information:highlighting, quality:corruption, stylistic:style_transfer, structural:scholar_edition, linguistic:paraphrasing
Abhidharma

Śāriputra is said to have played a key role in the development of the Abhidharma texts of the Buddhist Tripitaka. Buddhist scholar monks Rewata Dhamma and Bhikkhu Bodhi describe the Abhidharma as "an abstract and highly technical systemization of the doctrine". According to Theravada tradition, the Abhidharma, or "Higher Dharma", is said to have been preached by the Buddha to devas while he was spending the rainy season in Tavatimsa Heaven. It is said that the Buddha returned to earth daily to give a summary to Śāriputra, who classified and reordered the teachings and relayed it to his disciples, in what would become the Abhidharma Pitaka. Various sets of the Sarvastivada school of Buddhism, however, attribute each of the seven books of the Abhidharma to different authors, with Śāriputra being attributed as the author of just the Sangitiparyaya in the Chinese Sarvastivada tradition and as the author of the Dharmaskandha in the Sanskrit and Tibetan Sarvastivada traditions. In the Vatsiputriya tradition, a subset of the Sarvastivada school, Śāriputra is said to have transmitted the Abhidharma to Rahula, who later transmitted it to the school's founder, Vatsiputra. As the author of the Abhidharma in Buddhist tradition, Śāriputra is considered to be the patron saint of the Abhidharmists.

French religion writer André Migot, argues that the Abhidharma was formulated no earlier than the time of Emperor Asoka, and thus cannot really be attributed to the historic Śāriputra, at least not the version known by modern scholars. English historian Edward J. Thomas dates the development of the Abhidharma as being sometime between the third century BCE and the first century CE. However, Migot states that a simpler version of the Abhidharma likely existed in early Buddhism, before it evolved and was written down in its current form. Migot points to the mention of the " Matrka" Pitaka in Cullavagga texts as the precursor to the Abhidharma Pitaka. Migot argues that the Matrka Pitaka, recited by Mahākāśyapa at the First Buddhist Council according to Ashokavadana texts, likely began as a condensed version of Buddhist doctrine that developed over time with metaphysical aspects to become the Abhidharma. Thomas also states that the Abhidharma had earlier roots and was developed based on existing material, likely a method of discussing the principles of the Buddha's teachings. According to Thomas, different Buddhist schools compiled their own Abhidharma works separately, but based it on common existing material.