Page "Ekavyāvahārika" Paragraph 2

The 6th century CE Indian monk Paramārtha wrote that 200 years after the parinirvāṇa of the Buddha, much of the Mahāsāṃghika school moved north of Rājagṛha, and were divided over whether the Mahāyāna teachings should be incorporated formally into their Tripiṭaka.

According to this account, they split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of these Mahāyāna texts.

According to Paramārtha, the Ekavyāvahārikas accepted the Mahāyāna sūtras as the words of the Buddha.