Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya/Full text
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मध्यमकावतारभाष्य
Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya
An Explanation of "Entering into the Middle Way" (84000)
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Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya (Commentary on the Entrance to the Middle Way) is an auto-commentary on his root text, the Madhyamakāvatāra, composed in seventh-century India. As one of the most important texts in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, it presents Candrakīrti's systematic exposition of Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka philosophy. The text is organized around the ten bodhisattva stages, though the sixth chapter—on the perfection of wisdom—is by far the most extensive and philosophically significant, containing detailed analyses of emptiness, the two truths (conventional and ultimate), and extensive polemics against competing Buddhist schools, particularly the Yogācāra and Bhāvaviveka's Madhyamaka interpretation.
Candrakīrti is known for his distinctive prasaṅga approach, using reductio ad absurdum arguments to refute opponents without establishing positive theses, and for rejecting autonomous syllogisms in favor of purely dialectical reasoning. While his interpretation was initially less influential in India than Bhāvaviveka's, it became dominant in Tibet after translation, where the Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya became a foundational text for the Geluk school and other traditions. It remains central to Tibetan monastic curricula today, serving as the definitive commentary on Madhyamaka emptiness philosophy.
| Reference | Candrakīrti. madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya [मध्यमकावतारभाष्य]. dbu ma la 'jug pa'i bshad pa [དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པའི་བཤད་པ]. [An Explanation of "Entering into the Middle Way" (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3207 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3207&typ=2. |
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| People | Candrakīrti, Patsab Lotsāwa Nyima Drakpa, Tilakakalaśa |
