclusion in the Sarvastivada canon. These two combined, would suggest the Mulasarvastivada having its own canon at quite an early date.

also cites three points for considering this text to be sourced in a pre-sectarian Abhidharma: *It similar analysis of rupa to the Sariputta Abhidhamma and the Dhammapariyaya (considered to be the oldest Abhidharma texts of any tradition). *No mention of avijnapti-rupa, as per the Sariputta Abhidhamma. *The emphasis on the five indriya and five bala, as paramount in the spiritual path.Venerable Yinshun: Study of the Abhidharma, Texts and Commentators of the Sarvāstivāda, (說一切有部為主的論書與論師之研究), Zhengwen Publishing, 1968. pg. 131.

References

{{Buddhism topics Abhidharma