The ''Madhyamakāvatāra'' () is a text by Candrakīrti (600–c. 650) on the Mādhyamaka school of

Buddhist philosophy Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among various schools of Buddhism in India following the parinirvana of The Buddha and later spread throughout Asia. The Buddhist path combin ...

. Candrakīrti also wrote an auto-commentary to the work, called the ''Madhyamakāvatārabhasya.'' It is traditionally considered as a commentary on the meaning of

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

's ''

Mūlamadhyamakakārikā The ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' ( sa, मूलमध्यमककारिका, ''Root Verses on the Middle Way''), abbreviated as ''MMK'', is the foundational text of the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy. It was compo ...

'' and the '' Ten Stages Sutra'' (''Daśabhūmika Sūtra''). As such, within the

Tibetan Buddhist canon The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to sutrayana texts from Early Buddhist schools (mostly Sarvastivada) and Mahayana sources, the Tibetan canon incl ...

this text is classified as commentarial literature.

The text

The Madhyamakāvatāra relates the Mādhyamaka doctrine of

śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā; ), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is an Indian philosophical concept. Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and other ...

to the "spiritual discipline" (Sanskrit:

sādhanā ''Sādhanā'' (; ; ) is an ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives. Sadhana is done for a ...

) of a

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

. The Madhyamakāvatāra contains eleven chapters, where each addresses one of the ten

pāramitā ''Pāramitā'' (Sanskrit, Pali: पारमिता) or ''pāramī'' (Pāli: पारमी), is a Buddhist term often translated as "perfection". It is described in Buddhist commentaries as noble character qualities generally associated wit ...

s or "perfections" fulfilled by bodhisattvas as they traverse the 'ten stages' (Sanskrit:

bhūmi Bhumi ( sa, भूमि, Bhūmi), also known as Bhudevi and Vasundhara, is a Hindu goddess who is the personification of the Earth. She is a consort of the god Vishnu. According to Vaishnava tradition, she is the second aspect of Vishnu's con ...

) to

buddhahood In Buddhism, Buddha (; Pali, Sanskrit: 𑀩𑀼𑀤𑁆𑀥, बुद्ध), "awakened one", is a title for those who are awake, and have attained nirvana and Buddhahood through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point o ...

, which is the final chapter.

Commentarial literature

*The ''Madhyamakāvatārabhasya'' is Candrakīrti's own auto-commentary to the text''.'' *The ''Madhyamakāvatāraṭīkā'' is an elaborate 11th century commentary by the Indian scholar Jayānanda''.'' * Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso (1846–1912) wrote a commentary on the Madhyamakavatara entitled: dbu ma la 'jug pa'i 'grel pa zla ba'i zhal lung dri me shel phreng; the title has been rendered into English by Duckworth (2008: p. 232) as: ''Immaculate Crystal Rosary'' and by Padmakara Translations in it is titled ''The Word of Chandra: The Necklace of Spotless Crystal'' Padmakara Translation Group (2002). ''Introduction to the Middle Way'' (Candrakirti's Madhyamakāvatāra with Mipham Rinpoche's Commentary). Shambhala *Khenpo Shenga, dbu ma la 'jug pa'i 'grel mchan legs par bshad pa zla ba'i 'od zer *Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, dbu ma 'jug pa'i 'bru 'grel blo gsal dga' ba'i me long *

Jeffrey Hopkins Jeffrey Hopkins (born 1940) is an American Tibetologist. He is Emeritus professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he taught for more than three decades since 1973. He has authored more than twenty-five books ab ...

(1980). ''Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism''. Ithaca: Snow Lion. (first five chapters based on Tsongkhapa’s commentary) *Rendawa Shonnu Lodro (1997). ''Commentary on the Entry into the Middle, Lamp which Elucidates Reality'', translated by Stotter-Tillman & Acharya Tashi Tsering, Sarnath, Varanasi.

English translations

*Fredrik Liland (trans) (2020)
''Madhyamakāvatāra'' (Bibliotheca Polyglotta)
with ''Madhyamakāvatārabhasya'' and translations from Jayānanda's commentary. *Geshe Rabten (translator, commentator) Stephen Batchelor (translator, editor) (1983). ''Echoes of Voidness'', London : Wisdom Publications *Huntington, C. W. (1989). ''The Emptiness of Emptiness''. University of Hawaii Press *

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (; 19 July 1931 – 17 September 2022) was a Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, scholar, and author. He was the founder and spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition-International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU), a ...

. ''Ocean of Nectar: Wisdom and Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism''. London:

Tharpa Publications Tharpa Publications (Sanskrit for "liberation" and pronounced "Tar-pa") is a New York-based "major international and multilingual publisher of Buddhist books" by the Buddhist author and scholar Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. These include basic Buddhist m ...

, 1995. *

Padmakara Translation Group Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

(2002). ''Introduction to the Middle Way'' (Candrakirti's Madhyamakāvatāra with Mipham Rinpoche's Commentary). Shambhala *Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with commentary by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, edited by Alex Trisoglio, Khyentse Foundation, 2003
A translation of the Madhyamakavatara and its Auto-Commentary by Chandrakirti with additional commentary by Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche

The text

Commentarial literature

English translations

See also

References

Further reading