A STUDY OF THE 'ABHIDHARMAHRDAYA': THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF KARMA IN THE SARVASTIVADA THOUGHT (BUDDHISM, INDIA)

The Buddha understood karma as human action; it describes human existence. The concept of karma has evolved throughout Buddhist history.;This study examines karma as the description of human existence specifically within the history of Sarvastivada thought. It focuses on the Abhidharmahrdaya of Dharmasri for this text was the first work that attempted to systematize all doctrines of this school. Its doctrinal analysis provides us with a neat summary of previous Abhidharma studies, and its organizational structure became a model for later Sarvastivada texts.;The introduction of this study outlines doctrinal implications of the concept of karma in the Sarvastivada school. The body of the work is an annotated translation of the third chapter, the Karma-varga, of the Abhidharmahrdaya and its commentary, the Misrak cx abhidharmahrdayasastra; that chapter deals with the concept of karma systematically.;Several centuries after the death of the Buddha, the Buddhist communities split into a number of distinct schools. These schools attempted to explain the Buddha's teachings in various manners and established their own methods to clarify the Buddha's teachings. Their divergent philosophical views resulted in the production of the Abhidharma. The Abhidharma provides the theoretical foundation for all Buddhist doctrines. Among those Abhidharmic schools, the Sarvastivada-Vaibhasika school was the most influential and prolific in India. In their works, karma was first philosophically systematized and given a primary concern.