Kathavatthu

thumb|Myanmar|Burmese manuscript containing the Kathāvatthu with an over 4 m long sazigyo (ribbon) made in the tablet weaving technique on a backstrap loom with dedicatory inscription in [[Burmese language, 19th century. British Library]] Kathāvatthu (Pāli) (; abbreviated Kv, Kvu; ) is a Buddhist scripture, one of the seven books in the Theravada Abhidhamma Pitaka. The text contrasts the orthodox Theravada position on a range of issues to the heterodox views of various interlocutors; the latter are not identified in the primary source text, but were speculatively identified with specific schools of thought in the (historically subsequent) commentaries. The original text is putatively dated to coincide with the reign of King Ashoka (around 240 B.C.), but this, too, is debatable. Though the core of the text may have begun to take shape during Ashoka's reign, Bhikkhu Sujato notes that "the work as a whole cannot have been composed at that time, for it is the outcome of a long period of elaboration, and discusses many views of schools that did not emerge until long after the time of Aśoka."

==Organization== The Kathavatthu documents over 200 points of contention. The debated points are divided into four ' (lit., "group of 50"). Each ' is again divided, into 20 chapters (vagga) in all. In addition, three more vagga follow the four ''''.