The Tāmraśāṭīya ( Sanskrit: ताम्रशाटीय, ), also called Tāmraparṇīya ( Sanskrit; Pali: ''Tambapaṇṇiya'') was one of the

early schools of Buddhism The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geographi ...

and a branch of the Vibhajyavāda school based in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is thought that the Theravāda tradition has its origins in this school. Its sutras were written mainly in Pali; and the Pali canon of Buddhism largely borrowed from this school. The Tāmraśāṭīya is also known as the Southern transmission or Mahaviharavasin tradition. This contrasts with Sarvastivada or the 'Northern transmission', which was mostly written in Sanskrit and translated into

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 ...

and Tibetic languages. The Tamrashatiya tradition developed into Theravada Buddhism and spread into

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Etymology

Several etymologies are given for the name of this school. ''Tāmra'' is a Sanskrit term referring to the color of red copper, describing the color of the monks' robes. Based on the standard Chinese translation of the term, it has also been suggested that "copper" refers to copper plates on which the Tripitaka was written. '' Tāmraparṇi'' was also an old name for

, and the origin of the Greek equivalent

Taprobana Taprobana ( grc, Ταπροβανᾶ) and Taprobane (, ) was the name by which the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka was known to the ancient Greeks. History Reports of the island's existence were known before the time of Alexander the Great ...

, possibly referring to the monks who established Buddhism here.

Branches

The Tāmraśāṭīya school was established in modern-day

in the city of Anuradhapura, but also remained active in Andhra and other parts of South India, such as Vanavasa in modern Karnataka, and later across South-East Asia. The school survived in Sri Lanka and established three main branches: *

Mahāvihāra Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar ...

, thought to be the origins of the Theravāda ** Abhayagiri Vihāra, branched from the Mahāvihāra in the first century BC and incorporated Mahāyāna and

Vajrayāna Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

doctrine *** Jetavana Vihāra, branched from the Abhayagiri Vihāra in the third century. According to the Mahavamsa the latter two traditions were suppressed and destroyed after the Mahāvihāra tradition gained political power.The Mahavamsa　Chapter XXXVII　King Mahasena
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Citations

Buddhism in Sri Lanka Nikaya schools Early Buddhist schools Theravada {{Buddhism-stub

Etymology

Branches

See also

Further reading

Citations