Notes on the Avatamsaka Sutra
The terms Hinayana (Small Vehicle) and Mahayana (Great Vehicle) are unknown to Pali literature. They are absent from the Pali Canon (Tripitaka) and the Commentaries on them. Not even in the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa, Pali Chronicles of Ceylon, use this term. The Dipavamsa (about the 4th Century A.D.) and Pali Commentaries mention Vitandavadins, apparently a sect of dissenting Buddhists holding somewhat “unorthodox” beliefs respecting some aspects of the Buddha’s teaching. The Vitandavadin and the Theravadin both quote the same authorities and name the sutras of the Tripitaka in order to support their opinions, the only difference being in the approach they take in their analysis. The Mahavamsa (dated from the 5th Century A.D.) and a Commentary on the Abhidhamma both discuss the Vetulla, or Vetulyavadins (Sanskrit: Vaitulyavadin), instead of Vitandavadin. From the internal evidence of the texts, it may not be wrong to consider that these two expressions, Vi...