Bhāviveka and his Buddhist Opponents

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Bhāviveka and his Buddhist Opponents

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Bhāviveka (ca. 500–560 CE) lived at a time of unusual creativity and ferment in the history of Indian Buddhist philosophy. The Mahayana movement was emerging as a vigorous and self-conscious intellectual force, while the earlier traditions of the eighteen "schools" (nikaya) resisted the authority of the Mahayana and continued to elaborate the fundamental concepts of Buddhist thought.

Bhāviveka’s "Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way" (Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā) with their commentary, known as "The Flame of Reason" (Tarkajvālā), give a unique and authoritative account of the intellectual differences that stirred the Buddhist community in this creative period.

Bhāviveka and His Buddhist Opponents gives a clear and accessible translation of Chapters 4 and 5 of this text: the chapters on the Śrāvakas, or eighteen schools, and the Yogācāra, Bhāviveka’s most important Mahayana opponents. The translation is introduced by an essay that situates Bhāviveka in the intellectual context of sixth-century India, and it is accompanied by copious notes, commenting on Bhāviveka’s sources and explaining his controversial method. The book also contains a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of Bhāviveka’s verses and the Tibetan translation of the verses and commentary. (Source: Harvard University Press)

Citation

Eckel, Malcolm David. Bhāvaviveka and His Buddhist Opponents: Chapters 4 and 5 of Bhāvaviveka Madhyamakahṛdayakārikāḥ with Tarkajvālā. Edited by Michael Witzel. Harvard Oriental Series 70. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.

Table of contents

• PREFACEix
• ABBREVIATIONSxiii

• PART 1: ANALYSIS

• INTRODUCTION3

• THE AUTHOR
  • Bhāviveka and the Culture of Debate9

• THE TEXT
  • The Problem of Authenticity17
  • The Intellectual Structure of Bhāviveka's Compendium27
  • Toward a Theory of Difference38
  • Bhāviveka's Dialectical Method49
  • The Standard Three-Part Syllogism53
  • A Series of Linked Syllogisms59
• THE ARGUMENT
  • Bhāviveka's Buddhist Opponents62
  • Toward a Buddhist Philosophy of Religion81
• NOTES TO PART 188

• PART 2: TRANSLATION OF CHAPTERS 4 AND 5 OF BHĀVIVEKA'S "HEART OF THE MIDDLE WAY" WITH THE "FLAME OF REASON" COMMENTARY
  • A Note on the Translation99
  • Chapter 4: Analysis of Reality According to the Śrāvakas103
  • Chapter 5: Analysis of Reality According to the Yogācāras213

• PART 3: SANSKRIT AND TIBETAN TEXTS
  • A Note on the Edition301
  • Chapter 4: Analysis of Reality According to the Śrāvakas303
  • Chapter 5: Analysis of Reality According to the Yogācāras389

• BIBLIOGRAPHY447
• TEXTS NAMED OR QUOTED IN THE COMMENTARY477
• INDEX TO THE SANSKRIT VERSES481

Interconnections

Works related to this item

2 Recension of

Bhāvaviveka (slob dpon chen po b+ha bya). madhyamakahṛdayakārikā [मध्यमकहृदयकारिका]. dbu ma'i snying po'i tshig le'ur byas pa [དབུ་མའི་སྙིང་པོའི་ཚིག་ལེའུར་བྱས་པ]. [Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3200 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3200&typ=2.

Classical WorksAbout this item

Madhyamakahṛdaya. (T. Dbu ma’i snying po). In Sanskrit, "Essence of the Middle Way"; the major work of the sixth-century Indian Madhyamaka (and, from the Tibetan perspective, Svātantrika) master Bhāvaviveka (also referred to as Bhavya and Bhāviveka). The text is written in verse, accompanied by the author's extensive prose commentary, entitled the Tarkajvālā. The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the Tarkajvālā only in Tibetan. The work is in eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in Bhāvaviveka's view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as bodhicitta, the knowledge of reality (tattvajñāna), and omniscience (sarvajñātā). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and Bhāvaviveka's refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the Śrāvaka, Yogācāra, Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, Vedānta, and Mīmāṃsā. These chapters (along with Śāntarakṣita's Tattvasaṃgraha) are a valuable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and the other Indian philosophical schools of the day. The chapter on the śrāvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the mainstream Buddhist schools as to why the Mahāyāna sūtras are not the word of the Buddha. Bhāvaviveka's response to these charges, as well as his refutation of Yogācāra in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited. (Source: "Madhyamakahṛdaya." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 487–88. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

Bhāviveka (slob dpon chen po b+ha bya). madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā [मध्यमकहृदयवृत्तितर्कज्वाला]. dbu ma'i snying po'i 'grel pa rtog ge 'bar ba [དབུ་མའི་སྙིང་པོའི་འགྲེལ་པ་རྟོག་གེ་འབར་བ།]. ["The Blaze of Reasoning," A Running Commentary on "The Heart of the Middle Way" (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3201 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3201&typ=2.

Classical WorksAbout this item

The Madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā (Tibetan: Dbu ma'i snying po'i 'grel pa rtog ge 'bar ba) is an influential sixth-century commentary written by the Indian Madhyamaka philosopher Bhāvaviveka (or Bhavya) on his own verse text, the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā. It is a foundational text in the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka dialogue.

The text functions as a comprehensive commentary (vṛtti) that utilizes logic and debate (tarka) to explain and defend Bhāvaviveka's understanding of Madhyamaka, often known as Svātantrika.

It provides an in-depth analysis of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophical systems. Notably, it refutes the Yogācāra school's view on reality and the path to Buddhahood.The text addresses important philosophical topics, including:

• The Buddha's Omniscience: Chapter 10 defends the omniscience of the Buddha against critics, using examples from the Buddha's life.
• "Non-production from Others": It refutes the Sautrāntika, Vaibhāṣika, and Vaiśeṣika schools regarding the nature of causality and existence.
• Distinction between Conventional and Ultimate Reality: Bhāviveka argues that the "imagined nature" exists conventionally, but ultimately, things are empty.

It is a vital text for understanding the development of Madhyamaka philosophy in India and its reception in Tibet.

2 Partial translation of

Bhāvaviveka (slob dpon chen po b+ha bya). madhyamakahṛdayakārikā [मध्यमकहृदयकारिका]. dbu ma'i snying po'i tshig le'ur byas pa [དབུ་མའི་སྙིང་པོའི་ཚིག་ལེའུར་བྱས་པ]. [Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3200 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3200&typ=2.

Classical WorksAbout this item

Madhyamakahṛdaya. (T. Dbu ma’i snying po). In Sanskrit, "Essence of the Middle Way"; the major work of the sixth-century Indian Madhyamaka (and, from the Tibetan perspective, Svātantrika) master Bhāvaviveka (also referred to as Bhavya and Bhāviveka). The text is written in verse, accompanied by the author's extensive prose commentary, entitled the Tarkajvālā. The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the Tarkajvālā only in Tibetan. The work is in eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in Bhāvaviveka's view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as bodhicitta, the knowledge of reality (tattvajñāna), and omniscience (sarvajñātā). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and Bhāvaviveka's refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the Śrāvaka, Yogācāra, Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, Vedānta, and Mīmāṃsā. These chapters (along with Śāntarakṣita's Tattvasaṃgraha) are a valuable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and the other Indian philosophical schools of the day. The chapter on the śrāvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the mainstream Buddhist schools as to why the Mahāyāna sūtras are not the word of the Buddha. Bhāvaviveka's response to these charges, as well as his refutation of Yogācāra in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited. (Source: "Madhyamakahṛdaya." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 487–88. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

Bhāviveka (slob dpon chen po b+ha bya). madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā [मध्यमकहृदयवृत्तितर्कज्वाला]. dbu ma'i snying po'i 'grel pa rtog ge 'bar ba [དབུ་མའི་སྙིང་པོའི་འགྲེལ་པ་རྟོག་གེ་འབར་བ།]. ["The Blaze of Reasoning," A Running Commentary on "The Heart of the Middle Way" (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3201 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3201&typ=2.

Classical WorksAbout this item

The Madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā (Tibetan: Dbu ma'i snying po'i 'grel pa rtog ge 'bar ba) is an influential sixth-century commentary written by the Indian Madhyamaka philosopher Bhāvaviveka (or Bhavya) on his own verse text, the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā. It is a foundational text in the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka dialogue.

The text functions as a comprehensive commentary (vṛtti) that utilizes logic and debate (tarka) to explain and defend Bhāvaviveka's understanding of Madhyamaka, often known as Svātantrika.

It provides an in-depth analysis of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophical systems. Notably, it refutes the Yogācāra school's view on reality and the path to Buddhahood.The text addresses important philosophical topics, including:

• The Buddha's Omniscience: Chapter 10 defends the omniscience of the Buddha against critics, using examples from the Buddha's life.
• "Non-production from Others": It refutes the Sautrāntika, Vaibhāṣika, and Vaiśeṣika schools regarding the nature of causality and existence.
• Distinction between Conventional and Ultimate Reality: Bhāviveka argues that the "imagined nature" exists conventionally, but ultimately, things are empty.

It is a vital text for understanding the development of Madhyamaka philosophy in India and its reception in Tibet.

Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt मध्यमक  Tib དབུ་མ་  Ch 中觀見  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Middle Way'

Bhāvaviveka (slob dpon chen po b+ha bya). madhyamakahṛdayakārikā [मध्यमकहृदयकारिका]. dbu ma'i snying po'i tshig le'ur byas pa [དབུ་མའི་སྙིང་པོའི་ཚིག་ལེའུར་བྱས་པ]. [Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3200 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3200&typ=2.

Go to the page with the definition of 'Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Śrāvakas'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Śrāvakas'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Śrāvakas'

Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt योगाचार  Tib རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་  Ch 瑜伽行派  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Yogācāra'

Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt योगाचार  Tib རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་  Ch 瑜伽行派  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Yogācāra'

Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt योगाचार  Tib རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་  Ch 瑜伽行派  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Yogācāras'

Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt योगाचार  Tib རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་  Ch 瑜伽行派  

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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt मध्यमक  Tib དབུ་མ་  Ch 中觀見  

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Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Śrāvaka'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Śrāvaka'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Śrāvaka'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'śrāvakas'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

Go to the page with the definition of 'śrāvakas'

Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

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Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of the Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt महायान  Tib ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།  Ch 大乘  

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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Bhāviveka (slob dpon chen po b+ha bya). madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā [मध्यमकहृदयवृत्तितर्कज्वाला]. dbu ma'i snying po'i 'grel pa rtog ge 'bar ba [དབུ་མའི་སྙིང་པོའི་འགྲེལ་པ་རྟོག་གེ་འབར་བ།]. ["The Blaze of Reasoning," A Running Commentary on "The Heart of the Middle Way" (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3201 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3201&typ=2.

Go to the page with the definition of 'Madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā'