Home > Indian History > Indian Philosophy > Pudgala Vada
Pudgala Vada
Pudgala Vada is a Personalist theory of Buddhism. It broke off from the orthodox Sthaviravada School around 280 CE.

Share this Article:

Pudgala Vada, Buddhist PhilosophyPudgala vada was a group of five of the early Schools of Buddhism. The Pudgalavadins asserted that there is no atman, there is a person which is neither the same nor different from the Skandhas. The person was the method of accounting for Karma, rebirth and Nirvana. Among the prominent of the Pudgalavadin schools were the Sammitiya. The Sammitiya were the most populous non-Mahayanist sect in India.

The Pudgalavadins described the person as "inexpressible," in its relation to the five aggregates. The self and the aggregates are neither same nor different. The Pudgalavadins considered self as true and ultimate. This self dies and is reborn through successive lives in Samsara and exists till enlightenment is attained. The Pudgalavadins regarded Nirvana as a real entity that differed from realm of dependent origination and that is indestructible. The Pudgalavadins distinguished between two kinds of doctrine, concerning phenomena and concerning persons. However they did not regard these as related to higher and lower kinds of truth predicates. They recognized three truth predicates: "ultimate truth", "characteristical truth," and "practical truth."

There was an entity called a person that emerged from the interactions of the five constituents with which it was neither distinct nor identical. The view of the Pudgalavadins is paradoxical and seems to have been regarded by their opponents as irrational. Although, Pudgalavadins evidently felt that only such a view did justice to the actual experience of personal existence and to karma, rebirth and final liberation. The very considerable success of the Pudgalavadins in India indicates that there were many who regarded their doctrine as a practical interpretation of the Buddha`s teachings. The Pudgalavadins held that the self once realized to be indeterminate could not be a basis for the self-love and craving which are the sources of suffering.

Pudgalavadins were interested in the nature of selfhood to the extent that it had a bearing on the problem of suffering. It could neither be classified as an ultimate reality nor as a fictional invention. This view was not accepted by most Buddhists. The Pudgala vada was one of the dominant traditions of Buddhism in India during the time Buddhism had survived there. It was an interpretation which had significant strengths as well as weaknesses.


Share this Article:

Related Articles

More Articles in Indian Philosophy


Classical Indian Philosophy
Classical Indian Philosophy contains many analyses, rational principles and explanations. The Vedas have been considered as the first and the oldest scriptural texts of the Classical Indian Philosophy.
Ajivika Philosophy
Ajivika philosophy is different from the mainstream religion
Gunas - Hindu Philosophy
Guna in Hindu Philosophy in its philosophical sense refers to the constituent quality. The whole universe is guided by the three gunas, which are basically attitudes, qualities found in human being.
Bodhisattvas - Hindu Philosophy
Bodhisattva is a concept in Hindu philosophy and the Buddhist philosophy and refers to someone who is committed to attain Enlightenment.
Religion and Philosophy in Later Vedic Period
Religion and Philosophy in later Vedic period did see minute growth. However, rituals and traditions were religiously followed.
Theory of inference in Nyaya philosophy
Nyaya theory of inference is divided into five steps.
Theory for God in Nyaya philosophy
The Naiyayikas tried to establish the existence of God through logic.
Religious Influence on Indian Philosophy
Religious influence on Indian philosophy has been almost enigmatic, making it complimentary in perspective.
Morality and Ethics in Jain philosophy
Jains follow a fivefold path of morality and ethical purity, by which one can reach moksha.
Indian Philosophy In The Vedic Period
Indian Philosophy in the Vedic Period was primarily based on the concepts of nature worship.
Metaphysics in Jain philosophy
Metaphysics in Jain philosophy revolves heavily around the soul and its governing path and final emancipation.
Nether World in Jain Philosophy
Nether World according to Jain Cosmology consists of seven subterranean regions. Of the seven regions the above two regions serve as the abode of heavenly gods and in the rest torture of the souls is undertaken for any kind of misdeed.
Achintya Bheda Abheda Philosophy
Achintya-Bheda-Abheda is a School of Vedanta that represents the philosophy of unimaginable one-ness and difference in relation to the power creation and creator.