Vasumitra
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Vasumitra (T. dbyig bshes; C. Shiyou 世友) (d.u.). A scholar of the Sarvāstivāda school, possibly during the second century CE.[1] "His Samayabhedoparacanacakra is an important source of information on the various schools and subschools of mainstream Nikāya Buddhism in India."[1]
Vasumitra is also credited with composing the Prakaraṇapāda, one of the “six feet” of the Sarvastivada abhidharma pitaka.[1] The Prakaraṇapāda is the first text to introduce the categorization of dharmas according to the more developed Sarvāstivāda lists of:[1]
- form (rupa)
- mind (citta)
- mental factors (caitta)
- unconditioned (asaṃskṛta)
This text also adds a new listing of "omnipresent wholesome mental factors" (kuśala-mahā-bhūmikā), or factors always associated with wholesome states of mind.[1]
Notes
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University