Page "Vibhajyavāda" Paragraph 2

The Vibhajyavādins are not recorded uniformly by early Buddhist traditions as being a distinct sect, nor being associated with any one period of time.

The Theravādin Kathāvatthu does not contain any reference to a Vibhajyavāda school, but the Sammatīyas and the Mahāsāṃghika do mention the Vibhajyavādins, albeit in different ways.

According to the Sammatīya sect, the Vibhajyavādins developed from the Sarvāstivāda school.

However, the Mahāsāṃghikas saw the Vibhajyavādins as being offshoots from the root schism in Buddhism, which according to them produced three sects: the Sthaviras, the Mahāsāṃghikas, and the Vibhajyavādins.

The Mahāsāṃghikas then list the Mahīśāsaka, Dharmaguptaka, Kāśyapīya, and Tāmraparnīya sects as having descended from the Vibhajyavādins.