In Avalokitavrata’s (fl. 700 CE ca.) Ṭīkā we find a quote of a well-known Cārvāka stanza (see D, dBu-ma, Źa, 334b7-335a1): ma śi’i bar du bde bar ’tsho | | śi zin phan chad spyod yul med | | lus ni thal bar gyur pa la | | phyir yaṅ ’oṅ ba ga la yod… Continue reading ♦ Avalokitavrata and a Cārvāka stanza: some textual consideration
One of the works that happens to me to deal with from time to time is the Skhalita-pramathana-yuktā-hetu-siddhi, attributed to Āryadeva. Today I’d like to put forward few considerations on the svabhāvavāda section (pūrvapakṣa only) contained in this writing. In what follows I provide the critical edition, the translation and an explanation of the section:… Continue reading ♦ The svabhāvavāda as expounded in the Skhalita-pramathana-yuktā-hetu-siddhi
To solve the problem of who the author of the Skhalitapramathanayuktāhetusiddhi (SPHYS) was, is a very difficult task. In order to fix a starting point, however, let us begin by admitting that his name was really Āryadeva, as is referred in all the colophons.1 Moreover, I take for granted that he was a later namesake… Continue reading ♦ The third Āryadeva!
In the 5th chapter of the Madhyamakaratnapradīpa (MRP) we find the following stanza, attributed to Diṅnāga (sDe-dge 272b4-5): slob dpon phyogs kyi glaṅ pos kyaṅ | ’di na mya ṅan ’das lam groṅ khyer du | | de bźin gśegs pa’i gsuṅ gi ñi ma’i ’od can gyis | | bdag med śes pa’i ’phags… Continue reading ♦ Who knows which work of Diṅnāga this stanza is taken from?
In the 7th chapter of the Madhyamakaratnapradīpa, a work traditionally attributed to Bhāviveka, while discussing some fundamental concepts of the cittamātra doctrine, the author inserts an interesting quotation which is attributed to (the tantric?) Candrakīrtipāda (zLa-ba-grags-pa’i-źal-sṅa-na). Unfortunately, the original text from which the citation was taken remains still untraced. Nevertheless, what is interesting here, is… Continue reading ♦ Madhyamakaratnapradīpa: an untraced quotation debating cittamātra from a Candrakīrtipāda’s work
In “Adversaria Buddhica”, an article published by Christian Lindtner on the Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 26 (1982), the author collects the references that Bhāviveka makes in his Madhyamakaratnapradīpa (MRP) to other contemporary or previous philosophers or works. In the list on pages 175-176, we meet with the following point «d) A verse from… Continue reading ♦ What is the *Paramārthanyāyagīti of Saraha?
In what follows, I provide the English translation of some passages from Avalokitavrata’s Ṭīkā on Bhāviveka’s Prajñāpradīpa on Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakarika, from which some apparently discordant perspectives on the theory of causation of *Lokākṣa (’Jig rten mig), a mahārṣi among the Lokāyatas, are outlined. This is only a preliminary and incomplete collection (based only on the… Continue reading ♦ Lokākṣa on causation: Avalokitavrata’s apparently discordant perspectives
This is the edition and translation of the 6th chapter of Bhāviveka’s Madhyamakaratnapradīpa. The texts consists in just 5 stanzas, of which at least three are very similar – if not identical – to as many kārikās of Bhāviveka’s Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā. This, hence, allows us to interpret the Madhyamakaratnapradīpa in the light of the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā. The… Continue reading ♦ How many paramārthas? Bhāviveka’s Madhyamakaratnapradīpa (chapter 6)
Although in many more or less recent works we can find translations of Bhāviveka’s Madhyamakārthasaṃgraha (Christian Lindtner, in “Atisa’s introduction to the two truths”, Journal of Indian Philosophy 7, 1981, note p. 200-201; this translation has been reprinted in Potter’s Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies IX, pp. 442-443; Daniel Ferrer, Tibet Journal 17.2, 1992, pp. 52-55),… Continue reading ♦ The Madhyamakārthasaṃgraha: edition of the Tibetan text
Recently I was checking some passages of Avalokitavrata‘s Ṭīkā on Bhāviveka‘s Prajñāpradīpa on Nāgārjuna‘s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 1. There, I have found several references to a master of Lokāyata called ‘Jig rten mig, which could be the Tibetan rendering of Lokākṣa or Lokacakṣu. In every occurrence, Lokākṣa is said to be a mahārṣi,and it appears that Avalokitavrata… Continue reading ♦ Lokākṣa on previous and futur lives: a passage from Avalokitavrata’s Prajñāpradīpa-Ṭīkā
Site Title 