Chandrakirti

Chandrakirti (IAST: Candrakīrti; traditional Chinese: 月称; pinyin: Yuèchēng; Japanese: Gesshō; Tibetan: ཟླ་བ་གྲགས་པ་, Wylie: zla ba grags pa, Lhasa dialect IPA: [tàwa ʈʰàʔpa] ; c. 600 – c. 650) was a Buddhist scholar at Nalanda Mahavihara in Northern India. He was a disciple of Nagarjuna and a commentator on his works and those of his main disciple, Aryadeva. He was born into a Brahmin family in Samanta, South India.

Teachings and works

Chandrakirti was the most famous member of what the Tibetans came to call the Uma Thelgyur (Wylie: dbu ma thal 'gyur ) school, an approach to the interpretation of Madhyamaka philosophy typically back-translated into Sanskrit as Prāsaṅgika or rendered in English as the "Consequentialist" or "Dialecticist" school.

In his writings Chandrakirti defended Buddhapālita against Bhāviveka, criticizing the latter's acceptance of autonomous syllogism. He also offered refutations of a number of earlier Buddhist views such as the Vijñānavāda or Idealist school.