Kāśyapīya (
Sanskrit;
Pali: Kassapiyā or Kassapikā) is an
early Buddhist school. Their name is believed to be derived from Kāśyapa, one of the original missionaries sent by King
Ashoka to the
Himavant country. They are believed to have become an independent school ca. 190 BCE.
[Warder (1970/2004), p. 277.] According to the traditional chronicles of
Sri Lanka, the Kāśyapīya were an offshoot of the
Sarvāstivāda (Sanskrit; Pali: Sabbatthavādī). According to the
Kathāvatthu commentary, the Kāśyapīya believed that past events exist in the present in some form.
Some tentatively attribute the
Gāndhārī Dharmapada to the Kāśyapīya school.
See also
