The Tāmraśāṭīya (

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 ...

: ताम्रशाटीय, ), also called Tāmraparṇīya (

;

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

: ''Tambapaṇṇiya'') or Theriya Nikāya (

), was one of the early schools of Buddhism and a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n branch of the

Vibhajyavāda Vibhajyavāda (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''Vibhajjavāda''; ) is a term applied generally to groups of early Buddhists belonging to the Sthavira Nikāya, which split from the Mahāsāṃghika (due either to the former attempting to make the Vinaya str ...

(ancestor of the

Theravāda ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...

) school based in

. Its sutras were written mainly in

; and the

Pali canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

of Buddhism largely borrowed from this school. The Tāmraśāṭīya is also known as the Southern transmission or Mahaviharavasin tradition. This contrasts with

Sarvastivada The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particular ...

or the 'Northern transmission', which was mostly written in

and translated into Chinese and

Tibetic languages The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descending from Old Tibetan.Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptive linguistics of the ...

. The Tamrashatiya played a major role in the development of

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and influenced Buddhist thoughts in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, and other parts of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

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 There are several Buddhist canons, which refers to the various scriptural collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures or the various Buddhist scriptural canons.

was written. '' Tāmraparṇi'' was also an old name for

, and the origin of the Greek equivalent

Taprobana Taprobana (; ), Trapobana, and Taprobane (, ) was the name by which the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka was known to the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks. Tabrobane is suggested to be derived from Sanskrit "Tamraparni". This name could be a ref ...

, possibly referring to the monks who established Buddhism here.

Branches

The Tāmraśāṭīya school was established in modern-day

in the city of

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

, but also remained active in

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (ISO: , , AP) is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official lang ...

and other parts of

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

, such as Vanavasa in modern

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, and later across

South-East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

. The school survived in Sri Lanka and established three main branches: * Mahāvihāra, thought to be one of the origins of the

Abhayagiri Vihāra Abhayagiri may refer to: * Abhayagiri vihāra a ruined monastic complex of great historical significance in Sri Lanka * Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, a Theravadin Buddhist monastery in Redwood Valley, California See also * Abhaya (disambiguati ...

, branched from the Mahāvihāra in the first century BC and incorporated

Mahāyāna 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 ...

and

Vajrayāna ''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition that emp ...

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
/ref>

Citations

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

Etymology

Branches

See also

Further reading

Citations