Ajita and Maitreya: More Evidence of the Early Mahāyāna Scriptures’ Origins from the Mahāsāṃghikas and a Clue as to the School-Affiliation of the Kanaganahalli-stūpa

Abstract

Maitreya is also called Ajita in some texts. I found that the different interpretations of the names reflect the opinions of the various Buddhist schools. According to the Theravādins and Sarvāstivādins, Ajita and Maitreya are different persons, though, according to the Mahāsāṃghikas and the Sāṃmitīyas, they are identical, and Maitreya, whose first name is Ajita, will become the Buddha Maitreya.

On the site of an ancient stūpa at Kanaganahalli in Karnataka, there is a sitting statue of the future buddha, under which there is an inscription, saying that Ajita will become the future buddha. This and the fact that the scenes on the narrative reliefs in the stūpa agree well with the Lalitavistara of the Mahāsāṃghikas, indicate that this stūpa might have belonged to this school.

In a post-canonical Pāli text, namely Anāgatavaṃsa, Ajita and Metteya are portrayed as being identical. I assume that this text was influenced by the Mahāsāṃghikas’ notion of Ajita and Maitreya.

In early Mahāyāna scriptures, such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra, Samādhirājasūtra, Maitreya and Ajita are identical and Bodhisatva Maitreya is addressed by the first name “Ajita”, which agrees with Mahāsāṃghikas’ notion of their names, and indicates these scriptures’ origins from this particular school.