140092 SE The Refutation of Yogacara in the Madhyamakavatara (2013S)

The largest and most comprehensive chapter (ch. 6) of the Madhyamakavatara and its commentary, both composed by the Indian Buddhist scholar Candrakirti (7th c. CE), claims to explicate and elucidate the Madhyamaka view as set forth by the school’s founder Nagarjuna. In the process of articulating the features of Madhyamaka philosophy, Candrakirti considers the systems of his fellow Buddhists and, for the sake of demonstrating his system’s superiority, refutes them in detail. A substantial part of the first half of the chapter is devoted to discrediting main tenets of the Yogacara school. The Sanskrit for the Madhyamakavatara’s verses is now available (Li 2012); the commentary will be read on the basis of de La Vallée Poussin’s Tibetan edition.