The Kāśyapīya (Sanskrit: काश्यपीय; Pali: Kassapiyā or Kassapikā; ) was one of the early Buddhist schools in India.

Etymology The name Kāśyapīya is believed to be derived from Kāśyapa, one of the original missionaries sent by King Ashoka to the Himavant country. The Kāśyapīyas were also called the Haimavatas.Warder, A. K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 277.

History The Kāśyapīyas are believed to have become an independent school c. 190 BCE.Warder (1970/2004), p. 277. According to the Theravādin Mahāvaṃsa, the Kāśyapīya were an offshoot of the Sarvāstivāda.See, e.g., Mahāvaṃsa (trans., Geiger, 1912), ch. 5, "The Third Council," Retrieved 27 November 2008 from "Lakdiva" at http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap005.html. However, according to the Mahāsāṃghika account, the Kāśyapīya sect descended from the Vibhajyavādins.Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 51.

Xuanzang and Yijing note small fragments of the Kāśyapīya sect still in existence around the 7th century, suggesting that much of the sect may have adopted the Mahāyāna teachings by this time.Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 52.

In the 7th century CE, Yijing grouped the Mahīśāsaka, Dharmaguptaka, and Kāśyapīya together as sub-sects of the Sarvāstivāda, and stated that these three groups were not prevalent in the "five parts of India," but were located in the some parts of Oḍḍiyāna, Khotan, and Kucha.Yijing. Li Rongxi (translator). Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia. 2000. p. 19.

Appearance Between 148 and 170 CE, the Parthian monk An Shigao came to China and translated a work which describes the color of monastic robes (Skt. kāṣāya) utilised in five major Indian Buddhist sects, called Da Biqiu Sanqian Weiyi (Ch. 大比丘三千威儀).Hino, Shoun. Three Mountains and Seven Rivers. 2004. p. 55. Another text translated at a later date, the Śāriputraparipṛcchā, contains a very similar passage corroborating this information. In both sources, members of the Kāśyapīya sect are described as wearing magnolia robes.Hino, Shoun. Three Mountains and Seven Rivers. 2004. pp. 55–56.. The relevant portion of the Mahāsāṃghika Śāriputraparipṛcchā reads: "The Kāśyapīya school are diligent and energetic in guarding sentient beings. They wear magnolia robes."

Doctrines In Vasumitra's history Samayabhedoparacanaćakra, the Haimavatas (Kāśyapīyas) are described as an eclectic school upholding doctrines of both the Sthaviras and the Mahāsāṃghikas.Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 54.

According to the Kathāvatthu commentary, the Kāśyapīyas believed that past events exist in the present in some form.

According to A. K. Warder, the Kāśyapīya school held the doctrine that arhats were fallible and imperfect, similar to the view of the Sarvāstivādins and the various Mahāsāṃghika sects. They held that arhats have not fully eliminated desires, that their "perfection" is incomplete, and that it is possible for them to relapse.

Texts Some tentatively attribute the Gāndhārī Dharmapada to the Kāśyapīya school.See, e.g., Brough (2001), pp. 44–45:

We can with reasonable confidence say that the Gāndhārī text did not belong to the schools responsible for the Pali Dhammapada, the Udānavarga, and the Mahāvastu; and unless we are prepared to dispute the attribution of any of these, this excludes the Sarvāstivādins and the Lokottaravāda-Mahāsānghikas, as well as the Theravādins (and probably, in company with the last, the Mahīśāsakas). Among possible claimants, the Dharmaguptakas and Kāśyapīyas must be considered as eligible, but still other possibilities cannot be ruled out.

An incomplete translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama (T. 100) that is in the Chinese Buddhist canon is believed to be that of the Kāśyapīya sect.Warder, A. K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 6. This text is different from the complete version of the Saṃyukta Āgama (T. 99), which stems from a Mūlasarvāstivāda transmission lineage. However, Bingenheimer, who has specialized on T 100, rejects its widespread attribution to the Kāśyapīya school.

References

Sources Brough, John (2001). The Gāndhārī Dharmapada. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Geiger, Wilhelm (trans.), assisted by Mabel H. Bode (1912). The Great Chronicle of Ceylon. Pali Text Society. . Retrieved 27 Nov 2008 from "Lakdiva" at http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/. Malalasekera, G. P. (2003). Dictionary of Pali Proper Names. Asian Educational Services. . Warder, A. K. (1970/2004). Indian Buddhism. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. .