India · c. 600–650
Candrakīrti
Madhyamaka commentator whose reading became orthodox in Tibet
He defended Buddhapālita against Bhāviveka: a Mādhyamika should only draw out the absurd consequences of opponents’ views rather than offer independent proofs. Tibetan scholars later named this approach Prāsaṅgika.
Life and thought
Candrakīrti (c. 600–650) was a Madhyamaka scholar associated with the great monastery of Nālandā; little is known of his life. His importance lies in his writings on Nāgārjuna: Clear Words, the only complete Sanskrit commentary on the Fundamental Verses to survive, and his own Entering the Middle Way, which became the main textbook of Madhyamaka in Tibet.
Candrakīrti took sides in a dispute about method. Bhāviveka had argued that a Mādhyamika should prove emptiness with independent syllogisms of his own. Candrakīrti, defending Buddhapālita, replied that this smuggles back what Madhyamaka denies—shared, intrinsically real subjects and reasons. A Mādhyamika should instead show the absurd consequences (prasaṅga) of opponents’ views on their own terms. He also defended ordinary, conventional truth against Yogācāra: we may speak of external objects as the world does, so long as we see that they lack intrinsic nature. Tibetan scholars, above all Tsongkhapa, called this approach Prāsaṅgika and ranked it highest.