Tattvaratnāvaloka and Its Vivaraṇa by Vāgīśvarakīrti

Abstract This article presents an annotated critical edition of Vāgīśvarakīrti’s Tattvaratnāvaloka and its auto-commentary, the Tattvaratnāvaloka-Vivaraṇa , two major works of 11th-century Buddhist tantric philosophy. These texts examine various conceptions of the goal ( sādhya ) of the tantric path and contentiously position themselves as clarifying the nature of the fourth initiation ( caturthā- bhiṣeka ). This new edition, the second to be published, addresses numerous transmissional problems in both texts by evaluating the available evidence, comprehensively analysing textual difficulties, and proposing hypotheses for their resolution. The introduction highlights the significance of these works, clarifies Vāgīśvarakīrti’s textual corpus, and outlines the editorial methodology. This critical foundation enables deeper interpretive study of a seminal thinker and his intellectual contributions.