Work · South Asian & Tibetan Philosophy
Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way (Mulamadhyamakakarika)
A dialectical refutation of all intrinsic existence – emptiness as the middle way.
Introduction
About 450 verses in Sanskrit, arranged in 27 chapters, each of which examines a basic concept: causation, motion, the senses, the self, time, suffering, nirvana. The method is to show that every way of taking something as having intrinsic existence leads to contradiction. Chapter 24 answers the objection that emptiness destroys the Four Noble Truths and identifies emptiness with dependent origination. The terse verses are almost always read with commentaries, above all that of Chandrakirti (7th century). Kumarajiva’s Chinese translation of 409 and the Tibetan versions made the work foundational for Madhyamaka in East Asia and Tibet.
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Connections
Builds on
- Discourses (Sutta Pitaka)c. 400 BCE · Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)
Taken up in
- Great Calming and Contemplation (Mohe zhiguan)c. 594 · Zhiyi
- Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara)c. 620 · Chandrakirti
- Clear Words (Prasannapada)c. 630 · Chandrakirti
- The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara)c. 720 · Shantideva
- Shōbōgenzōc. 1253 · Dōgen
- Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path (Lamrim Chenmo)1402 · Tsongkhapa
Criticized in
- Commentary on the Brahma Sutrasc. 730 · Adi Shankara
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