Abhidharma/Abhidhamma

Abstract

Developed from the numerical lists (Sanskrit: mātṛkā ; Pāli: mātikā ) that are included in Buddhist sutras and monastic texts, the Abhidharma/Abhidhamma forms the third and youngest collection of texts that, together, constitute the Buddhist Tripiṭaka. In an initial phase, Abhidharma/Abhidhamma texts explained the doctrine ( dharma ) that had been expounded by the historical Buddha through a one‐by‐one interpretation of the different elements ( dharma ) in these lists. The growth in the number of Buddhist adherents, the development of Buddhism as a religion and a philosophy, and the geographical spread of the doctrine of the Buddha, ushered in different interpretations of the Buddha's doctrine. Abhidharma/Abhidhamma thus became the textual genre in which peculiar interpretations of the word of the Buddha were constructed, and different interpretations were discussed. This characteristic of Abhidharma texts was conducive to the development of the Mahāyāna.