Dharmakīrti and the Madhyamaka: Perspectives from a Tantric Author (Or: Of Missing Links in the History of Buddhist Thought)

Abstract As is well known, Steinkellner (Steinkellner, Ernst. 1990. “Is Dharmakīrti a Mādhyamika?” In: David Seyfort Ruegg and Lambert Schmithausen (eds.), Earliest Buddhism and Madhyamaka . Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference. Leiden: Brill, 72–90) addresses the topic of a Mādhyamika Dharmakīrti in critical engagement with Shirasaki (Shirasaki, Kenjō [白崎顕成]. 1986. “Dharmakīrti wa chiiganronsha de aru” [Dharmakīrti is a Mādhyamika], Bukkyō Ronsō 30: 110–114). In fact, in an earlier paper (1978), the Japanese scholar argues that Jitāri (ca. 10th cent.) presents Dharmakīrti as being ultimately a Mādhyamika. Shirasaki maintains that Jitāri does so in the *Sugatamatavibhaṅgabhāṣya , specifically based on references to some kārikā s from Dharmakīrti’s major work, the Pramāṇavārttika . Indeed, in that work, Jitāri copies verbatim very long portions from the Sāramañjarī by Samantabhadra (mid-9th cent.), a tantric work that serves as a commentary on the Samantabhadrasādhana by Jñānapāda (8th–9th cent.), a manual for meditation within the Guhyasamāja system. In this article, I shall provide some glimpses on the evolution of the theme of a Mādhyamika Dharmakīrti from the 8th to the 10th centuries based on the analysis of some works by Śāntarakṣita, Kamalaśīla, Jñānapāda and Samantabhadra. These authors belong to different traditions; however, there is a “red thread,” a legacy, that they all share in viewing Dharmakīrti’s argumentations as a useful tool for the logical justification of Buddhist doctrines. I shall also show a missing link in the history of the concept of a “Mādhyamika Dharmakīrti”, namely, a tantric author that elaborates on the materials of Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla, and is subsequently copied by Jitāri. In this regard, I shall present materials that are being edited and translated here for the first time.