of the elements of a life was
also denied. In truth the "living being" is only a conventional
name for a set of constantly changing elements [Footnote ref 1].

The only book of the Sammitiyas known to us and that by
name only is the _Sammitiyas'astra_ translated into Chinese between
350 A.D. to 431 A.D.; the original Sanskrit works are however
probably lost [Footnote ref 2].

The Vaibha@sikas are identified with the Sarvastivadins who
according to _Dipava@msa_ V. 47, as pointed out by Takakusu,
branched off from the Mahis'asakas, who in their turn had
separated from the Theravada school.

From the _Kathavatthu_ we know (1) that the Sabbatthivadins
believed that everything existed, (2) that the dawn of right attainment
was not a momentary flash of insight but by a gradual
process, (3) that consciousness or even samadhi was nothing but

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[Footnote 1: This account is based on the translation of
_A@s@tamakos'asthananibaddha@h pudgolavinis'caya@h_, a special appendix
to the eighth chapter of Abhidharmakos'a, by Prof Th. Stcherbatsky,
_Bulletin de l' Academie des Sciences de Russie_, 1919.]

[Footnote 2: Professor De la Vallee Poussin has collected some of the
points of this doctrine in an article on the Sammitiyas in the _E. R.E._
He there says that in the _Abhidharmakos'avyakhya_ the Sammitiyas have
been identified with the Vatsiputtriyas and that many of its texts were
admitted by the Vaibha@sikas of a later age. Some of their views are as
follows: (1) An arhat in possession of nirvana can fall away; (2) there is
an intermediate state between death and rebirth called _antarabhava_; (3)
merit accrues not only by gift (_tyaganvaya_) but also by the fact of the
actual use and advantage reaped by the man to whom the thing was given
(_paribhoganvaya pu@nya_); (4) not only abstention from evil deeds but a
declaration of intention to that end produces merit by itself alone; (5)
they believe in a pudgala (soul) as distinct from the skandhas from
which it can be said to be either different or non-different. "The pudgala
cannot be said to be transitory (_anitye_) like the skandhas since it
transmigrates laying down the burden (_skandhas_) shouldering a new burden;
it cannot be said to be permanent, since it is made of transitory
constituents." This pudgala doctrine of the Sammitiyas as sketched by
Professor De la Vallee Poussin is not in full agreement wi