Vatsiputriya and the Person

The pudgala teaching of the Vatsiputriya and Sammitiya, and why other schools disputed it.

This page separates early textual evidence, modern scholarly discussion, and later readings. Historical study sits beside practice; it does not replace it.

The full article is available in Traditional Chinese.

Seated Buddha from Sarnath, Gupta-period stone, hands in the teaching gesture — Seated Buddha from Sarnath (Gupta period)

Glossary

person: Sanskrit: pudgala · Pāli: puggala
The Vatsiputriya term for a person who carries karma, disputed by other schools.

Citation

APA

Prajñā Buddhist Studies. (2026). Vatsiputriya and the Person. Retrieved from https://buddhism.hksapientia.org/en/buddhist-history/sectarian-buddhism/vatsiputriya-pudgala/

BibTeX (reference manager format, not code)

@misc{buddhist-history-sectarian-buddhism-vatsiputriya-pudgala,
  title = {Vatsiputriya and the Person},
  author = {Prajñā Buddhist Studies},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://buddhism.hksapientia.org/en/buddhist-history/sectarian-buddhism/vatsiputriya-pudgala/}
}

Glossary

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