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The Gokulika (Sanskrit; traditional Chinese: 雞胤部; pinyin: jīyìn-bù) were an early Buddhist school which descended from the Mahāsāṃghikas.
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The name Gokulika means "Cinder", and refers to the doctrine that all conditioned phenomena necessarily involve suffering, and that they are like an "inferno of ashes."[1] There were numerous variations of this name, such as Kukkuṭika, Kukkulika, Kaukkuṭika, and Kaurukullaka.[2] It is likely that the name Kukkuṭika or Kukkulika originated from the Kukkuṭrārāma monastery at Pāṭaliputra, which was an early center for the Mahāsāṃghikas.[3]
The Gokulika sect is believed to have split from the main Mahāsāṃghika sect during the reign of Aśoka. The Bahuśrutīya and Prajñaptivāda are thought to have split from the Gokulikas in the late 3rd century BCE. The Gokulikas seem to have remained in eastern India, and remained strongest in the area around Vārāṇasī.[4]
The 6th century CE Indian monk Paramārtha associates the initial composition and acceptance of Mahāyāna sūtras with the Mahāsāṃghika branch of Buddhism.[5] He wrote that the Mahāsāṃghikas initially split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of Mahāyāna teachings.[6]
In the early 5th century CE, the Chinese monk Faxian procured a copy of the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya from a monastery in Pāṭaliputra that he describes as "Mahāyāna".[7] The Gokulikas were a Mahāsāṃghika sect known to exist in Pāṭaliputra, even having alternate names linking them to the Kukkuṭrārāma monastery there.[8]
According to Tāranātha, this school disappeared between the 4th century and 9th century CE.[9] In his eighth century account of the various contemporary Buddhist sects, Vinitadeva does not mention Gokulika.[10] It is possible that this sect had merged completely into Mahāyāna Buddhism by this time.[11]