Chandrakirti

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

Candrakīrti (600–c.650), (Devanagari: चन्द्रकीर्ति, Tib. Dawa Drakpa) was abbot of Nalanda University and a disciple of [[Nagarjuna|]] and a commentator on his works. Candrakīrti was the most famous member of what the Tibetans came to call the Prasaṅgika school of Madhyamaka.

Chandrakirti [zla ba grags pa]http://www.thdl.org/collections/langling/ewts/ewts.php?m=intro (Wylie transliterized) Candrakirti (Sanskrit) This 7th century Indian scholar of the Madhyamaka school of thought, defended Buddhapalita against Bhavaviveka and the consequent strong criticism of the latter’s acceptance of autonomous syllogism. As a result of Bhavaviveka's interpretation of Nagarjuna's view, a new school of Madhyamaka known as Prasangika (‘Consequentialist’). Chandrakirti’s works include the Prasannapada - a Sanskrit term, meaning Clear Words' - the highly acclaimed commentary on Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika) and the Madhyamakavatara (his supplement to Nagarjuna’s text) and its auto-commentary. The Madhyamakavatara is used as the main sourcebook by most of the Tibetan monastic colleges in their studies of emptiness and the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school.

Major Works

• Prasannapada (Clear Words) : A commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika
• Madhyamakavatara (Entering the Middle Way)

External links

• Joe Wilson. Chandrakirti's Sevenfold Reasoning Meditation on the Selflessness of Persons
• Candrakiirti's critique of Vijñaanavaada, Robert F. Olson, Philosophy East and West, Volume 24 No. 4, 1977, pp405-411
• Candrakiirti's denial of the self, James Duerlinger, Philosophy East and West, Volume 34 No. 3, July 1984, pp261-272
• Candrakiirti's refutation of Buddhist idealism, Peter G. Fenner, Philosophy East and West, Volume 33 No. 3, July 1983, pp251-261
• "Philosophical Nonegocentrism in Wittgenstein and Candrakirti", Robert A. F. Thurman, Philosophy East and West, Volume 30 No. 3, July 1980, pp321-337