142016 SE Selected Readings on Indian Madhyamaka (2021S)

The Madhyamakāvatāra, together with its bhāṣya, an auto-commentary, appears to have been Candrakīrti’s (570-650?) first work on Madhyamaka. The work is extremely important for understanding Candrakīrti’s interpretation of the school’s ethical, philosophical and soteriological stances, and informative as regards the Buddhist and non-Buddhist groups Candrakīrti regarded as its opponents. Although the extent of the Madhyamakāvatāra’s renown in India remains unknown, its Tibetan translation, made at the end of the 11th century, achieved great fame in Tibet, and served as a foundational Madhyamaka work that was widely commented on by Tibetan scholars.

The Madhyamakāvatāra and its bhāṣya were accessible for centuries only in Tibetan translation. One Sanskrit manuscript of the Madhyakamāvatārabhāṣya (the Madhyamakāvatāra’s verses are embedded in it) has, however, been discovered. It is being investigated under the “General Agreement” of cooperation between the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia (IKGA) in Vienna and the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing.

The Madhyamakāvatāra and its commentary’s chapters are structured to accord with the “grounds” or “levels” (bhūmi) of awakening as presented in the Daśabhūmikasūtra. We will deal with the most philosophically oriented chapter of the work, the Abhimukhī (“The Directly Facing”), named after the sixth bodhisattva level and relating to the Perfection of Insight (prajñāpāramitā).

The class will focus on a section of Candrakīrti's refutation of the Yogācāra school. We will also take into consideration the Tibetan translation of the Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya as well as Jayānanda's commentary on the work.

Participants will become acquainted with philological-historical methods and techniques for editing manuscripts, with terminological and translation challenges, and with general Madhyamaka views, debates, and interpretations, both traditional and modern.

The main textual basis will be the Sanskrit of the Madhyakamāvatārabhāṣya, but students more familiar with Tibetan are also invited to participate. Reading materials will be provided at the first class.