Gokulika
The Gokulika (Sanskrit; traditional Chinese: 雞胤部; pinyin: Jīyìn Bù) were an early Buddhist school which descended from the Mahāsāṃghika.
Etymology
The name Gokulika means "Cinder", and refers to the doctrine that all conditioned phenomena necessarily involve suffering, and that they are like an "inferno of ashes."[1] There were numerous variations of this name, such as Kukkuṭika, Kukkulika,Kaukkuṭika, and Kaurukullaka.[2] It is likely that the name Kukkuṭika or Kukkulika originated from the Kukkuṭrārāma monastery at Pāṭaliputra, which was an early center for the Mahāsāṃghikas.[3]
Doctrines
The Samayabhedoparacanacakra of Vasumitra regards the Ekavyāvahārika, Gokulika, and Lokottaravāda as being doctrinally indistinguishable.[4] According to Vasumitra, 48 theses were held in common by these three Mahāsāṃghika sects.[5] Of these 48 special theses, 20 points concern the supramundane nature of buddhas and bodhisattvas.[6]
History
The Gokulika sect is believed to have split from the main Mahāsāṃghika sect during the reign of Aśoka utilising early Buddha chronology, and the late 2nd century BCE utilising late Buddha chronology. The Bahuśrutīya and Prajñaptivāda are thought to have split from the Gokulikas in the late 3rd century BCE, or the late 2nd Century BCE. The Gokulikas seem to have remained in eastern India, and remained strongest in the area around Vārāṇasī.[7] The 6th century CE Indian monk Paramārtha associates the initial composition and acceptance of Mahāyāna sūtras with the Mahāsāṃghika branch of Buddhism.[8] He wrote that the Mahāsāṃghikas initially split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of Mahāyāna teachings.[9] Paramārtha states that at this time, the Gokulika sect did not accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as buddhavacana ("words of the Buddha"), while the Lokottaravāda sect and the Ekavyāvahārika sect did accept the Mahāyāna sūtras as buddhavacana.[10] In the early 5th century CE, the Chinese monk Faxian procured a copy of the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya from a monastery in Pāṭaliputra that he describes as "Mahāyāna".[11] The Gokulikas were a Mahāsāṃghika sect known to exist in Pāṭaliputra, even having alternate names linking them to the Kukkuṭrārāma monastery there.[12] According to Tāranātha, this school disappeared between the 4th century and 9th century CE.[13] In his eighth century account of the various contemporary Buddhist sects, Vinitadeva does not mention Gokulika.[14] It is possible that this sect had merged completely into Mahāyāna Buddhism by this time.[15]
