The Kukkuá¹Âika (Sanskrit; ) were an early Buddhist school which descended from the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika.
It is likely that the name Kukkuá¹Âika or Kukkulika originated from the Kukkuá¹ÂrÃÂrÃÂma monastery at PÃÂá¹Âaliputra, which was an early centre for the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghikas.
There were numerous variations of this name, such as Kukkuá¹Âika, Kukkulika, Kaukkuá¹Âika, Kaurukullaka, and Gokulika.
The name Gokulika means "cinder", and refers to the doctrine that all conditioned phenomena necessarily involve suffering, and that they are like an "inferno of ashes".
The SamayabhedoparacanaÃÂakra of Vasumitra regards the EkavyÃÂvahÃÂrika, Kukkuá¹Âika, and LokottaravÃÂda as being doctrinally indistinguishable. According to Vasumitra, 48 theses were held in common by these three MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika sects. Of these 48 special theses, 20 points concern the supramundane nature of buddhas and bodhisattvas. According to the Samayabhedoparacanacakra, these four groups held that the Buddha is able to know all dharmas in a single moment of the mind. Yao Zhihua writes:
The Kukkuá¹Âika sect is believed to have split from the main MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika sect during the reign of Aà Âoka utilising early Buddha chronology, and the late second century BCE utilising late Buddha chronology. The Bahuà Ârutëya and PrajñaptivÃÂda are thought to have split from the Kukkuá¹Âikas in the late third or second century BCE. The Kukkuá¹Âikas seem to have remained in Eastern India, and remained strongest in the area around VÃÂrÃÂá¹Âasë.
The sixth-century Indian monk ParamÃÂrtha associates the initial composition and acceptance of MahÃÂyÃÂna sà «tras with the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika branch of Buddhism. He wrote that the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghikas initially split into three groups based upon the relative manner and degree to which they accepted the authority of Mahayana teachings. ParamÃÂrtha states that at this time, the Kukkuá¹Âika sect did not accept the MahÃÂyÃÂna sà «tras as buddhavacana ("words of the Buddha"), while the LokottaravÃÂda sect and the EkavyÃÂvahÃÂrika sect did accept the MahÃÂyÃÂna sà «tras as buddhavacana.
In the early fifth century, the Chinese monk Faxian procured a copy of the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika Vinaya from a monastery in PÃÂá¹Âaliputra that he describes as "MahÃÂyÃÂna". The Kukkuá¹Âikas were a MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika sect known to exist in PÃÂá¹Âaliputra, even having alternate names linking them to the Kukkuá¹ÂrÃÂrÃÂma monastery there.
According to TÃÂranÃÂtha, this school disappeared between the fourth and ninth centuries. In his eighth-century account of the various contemporary Buddhist sects, Vinitadeva does not mention Kukkuá¹Âika. It is possible that this sect had merged completely into MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhism by this time.