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淸辯

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Bhāviveka

Senses:

  • Also known as Bhavya and Bhāvaviveka, ca. 490–570. An influential Madhyamaka 中觀派 scholar, originally from South India, who came to Magadha to study the Middle Way teachings of Nāgârjuna 龍樹 and Saṃgharakṣita 僧護. He was known for his usage of positive dialectic to support the theory of emptiness. In this he was distinguished from philosophical opponents such as Buddhapâlita 佛護 and Candrakīrti 月稱, both of whom denied the validity of the use of logical propositions that ended up affirming any sort of positive position. Bhāvivekaʼs position would form the basic theme for a branch of Madhyamaka which later developed in the eighth century, called Svātantrika 獨立論證派. He criticized the theories of Asaṅga 無著, Vasubandhu 世親, and Dignāga 陳那 in the fifth chapter of his Madhyamaka-hṛdaya, and was also critical of the theories of his contemporary, Dharmapāla. Although open debate between these two figures apparently did not occur, the controversy between them certainly did—and is called the 空有諍論 (also 空有諍 and 空有二論). In this argument, Bhāviveka championed the concept of śūnyatā , whereas Dharmapāla stood stoutly for the independent existence of external phenomena. Among his major works are the Prajñā-pradīpa 般若燈論釋 (T 1566, a commentary on Nāgârjunaʼs Mūla-madhyamaka-kārikā, translated by Prabhākaramitra 波羅頗蜜多羅 ca. 630–632) and the Karatala-ratna 大乘掌珍論 (T 1578, translated by Xuanzang 玄奘 in 649). His name is also transliterated as 婆毘吠伽 and 婆毘薛迦, and is also translated as 淸辨, 明辯, and 分別明. 〔翻譯名義集 T 2131.54.1055b24 〕 .

    References:

    Eckel, Malcolm David. 1985. “Bhāvavivekaʼs Critique of Yogācāra in Ch. XXV of the Prajñāpradīpa.” Indiske Studies 5: Miscellanea Buddhica

    ----. 2008. Bhāviveka and His Buddhist Opponents: Chapters 4 and 5 of the Verses on the Heart of the Middle Way (Madhyamakahrdayakarikah) with the Commentary Entitled the Flame of Reason (Tarkajvala). Cambridge, Mass.:  Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University. Harvard Oriental Series. 70,

    Goodman, Charles. 2008. “Bhāvavivekaʼs Arguments for Emptiness.” Asian Philosophy 18 (2): 167–184.

    Hoornaert, Paul. 2004. “The Dharmapāla-Bhāvaviveka Debate as Presented in Dharmapālaʼs Commentary to Catuḥśataka 16.23.” Komazawa Daigaku bungaku ronshū: kōdō kagaku-tetsugaku hen 金沢大学文学部論集. 行動科学・哲学篇 = Studies and essays 24 : 119–149.

    [Charles Muller, Dan Lusthaus]
  • To be crisp and clear. [Charles Muller; source(s): Nakamura]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 553

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 443, 484

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 721b

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0736

    Index to the Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) 336



    Entry created: 1997-09-15

    Updated: 2020-08-16