Vibhajyavāda

Vibhajyavāda (Sanskrit; Pali: Vibhajjavāda; ) is a term applied generally to groups of early Buddhists belonging to the Sthavira Nikāya, which split from the Mahāsāṃghika (due either to the former attempting to make the Vinaya stricter, or the latter wishing to reform it; see: Sthavira Nikāya main article) into two main groups: the Sarvāstivāda and the Vibhajyavāda, of which the latter are known to have rejected both Sarvāstivāda doctrines (especially the doctrine of "all exists") and the doctrine of Pudgalavāda (personalism). During the reign of Ashoka, these groups possibly took part in missionary activity in Gandhara, Bactria, Kashmir, South India and Sri Lanka. By the third century CE, they had spread in Central Asia and Southeast Asia. Their doctrine is expounded in the Kathāvatthu.

==Nomenclature and etymology== The word Vibhajyavāda may be parsed into vibhajya, loosely meaning "dividing", "analysing"; and vāda, corresponding to the semantic field "doctrine", "teachings". According to Andrew Skilton, the analysis of phenomena (Skt. dharmas) was the doctrinal emphasis and preoccupation of the Vibhajyavādins.