[Buddha-l] Indian commentaries to Candrakirti's Madhyamaka-avatara

[Dan Lusthaus]

Bill,

This will have to be answered by a Tibetologist who concentrates on early
(8th-12th c) Tibetan appropriations of Indian Buddhism. My understanding is
that Candrakirti was largely ignored by the Indian tradition; he was never
translated into Chinese so was never of concern in East Asia. Some of his
works continued to be circulated in India, however, as is evident by the
fact that interest in him did eventually revive and get transferred to
Tibet, and that we still have a Sanskrit version of the Prasannapada. From
what I have heard (but, again, a Tibetologist would have to provide the
details), interest in Candrakirti revived in response to wide-ranging
debates about varieties of Yogacara doctrine that were all the rage ca.
10th-11th c., since Candrakirti contained some relevant observations on a
few minor matters. That sparked -- possibly in Tibet itself rather than in
India -- some interest in Candrakirti himself, though my impression is that,
despite eventually being elevated in the thinking of some, such as
Tsong-kha-pa, to a status second only to Nagarjuna who was second only to
Buddha, there really never was serious engagement with the radical nature of
his thought, evidenced, e.g., by the almost exclusve concern in Tibet with
his Madhyamakavatara -- a mediocre but unchallenging work -- rather than his
magnum opus, Prasannapada, one of the best things ever written by an Indian
Buddhist that takes Buddhism to its foundations and rattles things around -- 
not to mention a playful and powerful Sanskrit rhetorical style that does
not seem to have survived the blandness of TIbetan translation.

I'm sure many of us would be interested to hear if you discover any more on
any of this, or an alternate narrative.

best,
Dan Lusthaus


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Kish" <wdkish81 at yahoo.com>
To: <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Friday, October 07, 2005 7:28 PM
Subject: [Buddha-l] Indian commentaries to Candrakirti's Madhyamaka-avatara


>
> Does anyone know if there are there any Indian commentaries to
> Candrakirti's Madhyamaka-avatara aside from Jayananda's and
> Candrakirti's own autocommentary ?  Was there any criticism
> of Candrakirti's views, either within the Buddhist tradition
> or in non-Buddhist Indian schools of thought, that may have
> influenced Tibetan views on his works ?
>
> ---------
> Bill Kish
>
>
>
>
>
>
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