Abstract
The paper aims to determine the identity of an unnamed opponent in a passage of the first chapter of the Prasannapadā whose school affiliation eluded traditional Tibetan scholars and is disputed by modern scholars. The individual(s) in question, whose fundamental ontological views are made evident in the passage’s opening objection as presented by Candrakīrti, has/have alternatively been identified as the Mādhyamika Bhāviveka, as representatives of the Naiyāyika school and, following Stcherbatsky, as Dignāga and/or later members of his epistemological-logical tradition. Although textual evidence adduced by authors of recent publications has been viewed as supportive of the hypothesis that the interlocutor is Dignāga, the general nature of this evidence and awareness of Dignāga’s ontological presuppositions suggest that the matter requires reconsideration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnold D. (2003) Candrakīrti on Dignāga on Svalakṣaṇas. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 26: 139–174
Arnold D. (2005a). Buddhists, Brahmins and belief. Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion. New York: Columbia U. Press, (2005)
Arnold, D. (2005b). Materials for a Mādhyamika critique of foundationalism: An annotated translation of Prasannapadā 55.11 to 75.13. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 28, 411–467.
Bhattacharya, K., Johnston, E. H., & Kunst, A. (21986). The dialectical method of Nāgārjuna: Vigrahavyāvartanī. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
de Jong J. W. (1978) Textcritical notes on the Prasannapadā. Journal of Indian Philosophy 20: 25–59
de La Vallée Poussin (Ed.). (1903–1913). Mūlamadhyamakakārikās (Mādhyamikasūtras) de Nāgārjunaavec la Prasannapadā Commentaire de Candrakīrti. St. Petersburg: Bibliotheca Buddhica IV.
Dreyfus G., Lindtner C. (1989) The Yogācāra philosophy of Dignāga and Dharmakīrti. Studies in Central and East Asian Religions 2: 27–52
Eckel M.D. (1978) Bhāvaviveka and the early Mādhyamika theories of language. Philosophy East and West 28: 323–337
Franco, E. (2004). A note on Nāgārjuna and the Naiyāyikas. In S. Hino & T. Wada (Eds.), Three mountains and seven rivers. Prof. Musashi Tachikawa’s felicitation volume (pp. 203–208). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Frauwallner, E. (1982). Dignāgas Ālambanaparīkṣā. Text, Übersetzung und Erläuterungen. In G. Oberhammer & E. Steinkellner (Eds.), Erich Frauwallner, Kleine Schriften (pp. 174–194). Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. (Reprint of WZKM, 37, pp. 174–194, 1930.)
Hattori M. (1968) Dignāga, On perception. Harvard University Press., Cambridge
Huntington, Jr., C. W. (2003). Was Candrakīrti a Prāsaṅgika?” In G. Dreyfus & S. McClintock (Eds.), The Svātantrika–Prāsaṅgika distinction (pp. 67–91). Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Mookerjee S. (1957) Candrakīrti’s exposition of the Mādhyamika. The Nava-Nalanda-Mahavihara Research Publication (Patna), 1: 42–58
Oetke, C. (1991). Zur Methode der Analyse Philosophischer Sūtratexte. Die Pramāṇa Passagen der Nyāyasūtren. Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik, Monographie, 11, 1–86.
Potter, K. (Ed.). (1977). The tradition of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika up to Gaṅgeśa. Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies (Vol. II). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Rizzi C. (1988) Candrakīrti. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi
Sāṅk̥rtyāyana, R. (Ed.). (1953). Pramāṇavārtikabhāṣyam or Vārtikālaṇkāraḥ of Prajñākaragupta. Patna: Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute.
Seyfort Ruegg, D. (2000). Three studies in the history of Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka Philosophy. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien.
Seyfort Ruegg, D. (2002). Two Prolegomena to Madhyamaka Philosophy. Candrakīrti’s Prasannapadā Madhyamakav̥rttiḥ on Madhyamakakārikā I.1 and Tsoṅ kha pa blo bzaṅ grags pa / rGyal tshab Dar ma rin chen’s dKa’ gnad/gnas brgyad kyi zin bris. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien.
Siderits M. (1981) The Madhyamaka critique of epistemology II. Journal of Indian Philosophy 9: 121–160
Stcherbatsky T. (21989). The conception of Buddhist Nirvāṇa. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
Steinkellner E. (1961) Die Literatur des Älteren Nyāya. Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 5: 149–162
Steinkellner, E. (1990). Is Dharmakīrti a Mādhyamika? In D. Seyfort Ruegg & L. Schmithausen (Eds.), Earliest Buddhism and Madhyamaka (pp. 72–90). Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Steinkellner, E. (1998). Die erkenntnistheoretisch–logische Tradition des Buddhismus. In K. Glashoff & L. Schmithausen (Eds.), Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart [Buddhism past and present] (Vol. II, pp. 63–86). Hamburg: Universität Hamburg.
Steinkellner, E. (2005). Dignāga’s Pramāṇasamuccaya, Chap. 1. A hypothetical reconstruction of the Sanskrit text with the help of the two Tibetan translations on the basis of the hitherto known Sanskrit fragments and the linguistic materials gained from Jinendrabuddhi’s Ṭīkā. Vienna. http://ikga.oeaw.ac.at/Mat/dignaga_PS_1.pdf.
Steinkellner, E., Krasser, H., & Lasic, H. (Eds.) (2005). Jinendrabuddhi’s Viśālāmalavatī Pramāṇasamuccayaṭīkā, Chap. 1, Part 1: Critical Edition. Beijing–Vienna: China Tibetology Publishing House & Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
Tanji, T. (1992). Jitsuzai to Ninshiki. Chūganshisō-Kenkyū II [Reality and Cognition—Study of Mādhyamika Philosophy II]. Osaka.
Thakur, A. (eds) (1997a) Gautamīyanyāyadarśana with Bhāṣya of Vātsyāyana. Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi
Thakur, A. (eds) (1997b) Nyāyabhāṣyavārttika of Bhāradvāja Uddyotakara. Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi
Thurman R. (1984) The Central Philosophy of Tibet. A study and translation of Jey Tsong Khapa’s essence of true eloquence. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Tosaki, H. (1962). “Pramāṇavārttika Genryō-shō no Wayaku-Kenkyū (1)” (Japanese annotated translation of the Pramāṇavārttika pratyakṣa-pariccheda). Kyūshū Daigaku Bungaku bu Tetsugaku Nenpō (Journal of Chikushi Jogakuen Junior College), 24, 137–172.
Tosaki, H. (1987). Review of Amar Singh, The Heart of Buddhist Philosophy—Diṅnāga and Dharmakīrti. Indo-Iranian Journal, 30, 139–146.
Yonezawa, Y. (2004). *Lakṣaṇaṭīkā Sanskrit notes on the Prasannapadā (1). Journal of the Naritasan Institute for Buddhist Studies, 27, 115–154.
Yoshimizu, C. (1996). Die Erkenntnislehre des Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka. Nach dem Tshig gsal stoṅ thun gyi tshad ma’i rnam bśad des ’Jam dbyaṅs bźad pa’i rdo rje. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
MacDonald, A. Who is that Masked Man? Candrakīrti’s Opponent in Prasannapadā I 55.11–58.13. J Indian Philos 39, 677–694 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-011-9145-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-011-9145-9