The Kukkuṭika (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
; ) were an
early Buddhist school which descended from the
Mahāsāṃghika
The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi script, Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha", ) was a major division (nikāya) of the early Buddhist schools in India. They were one of the two original communities th ...
.
Etymology
It is likely that the name ''Kukkuṭika'' or ''Kukkulika'' originated from the Kukkuṭrārāma monastery at
Pāṭaliputra, which was an early centre for the Mahāsāṃghikas.
There were numerous variations of this name, such as ''Kukkuṭika'', ''Kukkulika'', ''Kaukkuṭika'', ''Kaurukullaka'', and ''Gokulika''.
The name ''Gokulika'' means "
cinder", and refers to the doctrine that all conditioned phenomena necessarily involve
suffering
Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, may be an experience of unpleasantness or aversion, possibly associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the basic element that makes up the negative valence (psyc ...
, and that they are like an "inferno of ashes."
Doctrines
The ''Samayabhedoparacanacakra'' of Vasumitra regards the
Ekavyāvahārika, Kukkuṭika, and
Lokottaravāda as being doctrinally indistinguishable. According to Vasumitra, 48 theses were held in common by these three Mahāsāṃghika sects. Of these 48 special theses, 20 points concern the supramundane nature of
buddhas and
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
s. According to the ''Samayabhedoparacanacakra'', these four groups held that the Buddha is able to know all ''
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
s'' in a single moment of the mind. Yao Zhihua writes:
History
The Kukkuṭika sect is believed to have split from the main Mahāsāṃghika sect during the reign of
Aśoka utilising early Buddha chronology, and the late second century BCE utilising late Buddha chronology. The
Bahuśrutīya
Bahuśrutīya (Sanskrit: बहुश्रुतीय) was one of the early Buddhist schools, according to early sources such as Vasumitra, the ''Śāriputraparipṛcchā'', and other sources, and was a sub-group which emerged from the Mahāsā ...
and
Prajñaptivāda are thought to have split from the Kukkuṭikas in the late third or second century BCE. The Kukkuṭikas seem to have remained in eastern India, and remained strongest in the area around
Vārāṇasī.
The sixth-century Indian monk
Paramārtha associates the initial composition and acceptance of
Mahāyāna sūtras
The Mahayana sutras are Buddhist texts that are accepted as wikt:canon, canonical and authentic Buddhist texts, ''buddhavacana'' in Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist sanghas. These include three types of sutras: Those spoken by the Buddha; those spoke ...
with the Mahāsāṃghika branch of Buddhism. He wrote that the Mahāsāṃghikas initially split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of
Mahayana
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
teachings. Paramārtha states that at this time, the Kukkuṭika sect did not accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as ''
buddhavacana
Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...
'' ("words of the Buddha"), while the Lokottaravāda sect and the Ekavyāvahārika sect did accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as ''buddhavacana''.
In the early fifth century, the Chinese monk
Faxian
Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...
procured a copy of the Mahāsāṃghika
vinaya from a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
in Pāṭaliputra that he describes as "Mahāyāna". The Kukkuṭikas were a Mahāsāṃghika sect known to exist in Pāṭaliputra, even having alternate names linking them to the Kukkuṭrārāma monastery there.
According to
Tāranātha, this school disappeared between the fourth and ninth centuries. In his eighth-century account of the various contemporary Buddhist sects, Vinitadeva does not mention Kukkuṭika. It is possible that this sect had merged completely into Mahāyāna Buddhism by this time.
[Baruah, Bibhuti. ''Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism.'' 2008. p. 47]
See also
*
Schools of Buddhism
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kukkutika
Nikaya schools
Mahāsāṃghika
Early Buddhist schools