History
There are two general accounts of the circumstances surrounding the origins of the Mahīśāsakas. The Theravādin Dipavamsa asserts that the Mahīśāsaka sect gave rise to the Sarvāstivāda sect. However, both the Śāriputraparipṛccha and the Samayabhedoparacanacakra record that the Sarvāstivādins were the older sect out of which the Mahīśāsakas emerged.
The Mahīśāsaka sect is thought to have first originated in the Avanti region of India. Their founder was a monk named Purāṇa, who is venerated at length in the Mahīśāsaka vinaya, which is preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon.
From the writings of Xuanzang, the Mahīśāsaka are known to have been active in Kashmir in the 4th century CE. Xuanzang records that Asaṅga, an important Yogācāra master and the elder brother of Vasubandhu, received ordination into the Mahīśāsaka sect.
In the 7th century CE, Yijing did not notice the Mahīśāsaka sect anywhere in his travels, and he has no records of the Mahīśāsaka sect having any real presence remaining in India or elsewhere.
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