  A large body of literature concerned with examining the received  teachings had emerged roughly three centuries after the death of the  Buddha (ca. 150 B.C.E.). The origins of the Abhidharma schools are  thus traceable to the diverse interpretations of the Buddha's  teachings. Two main branches of Abhidharma  are extant: that of the Theravāda (‘Doctrines of the  Elders’), which became dominant in Sri Lanka and southeast  Asia, and that of the Sarvāstivāda (the ‘All Exists  School’), which flourished in North India and provided the  basis for the development of later Abhidharma and Mahāyāna  schools in India, and later on in Central and East Asia. The  foundational texts for these two branches of Abhidharma are the  Kathāvatthu (‘Points of Controversy’) and  the Mahāvibhāṣā (‘The Great  Commentary’).