SABBATTIVĀDA (PĀLI)/SARVĀSTIVĀDA (SANSKRIT)

Sarvāstivāda was a Hīnayāna school with its Piṭakas in Sanskrit. The Sarvāstivādins adopted grammatical Sanskrit as their literature and they possessed canon in three divisions, namely Sutra, Vinaya, Abhidharma. The Sarvāstivāda maintained that the Dhamma exists all time in the past, present and future, but the Theravādins did not accept it. Sarvāstivādins accepted the fundamental teaching of the Dhamma such as anattā and aniccā. They said that the beings and objects were constituted out of the dhammas, but dhammas always exist in their subtlest states. For instance, vedanā may be kusala, akusala and avyākata, so the dhamma exists all the
time.19 The first argument between Sarvāstivāda and theravāda was the existence of the dhammas. While Sarvāstivādins said, that the dhammas existed all the times, in that sense Theravādins did not agree and stated that if the dhammas existed all the time, then micchā diṭṭhi and sammā diṭṭhi should have existed together too. Again they added that if the past and future existed in the same time, existence should have been predicated in the same way at present too. Then Sarvāstivādins denied that point and said that the past and the future existed but not exactly in the same form like one would speak at the present. Moreover, Theravādins started second argument, saying that let the present material aggregate (paccuppannarūpa) exist as one inseparable object. But after that, this material aggregate becomes the past and gives up its presence (paccuppanna-bhava). For this argument, Sarvāstivādins agreed with the Theravāda's view. Nevetheless, Sarvāstivādins denied that the material aggregate would give up its materiality (rūpa-bhava). They have shown an example, that let a piece of white cloth be regarded as one inseparable object and when this cloth would change its color, it would give up its white color. Then touching that, Sarvāstivādins gave the example of Sakadāgāmī, as an illustration. A Sakadāgāmī person reduced rāga/lobha, dosa, moha ato be lesser and his following rebirth continues from the past dhammas. Without the dhammas in the past, the present does not come to be proceeding. Otherwise, it would be an Arahant, who completely free from moral defilements such as rāga/lobha, dosa, moha, but according to Theravādins these defilements are destoyed forever, whereas according to Sarvāstivādins they persist through an effective(?) form. So the defilements may reappear and cause from(?) Arahant. As mentioned above, that is the main point for Sarvāstivāda in Buddhism.